Newspaper Page Text
GALVESTON GOES THROUGH GREAT STORM WITH SAFETY TrHE GREAT ARM OF THE SEA WALL HAS PROVEN ITS WORTH IN PROTECTING THE ISLAND CITY-DEATH LIST THERE IS SMALL. PARTS CAUSEWAY GONE From Reports Coming in the Greatest Storm in the History of the Gulf Coast Passed Monday Night and Tuesday Morning, Causing the Loss ef Many Lives and Millions in Prop erty Damage-Texas Towns in Path of the Hurricane Report Great Dam age to Property and Crops. Galveston advises the world of the adequacy of its seawall and glories in her strength. At the mass meeting of citi zens Wednesday morning the following telegram was prepared for transmission to the Asso ciated Press and leading news papers of the country: Galveston has successfully passed through a West India hurricane that blew continuous ly for 18 hours. The govern ment weather gauge registered the maximum velocity of the wind at 90 miles per 'hour. The city, due to the adamantine re sistance of the seawall, has sus tained comparatively small less in destruction of property, and but few deaths have been thus. far reported. The great granite structure erected after the calamity of 1900 grimly met and conquered the raging seas of the gulf and hurled them back defiantly when they came. Our citizen ship is buoyantly cheerful be cause of the demonstrated im pregnability of their protective works in this, the supermost test of their effectiveness. In mass meeting today assem bled, Galveston's citizenship send greetings to the world, as sure friends and admirers every where of this sincere pledge to strive diligently and heartily to attain that superior success which last night's victory prom ices to the community. (Signed) Lewis Fisher, mayor; I. H. Kempner, S. Sgitcovich, I. M. Bard, W. P. Hammer smith, G. W. Briggs. Galveston, Tex.-When all tales are told loss of life in Galveston from the two-day hurricane will not reach a score of souls. For three days the heavy seas lashed Galveston's seawall without making an impression. But while there was small loss of life in the city, it is feared that loss of life at sea has been great. "The seawall did its duty fully and Galveston was saved." These were the words of Dr. Ver non Powell, official representative of ae Galveston Commercial Associa , and sent out with the first party ving Galveston since the storm for o mainland. Only nine people were killed, in cluding four soldiers at Fort Crock ett, and the list of injured is small, it was found after a visit to the various hospitals of the Island City. eR roperty damage is great, run ni Wtoli the hundreds of thousands oltiollars, but the heaviest loss is c 4e to stocks of goods of mer e 1t the business district by the b w er rising in their stores. None I oS ie arge buildings in the business d$p~it :.were seriously 'damaged by * wln; r water, and the structures wli @.w~Vre demolished were frame buildings of more or less flimsy con st-ruction in the section of the city t nearest the beach. Tlie Ga vea hotel situated upon the beach falng' the gulf was damaged t only to the fxtent of a few broken j window panes and water in the base ment. Every one in the hotel is safe. Shipping in the harbor suffere alight damage. Many small fishin Pand pleasure craft were blow aground and in some instances de stroyed, but the ocean vessels in port ) fared well. The United States trans ports which were tied up at wharves have been offered by the army au thqrities to the city of Galveston to Storm sufferers and injured poured into Houston from Virginia Point, ,Tqkas :Cfty, Lynchburg and Jennings island and dre crowding hospitals and hotels, bringing with them stories of . perilous escapes and gripping adven tures In the hurricane of Monday r night: yro Houston men who were afloat f6r1 iburs after the Virginia Point hotel was wrecked attribute the i saving of more than 50 lives to a change in the'wind which blew them to the signal tower after being swept JE; miles out to sea, bring milk and other special supplies from the mainland. En The water system was damaged, the to pumping station at Alta Loma having I1 been injured. There is enough water re in the small reservoir at Galveston to se last a week, by careful economy. T Telegraph, telephone and street car m service was demoralized, otherwise p, normal conditions are returning to the ot city. The water is all out of the be streets and off the island and the peo- t1 pie have set to work clearing away in the rubbish and "setting their house in order" again. F Greatest property damage