Download the full version of the ebook at

https://ebookultra.com

The Northern IRA and the Early Years of

Partition 1920 1922 Robert Lynch

https://ebookultra.com/download/the-northern-ira-
and-the-early-years-of-partition-1920-1922-robert-
lynch/

Explore and download more ebook at https://ebookultra.com

 Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

The Lean Years A History of the American Worker 1920 1933

Irving Bernstein

https://ebookultra.com/download/the-lean-years-a-history-of-the-
american-worker-1920-1933-irving-bernstein/

ebookultra.com

Northern Exposures Photographing and Filming the Canadian

North 1920 45 1st Edition Peter Geller

https://ebookultra.com/download/northern-exposures-photographing-and-
filming-the-canadian-north-1920-45-1st-edition-peter-geller/

ebookultra.com

Wheels of Steel The Explosive Early Years of the NWOBHM

1st Edition Martin Popoff

https://ebookultra.com/download/wheels-of-steel-the-explosive-early-
years-of-the-nwobhm-1st-edition-martin-popoff/

ebookultra.com

Leadership and Management in the Early Years 1st Edition

Caroline Jones

https://ebookultra.com/download/leadership-and-management-in-the-
early-years-1st-edition-caroline-jones/

ebookultra.com
Supporting Transitions in the Early Years Supporting Early
Learning 1st Edition Liz Brooker

https://ebookultra.com/download/supporting-transitions-in-the-early-
years-supporting-early-learning-1st-edition-liz-brooker/

ebookultra.com

Identifying Additional Learning Needs in the Early Years

Listening to the Children The Nursery World
Routledgefalmer Essential Guide for Early Years
Practitioners 1st Edition Chris Macintyre
https://ebookultra.com/download/identifying-additional-learning-needs-
in-the-early-years-listening-to-the-children-the-nursery-world-
routledgefalmer-essential-guide-for-early-years-practitioners-1st-
edition-chris-macintyre/
ebookultra.com

The New Early Years Foundation Stage 1st Edition Pat

Beckley

https://ebookultra.com/download/the-new-early-years-foundation-
stage-1st-edition-pat-beckley/

ebookultra.com

Play Activities for the Early Years 1st Edition Herjinder

Uppal

https://ebookultra.com/download/play-activities-for-the-early-
years-1st-edition-herjinder-uppal/

ebookultra.com

The Hanse in Medieval and Early Modern Europe The Northern

World 60 1st Edition Carsten Jahnke

https://ebookultra.com/download/the-hanse-in-medieval-and-early-
modern-europe-the-northern-world-60-1st-edition-carsten-jahnke/

