The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-09-17
TWO HUNDRED
DEAD IN TEXAS
CONTINUED from page j.

4 (SOulluuSu lAohA Pot3o ~
were patrolling the streets tn a rair
! which was falling this morning.
| The Corpus Christie company OF the
| Texas national guard was assisting II
relief work. :.
/ Three relief trains have arrived
Brown said, and the 1000 refugees
now in or near the city, have been
provided with food and clothing
| Trains came from Brownsville, san
Antonio, and Laredo. All. planes wcfe
securing the coast near The city 1oi
bodies and possible marooned surVi
! vors. ~.
Towns Severely Damaged.
LAREDO, Texas, Sept. l7.-Trav-
elers arriving here today report the
| tropical storm which swept the gull
Sunday severely damaged the towns
of Benavides. San Diego and Alice IN
Duval and Jim Wells counties.
Many houses were unrooIed, barns
destroyed, fences leveled and the
cotton crop ruined. The hurricane
was accompanied by the heaviestt
rain in years. A wind velocity OF
sixty miles an hour was recorded.
Trains operated on the Texas.Mexl-
can railway as far as Alice today.
Searching in Wreckase.
/ SINTON, Texas, Sept. 17.-Tfred
workers today began search OF the
wreckage of villages along the north
shore of Nueces bay, where it is be-
Ilieved several bodies VIII be found.
The total bodies recovered in this
district up to this morning was sew
ienty-seven. Scroes OF people from
the villages of Whitepoint, Western
Portland and Odom still are unac-
counted for.
Many children are among the dead.
Bodies of twenty-nine women and
children were buried in single
grave last night.
City Of Sorrow.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas. Sept.
Il7.-Chilling intermittent rainfall to-
day added to the sufferrngs of thou
sands of refugees in devastated
Texas coast counties, struck by a
hurricane and tidal wave Sunday,
Military authorities, under com,
mand of Colonel Porter, of Fort SaLl
Houston, proceeded with the work Ct
clearing away debris. which choked
streets.
Corpus Christi presented scene
of dreary, confused activity. Pa'rols
of soldiers sloshed to and fro through
THE rain and mud Workmen. who
had labored through the night, hep;
doggedly at their task of clealiDg
AWAY the ruins.
Now and then little procession
bearing blackened and bruised body
would make its way to the temper
larry morgue in the court house
Groups of women, many with crying
children tugging at their skirts, wan
ldered aimlessly about the morguns
trying in vain to identify the bodies
of loved ones.
Authorities were forced to deal
tQuickly with the sanitary situation
land several bodies had to be buried
Immediately.
Along the gulf coast airplanes
whirred through the mist and rain
Isktmning low along the drift strewn
Isandy beaches, in search OF bodies
IBloated carcasses Of cattle and sheep
and hogs were strewn along the
shores, or lodged in trees and brush.
The people generally presented a
grim courage in the face of the dis
aster. True to the traditions from
the pioneer Texans from whom most
Of them are descended, they were al
ready planning the rehabilitation of
the city.
Aid had begun to pour in from the
state. Four relief trains brought ad.
ditional troops, clothes, tents, food
and blankets. The military is pre-
pairing to care for the refugees in a
systematically operated camp.
Complete figures on the toll of the
gulf wave and hurricans were still
lacking. United Press reports from
throughout the stricken counties,
however, indicated the dead probably
mot more than two hundred.
First reports from Duval and Jim
Wells counties, which reached here
today, indicate no lives lost in that
section, but three towns damaged, the
cotton crop ruined and many build
ings wrecked.
/ Two aviators, patrolling the border,
believed lost in the gale, were report.
ed safe. They landed north Of La
redo and proceeded back in their
plane to Eagle Pass.
Roy Brown, former mayor Of Cor.
pus Christi, and chairman of the re.
lief committee, today issued an ap-
peal through the United Press for
financial aid.
Boats Are Missing.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Sept. 17.-Pa.
troll boats of the Texas Fish, Game
and Oyster department, are missing
end 1t is feared some of the wardens
may have been drowned.
| Joe Williams and Harry Raymond,
wardens at Arkansas Pass, have not
been seen since the storm. Wreck
age Of their boat was found on the
| beach.
| Dispatches from Austin today said
Governor Hobby had ordered one
hundred additional Texas national
guardsmen modified at San Antonio