Читать книгу The Great Galveston Disaster - Paul Lester - Страница 32

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“The stench from the dead by Monday morning was unbearable. The triumvirate ruling the city pressed citizens into service to take the dead out in barges and bury them in the Gulf. The soldiers impressed into service, at the point of the bayonet, every wagon that came along and every negro to assist in throwing the dead into the sea. It was impossible to give other burial.

“From the stench which pervades the city it is apparent that hundreds of bodies yet lie under the ruins. The sun is hotter than in July. The regular soldiers, who had been working for two days with bloody feet, were utterly exhausted by Monday evening, and were assembled by Captain Rafferty and put in a hastily extemporized hospital, which was formerly a church. Their places were filled by Major Fayling with new recruits, whom he drafted on the streets and supplied with arms and equipment from the local armory.

“Every part of the city was patrolled by 6 o’clock in the evening. Among many other incidents of last night was the besieging of the squad guarding St. Mary’s Hospital. They were surrounded by a horde of armed negro thieves. Several hundred shots were exchanged. Sergeant Camp killed four negroes with his rifle, and about ten or twelve were killed by the squad. The soldiers have since been picketing the city, doing fourteen hours’ duty without rest. Every hour during the night a fresh negro shooting was reported at headquarters.

“The tug ‘Juno’ and the propeller ‘Lawrence’ brought 2000 gallons of water here from Houston but the supply is not enough to go around, and half the population is without any water. Breakfast at the $4 per day hotel Tremont was served to a fortunate few to-day, and consisted of a small piece of bacon and a single cup of coffee. The hotel was untenable yesterday, and guests were refused. It is jammed to-day with local citizens who have been made homeless.”

G. W. Ware, teacher of penmanship in a Dallas educational institution, was in Galveston during the hurricane. He reached Dallas on Tuesday, the 11th and made the following statement: