The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Page: 456
xiv, 17-536 p. : front., plates ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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456 GALVESTON' STORM STORIES.
dying in company, for the whole of that portion of the city was
destroyed. The work of rescue began as soon as the storm
abated. But the crowd of survivors on the street Sunday morning
was pitiably small. They seemed to me scarce Io,ooo. Clad
in next to nothing, bathing suits and the like, the sun brought
them only the sight of dead relatives and friends-some starvation.
" There was no food and no water. For two days I tasted
no water and food was scarce indeed. The city, as sooll as soldiers
could be gotten, was put under the strictest martial law, under protest
of Mayor Jones and Chief of Police Ketchuri. These officials
desired to enforce the law by civil authority. Fully seventy-five
men have been killed for looting the dead and refusing to halt
when ordered. Every house has to be guarded lest thieves break
in them and steal.
OCEAN GIVING UP ITS DEAD.
"The 'Lawrence' which at first was under the control of the
relief committee and charged nothing for passage, now exacts $2
per capita to Texas City. Besides this, there are three boats in
the service. The only way to get away from Galveston is to go
by boat to Texas City, where there are about Iooo women and
children and almost no accommodations.
"The bodies have been all cleared away from the central
portion of the.town and there is a continual stream of corpse laden
floats, drays, etc., to the barges. The west end has been set on
fire, as the mass of wreckage there makes recovery impossible.
But the beach is lined with bodies yet. Every day they wash up
upon the sand. Old ocean is giving up its dead.
"'The women and children will probably be compelled to
leave. They are badly in need of clothes and avow that they ,
want no rags but nice new clothes, 'to avoid epidemic.' I attribute
the terrible loss of life," concluded Mrs. Smart, "to the fact
that the people trusted Galveston too much, and clung too long to
a failing hope. This has often appeared to be a strange trait of
human nature."
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The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times (Book)
This book covers the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the United States' deadliest natural disaster. It includes accounts from survivors and eyewitnesses, and photos of the devastation.
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Lester, Paul. The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times, book, 1900~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth26719/m1/514/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.