was in wreaked in that portion of the city( d which borders the seawall boulevard, i: east of Tremont street. This section felt the full force of the wind and C, water and hundreds of houses, their G foundations undermined by rushing C water, were toppled over, although fr there was surprisingly little damage vi from the wind itself. I c The causeway is badly damaged as in the result of the storm. A barge is lodged at the point where the abut- sl ment of the bridge formerly stood on tc the Virginia Point aide of the bay. si From Virginia Point to the draw- 11 bridge, a distance of some mile and' r( one-quarter, the structure is leveled. At the drawbridge two interurban cars ci of the Galveston-Houston line rest, ci half under, half above the water. ft Beyond the drawbridge for half a mile w the spans of the structure are intact. p, Then again for a distance of one mile n or more the concrete gateway to the b Island City is smashed to small bits b, of blocks. o; In the city the property damage is d far greater, according to partial esti- d mates made by Mayor Lewis Fisher p and business men, than in the 1900 n storm. Chief of the property loss was C that of merchants' stocks, although n many residences, especially in the G eastern end of the island, have been al demolished by the storm. The great highway which followed the seawall b is ruined. Bath houises, pavilions, fish- ci ing piers, the white way, and such n structures were taken in great masses. u One of the peculiarities of the losses I in the eastern end of the island is s that the residence district has sunk c4 below the level prior to the storm, and c, the seawall stands now above the dis trict like a great war-wall about a c Chinese protected cilty. fl Fires, three of them, the last the tl fiercest and greatest, menaced the city during the progress of the storm. Wednesday morning the plant of the Armour company, the Fred C. Pabst Real Estate company, the Blum Na tions company and the Seinsheimer ' & Co. were destroyed. The losses of a this fire alone were placed conserva- d tively at $100,000. si The Known Dead. a Houston-Edward W. Hans, crush- IC ed under stable, Kirby addition; Wil- t( lie Shields, negro, electrocuted on Mason street; unknown white man, d crushed by building under Main street viaduct. Lynchburg-Mrs. Katie Bissonnett, a 1620 Rice street, Houston, drowned; e Mrs. Herman Franks, drowned, resi- o dence unknown; unknown white man, 60 years old, drowned; Eugene Blyz- b ard, butcher, Houston, drowned; Mrs. v Eliza Cuny Compton, drowned; Timo- b thy West, painter, Rutland street, ih Houston Heights. Seabrook-Unknown white man, 35 ti years old; unknown negro, 30 years p old. . Texas City-Private John J. Mur- v phy, brother Theo. J. Murphy, 174 t, Prospect street, Lawrence, Mass.; Pri- tl vate Charles E. Miller, mother Mary j, Miller, Watertown, N. Y.; Private Jos. n P. Shankel, mother Mrs. Anna Betz, o Baltimore; Private Haiman Samet, cousin Ralph Samet, 13 Railroad ave nue, Freeport, L. I.; Private Paul A. Seureau, father C. G. Seureau, Hous ton, Texas; Corporal William H. Moore, Greensboro, Ga.; Private Al bert Mitchell, father Stephen Mitchell, 303 North Lee street, Valdosta, Ga.; tl Private Thomas A. Watson, father T. t A. Watson, Carthage, N. C.; Private s Henry J. Rivage, father Jacob Rivage, it 116 Spring avenue, Troy, N. Y.; Cook & Bader, quartermaster corps (the ad jutant general's record shows no sol dier of this name at Texas City). tC Near Orange-Ira R. Griffith, aged lI 23 years. San Leon-Two women named M Smith, Mrs. Harris. M Surfside-John Olsen, member of life crew; John Bertran, member of a life crew. at Morgane Point-Unknown white nian, body washed ashore; Roy Riggs, dl body recpeered. Virginia Point-Conductor Tread well, Interurban employe, Galvestbn. S Known Missing. Surfside-John C. Florea, wife, r( three daughters and one son; Dr. Aus tin Newton and sister, Mary Dell New- T ton; Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Dyer, Guy L . ¶'3s, two small sons of John Dun- hi uston Heights; four others, tU -unknown. %Iorgans Point-Commodore Hard- al wick, Henry Todd, a white man, name w unknown; Mr. Riggs, Sr., father of ir Roy Riggs, whose body has been re- tC cevered. b; Lynchburg-John W. Bissonett, 7 years old, Houston; Ben J. Bissonett, h 9 years old, Houston; Jerome G. Bis sonett, 14 years old, Houston. be Jennings Island-Jack Raff, known hi as "Telephone Jack," Houston; F. F. al Peeler, farmer; Mrs. F. W. Peeler and ib baby. Virginia Point-J. C. Pressnell, ly