6 BY THE SEA. I sat by the sea when the sun shone bright And flooded its depths Willi a blaze of'llght. And the golden sheen and emerald green L.lke gems in the crown of a fairy queen Flashed forth in glittering splendor; And the soft winds sighed o'er the shin ing tide, And the nnirm'ring waves to the breeze replied In tones that were low and tender. 8 stood by the sea when tin* nionn was high. And the stars shone out from tile midnight sky. And a wondrous sight was tnat shimmering light That flashed from the crests of the surges bright, Like stars in trembling motion; And the moon's soft ray on the waters lay. And its gleaming track made a bright highway Across the slumbering ocean. I stood by the sea when the lightning flashed. And the waves ran high, and the thun der crashed. And the blinding spray, that was dashed away By the howling wind, In the furious fray Brought death to the hardy toller; When iiis ship at last by the stormy blast. A dismantled wreck on the rocks was cast, A prey to the ruthless spoiler. The beautiful sea! The treacherous sea! A joy and a terror It Is to me; A beautiful sight, by day or by night, Is the tranquil sea, by whose margin bright The fisherman loves to wander; A terrible thing when its rage doth bring The angel of death with his sable wing To darken the homesteads yonder. —W. C. Newsam, in Golden Days. | THE STURGIS WAGER * V A DETECTIVE STORY. jjjj -j J By EDGAR MORETTE. £ flj; Copyright, IRW, by Frederick A. Stokes Co. CHAPTER X.—CONTINUED. When the reporter came within sight of the safe, Dunlap was closely inspect ing the lock. Presently he uttered an exclamation of surprise. "What is it?'' asked Sturgis. "I don't understand it," said Dunlap. "I cannot open the safe. The lock eeems all right; but —" "Perhaps the combination has been changed." "Apparently it has," admitted the banker; "but hovvcame it to be changed on a week day, and without my knowl edge?" "That is rather significant, isn't it?" suggested the reporter. "Significant? What do you mean?" exclaimed Dunlap, excitedly. "I mean that Arbogast was a de faulter. What his system of defraud ing the bank was I do not yet know; but an examination of the books will no doubt reveal this; and I should ad vise you. Mr. Dunlap, to lose no time In having it made." "But," argued Dunlap, anxiously, "I tell you the books were examined last week." "Yes; by Arbogast's accomplice." "What, Chatham his accomplice?" exclaimed Dunlap, faintly. "Chatham was in the plot beyond a doubt," answered Sturgis. "So long as no one had access to the books except his accomplice Chatham, of course Ar bogast felt secure. But when, yester day, the announcement was made that after the beginning of the new year his books would pass to the custody of an other man, he saw that the game was up." The men had returned to the presi ident's office. "Those are his very words," contin ued the reporter; "fhosehe telegraphed to Chatham yesterday, as you will see if you hold before that mirror this bheet of blotting paper which i found on Arbogast's desk." Dunlap, with an unsteady hand, took the blotting paper; and, holding it be fore the glass, studied the reflection intently. "What do you make out?" asked Sturgis. "Nothing whatever," replied the banker, promptly. "What?" exclaimed the reporter; "do you mean to say that you do not distinguish any marks on the blotting paper?" "I mean to say that T do not see an3'- thing to which I can attach any sem blance of a meaning. The blotting pa per has been used, and, of course, there are ink marks "upon it; but, as far as I can see, these are wholly dis connected. They are entirely void of sense to my eyes, at any rate." "Examine the blot ter again careful ly in this direction," said Sturgis, drawing an imaginary lino upon the mirror, "and pay no attention to any other marks which seem to cross these lines. Now do you see anything?" The banker examined the image in the mirror for some lime before reply ing. "If I allow my imagination to enter into play, 1 can complete several iso lated letters." "Will you dictate these while I note tliem here. Be careful to distinguish between capital and lower-case letters. Also separate the lines, and state whether letters come close together or are separated by a space." "Very well," agreed Dunlap, who then proceeded to read off the letters he saw in the reflection of the blotter in the mirror. When he had finished, St urgis hand ed him the paper, upon which were transcribed the letters lie had dictated. They presented the appearance shown below: D 1 I s Ch m y y C e p t m t y err th n s a r r y J g t "Well," said the banker, "if ynucan make anything out of that gibberish, your imagination is more active than mine." "It is not a question of imagination," said Sturgis; "let us proceed systemat ically. Here is a telegram blank de tached from a. pad I found 011 Arbo gast's desk. Compare its siz* "With the outline of the marks on the blotter, anil you will st e, in the first place, that the message would just fit snugly 011 this sheet. Next, you will probably admit that the first line of marks 011 the blotter probably contain a date; the second, a 11 aim ; the third, an address; the last, a signature, and the interme diate lints, a message." "I am quit,; willing to concede so much; for no business man would be likely to write a telegram differently." "Very well. Now, then, let me hold this blank so that the reflection of its vertical rulinps may appear just above the image of the message. These lines, remember, separate the words of the message. Extend them mentally, and note how they divide the letters of the blotter. "Will you hold these sheet® while I transci ibe U»e result ?" In a few minutes more the reporter had drawn several lines on his copy of the reflection in the mirror. "I don't see that you are any better off now than you were before," re marked Dunlap, examining the result. "Wait a minute. These vertical lines, we say, divide the words of the message. There are five words to the line; only two on the last line before the sig nature; that is to say, 12 words in the message. Now, consider the first word. Evidently the 'G' begins this word since it is a capital; and the flour ish on the tail of the 'e' tells us plain ly enough where the word ends. Note the space between the 'G' and the 'e.' Have you ever taken the trouble to as certain how constant in any given handwriting is the space occupied by the different letters? Try it some time. Count the characters which you have written in a number of different lines, reckoning spaces and punctuation marks each as one character, and ob serve how closely the results will tally. Basing my conclusions on this fact, I may safely affirm that the first word of the message is 'Game,' 'Gave.' 