El Paso Herald from El Paso, Texas • Page 1

DAILY "3 TT HE PRICE 5 CEN1S. EL PASO. TEXAS, MONDc.Y, SEPTEMBER 10. 1900. 20th YEAB, NO.

204 Last Edition TO-DAY'S 4:30 p. m. Great Life uction or Huge Wave From Swept Over the City, Inundating It To a Depth Of Twelve Feet. FROM 1,000 TO 3,000 LIVES LOST And the Property Loss Will Aggregate More Than Ten Alillion Dollars In Galveston Alone. Most Terrible Disaster In American History.

The Situation Is Beyond the Power Of Description, and the Extent Of the Disaster Will Not Be Known For Many Days. I HELP FOR THE SUFFERERS There will be a great and immediate demand for aid for the suffereis in the Galveston horror. Money left at the HERALD office will be immediately for- I warded to the proper authorities. Let El I Paso show once more her splendid gen- erosity toward those who need help in af-I flictiou. The McGinty band has already ten dered its services for a benefit entertainment.

The opera house and splendid talent have been offered gratis. To startthe ball rolling the HERALD juts down its nama for ten dollars Who will be the next? and Property the Gulf Special dispatch to the Hsral.d San Axtoxio, 10. G-trnor Says ti received the following frwn Cbalrraa Splalt of the Gaive; ton i i -sens' committee, who reached "Houston In a biit this mtroing: "Houston, Sept. 10 The city of is In ruins, and certainly many nuadreds if not thcucanda are dead. Tae tragedy is the most frightful In nt years.

"Htlp frt.ai the state and the ratlrn must be given the will be appallicg. Food, clothing and money are needed. "The whole south i art of tbe city three blocks In from the gulf Is swtpt olear of every building. The wharf frontage Is a wreck and few houses in the entire city are really habitable. "The water supply 1.

cut off, and all food la the rity Is damaged by water. "All bridges are gone and stranded steamers litter tbe bay. Corpses are everywhere, and tbe work cf gathering the dead bodies Is in progress. "lbe wind rose as nigh as eighty fojr miles an hour and then carried tbe government Instrument away. "Tbe water at one time covered tbe whole town, and waves twelve feet high rolled over to the bay tide." This telegram is tent by order of Mayor Jones of Galveston, ac3 is authentic Special dlipatcb via Houston.

Galveston, Sept. 10. This morn tog over four hundred bodies had been recovered of those who perished in the most destructive gale and flood in tbe history of tbe United States. The deal are literally lying about in groups, and it is impossible to estimate what tbe total will be. It Is believed today, however, that Governor Sayers's estimate of three thousand lives lost will prove to be an exaggeration.

The persons who lost their lives will certainly cumber, however, at least a thousand. The storm raged for thirty hours, from Saturday morning until yesterday. Tbe city today is in ruins. Every oceaa steamer in the harbor has stranded, and there la death and destruction on every hand. The great storm left the Inhabitants helpless.

Tbe hurricane was over this morning, but the rumblings of the storm and the tremendous seas In the bay and the gulf still give signs of the horrible disaster. The wires are ex-peoted to be In operation by noon The property loss is over ten million dollars. Special dispatch to tbe Eiuui. HOUSTON, Sept. 10.

The city Is full of refugees from Galveston who are pouring into Houston on every barge and tug which could be mustered. The rtoriss which are told of tho flood are beyond description. Communication is severed between tbe this el'y and Gal-vtstoa, and no worj eta be received from the of lis 11 jol except by Scat. Tbe people who have to til- olty tell la a graphic way the rtorv of the flood. The city was completely submerged by the backed up waters of the gulf.

Buildings are wrecked, and dead bodies float about in the receding waters. The streets are filled with homeless families, and death by hunger stares in the face those who have escaped death by drowcing. Mothers and children are searching for the bodies of their husbands and fathers la the ruins, and grief stricken men are aanderisg around the city on rafts and boats try lng to locate their missing families. The waters of the gulf have settled into the cellars and the buildings have crumbled and fallen, damming up -the water in the streets and making the situation a thousand fold worse. Hundreds of crushed and mangled bodies are pinned under tbe debris and hundreds have been caught in the houses of the lower part of tbe city and have been drowned like rats.

The Ball high school and Rosenberg school have been destroyed. Many people who sought refuge there have been killed. The waters weakened the walls, and fell without warning, burying the people under a mass of ruins. Those who esoaped death by being orushed by the walls and heavy timbers, were drowned. Special dispatch to tbe Herald.

San Antonio, Sept. 10. There is as yet no wire direct to this elty from Galveston, but a private telegram this morning to Jake Cohen, a local broker, from his Galveston i partner, who orossed over to Houston, a distance of fifty miles. In a boat last night, confirms the reports that have been current here, that the splendid olty of Galveston is slmost wiped off the earth. A private message received in the same way by tbe manager of tbe Postal Telegraph company confirm this report At this time any estimate of the loss of life and the damage to property Is Impossible, but that thous ands of Uvea have been lost seems to be authenticated.

Houston snffered also, from a great wind storm, and tbe Capitol hotel, opera house, and other prominent buildings were more or less damaged, some reports eay wrecxea. many small buildings were wreaked. Only one life was lost however. Many small towns along the coast were swept away and the inhabitants killed. The messages mentioned above said that the waves swept over tbe whole town, tearing down business houses and residences, and drowning tbe Inmates by the hundreds.

