of Houston ordered Houston military companies here, sixty-five men and officers came. Thirty more come to-morrow. Mayor of Galveston directed me to take command. Streets patrolled for purpose of preventing thieving. Work of clearing the city progressing fairly well.
“Thomas Scurry, Adjutant General.”
LOSS OF LIFE AND DAMAGE AT OTHER POINTS.
Governor Sayres began receiving reports from various points along the Gulf coast, which would 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. Down the coast from Galveston, the town of Dickinson was laid waste and five people killed. The towns of Alvin, Alta Loma, Texas City and Brookshire, are wrecked and hundreds are destitute. Richmond is so badly demolished that it will require weeks to clear the town.
Missouri City and Stafford, just opposite, were entirely demolished, and the few remaining people at these places have no homes to cover their heads. Bay City, in Matagorda county, is reported wrecked, with much loss of life, though no official report has been made to that effect. Patton, Rollover, Bolivar Point, Quintana, Sugarland, Belleville, Wharton, Fair View, Missouri City, Sartartia, Arcola and El Campo are all reported heavy sufferers both in point of property destroyed and lives lost. Owing to the fact that the telegraph service is still badly crippled, Governor Sayres cannot ascertain the exact number of dead at the points named, but it is approximated at 500.
BOATS FOR TRANSPORTATION.
The Governor was informed that quite a number of tugs from New Orleans and other available points had either arrived or were on the way to Galveston, and the transportation problem would soon be solved so far as the getting people from the island to the mainland was concerned.
Hundreds applied to Governor Sayres for permits to go to Galveston, but he refused all, saying that there were already too many people there.
THE DEVASTATION APPALLING.
The Quartermaster’s Department at Washington, received the following from Galveston:
“Quartermaster General, Washington: Referring to my telegrams of 9th and 10th, I have, subject to approval, suspended the Crockett construction contracts, and again urgently recommend that contractors be paid for labor and material in place and on the ground. All swept away and lost beyond recovery. Fortifications at Crockett, Jacinto and Travis all destroyed and cannot be rebuilt on present sites. Recommend continuance of my office here only long enough to recover Crockett office safes and morning gun, when located; also to close accounts and ship my office and recovered property where directed. I fear Galveston is destroyed beyond its ability to recover. Loss of life and property appalling.
“Baxter, Quartermaster.”
VESSEL ORDERED TO GALVESTON.
President McKinley received a telegram from Governor Sayres, of Texas, asking that a light draft vessel be sent to Galveston to assist in the communication between the island and the mainland. The message was referred to the Treasury Department, and an order was issued to the revenue cutter Winona, at Mobile, to proceed to Galveston without a moment’s unnecessary delay. The Lighthouse Board also ordered the lighthouse tender Arbutus, then at New Orleans, to clear at once for Galveston.
Captain Shoemaker, Chief of the Revenue Cutter Service, is apprehensive as to the fate of the cutter Galveston, which was anchored in Galveston harbor at the beginning of the storm. It is assumed that she put to sea, but as three full days have elapsed since she was heard from there are fears for her safety.
The relief work, now under full sway at Houston, is along two lines—to succor those who cannot leave Galveston and to bring out of the city all those who can and are willing to leave.
Mayor Jones and the citizens’ committee of the island city are urging that only those shall be permitted to enter Galveston whose presence is imperative, and transportation lines are straining every nerve in order that they may accord the privilege to those who are pleading to get away from the scenes of horror and desolation around them.
Hundreds of people have come to Houston from the four points of the compass, anxious to get into the stricken town, but since the exodus of islanders has begun many of these have concluded to remain here rather than run the risk of missing on the way those for whom they are in search.
ATTEMPT TO SUM UP THE LOSSES.
News has gradually been reaching here of the immense losses along the coast beyond Galveston. Damage difficult to estimate in dollars and cents has been done in a wide stretch of territory, and many human lives have been lost besides those which were wiped out in Galveston and its immediate vicinity. Based on reports believed to be accurate, the following statement is probably as near correct as can be arrived at at this time:
| Place. | Lives lost. | Property loss. |
|---|---|---|
| Galveston | 8000 | $10,000,000 |
| Houston | 2 | 300,000 |
| Alvin | 9 | 100,000 |
| Hitchcock | 2 | 75,000 |
| Richmond | 3 | 75,000 |
| Fort Bend county | 19 | 300,000 |
| Wharton | 40,000 | |
| Wharton county | 8 | 100,000 |
| Colorado county | 250,000 | |
| Angleton | 3 | 75,000 |
| Velasco | 50,000 | |
| Other points in Brazoria county | 4 | 30,000 |
