The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-09-13

OF private messages TO the 0lIeauN
eougested wires,
GALVESTON, Tex. Sept l2-To-
dav supplies began to arrive, but so
meagre are the facilities that the
amounts could not be handled, There
are thousands hungry here now they
have something to eat. but the food
gives no nourishment. II is soaked
with water and provisions which have
been treated to bath are not very
palatable.
The provisions that reached here to-
! DAY came from Houston by steamer.
but there are so many to feed that It
lid not go far. A crowd quickly gath
cred. and they were distributed In a
short time, Many hurried away with
! what they got. TO their families; others
got cooked food and ate il where they
were.
The situation does not look so bad
now that relief has actually come and
moro Is IN the way. but Il Is hot meant
to he said that further relief is not
needed This Is not question Of a day
but OF many days 1t may be two
weeks before a train gets in here.
There is much to be done, the first
thing being the establishment OF rig
id system OF Issuing supplies. The nu-
oleus has already been formed, and
the regular soldiers who are still alive
and a number OF citizens have been
sworn in as policemen and are attend
ing to the issuing Of rations and di-
rectlnE the efforts Of the searchers for
the dead and injured. As for cloth
ing many have the money to buy and
those who have not are being given
their necessarles by the relief commit
tee. but more clothing is necessary and
especially for women and children. who
are the principal sufferers
The Head are still being searched out
and buried. some Of them in the sea
and some Of them on the beach and
still others in the cemeteries. There
are no coffins left. People are knock
ing together pine boxes and getting
lumber from the ruins Of their homes
in which to hurry their dead They can
not take them to the cemeteries. so
they bury them within what was once
their yards. intending TO inter them in
cap,atarfa, aftar v,,attare hava au.p,n,ad
their normal aspect. The dead who
have no relatives left are treated with
scanty courtesy: there is no time for
ceremony and they are put into the
sand on the beach or into the gulf.
The injured are being taken care Of
as we'll as could be expected. Physl-
clans are on the go all the time. All
'rho were not badly hurt are being put
aside Temporarily for those who really
need the services OF doctors or sur
geors and those are so many that their
number cannot be computed with any
accuracy. OF the slightly hurt there
are some thousands. as the majority OF
the people found In the streets have
wounds or bruises Of some kind.
In the business portion Of the town
the dead have all been recovered. They
were not so numerous as in the out
skirts. People who are now being dug
uD were not drowned; they were gen.
orally killed oy falling houses. The
number Of dead at the orphanage was
not nearly so great as at first esi-
mated. The ruins Of the Terrace. a big
roOming building. have not produced
fifty dead. though II was said that there
were many more there. The exact !
number cannot be stated.
Peorle are arriving here from the !
outside and newspapers were brought !
in from Houston today.
The reports Of the destruction have !
not been exaggerated; If anything they |
are too conservative. Wreckage ex-
tends in every direction. Pieces Of !
houses. fences. clothing. telegraph and |
telephone poles block the streets; the |
water washed everything into heap |
and It is through this debris that a !
search is being made for the dead
The east end-all residences and small |
stores-is no more. 1t looks like lum-
Der yard which had been struck by
a furniture storm. In the Denver re-
survey there are few houses. but those /
are badly twisted. In the west end.
where the houses were not substantial. !
the damage amounts almost to to-
tality. There are undoubtedly a large
number Of dead in this district. In the
central portion Of the town, where the
wealthy neople lived. there is probab-
ly not one house out Of five but is COM
pletely ruined. All the houses that are
left standing are filled with the severe
ly injured, the rich and the poor occu-
pyink the same rooms In many in
stances.
Along the bay shore the devastation
wind is better appreciated when the
great timbers and piling are seen twist
ed and broken in two. Many Of the
residences that were blown inside out
have look Of frailness about them,
but here there Is solidity about this
wreckage that shows the terrible force
which must have been exerted to have
caused the damage.
A great steamer the Alamo, is jam
med hard and fast into the remains
Of the'pillng Of the wharf where she
was tied up. Out in the streams sis
ter ship. the Concho, lays after her
voyage from New York. The passen-
gers she has on board have not been