CHAPTER XVII.

Governor Sayres Revises His Estimate of Those Lost and Makes it 12,000—A Multitude of the Destitute—Abundant Supplies and Vast Work of Distribution.

Governor Sayres issued a statement September 19th, in which he said in part: “The loss of life occasioned by the storm in Galveston and elsewhere on the southern coast cannot be less than 12,000 lives, while the loss of property will probably aggregate $20,000,000. Notwithstanding this severe affliction, I have every confidence that the stricken districts will rapidly revive, and that Galveston will, from her present desolation and sorrow, arise with renewed strength and vigor.”

Speaking further of the situation at Galveston, the Governor said: “I look for the rebuilding of Galveston to be well under way by the latter part of this week. The work of cleaning the city of unhealthful refuse and burying the dead will have been completed by that time, and all the available labor in the city can be applied to the rebuilding.

“If the laboring people of Galveston will only get to work in earnest, prosperity will soon again smile on the city. Arrangements have been made to pay all the laborers working under the direction of the military authorities $1.50 and rations for every day they have worked or will work. An account has been kept of all work done, and no laborer will lose one day’s pay.

“The money and food contributions coming from a generous people have been a great help to the people of Galveston, as it has relieved them of the necessity of spending their money to support the needy, and it can now be applied to the improvement of their own property and putting again on foot their business enterprises.

“Five dollars a day is being offered to the mechanics who will come to Galveston, and with the assurance from reputable physicians that there is no extraordinary danger of sickness, outside laborers will flock to Galveston, and before many days a new city will rise on the storm-swept island.

“The telegraph and telephone companies and railroads have been exceedingly generous since the great calamity. They have not only given money, but everything has been transported to that city free of charge, while those desiring to get away from the harrowing scenes of Galveston have been transported free. The people of Texas will long remember with grateful hearts the kindness of these companies. It is now an assured fact that trains will be running into Galveston this week, and, with uninterrupted communication with the outside world, Galveston should soon assume her normal condition.”

DISTRIBUTING $40,000 A DAY.

Twenty thousand people are being fed and cared for daily in Galveston with the supplies which are pouring in from all parts of the country. This will be cut at least one-half in ten days, is the statement of W. A. McVitie, chairman of the central relief committee.

The estimated cost of the aid which is now being extended is $40,000 a day. The great bulk of the aid is going to the 4,000 men who are at work cleaning up the wreckage, digging for bodies and cleaning the streets. Through them it goes to their families. No able-bodied laboring man is allowed to escape the work, whether he needs aid or not, though most of them do. The business men who are in position to resume are allowed to attend to their stores, and their clerical forces are not interfered with.

The debris-hunting and street-cleaning work will be put upon a cash basis, the wages being $1.50. Time has been kept from the beginning, though the records are not complete, and it is the expectation, if the money which comes in from outside is adequate, that the men will be paid for the full time they have worked. This will apply to those who had to be made to work at the point of the bayonet, as well as those who volunteered their services. This will not be given in cash, but in the form of orders for tools for mechanics, lumber for those who have homes they wish to repair, etc.

Heretofore practically every able-bodied man has been made to work, and unless he worked he got no supplies. The first few days’ wages consisted entirely of rations, which were given according to the number and needs of the laborer’s family, regardless of the amount of work he accomplished. Since other supplies have begun coming in they have been added.

The work of distribution is being conducted systematically and with an apparent minimum of imposition and fraud. There is a central committee, of which W. A. McVitie, a prominent business man, is chairman. Then there is a committee for each one of the twelve wards. As fast as goods or provisions arrive from the mainland they are placed in the central warehouse, from there the different ward chairmen requisition them, and they are taken to supply depots in the different wards. All day long there is a motley crowd around every one of these depots, negroes predominating at least two to one. Every applicant passes in review before the ward chairman.

ONLY THE DESTITUTE HELPED.

“Ah want a dress foh ma sistah,” says a big negress.

“You’re ’Manda Jones, and you haven’t any sister living here,” replied the chairman.

“Foh de Lord, ah has; ah ain’t ’Mandy Jones at all; we done live on Avenue N before de storm, and we los’ everything.”

“Go out with this woman and find out if she has a sister who needs a dress,” says the chairman to a committeeman. In this way check is kept on all the applicants for aid.

At the 5th ward distributing station clothing was being given away this evening. A negro woman, who had been refused a supply, went outside and by way of revenge pointed out different ones of her friends and neighbors whom she alleged were similarly unentitled.