ebookultra.com
The Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition 1920
1922 Robert Lynch Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Robert Lynch
ISBN(s): 9780716533788, 0716533782
Edition: Paperback
File Details: PDF, 63.66 MB
Year: 2006
Language: english
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 SEEKING FORMER RESIDENCES.
A correspondent walked along the beach for some distance to-
day and the stench was sickening. Everywhere little groups of men,
women and children, some poorly clad, were digging in the ruins of
their homes for what little household property they could save. In
many cases, those seeking their former residences were unable to
find a single remnant of them.
The exodus from the city was heavy to-day, and hundreds more
were eager to leave, but were unable to secure transportation. Along
the bay front there were scores of families with dejected faces,
pleading to be taken from the stricken city, where, in spite of every
effort to restore confidence, there is much depression.
J. C. Stewart, a builder, after a careful inspection of the grain
elevators and their contents, said the damage to the elevators was
not over two per cent. Mr. Bailey said he would put a large force of
men to work clearing up each of the wharves, and the company will
be ready for business within eight days. The wharves have been
damaged very little outside of the wreckage of the sheds. With the
wreckage cleared away Galveston will be in shape for beginning
business.
 SOUTHERN PACIFIC WILL REBUILD.
To a journal in New York the “Galveston News” sent the
following important statement:
“You ask the ‘News’ what is our estimate of Galveston’s future
and what the prospects are for building up the city. Briefly stated, the
‘News’ believes that inside of two years there will exist upon the
island of Galveston a city three times greater than the one that has
just been partially destroyed. The devastation has been great and the
loss of life terrible, but there is a hopefulness at the very time this
answer is being penned you that is surprising to those who witness it.
That is not a practical answer to your inquiries, however.
“The principal feature is this—The Southern Pacific company
has ordered a steel bridge built across the bay ten feet higher than
the trestlework on the late bridges. The company has ordered also a
doubling up of forces to continue and improve their wharves, and
with this note of encouragement from the great enterprise upon
which so much depends the whole situation is cleared up.
 AN EXCELLENT PORT.
“Our wharves will be rebuilt, the sanitary condition of the city
will be perfected; streets will be laid with material superior to that
destroyed, new vigor and life will enter the community with the work
of construction, and the products of the twenty-one States and
Territories contiguous will pour through the port of Galveston.
“We have now, through the action of this storm, with all its
devastation, thirty feet of water on the bar, making this port the
equal, if not the superior, of all others on the American seaboard.
The island has stood the wrack of the greatest storm convulsion
known in the history of any latitude, and there is no longer a
question of the stability of the island’s foundation. If a wind velocity
of one hundred and twenty miles an hour and a water volume of
fifteen feet in some places upon the island did not have the effect of
washing it away, then there is no wash to it.
“Galveston island is still here, and here to stay, and it will be
made in a short time the most beautiful and progressive city in the
Southwest. This may be esteemed simply a hopeful view, but the
conditions existing warrant acceptance of the view to the fullest
extent.
“The ‘News’ will not deal with what is needed from a generous
public to the thousands of suffering people now left with us. The
dead are at rest. There are twenty thousand homeless people here,
whose necessities at this time are great indeed. Assistance is needed
for them in the immediate future. The great works of material and
industrial energy will take care of themselves by the attraction here
presented for the profitable employment of capital. We were dazed
for a day or two, but there is no gloom here now as to the future.
Business has already been resumed.”
 PLAN TO PROTECT GALVESTON.
Can the city of Galveston, almost obliterated by the recent
storm, be protected from all future assaults by the Gulf?
Colonel Henry M. Robert, United States Corps of Engineers, and
divisional engineer of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, who is stationed
here at present, says that Galveston can be absolutely protected from
every storm by a sea wall built along the Gulf front.
Colonel Robert, during the late spring, while on a visit to
Galveston, suggested a comprehensive plan for the improvement, of
that harbor, which was hailed by the city and State as solving the
problem of the creation of a great port in Galveston Bay. This plan
would also afford a great measure of protection to the city from
inundation on its northern and southwestern sides should a strong
wind from the Gulf pile up the water on the shallow floors of
Galveston and West bays.
Colonel Robert’s plan contemplates the construction of a great
basin for harbor purposes, as well as for dry docks, to the northwest
of the city. The basin would be formed by a retaining wall shutting
out Galveston and West bays, and by filling in the parts of the Gulf
floor between this retaining wall and the walls or shores of the basin.
The northern retaining wall would follow generally the line of
the south jetty, and a deep water channel of twenty-five to thirty feet
would be left between the new land and the city of Galveston,
connecting the channel formed by the jetties with the inner basin.
Pelican Island would be the backbone of the made land, and all of
Pelican Flats would be transformed into solid land, to be used for
railway and docking purposes.
 THE PROJECT WAS APPROVED.
The plan also involved the extension of the jetty channel through
Galveston Bay and up Buffalo Bayou as far as Houston, more than
sixty miles distant, making the latter city an open seaport. Railways
would have, by means of the filled-in land, ready access to the city,
and, in addition, the port facilities of Galveston would be many times
increased, and a continuous sea channel be constructed from the
Gulf to Houston.
This project, as outlined by Colonel Robert, received the
unqualified approval of the various interests concerned in the
development of Galveston harbor, and steps had been taken to carry
out the plan before the onslaught of the recent storm swept away
water lines and much of the city itself. Colonel Robert now proposes
an additional plan, simple and inexpensive, for affording the fullest
and most complete measure of protection from all storms. This new
plan is to construct a sea wall along the Gulf front of the city.
It is estimated that the height of the waves in the recent storm,
which was the severest ever experienced on the Texas coast, was
about ten to twelve feet. Colonel Robert suggests that a wall at least
twelve feet above the beach, and running the entire length of the
water front, or about ten miles, be built immediately to barricade the
city from the Gulf. A height of twelve feet above the beach would give
fourteen feet above the water, and would, Colonel Robert thinks,
afford ample protection.
 COST OF THE SEA WALL.
As to the expense of such a structure, it is thought by engineers
that a liberal estimate would be about $1,500,000 per mile. This
wall, as projected by Colonel Robert, would extend from a point on
the south jetty, where the latter crosses the Gulf front of the city, and
would follow the line of the beach, two or three feet above the water
level, until it reached the southwestern limit of the island, in the
shallow water of West Bay. At the latter point the danger from
storms is not serious.
At present the depth of water between the jetties is 26½ feet,
and it is thought that it will soon be thirty feet. The average depth of
the original channel across the twenty-five miles of Galveston Bay is
about twelve feet. It is proposed by Colonel Robert’s plan to increase
this to at least twenty-five feet. An additional and supplementary
plan is to extend the improvement, so as to create a system of coast
channels that will transform Galveston into a central port with a
labyrinth of waterways.
 EXTENSIVE HARBOR IMPROVEMENT.
The magnitude of the plan for the improvement of the harbor of
Galveston may be imagined when it is observed that the inner basin,
or harbor, is to be about five miles long by three broad, that it may be
approached by a deep water channel accommodating ocean going
vessels of the deepest draught. The outlet into West Bay will not be
so deep, as the bay itself is navigable by light draught vessels only.
The new land, formed on the basis of Pelican Island and flats will be
about four miles square.
Colonel Robert said that a survey will be made at once of the
wrecked forts and other military works at Galveston. A report
received from that place says that those portions of the works erected
upon piling withstood the storm. It is proposed to use piling entirely
for similar works in the future.
 CHAPTER IX.
Story of a Brave Hero—A Vast Army of
Helpless Victims—Scenes that Shock the
Beholders—Our Nation Rises to the Occasion.

W hen Galveston’s chapter of horrors had reached its crisis, when

the people were dazed, leaderless and almost helpless, so that
they went about bewildered and did little more than gather a few
hundred of the bodies which were in their way, a longshoreman
became the hero of the hour. It was not until Monday that the brave
leaders, who are usually not discovered in a community until some
great emergency arises, began to forge in front. They were not men
from one rank in point of wealth or intelligence. They came from all
classes.
For example, there was Hughes, the longshoreman. Bodies
which lay exposed in the streets, and which had to be removed
somewhere lest they be stepped on, were carried into a temporary
morgue until 500 lay in rows on the floor.
 A VERY GRAVE PROBLEM.
Then a problem in mortality such as no other American
community ever faced was presented. Pestilence, which stalked forth
by Monday, seemed about to take possession of what the storm had
left. Immediate disposition of those bodies was absolutely necessary
to save the living.
Then it was that Lowe and McVittie and Sealy and the others,
who by common impulse had come together to deal with the
problem, found Hughes. The longshoreman took up the most
gruesome task ever seen, except on a battlefield. He had to have
helpers. Some volunteered; others were pressed into the service at
the point of the bayonet.
Whisky by the bucketful was carried to these men, and they were
drenched with it. The stimulant was kept at hand and applied
continuously. Only in this way was it possible for the stoutest-
hearted to work in such surroundings.
Under the direction of Hughes these hundreds of bodies already
collected and others brought from the central part of the city—those
which were quickest found—were loaded on an ocean barge and
taken far off into the gulf to be cast into the sea.
There were 38,000 people in the city when the census was taken
a few weeks before the flood. After a careful survey of the desolate
field since the storm and flood have wrought their sad havoc, the
conclusion is forced that there were in Galveston 25,000 people, or
thereabouts, who had to be fed and clothed. The proportion of those
who were in fair circumstances and lost all is astonishing.
Relief cannot be limited to those who formed the poorer class
before the storm. An intelligent man left Galveston, taking his wife
and child to relatives. He said: “A week ago I had a good home and a
business which paid me between $400 and $500 a month. To-day I
have nothing. My house was swept away and my business is gone. I
see no way of re-establishing it in the near future.” This man had a
real estate and house renting agency.
 STRIPPED OF ALL THEIR POSSESSIONS.
At the military headquarters one of the principal officials doing
temporary service for this city said: “Before the storm I had a good
home and good income. I felt rich. My house is gone and my
business. The fact is I don’t even own the clothes I stand before you
in. I borrowed them.”
Now these are not exceptional cases. They are fairly typical.
They must be fed and clothed, these 25,000 people, until they can
work out their temporal salvation.
And then something ought to be done to help the worthy get on
their feet and make a fresh start. Some people will leave Galveston. It
is plain, however, that nothing like the number expected will go.
Galveston is still home to the great majority. Those who can stay and
live there will do so. If the country responds to the needs in anything
like the measure given to Johnstown, Chicago, Charleston and other
stricken cities and sections, Galveston as a community will not only
be restored, but will enter upon a greater future than was expected
before the storm.
Since Tuesday there has been no doubt of Galveston’s
restoration. From a central organization the relief work was divided
by wards. A depot and a sub-committee were established in each
ward of the city.
“They who will not work shall not eat,” was the principle
adopted when the organization was perfected. Few idle mouths are
being fed in Galveston. There are, however, the fatherless, and there
are widows, and there are sick who must have charity. But the able-
bodied are working in parties under the direction of bosses. They are
being paid in food and clothing. In this way the Relief Committee is
within the first week meeting the needs of the survivors, and at the
same time is gradually clearing the streets and burning the ruins and
refuse.
 PICTURES IN SHARP CONTRAST.
Of Galveston’s population of 38,000 it is estimated that 8000
were killed.
The area of total destruction was about 1300 acres.
There were 5000 dwellings, hotels, churches and convents
utterly destroyed.
More than 2000 bodies have been burned.
The property loss is not less than $15,000,000.
One hundred and twenty-five men, most of them negroes, were
shot to death for robbing the dead. “Decimation” is the word often
employed to emphasize destruction of life. Galveston was
“decimated” twice over by this storm.
It took on the part of the public-spirited men a good deal of
boldness to lay down the law that the support tendered by the
country must be earned and to enforce it. But before two days had
passed the whole community was at work cheerfully. A tour through
the city, up one street and down another, showed the greatest
activity. Thousands and not hundreds of men were dragging the
ruins into great heaps and applying the torch. Occasionally they
came on the remains of human beings and hastily added them to the
blazing heaps. But it is notable that much less is said now about the
dead than during the early days. The minds of the people who
survived have passed from that phase of the calamity.
A soldier standing guard at a place on the beach where these
fires were burning thickly was asked if the workers were still finding
bodies.
“Yes,” he replied, “a good many!” That was all. Three days ago
the same soldier would have gone into particulars. He would have
told how many had been found in this place and in that.
The commander of one of these squads came into headquarters
to deliver a report to Colonel McCaleb. He had nothing to say about
bodies, but wanted to tell that a trunk in fairly good condition, with
valuable contents, had been taken out of one heap, and that the
owner might be found through marks of identification which he had
noted. So it goes; the thought is of the living rather than of the dead.
 SIGNS OF RESTORATION EVERYWHERE.
The women of Galveston are working as never before. Wherever
one goes carpets and clothing and mattresses and rugs are hung on
fences and galleries. The scrubbing-brushes are going. A smell of
carbolic acid is in the air. The housekeepers are bustling in and out.
Every residence that can be called habitable is undergoing
renovation most thoroughly. The sound of the hammer is heard
everywhere. Amateur carpenters are patching and strengthening
homes which, in the better spirit that prevails, they may now hope to
save.
One of the strongest impressions that is gained of the work of
restoration is from the sights in front of the stores. Merchants and
clerks are overhauling stocks. Where the articles are such that it can
be done they are carried out in front of the stores and spread in the
sun to dry. Tons of dry goods, clothing, hats and caps, boots and
shoes are spread in the streets and on the pavements, so that in
places it is difficult to get past.
In these stores the watermarks on the walls and shelves varies
from waist to shoulder high. Everything below these levels was
saturated. The loss of stocks affected by water is very great. But the
disposition of the storekeepers to make the best of it and to save
something, even if badly damaged, is cheering.
Full of confidence and even optimistic are the expressions of the
men who have taken the lead in this crisis. Said Colonel Lowe, of the
Galveston News: “In two years this town will be rebuilt upon a scale
which we would not have obtained so quickly without this
devastation.
“I took it for granted that when the Southern Pacific
management said to its representatives, as it has said: ‘Build a bridge
ten feet higher than the old one and put on a double force to do it,’
our future was assured. We shall go forward and create the city. We
shall have some restrictions as to rebuilding lines, especially on the
beach side, where the greatest losses were sustained. The ramshackle
way in which too much construction has been done heretofore will be
of the past.”
 SAVING VAST GRAIN STORES.
If any one had predicted on Sunday or Monday that on Friday
and Saturday Galveston would be doing business at the old stand, he
would have been laughed to scorn. What the grain men are planning
very fairly tells the story. It applies to all lines of business. The storm
caught 2,500,000 bushels of wheat in cars and elevators.
Superstructures of the elevators were carried away, and in other
ways the immense buildings were somewhat damaged. These
indefatigable people six days later are perfecting their arrangements
to save that grain and export it. Robinson, the inspector, said:
“Without more rain for a few days, say six or eight, we shall
begin loading that wheat on ships for export. Don’t you believe
anything you hear about permanent damages to Galveston as the
result of the storm.
“We have got the grandest harbor here. Why, our channel
instead of being filled by the storm carrying sand into it was scoured
two feet deeper than it was before. We had then twenty-eight to
twenty-nine feet of water. We have now thirty feet.
“None of the danger of sickness that was feared has shown itself.
We are getting rid of the wreckage, and we are scattering car loads of
lime and other disinfectants everywhere. I believe all danger is
passed. Talk about Galveston giving up!” continued Mr. Robinson,
“This great wharf property is worth $18,000,000. It sustained a loss
of less than $500,000.
“The company has 1000 men at work on the repairs. It stared
eternity in the face Saturday night, and was ready to go. To-day I
have got more energy and ambition than I ever had. I don’t know
where I got it. I guess God gave it to me. Come back in sixty days,
and you will not know Galveston, remembering it as you see it to-
day.”
 TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES OF A YOUNG
GIRL.
Miss Maud Hall, who was spending her school vacation in
Galveston, and who passed through the storm, has written of her
experience to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Emory Hall, of Dallas. Miss
Hall was in the house where she was boarding at the time the storm
came. She says:
“The wind and rain rose to a furious whirlwind, and all the time
the water crept higher and higher. We all crowded into the hall, and