traveling man, Dodge hotel, Houston: al - Stevens, Texas City; baby girl of re Stevens, Texas City; son of Stevens, W Texas City; Rev. John Hart, Episcopal fl minister, Wbartpn. - Ut No lives were lost and damage was small to the two dredges, Samt Hous tonrt and San Jacinto, owned by the Harris county navigation distriet andt recently comipleted and detailed to service in the Houston ship channel. The Sam Houston is standing sub mergedtl to the decks at San Leon and part of her crew is still aboard. The others are safe in CGalveston, having been carried into the city by Captain Olsen in the United States engireer !rg bureau's launich, the Victoria. The San Jacinto is aground at Red Fish reel and her crew is safe and most of them are still aboard. DthMI. dredges will be floated within a Ifew days and iready for service again soon. In a letter addressed to M.ayor lien Campbell of liouston Thursday, 1Major General J. F. Bell, in charge of Texas Citvy, urrges that t!he Irnael of peoplo from Houston to Texas City and Gal veston be !, oloibited unless they are concerned in the welfare of relatives in either city. The letter follows: "Colonel H. B. Moore of Texas ('ity showed mue a letter he had addressed to you concernilng the travel of per sops on special business between Houston and Galveston in both di rections. "On the score of humanity, no one can possibly object to aiding persons concerned for the welfare of their families or their business, no matter where located, but in addition to such persons traveling on legitimate busi ness, highways and railways have been crowded with persons inspired by nothing more important than curi osity to see what damage had been done at Galveston and Texas City. Un der conditions now prevailing at both places such persons are a serious nuisance and I wish to supplement Colonel Moore's request that all un necessary travel betw een Houston and Galveston and Texas City be discour aged. Automobiles can not cross the bridges on wagon roads over Clear creek and Dickinson bayou, and must necessarily travel over the right of way of the International and Great Northern and over railway bridges spanning those streams. They be come a serious menace to life and cause great delay in railway traffic. "I am reliably informed that the civil authorities of Galveston are re fusing to permit all persons coming there without valid excuse to land. "J. F. Bell, "Major General United States Army in Charge at Texas City." Houston, Tex.-The great hurricane which struck Galveston, the gulf coast and Houston, continuing through Mon day night and Tuesday morning, was just as severe in velocity, if not more so, than the memorable 1900 storm, and it is likely many lives have been lost and millions of dollars of damage to property done. As darkness melted into a gray and dreary dawn Tuesday morning, it re vealed to Houston a spectacle that sleepless thousands had only guessed at through the long hours of the wild est night within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Dropping .27 inch below the lowest barometric reading recorded at Gal veston during the storm of Septem ber 8, 1900, and registering the third lowest barometric reading ever known to have been taken anywhere, the trough of the storm of Monday night passed Houston almost exactly at 4:25 o'clock Tuesday morning with a wind velocity of 110 miles per hour, sus tained for an entire minute. During that minute it is impossible to con jecture the maximum velocity ' that may have been attained for any series of consecutive seconds. The maximum wind velocity at and near 5 o'clock for five consecutive minutes was 80 miles, occurring at the time of the passage of the axis of the storm center. Fears are felt for the Inhabitants of the gulf coast towns and it is hoped that the many thousands there reached safety in time. Warning of the trop ical storm was given out two days be fore it arrived, and it is likely the peo ple heeded the warning. Property damage and severe injury to the cotton crop is reported from In land towns in the storm section. At Eagle Lake the fuel tank and smokestack of the Eagle Lake Rice Mill were blown down. At Elgin, the Christian church and a large warehouse were demolished and minor damage done elsewhere. Damage to property and merchan dise at Rosenberg amounted to $3000. Shiner reports the cotton crop prac tically wiped out in that section, as Is the case at Hallettsville, Bastrop and Sealy. At Sealy, a general store was un roofed and goods badly damaged. Minor property damage was done at Teague, Caldwell, Columbus, Flatonia, Lockhart, Yoakum and Gonzales, heavy cotton loss being reported at these places also, At Waller much.minor property dam age was done and a large corn crib was demolished, while a galvanized iron door, weighing 400 pounds was torn from a barn and carried 100 yards by the gale. - Damages to the rigging in the Hum ble oil field is said to have been heavy Monday night. Derricks collapsed all over the district, 80 per cent of them being reported down. A number of houses were blown over or badly dam aged. The rain was heavy, the bayous being out of their banks. Texas City, Tex.