“Dat woman done los’ nothin’ at all,” she shrieked. “Ah did not los’ nuthin’ mahself and doan wan’ nuthin.”

“What’s the trouble?” asked a bystander. An old negress who was lined up waiting her turn, replied: “Oh, she’s mad ’cause de white folks won’t give her nuthin.” So far no woman has been required to work, but a strong feeling is developing to compel negro women to work cleaning up the houses. There are plenty of people who are willing to hire them, but as long as free food and clothing can be secured it is hard to get colored women to go in and clean up the partially ruined homes.

“Our supply of foodstuffs is adequate,” said Chairman McVitie, “but just now we are a little short of clothing. This, however, may not be true to-morrow. We have no idea of the contents of the cars on the road to us. Frequently we don’t know anything is coming until the cars reach Texas City. With the money which has been coming in we have been augmenting our supplies by purchasing of local merchants in lines where there was a shortage.

SAYS MONEY IS MOST NEEDED.

“What do we need worst? Money. If we have money we can order just what we need and probably get better value than the people who are buying it. Many people have made the mistake of sending money to Houston and Dallas and asking committees there to buy for us. They do not know just what we need, and if we had the money we could do better for ourselves. Money should be sent to us.”

One of the most remarkable things attending the Galveston disaster is the fortitude of the people. Their loss in relatives, friends and property has been so overwhelming that it seems too much to be expressed with outward grief.

Two men who had not seen each other since the disaster met in the street. “How many did you lose?” they asked by common impulse.

“I lost all my property, but my wife and I came through all right.”

“I was not so fortunate. My wife and my little boy were both drowned.”

There was an expression of sympathy from the other, but nothing approaching a tear from either.

“They are making good progress cleaning up,” remarked the one whose losses were heaviest, with a pleasant smile. The other one makes light answer and they pass on.

The people of Galveston have seen so much death that they are temporarily hardened to it. The announcement of the loss of another friend means little to a man who has seen the dead bodies of neighbors and townspeople hauled to the wharf by the dray-load.

No services have been attempted for the dead. Neither has there been memorial services. The Rev. J. M. K. Kerwin, priest in charge of St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, said: “It was impossible. Priest and layman had to join in the work of cleaning the city of dead bodies. I don’t expect there will be memorial services for a month.”

STOOD THE STORM WELL.

Father Kerwin’s church is among the few which are comparatively little damaged. He sets the value of Catholic property destroyed in the city at $300,000. Included in this loss is the Ursula convent and academy, which was badly damaged. It covered four blocks between Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh streets and Avenues N and O. It was the finest in the South.

The city is rapidly improving in its sanitary conditions. The smell from the ooze and mud with which most of the streets are filled is stronger than that which comes from the debris heaps containing undiscovered bodies. When these heaps are being burned and the wind carries the smoke over the city, the odor is very similar to that which afflicts Chicago at night when refuse is being burned at the stockyards, and no worse. Soon even the odor of the slime will be gone. Every dump-cart in the city is at work.

Every Galveston business man talks confidently of the future of the city, though many of the clerks announce their intention of going away as soon as they can accumulate money enough. “I’m not afraid of another storm,” said a clerk in one of the principal stores. “But I’m sick and tired of the whole business.”

The Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph Company, which is a branch of the Erie system, will rebuild its telephone system here. “This will take us three months, and in the meantime we will give no service save long-distance,” said D. McReynolds, superintendent of construction. “We will install a central emergency system the same as that in Chicago and put all wires under ground. We will employ five hundred men if necessary to do the work in ninety days. The company’s losses in Texas are $300,000—$200,000 here, $60,000 at Houston and the rest at other points.”

Residents here are greatly pleased at this announcement, as it shows the confidence of a foreign company in the future of Galveston.

ONLY ONE WHO ESCAPED.

Cooped up in a house that collapsed after being carried along by a deluge of water, John Elford, brother of A. B. Elford, Chicago, his wife and little grandson, met death in the flood during the Galveston storm. Milton, son of John Elford, was in the building with the family at the time, and is the only one of the many occupants, including fifteen women, that is known to have escaped.

