Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-09-20
Echoes of the Great Storm.

Twenty-Five vessels were wrecked at
| st. Johns n. F. by the great gale of last
| week, which divided in New York State
part Of it going to sea over the city and
part going over New England and New
Foundland
At Galveston, Friday, hundreds of the
dead were burned, and several persons
jumped into the funeral pyre in maniac
al despair. "Gone" was the sad word
used in Galveston. Some people lost all
their relations, and wandered about
wondering where they had lived.
Pictures of the streets of Galveston,
as they appeared Immediately after the
storm and food new appear in the illus
trated dailies. Galveston was a very
pretty town, with a large shipping
trade, and it will be rebuilt Off its
population of As, 900, 5000 were killed.
The area of total destruction was 1900
acres. There were 5000 dwellings,
hotels churches and couvents utterly de-
stroyed More than 1,500 bodies have
been burned The property loss is not
less than 100000 900. One hundred and
twenty-five men, most of them negroes,
were shot to death for robbing the dead.
Out of this disaster, unparalleled in
the history of the Nation, Galveston is
rising to reclaim her place among the
most prosperous of our cities. Her rail
roads have pledged themselves to aid in
rebuilding the city. Her merchants are
resolute to resume business. Her banks
are ready to assist in the re-establish-
ment of commerce and outside capital is
flowing in.
The one urgent need of the hour is not
money, but disenfectants by the ton, so
that workmen may bear to work among
the ruins
The ore-laden barge John B. Lyon sank
in Lake Erie, with eleven men. The
wind blew sixty miles an hour.
During the latter part of last week
twenty-five thousand people in Calves
ton were homeless, and the property loss
was estimated at twenty millions.
Many bodies were yet lying under the
wreckage. Relief was being forwarded
from all over the country, Pittsburg
sent $75, 900, Carnegie sent $4,000.
In all 125 men were shot for stealing,
some lived there and the others went
there from nearby places They were
caught robbing the dead-the ghouls of
week of woe and despair. Not tithe
of the story has reached the outside
world There were more executions
there in two days than in all the United
States in year.
Some few enjoyed their constitutional
privilege of drumhead court-martial,
with an army officer as dispenser Of
life or death. The most were shot
down as they robbed. Soldiers and
citizens alike had been clothed with this
authority-to kill anyone caught steal
ing from the dead or even the piles of
wreckage. One artillery sergeant killed
five men within the minute with his
Krag- -Jorgensen-a man for each Of the
five cartridges in his rifles magazine.
One citizen killed two negroes in the
twinkle of the eye-a barrel of his shot
gun for each.
In one batch of guilty ones were 43
men. Every man of them were shot to
his death after due court-martial. That
is the biggest execu ton ever known in
the United States
In the Bolivar lighthouse, which
stands 130 feet high on Bolivar Point
across the bay from Galveston, about
one hundred and twenty-five people
sought refuge from the storm. The
supply Of fresh water was soon exhaust
ed, and an effort was made TO secure
water by catching rain in buckets sus-
pended at the top of the lighthouse.
The experiment was a success in a way.
The bucket was soon filled with water,
but it was salty and could not be used.
Several attempts finally resulted in a
fresh-water supply sufficient to quench
the thirst Of the excited refugees. The
salt water spray was shot skyward over
one hundred and thirty feet, and ming
led with the rain water that fell in the
buckets