-It is conservati4e ly estimated that $200,000 will repair all the damage to the docks, the oil refinery and the city proper. The wreckage over the city is from many flimsily constructed "shacks" built by the army people as temuorary homes, ALLIES HAVE AGREED THAT COTTON IS CONTRABAND Principal Reason for DeclJr!ng Cotton Contraband Is That Principal Source Is Smokeless ?owder. Washington The allied govern' mients have agreed in principle that cotton is contrabtnd l of war. This stateniei was authorizedl Thursday at the British en bassy. As soon as the official announce ment is made it will be disciosed als:o that the allied governments have pre pared to stand behind the market to prevent ruinous depression of prices and minimize the hardships to cotton planter. The American government, several days ago was informed unofficially but authoritatively of the intention of the allied governments to make cotton contraband and was informed that they will claim a legal right for their action. It was explained Thursday that the allies refrained from making cotton contraband at the outset of the war because of conditions in the United States, where a large crop had been planted and a contraband order then would, in their opinion, have been far more serious. The allies contend the cotton States have prepared for a contraband order by reductions of acreage. Some of the cotton interests, allied quarters ac knowledge, may be affected and fol that reason it has been decided to stand behind the markiet. The prin cipal reason for declaring cotton con traband is that it. is one of the princi pal sources of smokeless powder. How the allies propose to support the cotton market is not explained. BIG STEAMSHIP ARABIC SUNK BY SUBMARINE Many Americans Were on Board Ship and Majority of Passengers Were Rescued. London.-The big White Star line steamer Arabic, formerly a favorite ship of the Liverpool-Boston service, but which on her present trip was on the way to New York, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine Thursday morning southeast of Fast I net. The steamer, according to a state ment of the White Star line, was at. tacked withoiA warning and went down in ten minutes. Of the 423 per. sons on board-181 passengers and 242 members of the crew-32 are miss ing and are believed to have been i drowned. Most of those who have not been accounted for belong to the crew. Only six of the passengelrs are report ed missing. Whether any of those not accounted for were Americans was not prompt ly determined, but there were only 26 citizens of the United States on board. The survivors left the steamer in the ship's boats and were picked up later by passing vessels and arrived in Queenstown Thursday night. Details of the sinking of the Arabic are lacking, but that the loss of life was not greater doubtless was due to the fact that the weather was fine and that steamers plying the German submarine war zone now keep their boats swung out and otherwise pre pared for emergencies. The torpedo that sunk the Arabic struck her on the starboard side 100 feet from her stern. The vessel had left Liverpool Wednesday. Teutons Still Force Russians Back. London.-The Teutonic invaders are still battering successfully at the Russian fortresses, back of which the military experts have supposed Grand Duke Nicholas intended to make a de termined stand. Forces under Field Marshal von Mackenzen have pene. trated into the other fortifications at Brest-Litovsk, the strongest of the Muscovite defense works. Two ad. ditional forts have fallen at Novogeor glevsk and the army of General von Gallwitz has reached the railway from Bailystok to Brest. Seven Hundred Killed. Laredo, Tex.