The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1900-09-20
A GRAPHIC LETTER
Hon Philip Z. Peers Writes His Brother,
Mr.. l.. X. Peers, About The
Galveston Storm.

u
dillou OF affairs In the Coast Country
! will fvTee myself 10 the task. Word,
are inadequate to fully describe the
horrible scenes through which have
passed IN the last three days. Tho
Scriptural quotation, IL viii sweep It
with the bc,om Of destruction" i. 81
literal in is present application as to
be constantly Ia my mind
went down 10 Galveston on Satur.
day last, to attend court, aud was
caught In this terrific West lndia
storm cannot describe the terror,
the absolute horror Of the scene. -
/ Inmates place the loss of human life
between 5000 aud 1000. The city
I IS q wreck, the best buildings are piles
Of rubbish covering the remains Of
scores Vt human beings. bay and
night the organized citizens pas, to the
mUrgue, with every wheeled vehicle at
command piled up With the bloalcd
/ corpsCs Of men, women aud children,
almost nude ftom the hcrce gatherings
Of the elements. Ga the first day they
gathered 5000, and of those only 10
plain sight; but from Tue water front
you can sec hundreds passing with the
tide 10 the sea, food for fishes. They
make no effort to gather 10 the iloat-
cr,, a. those In their midst must be
quickly disposed Of un account Of the
speedy decomposition aud to ward OFF
4 pc,tiicuce
Organized bands are 10 every dircc-
ton burying those whom they can,
while those large cotton floats haul
them 10 the wharf, and on bargcs they
are ,owed out into the gulf aud dis
posed Of with scaut ceremony. There
Is no time for ceremony, and ideullfi-
cation Is impossible The depths Of
the guilt mist hold them until the last
trumpet l. sounded The quest for
friends and relatives will go on for
months aud The aggrrg ,te increasing
/ The southern portion OF the island Is
swept clean Of people, houses and
stock There b. nothing on the beach
but wrcckagc and corpscs. Hundreds
Of puluiy ing bodic, Of animals are add.
Ing 10 that Of human bolis, add Il j.
sIrkruiug. ! met many friend, On the
street and the first exclamation would
be, 90, PHI, have lost ali Of my
family"
hUew The main land was suffering
10 proportion, and made every effort
10 get home, only succeeding through
the kindness Of a friend. Monday night,
who landed me at Virginia Point.
Not The remnant Of house remains
there: and from there walked to
Lnmlrgur, is . miles, 10 the night,
but had TO ~ im aud wade every bayou,
ditch aud cuiycIt, rs even the road
bed, and iron are washed away, aud
the heavy engine, are iu the prairie
he water a, the Point was fifteen feet
deep, aud the land Is uow covered
with humln bodies aud animal. in an
adv tuccd stage of decomposition.
COVE, horses, mules, hogs, sheep,
goats, dogs, poultry, rabbit, and even
tat, lag IA huge CHASTITY piles; MI de-.
-crpllon- pi furniture aad household
goods, Hud | counted - pilnos. A.
that bfichyard near the Point there
were 30 unburicd bodies yesterday.
Walking On the road that night I
found q dead boy and near him a Young
baby, and further on man, washed
there from some devastated home. An
along the road I could sec By tho
bright moon cottages aud culhouscs Of
the farmers Frustrated Nat aud no
living pcts1n in sight, aud finally on
teaching Dickinson found II like all
other places, - wreck; but ono house
escaped. sud that was the old store II
MIR Lucy Mrs, CAty's partially
The exposition building Is mass Of
sPhnters and the picuic grounds are
completely destroyed Ia every di.
rcction Is ruin aud distress.
was so completely tagged out that
| could not get home, aud laid down
on Lucy's door until morning, and 10
the morning scnt for my buggy. The
pine woods soon showed me the terri.
bic effect OF the wind, and It was with
great difficulty | could get home at all
| found my place In an extremely sorry
pNght--ihe roof OF the house ripped
off In numerous places aud the win
dOws smashed in The chimney fell
upon the dining room, crushing In the
roof, and everything was flooded with
water all over the house. The house
iteli, you know is au unusually strong
one, and Stood the pressure, bat Is ca
reened 10 one side and the doors aud
windows will not shut. The out.
houses, barns, etc, all served In the
same manner. All fencing. sheds.
etc, fat; the fine old oaks uprootcd,
twisted on or stripped of limbs aud
foliage, 10 the pasture and front. The
boat house was pulled up "by the
roots" carried out 10 the woods pas
ture and smashed; have never seen
trace of the boat. lost all Of the
crops; the sugar cane was literally
thrashcd into threads, corn and all
vegetables shayen from the ground.
The wciCr was all around the house.
Have not found my cattle set; muI,s
and horses safe.
Uric Is now patching up the roof
and his little Dutch wife Is trying to
straighien up the wreckage inside, dry.
ing beds, hanging out clothing and
wiping off furniture; but as look
around upon the grea, destruction. [
have not the heart to attempt is re-
construction again. Your room was
less injured than the others, being far
Their from the direct line OF the wind
aud thus partially protected The
weather bureau try TO teach vs. that