The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-09-28

$1,000 tAS 80 NY
that h horrors are even nue. worse
than hitherto reported He states that
great drifts of sand. on which were
piled the remnants of houses. corpses
and lead animals were to be seen all
along the bayou from Houston to
Galveston He states that not one
half h story has been told. and that
the actual horrors were five times
worse than they have been depicted"
Can Galveston ever again rise from
its ashes'-from its vast p~rostration
and ruin? The Houston Post Of last
Sunday printed the names Of all b
killed whose bodies have thus far been
recovered, and they numbered 1867 up
to that day. The Post IS doing its
very best to secure a perfect list. 1t
knows Of 500 who were in Galveston
the night Of the storm who have not
been heard from So whether living or
dead is not now known. The list Is
fearful. The Messenger suggested sew
eral days that the losses were
in recent wars all combined-in Cuba,
Philippines and China The Post
thinks many strangers were lost whose
names have not been received. 1t says
touchingly:
1T is one of the saddest reflections
that arises from this stcrm that un-
q~uestionably hundreds, if not thou
sands, have had their existence blotted
put without leaving a a behind,
that ever name as we'll as life has
hn0n CNHrQ w I'M IN Oblivion 0nh nf
whose fate no man can ever know
more than that they have disappeared
completely from the haunts Of men.
If IN proof were wanting of the un-
iversal interest in this catastrope IL
could be found in the eagerneSS with
which people in all parts Of the United
States and abroad are seeking these re-
been preparing"
The Post publishes a map OF Calves
ton hat covers one of Its large pages,
showing the destruction by the storm.
The area that has swept out of exist
n practically is plainly given and
covers about 1900 acres. The estimat-
ed number of dwellings, hotels,
totally destroyed will reach 1000. The
property losses will aggregate $25, 0O0,-
900. The total storm insurance is not
more than $40, 900. 1t is indeed a most
pitiful story that will appeal to every
sympathetic, tender soul. In Sundays
Messenger the appeal of Mayor Jones
and Others of the relief committee was
read. 1t asks for funds to relieve the
great distress still pressing upon the
people there. 1t says and men of
means Inc all others should give what
they can:
1.-The homeless will still be without
shelter when this is done.
Some kinds of homes, be they ever
so humble, must be provided for the
10000 people 10Y huddled in ruined
houses, public places and improviSed
camps, to the end that they may not
become pauperS, but may speedily set
UP their households wherein repoSe all
that is best and noblest in American
life"
The brilliant Henry Watterson, edi-
tor of the Louisville Courier-Journal,
writes out little it is stated-only
about once a month. His latest dash
in description is upon the rebuilding Of
Galveston-upon the unfailing pluck
and undimned exuberance of the people
there. 1t is all clever work, semi-clas-
steal and dashing. We make al ex-
tract, but believe that the people will
only be too glad to be helped generous
ly in the great work of rebuilding, re-
habitating. He is writing of the people
declining to go on firm land and build.
He says:
They would not listen to it. To
some the very suggestion would come
as a kind of insult Man was made to
conquer nature, and, though nature
reused may take man at a disadvant-
age when she takes him u~nprepared,
yet man, when reused, when warned
and ready, awake and alert, is more
than a match for nature. 1t is the
sense Of this that has already taken
hold of the heart of Galveston. 1t is
this that nerves the hand and drives
the wheels which fill her streets with
the echoes of life and hope. 1t is this
hat calls the mourners back. 1t is
this that will make her live again.
Idle to reaSOn with it may who would
wish TO reason with it, save one bereft
of human sympathy, callous to the
admiration, leaf to the enthusiasm
which brave men feel for brave men;
which all the world must feel toward
men lnuS nODly, plOuSly racing Q1SaS-
ter, and death-in-life coming to their
own again; literally digging theiI
homes from out the graves of their
dead and planting the signals of a
glorious future over wha was but a
charnel house rife with despair?
60 on GalveSton! Angels watch
over your loved and lost whilst you
labor for the living. God in his in
finite mercy knows how to temper the
wind to the shorn lamb. May the very
seagulls bring you strength and hope!"
The newspapers have done their
part nobly, handsomely, sympathet-
ically.