-Seven hundred dead and a large number of wounded is the result of a battle Tuesday between Carranza and Villa forces near Mon. terey, according to Monterey advicea received at the Nuevo Laredo Car. ranza headquarters.. The Villistas, it is said, were attempting to capture Monterey. The were repulsed and re treated to the westward. Of the dead Villa lost 500 and the Carranzistae 200. Two Mexicans Were Lynched. Brownsville, Tex.-Twoi Mexicans held in the city jail at San Benito in connection with the Austin killing in the Sebastian road last week were taken out three days ago in the ab sence of a guard and killed. Spraying a Danger to Blrs. It has been commonly reported that Irsenical spraying of trees in New England in order to eliminate the gYpsy moth has proved fatal to many birds, but, according to Dr. L. O. H{oward, chief of the United States bu :eau of entomology, investigations fail .0 show any such result. The ab. mence of birds from the regions where Ipraying has been practiced can be !xplained by lhe fact that the spray. ng causes a scarcity of insect food, md the birds are obliged to seek this ilsewhere. ONITED STATES STANOS FIRM I ON AUSTRO-IIBUG AIAN NOTE Informs European Government Con tentions Concerning Exportation of C War alunitiono is Wrong. Washington. --The state depart mcnnt Sundlay nimae publi thle r eply of thie Iijuted States rejectirng the views set forth by the Austro-ilunl garitn government in a recent note contending that exportation of war munitions from America to Austria's enemies was conducted on such a scale as to be "not in consonance with the definition of neutrality." Though friendly in languige and tone, the note flatly denies the Aus tro-Hlungarian contentious, and recalls that that country and Germany fur nished mt:nitions of war to Great Brit ain during the Boar war, when En gland's enemies could not import such supplies. It insists the American gov erntnent is pursuing a strictly neutral course. "The principles of international law," the communication concludes, "the practice of nations, the national safety of the United States and other nations without great military and naval establishments, the prevention of increased armies and navies, the adoption of the peaceful methods of the settlement of international differ ences, and, finally, neutrality itself, are opposed to the prohibition of a neutral nation of the exportation of arms, ammunition or other munitions of war to a belligerent power during the progress of the war." The United States asserts that it i can not accede to the suggestion that it change or modify the rules of inter national usage during the progress of a war on account of special condi tions, and declares that the idea of t neutrality advanced by Austria would t "involve a neutral nation in a mass of perplexities which would obscure the whole field of international obli gation, produce economic confusion and deprive all commerce and indus- t try of legitimate fields of enterprise, already heavily burdened by the un avoidable restriction of war." In this connection the United States t appended to the note a list of muni- I tions furnished by Austria to Great I Britain during the Boer war. The note was cabled to Ambassador t Penfield at Vienna Aug. 12. No word C of its delivery has yet been received. 1 t FEDERAL AND STATE QUARANTINE LAWS Opinion Bears on Respective Rights of the Federal and State Quar antine Officials, Etc. Austin, Tex.-The attorney general gave Friday a written opinion to Dr. W. B. Collins, state health officer, bearing on the respective rights of the federal and state quarantine officials at Galveston. The direct question passed upon was whether or not the federal government had 'he authority to promulgate t. regulation prohibit. ing state quarantine officers from boarding incoming vessels at the port of Galveston engaged in foreign corn- 1 merce until after the inspection by the 4 federal quaraLtine officials had been completed. It appears that the ee retary of the treasury of the United I States under authority of the federal I laws promulgated some years ago a regulation to this effect, and the of- 1 ficials at the federal quarantine sta- I tion recently establis-ed at Galveston t have insisted on its enforcement. The1 opinion quotes extensively from deci sions by the supreme court of the United States showing that thagt court has held from ar early date t11at un der the commerce clause of the fed eral constitution valid laws may be passed by congress, such as the fed eral pure food law, hours of labor law, safety appliance act, etc. q The opinion also points out that the states have the inherent power and right to protect the health and safety of their