the house, a big two-story one, rocked like a cradle. About 6 o’clock
the roof was gone, all the blinds torn off and all the windows blown
in. Glass was flying in all directions and the water had risen to a level
with the gallery. Then the men told us we would have to go to a
house across the street.
“It took two men to each woman to get her across the street and
down to the end of the block. Trees thicker than any in our yard were
whirled down the street and the water looked like a whirlpool. I came
near drowning with another girl. It was dark by this time, and the
men put their arms around us and down into, the water we went.
“I spent the night—such a horrible one!—wet from my shoulders
to my waist and from my knees down, and barefoot. Nobody had any
shoes and stockings. The house was packed with people just like us.
The windows were blown out, and it rocked from top to bottom, and
the water came into the first floor. About 3 o’clock in the morning the
wind had changed and blew the water back into the Gulf.
“As soon as we could we waded home. Such a home! The water
had risen three feet in the house, and the roof being gone the rain
poured in. We had not had anything to eat since noon the day before,
and we lived on whisky.
“It was awful. Dead animals every where and the streets filled
with fallen telegraph poles and brick stores blown over. Hundreds of
women and children and men sitting on steps crying lost ones, and
nearly half of them injured! Wild-eyed, ghastly-looking men hurried
by and told of whole families killed. All day wagon after wagon
passed filled with dead, most of them without a thing on them, and
men with stretchers with dead bodies with just a sheet thrown over
them, some of them little children.”
 HOPING FOR THE BEST.
Says an eye-witness of the terrible scene:
“What a contrast! Last Sunday, gloom, desolation and black
despair prevailed. This storm-tossed city was filled with desolation.
The sorrow of the survivors for the dead was unspeakable, the
destruction of property indescribable, the people were palsied, and in
the gloom of devastation and death there was no silver lining to the
pall that darkly overshadowed them. To-day hope and determination
buoy up the people.
“They realize that the task before them is titanic yet, with the
generous aid that is floating to them from all parts of the civilized
world, born of a common humanity, that makes the whole world
akin, aided by their own indomitable purpose, the sick and wounded
will be healed, the destitute relieved and the recuperation of
Galveston will be speedy and lasting. It is the spirit that turns defeat,
into victory, makes a people strong, glorious and prosperous. You
hear no complaining, no expression of want of confidence, but of
hope, zeal and determination, and this is exemplified by the vigorous
enterprise visible on every hand.
“Although it is the Sabbath, work is being pushed under a
systematic plan of operation that is rapidly bringing order out of
chaos. The search and burial or cremation of the unfortunate victims
within the corporation limits of the city are being rapidly prosecuted
by a large force in squads under military direction. Down the island
and on the mainland the work of interring the dead is conducted
with the same system.
“As new conditions constantly develop, the cleaning up and
disinfecting the streets, stores and buildings go bravely on, and the
sanitary condition of the down portion of the town has been greatly
improved, and Mayor Jones stated to-day that there would be no let-
up in the work until the entire city was cleaned and disinfected. Dry
goods stores and clothing houses resemble great laundries, and every
available space is occupied with goods hung out to dry. Fortunately
the weather is clear, hot and dry for this purpose. Those merchants
whose stocks were but slightly damaged have done a rushing
business, and so have the restaurants whose stocks are very limited
and fresh meats difficult to obtain.
 EXTORTION A RARE EXCEPTION.
“Extortion is a rare exception, although the supply of food at
hotels and restaurants is limited. This will be overcome in a few days,
since all the railways terminating here have united upon one bridge
and are pushing the work night and day with a large force
reconstructing it, while their tracks are being restored on the island
and mainland by large forces, which it is confidently asserted will
give this stricken city rail communication by Wednesday next.
“If this is done it will relieve the existing situation wonderfully.
All supplies are now brought in by boat, and these, being principally
for the sick and absolutely destitute, are being distributed with
dispatch. The injured and sick, under the thorough system
inaugurated by the Board of Health and local physicians, aided by
volunteers from the outside, are receiving every care and attention,
and are doing as well as could be under the circumstances, which are
being improved daily.
“All churches in the city, either being wrecked or ruined, with
but one or two exceptions, divine services were in most cases
suspended. Mass was celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral this morning
and was largely attended. Father Kirwin preached a feeling sermon,
at which he spoke of the awful calamity that had befallen the people.
After expressing sympathy for the afflicted and distressed, he advised
not to lose confidence, for back of them the humanity of the world
