Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-09-13
CALVESTON'S HORROR.
The Loss Of Life Estimated at Two
r- to Five Thousand.

The Loss Of Life Estimated at Two
r to Five Thousand.
HALF A HUNDRED SHOT DEAD.
One of the Miscreants Had in His
PocketsTwenty-th three Fingers with
Rings ON Them-ReIief Committee
Impressine Men to Clear wrecIage
Galveston, Tex. Sept. 10. The
wreck of Galveston was brought
about by tempest so terrible that no
words can adequately describe It's in
tensity, and by flood which turned
the city into raging sea. The weather
bureau records show that the wind at
tanned velocity of 81 miles an hour
when the measuring instruments blew
away, so 1t is impossible to tell what
was the maximum.
The storm began at 2 o'clock Satur-
day morning Previous to that a great
storm had been raging in the gulf, and
the tide was very high. The wind at
first came from the south, and was in
direct opposition to the force from the
gulf While the storm in the gulf
piled the water upon the beach side of
the city the next wind piled the water
from the bay on to the bay part Of the
city.
About noon 1t became evident that
the city was going to be visited with
disaster. Hundreds of residences along
the beach front were hurriedly aban-
doned, the families fleeing to dwellings
in higher portions of the city. Every
home was opened to the refugees. black
or white. The storm continued with
out ceasing until 1:45 Sunday morn
ing, and the work of havoc continued,
the flooding of the electric light and
gas plants leaving the city in darkness.
During all this time the citizens were
like rats in a trap, for to leave a house
was to drown. In most cases the
water In the streets was ten feet deep.
When the waters had subsidized and
the citizens were enabled to reach the
streets horrible sights were met with
on every hand, hundreds of dead being
discovered In the streets and in the
wrecks OF buildings. Many whole FAM
lilies were swept away or crushed to
death in falling buildings. while in
numberless instances only one of q
family was left.
Communication has now been re-
established between the island and the
f,,Io kxo1 n&of lon
Of supplies will be less difficult. The
work Of clearing the city is progress
ing fairly well and Adjutant General
Scurry, under direction of the mayor,
Is patrolling the city for the purpose
Of preventing depredations. The most
conservative estimate as to the num-
Der of deaths places them at 1000. but
Mayor Jones estimates the loss of life
In and around Galveston at 5000.
Contributions from citizens Of THIS
state and also from other states are
coming in rapidly and literally, and it
is confidently expected that within the
next ten days the work of restoration
by the people of Galveston will have
begun In good earnest and with energy
and success OF course the destruction
of property has been very great-not
less than $4,000. O06-but it is hoped
and believed that even this great loss
will be overcome through the energy
and self reliance Of the people.
Reports from various points along
the gulf coast indicate that there has
been great property damage done for
several hundred miles. and that the list
of Galveston fatalities and suffering
will be largely augmented.
At a meeting of the Galveston relief
committee yesterday reports we're re-
ceiyed from the various wards. The
chairman called for armed men to as
sist In getting labor to bury the dead
and clear the wreckase, and arrange
ments were made to supply this de-
mand The situation In the city Is that
there are plenty of volunteers for this
service, but an insufficiency Of arms.
There have been two or three small
riots. but the officers have managed to
eaan them The committee rejected
the proposition Of trying to pay for
work. letting the laborers secure their
own rations. It was decided to go
ahead impressing men into service, II
necessary. issuing orders for fations
only to those who worked or were I'M
able to work All of the ward chair
men reported the imperative need of
disinfectants in the city, including the
lime which escaped wetting, and to OBJ
tain more.
Orders were issued to the soldiers
and police to kill any person caught in
the act of robbing the dead Up to
Tuesday morning seven negro van
dals had paid the penalty OF their
crimes with their lives. They were
shot dead and their bodies carted away
with the dead victims OF the storm
Adjutant General Scurry's men have
arrested a hundred negroes, forty
three OF whom were found with effects
taken from bodies. These were order
ed tried by court martial. They were
convicted and ordered shot One negro
had % fingers with rings on them in
his pockets.