Citlzens, and that the supreme court of the United States has repeat edly recognized the validity of state laws for this pu'pose, although affect ing in a measure interstate and for eign commerce, such laws being held valid unless they impose upon such commerce burdens beyond what is protect the health, safety, etc., of the citizens, and provided they do not con flit with some valid federal law. It 1 is shown also that the federal quaran tine laws recognize the right of the d state to enact quarantine laws and regulations, and the federal officers are required to assist and to co-operate with state officials in the enforcement a of state laws and regulations. M. M. Smith Made County Judge, Austin, Tex.-The governor has ap pointed M. M. Smith of Quitman, Wood county, judge of the Seventh judicial district, to fill the vacancy raused by the death of Judge W. R. o Heath. Soldiers Bring Down a Mexican. Donna, Tex.-The reported killing of a raider Saturday by Sergeant Lewellen, near San Juar, was confirm- 1 ed upon the return of the detachment. t Lewellen, who is a crack shot, brought the raider down at a distance of 700 yards. Typos Will Meet in Baltimore. Los Angeles, Cal.-Baltimorp was i formally selected Thursday as the con- i vefition city of the Intjrnational Typo graphical Union in 1916. 1 UNITED STATES TO PROTECT Of GENERAL F-N !STON RE SOLD IizE AT EXAUCI G TO HE BORDER M4EX CN R RiDS EQ Possecs and Citizens Have Kiled Many Mexicans Who Crcssed into Texas Frcm icc-Trouble Not 0e Wa h:':~ -Saturday the parteA at tl- request of Mai, IFunston onilred one regmi fantry from T'oxas City to Bro and also uorderad one aerop battery of 4.7 guns and one of 4 7 how:itzers to Browa5, Fort Sill. ()kla. Major General Bell, corn Texas (:City, selected the inap ment; the (ornumander at to chose the batteries. Althou reports indicated no ort would be sent to Browisrsn developmnents evidently General Fuiston of the need; protection for the border li6 ened by Mlexican raiders. Assiatant Secretary said that the new orders was because of General Furstagg'l that the gnrrlson at Brow strengthened. "The howitzers have bee said he, as they are the best to use against marauders who jin hiding in the hills, betaueg high angje fire." Five states and one ter Mexico are authoritatively to have declared through thg tary governors that the re at an end so far as they are ed. Carranza and Villa o forces in arms would be ms sistance should they attempt t these precincts of Melido in these precincts will be peaceful pursuits. According to the report, the. tion of the military goverue made with a view to p integrity of the autonomy 0 communal organizatlons, to them to enter peace neg out factional allegiance, to Villa or Zapata. The go"' thus declared for armed a of various shades of politil tion. The territory of Tepic fares Oaxaca state has maiatalh pending; Guerrero's present unknown; Chiapas is Villa Sinaloa is Carranza territory rango is Carranza-Arrieta territory. LEO M. FRANK WAS1 FROM PRISON ANDB Georgia's Famous Life Trn Accused of Murder of Mary gan, Hanged to Tree Marietta, Ga.-Another . the celebrated Leo Frank has been 'aritten-writteali of Frank. Monday night the prilul moved by force from the Bbk farm at Milledgevilie, hurrie tomobile to Cobb County #Df almost within sight of th home of Mary Phagmn, th girl for whose death iatnk tenced to life imprisonntLae lieved that more thin a termined men conducted the prison across part et 1 and north of Atlanta to 5 Marietta. The mob which spirited from the prison farm at arrived in the vicinity f a practically unnoticed *51 methodically to its wires, except one tel Milledgeville, had Arst Five men then went to occupied by Warden I.· ' tacked him and made bi* oner. At the same thia to the home occupied by ent Burke. The actual lynching of place about daylight capture at the prison ing. The time interemfl' death was consumed ia cross-country automobilt body, barefooted and prison trousers, was iM a tree. Election for Road CorW Angleton, Tex.-Thb ers court has ordered at be held in road district @o Colony for the election @. commissioners for that Mart Voted Sond Mart, Tex.-The $21.0 for the extension sad of the city water works vote of 107 to 18. Oil Found in Red N Shreveport. La.-ThOe Company, a local oO brought in a well in two miles southeast of River field, estimated St Nacogdoches Votes Nacogdoches, Tex.-N dependent school dislitrii ity of about 3 to 1, ,t favor of bonds in the for the purpose of erec Ings and making other 4