stands with relief; to hope for the future and build a more secure, a
larger and better city.
“This young priest has done yeoman service in relieving and
caring for the wounded, comforting the bereaved and burying the
dead. Bishop Gallagher, who has also been earnest and active in his
efforts, is in receipt of a telegram from Archbishop Corrigan, of New
York, stating that his diocese would see that all Roman Catholic
orphans sent to his care would be provided for. To-morrow a census
of the Roman Catholic people will be begun to ascertain the number
of widows and orphans caused by the storm, and the exact number of
families that perished.
 “The Grand Lodge Committee of Odd Fellows were here to-day
and organized local relief committees to look after and care for the
sick and destitute of that order, for whom an appeal has been sent to
the lodges of the United States for relief.”
 SOUTHERN PACIFIC AT GALVESTON TO
STAY.
“Galveston, September 16.—The news which was printed here
this morning in the shape of a personal telegram from Vice-President
Huntington, of the Southern Pacific, that that road is not to abandon
Galveston, has created intense satisfaction, and has materially
accelerated the movement for the speedy reconstruction of the city.
“Mr. Huntington’s telegram was to Mr. A. H. Belo, of the
Galveston and Dallas News, and read: ‘I see it reported that we are to
abandon our work at Galveston. Nothing is further from our
thoughts. We expect to resume work there as soon as we can. You
can assure the people to that effect.’
“Dr. W. H. Blount, State Health Officer, to-day printed a
statement showing that no apprehensions are justified that sickness
will result from the overflow just experienced. He shows that in 1867,
in the midst of the widespread epidemic of yellow fever, a severe
storm occurred at Galveston in the early days of October, resulting in
a deposit over a greater portion of the city of slimy mud. Not only did
no sickness result, but the cyclonic disturbance cut short the yellow
fever epidemic, and but few cases of fever occurred thereafter. In
1875 and 1886, when there were severe storms and no overflow, no
increase in sickness occurred.
“Several thousand men are at work clearing away the debris on
the beach. One hundred and fifty bodies were discovered in the
wreckage and burned Friday. No attempt is now being made to
identify recovered bodies. Indeed, most of them are found naked and
mutilated beyond recognition. A New York relief train has arrived
with a number of physicians and nurses and a large supply of
provisions, which were distributed. Every effort is being made by the
postal authorities to receive and distribute mail. No city delivery has
yet been arranged for, and all who expect letters are requested to call
at the Postoffice. No mail is being collected from the letter boxes.
“In some quarters of the city the Water Works Company is
serving customers on the second stories. This is taken as indicating
the rapid headway being made in putting the plant again in
operation. The Street Railway Company suffered a loss of a quarter
of a million, and its entire system is torn to pieces. An effort is to be
made temporarily to operate cars with mules.
 ENCROACHMENTS OF THE SEA.
“The residents of Galveston are plucky in the extreme in their
determination to rebuild and make Galveston a greater and better
city than it has ever been before, but in one direction, at least, they
have suffered a loss that is beyond repair, and that lies in the extent
of the territory wrested from them by the storm. The waters of the
Gulf now cover about 5,300,000 square feet of ground that was
formerly a part of Galveston. This loss has been suffered entirely on
the south side of the city, where the finest residences were built,
facing the gulf, and where land was held at a higher valuation than in
any other part of the city.
“For three miles along the shore of the Gulf this choice residence
property extended, but the shore line was so changed by the storm
that at low tide the water is 350 feet higher along the entire three
miles. In the eastern part of the city there are places where 350 feet is
less than the actual amount of ground taken from the city. It is a fair
estimate, however, for the entire distance. The foundation pillars of
the Beach Hotel now stand in the water. Before the storm there was a
beach in front of the hotel site nearly 400 feet wide. There is no
possibility of any of this land being reclaimed.
 A MORE HOPEFUL FEELING.
“A more hopeful feeling is observable everywhere here, and the
situation is brightening rapidly. The State Health Officer, Dr. Blunt,
believes that there is now no danger of an epidemic. The city Board
of Health held a meeting yesterday and adopted a resolution voicing
the same views. Emergency hospitals have been established in every
ward for the treatment of the sick and wounded.
“The Ursuline Convent has been converted into a great general
hospital for the reception and care of patients who are seriously ill,
with a full corps of physicians and trained nurses. All public and
private hospitals are filled to their capacity with sufferers. Medical
supplies are still much needed.
“Banks and some other branches of business have resumed.
Others are actively preparing to resume. Preparations for rebuilding
are already going on in the business part of the city. The railways and