A. B. Elford was dumbfounded when he received the first information of the disaster, for he had no idea of his brother being in Texas. John Elford was a retired farmer and merchant of Langdon, N. D. He recently had taken his family on a trip to old and New Mexico. Mr. Elford yesterday received the following letter from Langdon, N. D.:

“We have just received a letter from Milton. Father, mother, Dwight and Milton went to Galveston from Mineral Springs, Texas, where they had previously been stopping. They were so delighted with Galveston on reaching there that they sold their return tickets and decided to remain about two months. They were at first in a house near the beach, but moved farther away and to a larger and stronger house when the water began to rise.

“All at once the water came down the street, bringing houses and debris. They started to build a raft, but before it could be got together the house started to float. It had gone but a short distance when it went to pieces. Milton was struck with something and knocked out into the water. He came up, caught a timber and climbed to a roof, and thus managed to make his escape.

“He saw no one escape from the building as it collapsed. We do not believe the bodies have yet been recovered. We have wired for more definite news regarding the bodies, but have heard nothing more.

“EDGAR ELFORD.”

William Guest, a Pullman car porter, returned to Chicago from the storm-stricken district. He said:

“I left Harrisburg night before last, and things then in the neighborhood were in a dreadful state. Galveston is about twenty miles distant, and the refugees were pouring in the direction of Houston in great numbers. Many well-to-do colored people have lost all they had. The Rev. W. H. Cain, a colored Episcopal minister and his entire family were killed, and it was reported to me that Mrs. Cuney, the widow of Wright Cuney, was also lost, as well as a number of colored teachers employed in the public schools. At Houston relief committees have been organized.”

The Rev. Mr. Cain was well known in Chicago, having preached several times from the pulpit of the St. Thomas Episcopal church in Dearborn near 30th street.

The Quinn chapel congregation decided at a meeting that the church at 24th street and Wabash avenue should be opened in order that contributions of clothing and food for the sufferers might be received.

KAISER MOURNS FOR GALVESTON.

Washington, D. C., Sept 17.—President McKinley has received the following message of sympathy from Emperor William of Germany:

“Stettin, Sept. 13, 1900.—President of the United States of America, Washington: I wish to convey to your excellency the expression of my deep-felt sympathy with the misfortune that has befallen the town and harbor of Galveston and many other ports of the coast, and I mourn with you and the people of the United States over the terrible loss of life and property caused by the hurricane, but the magnitude of the disaster is equaled by the indomitable spirit of the citizens of the new world, who, in their long and continued struggle with the adverse forces of nature have proved themselves to be victorious.

“I sincerely hope that Galveston will rise again to new prosperity.

“WILLIAM, I. R.”

PRESIDENT THANKS THE KAISER.

The President’s reply was as follows:

“Executive Mansion, Sept. 14, 1900.—His Imperial and Royal Majesty, William II., Stettin, Germany: Your majesty’s message of condolence and sympathy is very grateful to the American government and people, and in their name as well as on behalf of the many thousands who have suffered bereavement and irreparable loss in the Galveston disaster, I thank you most earnestly.

“WILLIAM MCKINLEY.”

W. B. McGown, a member of the Dallas Rough Riders, to-day arrived at Dallas from Galveston on sick leave. He denies the reports that have been current in Dallas and other Texas cities of trouble with soldiery at Galveston or of any misconduct on the part of the militia. Mr. McGown says more and fresh troops are needed at Galveston. One-half of the Houston Light Guard have had to be relieved and placed on sick leave. A number have died from malarial fever contracted at Galveston.

The Houston Cavalry, the Navasota Infantry, the Trezevant Rifles, of Dallas, and the Rough Riders were the only troops on duty last night, and a considerable part of these companies were unfit for duty. Two infantry companies from Fort Worth, Claburn, and the Dallas Artillery were expected to-day.

There were twenty-five fires kept burning to consume dead bodies in the debris in a stretch of three miles. McGown says information was received at the Dallas headquarters of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad that construction trains with materials had already crossed the bay from the mainland to Galveston Island. Local Santa Fe officials say supplies and building materials will be rushed to the island rapidly from now on. Galveston now has railroad, telegraph and telephone connection with the outside world.

A special correspondent writing from Galveston on September 19th, said:

“The most serious problem which now confronts those in authority here is the disposition of the dead and the removal of wreckage. This matter is being attended to by a large force scattered through the city, but the number is inadequate to meet the requirements.

EXHAUSTION THINS OUT THE WORKERS.

“At a meeting of the Auxiliary Health Board to-day a committee was appointed to suggest to Adjutant General Scurry, in charge of city forces, and the General Relief Committee, the advisability of having the work done by contract and importing men to do it. Reports from various wards where men have been engaged in this work show a decrease in numerical strength, due to exhaustion and other causes. In some instances men who are skilled mechanics and have assisted in the disposition of the dead have obtained employment at their regular trades.

“It was announced this evening that a contract will be let for the removal of bodies and the huge mass of debris, which, in some parts of the city, reaches a height of fifteen feet. To do this, about three thousand men will be brought here from the interior. They will come with their own cooks and rations and camp on the beach, and will be paid $2 a day. It is estimated that it will require from twenty to thirty days to remove the wreckage.

“Under one pile of debris to-day thirty bodies were found and cremated. Bodies are still being washed ashore at Texas City, Bolivar Point, Pelican Island and other coast points near Galveston. There is no time to dig graves, and the bodies are hastily consigned to the flames.

“The city is still under martial law, and guards are patrolling the streets day and night. An example was made of a man arrested for selling liquor. The offender was marched to general headquarters, and, after a severe reprimand, was put to work on the street gang, removing and disposing of bodies. He will serve without pay for an indefinite period.

“All hospital relief stations and all points in the city are thoroughly disinfected. Dr. Peckham, of the United States Marine Corps, has established a camp for the injured and ill at Tremont and Beach avenues. Directly opposite is a camp for refugees. Camps will be established on the beach at the foot of Fifteenth street.

“Reports from Sealy Hospital, St. Mary’s Infirmary and other temporary hospitals are that sanitary rules are strictly followed, and the buildings are in fairly good shape. A great many patients from Sealy and St. Mary’s have been sent to Houston.

SERIOUS CASES OF INJURY.

“In the vicinity of the hospitals there is a mass of debris containing many bodies, and the Health Board has sent an urgent appeal to headquarters to have this debris cleared.

“Emergency hospitals report wounds dressed on an average of 150 to 200 a day. Many report serious cases.

“A census has been taken of St. Mary’s Catholic parish, embracing the territory from Sixteenth to Twenty-seventh street. It shows a loss of 267 from this parish alone. A census of the city is now being taken, which will embrace a list of the survivors, the dead and the amount of personal and property losses.

“Death from a broken heart was the doctor’s verdict when Miss Clara Olson died at an early hour this morning. When the storm was at its height the little house Miss Olson occupied with her aged mother collapsed. Mother and daughter found refuge on a floating housetop for several hours. A floating timber driven with terrible force crushed Mrs. Olson’s skull. The girl drifted to the Ursuline convent, where she was cared for by the Sisters. She grieved constantly for her mother, and at last died of a broken heart.”

Houston, Tex., Sept. 20.—Official reports of conditions of interior towns have begun to come in from agents sent out by Governor Sayres. Following are summaries of reports so far received showing the conditions of half a dozen towns on the Santa Fe. There are probably fifty small towns, which are in just as bad shape and from which reports have not been received, but which are being supplied with provisions, clothing, and drugs from Houston by the committees:

Pearland—Fifty families depending on Relief Committee; some supplies received but assistance in other ways than provisions needed. Families at Erin and Superior are to be supplied through Pearland.

Algoa—Twenty-five families to be supplied; enough provisions for the present.

DESTRUCTION IN OUTLYING DISTRICTS.

Alvin—In the town of Alvin and vicinity there are probably six houses on blocks out of a total of 1,000. The population of Alvin now to be fed is about 1,500; Manvel, 250; Liverpool and Amsterdam, 250; Chocolate and Austin Bayous, Chigger neighborhood, Dickinson Bayou, east and outside, or the surrounding country, 2,500, making a total of 5,000 persons under the supervision of the Alvin committee. The committee admits having a sufficient amount of clothing. They have received a cash subscription of about $2,000 and have spent $400. Have received two cars of flour from Dallas, one car of meal from Dallas, one car of mixed goods from Tyler. Along the bay shore, from Virginia Point to Liverpool, for a space of six or eight miles from the bay front, there are many thousands of dead cattle that should be immediately cremated or properly looked after.

Arcadia—In the town there are 300 destitute, and those in the immediate vicinity will make the aggregate 500. Provisions already supplied sufficient for immediate needs only.

