The Portland daily press., 1900-09-13

Galveston, September 10, 8 p, m. via
Houston-N1i N1idnight-Attempts at bury
ing the dead at Galveston have been ut-
terIy abandoned and bodies are now be-
ing disposed of in the swiftest manner
possible. Scores of them were buried
today and hundreds were taken out to
sea and thrown overheard. The safety Of
the living is now the paramount question
and nothing that viii tend to prevent
the outbreak of an awful pestilence is be-
ing neglected.
This morning. 1t was found that large
numbers of tn ) bodies which had been
previously thrown into the bay were
washed back upon the shore and the stu
alton was then rendered worse than be-
fore they were first taken in the barees
and thrown into the water. 1t will now
never be known how many have lost their
lives in this awful catastrophe Esti-
mates run all the way from 1000 to TO-,
0O0. The former figure is given by Lieut..
Perry, aide of Gen. McKibben;s staff.
The number OF dead bodies along the
shore according to Lieut.. Perry has been
somewhat over estimated and he says
that 1000 is a conservative estimate. His
estimate is laughed at by a number of
men who have been in Galveston and re-
turned early in he week, they claiming
that at least $500 bodies were buried or
carried to sea in barges before Lieut..
Perry arrived.
No list of the dead has been kept and
it will be utterly impossible to formulate
one from now on. Mayor Jones of Gal
weston claims that the dead will amount
to 5000 and others whose opportunities
for judging are less than that of the
mayor place it as high as 10000. Relief
committees from the interior of ths state
have commenced to arrive and as usual,
they are much too large in numbers and
to a certain extent, are in the way of
the people of Galveston and an impedi-
ment to the prompt relief which they
themselves are so desirOus of offering.
Some of the relief expeditions have had
committees large enough to consume
ten per cent of the provisions which
they brought. The relief sent here from
Beaumont, Texas, arrived this morning
and was distributed as fast as possible.
1t consisted of two carloads of ice and
provisions and came by way of Port
Arthur. The great trouble now seems
to be that these people who are in great
est need, through no fault Of those in
charge of the distribution are the last to
receive aid. Many of them are so badly
MANNED and wounded that they are un-
able to apply to the relief committee
by direct applications that they have
been unable to send out messengers.
The wounded everywhere are still need
ing the attention of physicians and de-
spite every effort it is feared that a num-
Der of them will die from the sheer
physical impOssi bility to afford them the
aid necessary to save their lives. Every
man in Galveston who is able to walk
and work is engaged in the relief work
with all the energy of which he is cap
able. But despite their utmost endeavors
they can't keep up with the increase of
the miserable conditions which surround
them. Water can be obtained by able
bodied men, but with great difficulty.
DR.. Wallace Shaw of Houston, who is
busily engaged in the relief work, said
tonight there were 200 people in ST.
Marys infrmary without water. They
had been making coffee of salt water and
taking that as their only beverage.
VeryelIttle stealing was reported today
and there were no killing. The num-
ber of men shot down yesterday for rob-
bing the dead proved a salutatory lesson
and 1t is not expected that there will be
any more occurrences of the sort.
The soldiers of the regular army and
Of the national guard are guarding
property and it is impossible for thieves
to escape detection
The loss of life among the regular army
stationed at the barracks at the beach