the wharf front are being rapidly cleaned of debris. The telegraph
and telephone companies are rushing their work. The Western Union
has five wires strung to their downtown office. The Postal will have
some up soon, and the full telegraphic service is expected to be re-
established by the close of the week. The cable connection has not yet
been restored. Business on the floor of the Cotton Exchange will not
be re-established for three weeks. The Exchange Building was partly
unroofed by the storm.
“Many dead are reported as being yet unburied, especially in the
extreme west part of the city. The interment and cremation of human
bodies and the carcasses of animals is being vigorously prosecuted.
Only about six houses remain between South Galveston and the city
limits. Of probably 1000 persons living down the island, at least one-
third were lost. There are 200 bodies on the beach between the Mott
place and the city limits. Eighteen persons in this neighborhood got
together and began burying the dead yesterday. They are out of
provisions.
“Daily papers and illustrated papers have been most energetic in
taking photographs of the Galveston disaster. The town is under
military law, and the people are not inclined to brook photographers.
Three photographers who ventured out yesterday had their
instruments smashed and themselves pressed into service burying
dead bodies.
“So much progress has been made here towards the
rehabilitation of Galveston, and so harmoniously are the various
forces working, that General McKibben, who was ordered here with
his staff to assist the authorities, has decided that his presence is no
longer necessary, and he has made arrangements to leave for
Houston. After having largely assisted in the restoration of local
confidence, the withdrawal of General McKibben is taken to mean
that little is to be done here but to take care of the distressed until
normal business conditions have been resumed. In this connection
the information was made public through the local representatives of
the Federal authorities yesterday that the War Department will
undertake as soon as possible the restoration of its property at this
point.
 RAILROAD CAPITAL TO BE EMPLOYED.
“Dispatches quoting Eastern financiers on the future of
Galveston are read with much interest. The idea, however, that the
status of the city will be changed finds no local adherents. The
various railroads entering here have determined to assist the citizens
of Galveston to the full extent of their ability in rebuilding the city.
Colonel L. J. Polk of the Santa Fe has received a very enthusiastic
and encouraging message from the headquarters of the road,
declaring confidence in Galveston, urging the business community to
proceed at once to the work of reconstruction, and promising every
help in their power. As a result of the receipt of the message, Colonel
Polk said yesterday:
“The railroad interests have decided to combine their forces in
order to rebuild as quickly as possible a bridge from Virginia Point to
Galveston. A large number of men will go to work in the morning
with this end in view. You may say to the country that in six days a
bridge will have been built, and trains will be running over it. I have
had a consultation with the wharf interests, and they have promised
us that they will be prepared to handle ingoing and outgoing
shipments by the time the bridge is finished. The bridge we will build
will be of substantial but temporary character. We will subsequently
replace it with a more enduring structure. There is no reason why
Galveston ought not commercially to resume normal conditions in
ten days.”
 MEDICAL COLLEGE SHATTERED.
“Colonel Prather, President of the Board of Regents of the
Medical College here, and Colonel Breckinridge, a member of the
Board, were among the late arrivals yesterday. They met General
McKibben, and were driven to the institution. They found the
building in a badly shattered condition, but on their return it was
announced that the college would be immediately reconstructed by
private beneficence if the State was unable to bear the cost.
“Large gangs have been at work in the business district, and
splendid progress in clearing away debris has been made. The street
car company has a large force of men at work cutting wires,
removing obstructions, and putting their track in condition.”
The News correspondent telegraphs as follows from Houston:
“Inquiries as to the loss of life and property continue to pour in. The
list will never be known. There have been already handled on the
Galveston island, and along the bay shores of the mainland opposite
the island, about 4000 corpses. The long stretch of debris along the
beach and the western part of the island has not yet been heard from.
The prairies of the mainland over which the waters rushed have also
their tales to tell. I should say, after investigation, that a conservative
estimate of the loss of life in Galveston would be 8000. The names of
thousands of victims will never be known. They have simply passed
out of existence. As to the property loss, it is hard to make an
estimate. Colonel Lowes’s estimate of $15,000,000 to $20,000,000
is conservative.”
 GALVESTON’S DISTRESSING APPEAL
RENEWED.
Austin, Tex., September 15.—Governor Sayers last night received
the following official report from Mayor Jones, of Galveston, as to
conditions there:

“Hon. Joseph D. Sayers, Governor: After the fullest possible

investigation here we feel justified in saying to you, and through you
to the American people, that no such disaster has overtaken any
community or section in the history of our country. The loss of life is
appalling, and can never be accurately determined. It is estimated at
5000 to 8000 people. There is not a home in Galveston that has not
been injured, while thousands have been destroyed. The property
loss represents accumulations of sixty years, and more millions than
can be safely stated. Under these conditions, with 10,000 people
homeless and destitute, with the entire population under a stress and
strain difficult to realize, we appeal directly in the hour of our great
emergency to the sympathy and aid of mankind.
“Walter Jones, Mayor.”
 GREAT ANXIETY FOR FRIENDS.
Memphis, Tenn., September 15.—The following telegram from
Mayor Jones, of Galveston, was received here to-day:

“To the Associated Press, Memphis, Tenn.: I am in receipt of

thousands of telegrams offering assistance and inquiring about
absent friends and relatives. All of these have been promptly
answered, but restricted communication has probably served to
cause delay in transmission and delivery. The telegraphic companies
are doing all in their power to restore prompt communication with
the outside world, and have already partially succeeded, and I am
assured that within the next few days normal conditions with
reference to telegraphic communication will prevail.
“The situation in Galveston has been in most instances
accurately reported, and the distress of the people is great. Galveston
and vicinity need at once the assistance of all people. Remittances of
money should be made to John Sealy, Treasurer Relief Committee,
acknowledgment of which will be made.
“Walter C. Jones, Mayor.”