Hitchcock—In this town and immediate vicinity are more than 500 destitute. Of about 300 houses, only about ten are standing. A wave of salt water, from four to ten feet in depth, covered this section; thirty-eight lives were lost, and, for the time being, it is feared that the soil has been seriously damaged by the effect of salt water. Supplies of provisions were sent yesterday. There are probably 10,000 dead cattle within a space of a few miles south and surrounding the town, and every house should be supplied for at least ten days with disinfectants. Fever is now settling in there, and Dr. J. T. Scott, of Houston, went there yesterday. An idea of the velocity of the wind and wave of salt water that swept over this immediate section may be imagined when it is known that the Texas City dredge boat is now lying high and dry in a garden at this place, a distance of eight miles or more from its moorings.

HOUSES AND OTHER PROPERTY GONE.

Alta Loma—This committee reports about seventy-five families, or 300 persons, to be cared for. Have received 530 rations. People have no money and their property destroyed. In the neighborhood of 100 houses existed; forty destroyed and about twenty untenantable. There are about four houses now on blocks. Two lives were lost. The population is mainly of northern people. A shipment was made them of provisions and medicines, but other things are needed at once.

Col. B. H. Belo, publisher of the “Galveston News,” said that Galveston would be rebuilt at once.

“The storm and flood taught us several lessons,” said Col. Belo, in an interview. “The loss of life would have been comparatively light if the buildings had been of a more solid character. The Ursuline convent, for instance, was surrounded by a brick wall, and there was no loss of life there, although it stood right in the path of the flood and storm. There were no lives lost in the ‘News’ office, and we would not have been badly flooded had it not been for a building falling and battering in a part of our wall.

“I believe that all buildings will be of a more solid and enduring character than formerly. I think, too, that the streets along the water front will be built higher than they were. The city must be rebuilt. It is the only outlet worthy the name on the Gulf west of New Orleans. The government spent $6,000,000 to make a thirty-foot harbor there, and the shipping is so extensive that rebuilding the wrecked portions of the city is imperative.”

A tale of self sacrifice comes from the western part of the city. A young man by the name of Wash Masterson heard the cries of some people outside. They were calling for a rope. He had no rope, but improvised one from bed sheets, and started out to find the people who were calling. The wind and water soon tore his rope to shreds and he had to return to the house, where he made another and stronger rope.

THE CRIES OF THE PEOPLE.

The cries of the people still filled his ears. He went out a second time and after being gone for what seemed an hour or more to those who were waiting he returned with the people. They had clung to the branches of a salt cedar tree. Mr. Masterson was not satisfied with that, but went out for other people immediately, the water having begun to fall about that time, and worked all night.

A little black dog stood barking over a sand hill in the west end beyond Woollam’s lake. Those who endeavored to stop his barking by driving him away did not succeed for he returned as soon as they ceased their attempts. It was suggested that he was guarding a body, but others scouted the idea.

Finally they dug beneath the spot where the dog stood, and there they found the remains of a young girl whom they identified by the rings she wore as Miss Lena Everhart, a popular little lady, well known both in Galveston and Dallas. This whole family, with the exception of one son, Elmer Everhart, and a daughter, Mrs. Robert Brown, who lives near Dickinson and was there at the time, was lost. The father ran a dairy just southwest of Woollam’s lake.

At Twelfth and Sealy avenue there lived a colored man and his wife. There was a grocery on the corner and those who weathered the storm report that he stood near the beer keg in the bar room of the grocery drinking steadily until he was swept away, his idea evidently being to destroy consciousness before the storm did it for him. His body was picked out of a pile of debris between Twelfth and Thirteenth on Sealy avenue.

The Catholic Orphans’ Home on the beach at the west end of the city went some time after 5.30 o’clock Saturday evening. Mr. Harry Gray, who lived in Kinkead subdivision, just beyond the city limits, was compelled to leave his house at that hour and says the home was standing then. Now not a vestige of it remains. Eight nuns and all but one of ninety-five children were lost. This child, a little tot, was found on the north side of the island in a tree. “I’se been ’seep,” he lisped. “My head was in de water.”

MR. GRAY’S STORY.

Mr. Gray’s story is interesting. His house fell and he fought his way out with a wife who was just out of a sick bed. He managed to get to the next house with her. This was the home of Ed. Hunter. That house went between 6.30 and 7, and the Hunter family was lost. Mr. Gray caught a transom, put the arm of his wife through it, and soon found that the transom belonged to the side of the house, about 20×20 feet in size. It was nothing but the side of the house made of ordinary siding and studding. He swung onto this and even now does not understand how it stood up under them.

All the time he kept telling his wife to hold onto him, and this she