The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-15
ON THE BEACH


Notwithstanding the fact that the num-
Der of boats carrying passengers from
Galveston has been largely increased, 1t
was impossible yesterday to leave the
city after the early morning hours. and
hundreds of men, women and children,
all anxious to depart, suffered great in
convenience and hardship, and were af-
ter all compelled to sleep upon the beach
at Texas City waiting for the morning
There is but one steamboat plying across
Galveston bay which is able to carry
passengers in any number, and even this
boat Is able to make the trip only with
extreme caution on account of the shall
lowness of the bay. Yesterday morning
somebody lacked something of being eau
uous In the extreme, and the Lawrence,
after jamming her nose into the mud,
remained aground all day Her passen-
gers were taken off In small boats, but
all day long the Lawrence remained hard
and fast aground. This compelled an
those who were unable to come on the
first trip of the Lawrence to trust them
selves to sailboats and by noon dozen
of them, heavily loaded, started from
Galveston for Texas City, where the fleet
was scattered over Galveston bay by a
distance of between one mile and three
miles. The wind died away utterly.
There was not a puff of air. -
The boats could neither go on to Texas
City, nor return te Galveston, and all
through the afternoon they lay motion
less upon the CLASSY water None of
them had more than a meager supply of
water and no food, as the trip ordinarily
does not require above an hour. The
supply of water was soon exhausted,
the sun beat down with a merciless Sc
verify, and in short time babies and
children, who were about little else than
babies, became ili.aand In many instanc-
es their mothers were also Frustrated.
There was absolutely no relief to be had.
as the tugs of Galveston bay, which
might have given the sloops power, are
made for deep sea work and draw too
much water to allow of their crossing
the shallow channel. Hour after hour
the people in the boats, all of which were
densely packed were compelled to broil
in the torturing.i binding sun, without
the slightest current of air to render
their situation bearable. All the AFTERNOON
they were becalmed and a slight breeze
arising in the evening, at 9 o'clock
at night the sailing craft, which had
left Galveston at noon, began to dump
their passengers upon the beach at Tex
as City.
TEXAS CITY A MEMORY.
This place, never worthy of notice upon
any map, Is now among the things that
once were. There is no house no tents.
no accommodations of any kind save a
few passenger coaches standing upon
the railroad tracks, These were speedily
filled, and for the balance of the night
women and children, ali hungry, and the
latter crying for food, were compelled
to remain on the beach. An urgent mes
sage was sent to the railroad people at
Houston, saying that women and chill
dren were suffering and asking them to
hurry train to Texas City for the pur-
pose of conveying the refugees to Hous-
ton. No reply was received, and when a
train whose crew knew nothing of the
existing conditions at Texas City APP
peared, the announcement was made
that 1t would not go before morning
The crowd already at Texas City was
more than enough to aH the train to the
limit but Notwithstanding determined
to allow the Lawrence to attempt once
more the perils Of the mud and await
another consignment of refugees.
1t was fully twenty hours after their
start from Galveston that the people
who left there at noon were able to move
out from Texas City, which is only eight
miles away, and blythe time the train
had made a start for Houston every
woman in the crowd was i'll through lack
of food, exposure and Insufficient sleep