Among property destroyed la Gal veston was the Water Works plant, and the people are without fresh water. No boats oan get out or take water in to them. The suffering Is terrible from this alone. Mayor Hicks has called a meeting at San Antonio tonight to raise funds for tbe sufferers. Hpcclal dispatch to tbe Bcrald.

San Antonio, Sept. 10. The brach and bay, says tie tirst autbectlo report through from Galveston, are covered with wreoks of sblp9. Small craft have been deposited all over the island, orushed and mashed, and big steamers are high acd dry everywhere. Toe Mallory liter Alamo, the Bri 0 alveston tish steamers Pelican.

Taunton and Mexican, tbe Norwegian steamer Git, the Kendall Castle, and others are totally wrecked. Of two hundred soldiers there are only fifteen left, and the fortifications are all gone. Undertakers have baen wired for all over the state. News is being sent by boat regularly to Houston. Reports are received hourly at the olty hall acd the'death Met is growing t3 immense proportions.

The scenes of desolation and sorrow are awful. Parents are hunting in the debris for their little ones, and little 0aes are crying for their dead parents, for water and food. The report sent by Splalne to the governor is considered conservative In the extreme, and is no way exaggerate ed. It was ordered by the Mayor. The Southern Pacific and all other wharves are gone, and all railroad bridges are out, all wires down, and the cable to Vera Cruz broken.

The ltefc of dead is unobtainable. Those known and sent out so far are: Stanley Spencer, Charles Ksllner, Rlohard Lord, Miss Sarah Summers, Mrs. Claude Fortdtran, Policeman Bowie and family, Mrs. Pat O'Keefe. St Mary's infirmary with a hundred Datients collapsed, and only 8 were saved The Rosenberg school house, full of refugees, collapsed and nearly alt were killed.

Private residences and hctfls are turned Into hospitals, and scarcely a house is standing that does nut contain a corpse. At Lucas Terrace fifty persons were drowned In one building, which collap sed while, they were seeking refuge there. The dredge used at Texas City was driven Inland half a mile. Three big grain elevators were wrecked and over a million bushels of grain ruined. The damage to the business portion of the olty cannot be even approximately estimated.

The wholesale houses along the Strand have about seven feet of water on the ground floors, and all window panes and glass protectors are demolished. The fixtures in every house on this long business thorough fare are destroyed. Meohanlo street Is under watar almost as deep as that on the Strand. All provisions and wholesale groceries ou lower floors are saturated and render ed valueless. The englns house at the Tremont hotel was oaved in by a falling smoke stack, and cooking Is Impossible.

The damage to the hotel building is about sixty Ive thousand dollars The power house of the street railway company Is destroyed and the loss of machinery and building Is estimated at seventy thousand dollars. No wires of an sort are standing. Tbe Alamo, a large steamer has been washed up on Mallory wharf, and a big English cotton steamer I ashore at Texas City. Many other vessels ar aground al different places cn tbe bay, some of them being total wrecks. The tujf of the Houston ravlgaton under water at Rid fish.

Two of the crew are drowned. Everywhere there is ruin. Telegraph-aod electric light pries are Co and the streets are littered with bricks, timbers, glass and debris of every character. There is hardly a house In tbe en ire city which is habitable, and most business houses are badly damaged. School buildings are all unroofed, and more or less damaged otherwise, while two cf the largest, the Ball high school acd tbe Rosenberg building, are almost completely wrecked.

The handsomest churches in the oity are little more than huge piles of debris. Most of the elevators and warehouses are unfit for use, and the big electrio light plant Is ruined. Not a building is left stacdicg from Tremont to Sixth street acd from there to Beaoh. Handsome residences hva been converted into piles of wafer soaked brick and mortar. The wa.er is from three to ten feet deep all over the business part of the eitj.

Stores are flooded and wrecked and their stocks of merchandise, including all breadstuff are a total loss. Women could be seen yesterday in thettreets, wading neck deep la the jurglogwater.and carrying their in their arms. Tbe wharves at Texas City are gone, and for miles the waterfront is littered with wreckage, much cf which was blown there from Galveston. At Texas City three lives are known to have been lost, and full reports It is believed will show a greater losa of human lives. Railroad tracks have been washed away, and the only exit Is by or onveyacce to Tamarque on the International and Great Northern, or by boat.

The storm commenced raging shortly after 9 o'clock Saturday morning', and by noon the water from the Gulf bad flooded the island as far inland as 12th street. From that time the water eocroachod further inland, rising at a rate of about 15 inches per hour. The best estimate is that about flf-taeen hundred people lost their lives la Galveston. Dallas, Texas, Sept 10 Tbe Hous ton and Texas Central railway office have received bull etins frcm the gen eral offices In Hous ton that tbe loss of life will reach 3000 in Galveston. The railway relief forces near Galveston and along the coast seed word that the total loss of life from tbe storm along the coast will be at leat 5000 and possibly as much as 10,000.

Special dispatch to the Bcrald. Austin, Sept. 10. Governor Say ers this morning wired all the cities for help far Gal veil jn. Promptness, he says is necessary for tbe suffering is terrible.

Money sboolJ be sent to Mm direct, and clothing to the major of Houston. Special disoatcbea to the Hsrald, Sugarland, Sept. 10. AH the bu'ld- lngs on the Cunningham plantation are reported entirely wrecked, with a damage of three million dollars. Rosenberg, Sept.

10. Three deaths have been cause by tbe floocs and many buildings are ruined. Clodine, Sspt. 10. At this town, a station on the San Antonio Aran sas Pass near Houston, all houses bavo been bln aown.

Dairy, Sept. 10. At this town on the ArjJMi Pass nc or Houston all house were wrecked. on 5th page.).