The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-10-21
AFFAIRS IN GALVESTON
NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE IMPERATIVE
AS WINTER APPROACHES.
Order Slowly Coming Out Of Chaos,
but Many Wants Yet Unsupplfed
Miss Barton's Appeal.


Correspondence OF the Indianapolis Journal
GALVESTON, Oct. IA month after
the storm the remnant Of Galvestonians
are really suffering more than in the first
days of loss and bewilderment- 1t is al
ways the same after any great calamity.
At first the people are too stunned TO
realize the full measure Of their distress
as a man with a broken leg, or bullet In
his flesh feels little pain for time, be-
cause of the overwhelming shock Strange
to say, even from the first more smiles
than tears have been seen in Galveston.
Soon as the survivors were able to creep
forth from such shelter as remained they
hurried into the streets to learn what had
happened to others. being almost as ig-
norant OF the extent of the catastrophe as
the outside world. In the blessed ignorance
heavens mercy was shown. If those who
We're battling for their lives in the waves,
praying at home while the walls were
crumblng around them, had known that
thousands of their neighbors were perish
ing frenzy would have taken the place OF
courage and the number of dead would
have been doubled. During those first days
citizens meeting on the streets, though
comparative strangers, grasped each others
hands ike bosom friends. and dialogues
such as this were common: $50 glad to
see you alive. Did you lose anything?"
"OnIy my house. thank God; everything
owned in the world is gone. but my family
was saved. How is it with you?" Every
thing gone-home wife and children"
People reported the loss of father.
mother, wife and children without a tear.
There were cases in which from half
dozen to eleven members of one family are
dead, and the sole survivor goes calmly
about his business. AT least misery has
plenty of the company which it is said to
love.
MUCH SUFFERING STILL.
For several days chilly winds have been
blowing across the gulf, accompanied by
rain and cold weather, which greatly In
creases the sufferings of the destitute
There is hardly roof in Galveston that
does not let the water in, drenching anew
the bedding that has just been so laborous-
ly dried while thousands would be abso-
lutely shelterless but for the bounty of
others. They are crowded into the houses
of their more fortunate friends, or packed
like herring in public halls. or living in
tents along the beach: and all are suffer
ing untold discomfort from insufficient
clothing and bed covering The danger
now is not so much of epidemic. as
was imminent while the sun poured his
hercest rays upon unburied bodies. as of
deaths from pneumonia, typhoid and other
fevers resulting from cold exposure. The
immediate crying need is for blankets,
stoves and warm underclothing, of which
IN
loads of clothing still continue to pour In
upon the Red Cross for distribution, but
most of it is old clothes-bedraggled finery
| than which nothing could be more inappro-
| pirate; and much is SO worn and dirty that
| to offer it is an insult to these unfortunate
| ladies and gentlemen, who enjoyed all COM
| forts of life until deprived of them in a
night. Perhaps the sending of useless
| trash gives to the donors something of
| that satisfying feeling of having lent to
| the Lord, but 1t does no good at this end
of the line. and piles up on the workers
burdens too heavy to be borne in silence.
| Merchants of many cities have sent US
! generous consignments of goods-mostly
unstable articles, shopworn or out of
| fashion, but new and useful: and in every
| instance they have been very thankfully
received. If the good people of the coun-
| try would only consider and put themselves
in imagination in the place of these their
donations would be less in quantity. but
more to the purpose
LIVING IN TENTS
| Galveston's new white city, consists of
several hundreds tents. set up near the
| beach on the broad swath which the storm
swept clean of so many beautiful dwellings
| On one side of it is ridge of debris more
than mile long and from ten to forty
/ feet high-roofs. chimneys, splintered tim
bers, houses smashed to atoms. On the
| other side the gulf ripples softly on the
| sands, as If innocent of mischief; though
| dancing white-caps further out hint that
| its awful work of death and destruction
may any day be renewed In these tents
more than a thousand people are enduring
life as best they can. The wind flaps open
| their doors, rain beats in,
| and mothers and children huddle to-
gether for warmth; and lucky is
| the family which has one thin
cotton bed blanket to cover the whole of it.
Such trials come hardest upon those at
either extreme of life-the aged and little
children. Many deaths will surely result
from the present mild ''norther,'' which
would hardly be felt in normal times, when
people were in their comfortable homes,
| with the conveniences OF life about them
There was a distribution of gasoline stoves
as long as those useful articles held out:
| but there were not enough to count as more
than drop in the bucket Wood stoves
| have arrived in considerable number, but
OF course not nearly enough to go around
among the destitute There are very few
chimneys left in Galveston and pipes are
thrust through windows or side walls or
the stove set up in the open air. There is
wreckage enough to last the city whole
year for fuel. bit great must be exer-
cised in the burning of 1t or a general can
| iagration will sweep what remains of the
city. Some of the people living In the tents
| have been able TO find remnants of their
own furniture. and with these they have
| made their canvas dwellings as homelike as
| possible. Others lost all, but found here
and there among the debris broken table.
| a chair and other needed articles which
they have patched up and are using In their
| temporary abodes. While the hot weather
| lasted this strange settlement was perhaps
| the most healthful portion of Galveston.