'Give.' or some other word of four letters beginning with 'G' and ending with 'e.' I shall proceed to fill up the balance of the message as I read it between the letters." Sturgis wrote slowly and carefully for a few minutes. "There; behold the result." The message had now assumed this form: Dec. 31. 1896. Thomas Chatham, Game up Meet me to-day corner South and Wall streets J. W. Arbogast. "Compare this with the reflection of the original and tell me if you do not now detect various isolated marks and incomplete letters, ali of which tally with the text 1 have inserted here." Dunlap mad:j the comparison. "I am obliged to admit that your con clusions now appear plausible," he re luctantly admitted. Sturgis shrugged his shoulders. "Well, call them plausible, and let us proceed. Chatham kept Uie appoint ment yesterday; but for some reason Arbogast was delayed In leaving the bank. Perhaps tha necessary prepara tions for his flight took longer than he expected." "You think he intended to abscond?" "Why should he have changed the combination of his safe, as he did. if not "WH A,T D<) Y<OV MA ICE <sl' T ?'"ASK EIJ STUHGIS. to give himself as much time as possible to reach a place of comparative safety before the books could be examined?" asked Sturgis. "Chatham, becoming impatient, forgot the dictates of pru dence and started for the bank to as certain the cause of his accomplice's delay, lie met Arbogast at the Wall street door. The two men reentered, Arbogast setting down his satchel in the vestibule and leaving the outer door ajar, as Quinlan found it a few minutes later, when he stole the satch el. 1 have every season to believe that it was \t Chatham's request that the men returned' lie wished to use the telephone, and he did so." "Your story is connected, and it is certair.lv not lacking in details," said Dunlap, incredulously; "in fact.tliede tails are far too abundant for the evi dence thus far advanced." "Every one of the details is based up on facts," replied Sturgis. "What I have accomplished thus far has been simple enough, because luck has fa vored us. Yesterday being cleaning day at the bank, the floors were scrubbed some time during the after noon, before Arbogast was ready to leave and before Chatham had arrived. It thus happens that almost every footstep of the two men has remained faintly but distinctly outlined upon the wet floors, which have since dried, pre serving the record. The detectives last night obliterated a portion of this rec ord, but they have left traces enough for our purpose. If you care to craw l around 011 all fours a» I did you can readily distinguish these traces for yourself." "No, thank you," answered the bank CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1900. er. "I prefer to take your word for this part of the evidence." "Then 1 shall resume my story," said Sturgis. "The footprints show that Arbogast stood at his desk while the scrubbing was going on. We may safe ly say it was after half-past four o'clock when he started to leave the bank; for otherwise it is presumable that Chatham would have waited for him at the corner of South and Wall streets, as he was asked to do in the bookkeeper's telegram. He first walked ever to the safe and closed it, changing the combination, so that the lock could not be opened until he had had a fair start. Xext he went to the clerks' room for his hat and coat and for the satchel in which he had packed just the few i ecessities for immediate use in his flight, lit? started to leave the building through the Exchange place door; but probably remembered that the Wall street door was not locked, and went back to lock it. As h* was about to close the outer door, Chatham arrived on the scene, and the two men reentered, as we have already seeu. The footprints tell their story fully and absolutely, their chronolog ical order being established by the oc casional obliteration of a footprint in one trail by another in a subsequent trail. The two meu walked back into the room in which we now are. Their actions after this will be clearer to you if you will follow on this diagram." CHAPTER XL A RECONSTRUCTED DRAMA. As he spoke, Sturgis handed Dunlap the sheet of paper upon which lie had traced a plan of the Knickerbocker bank. "From this point on,"he continued, "I have indicated the various trails on the diagram. The dotted lines repre sent Arbogast's footprints; the con tinuous lines show Chatham's trail." "How can you distinguish between the two?" inquired Dunlap. "There is no difficulty about that," replied Sturgis. "The differences are very marked. I know Arbogast's foot because I have seen it; and 1 know that the other one is Chatham's be cause you recognized the man from the description I gave of him." "Yes, 1 know. But how could you describe him so accurately when you have never seen him?" "I shall come to that presently," said Sturgis, smiling; "you must let me tell my story in my own way, if I am to tell it connectedly" "Very well," said the banker, resign edly. "Hold on, though," he ex claimed; "you speak of two sets of trails; but what is this third set of lines, marked by alternate dots and dashes?" "They represent the traces of a third individual, who will appear upon the scene later on. He has not yet re ceived his cue. But, since you mention him, we may put hirn down in the east as 'X,' the unknown quautity of the probk'm; for I do not yet know his name. Now, then; let me see. Where was I? Your interruption has made me lose the thread. Oh, yes; the men were in this room. Arbogast, nervous and excited, paced back and forth, like a caged animal. Chatham was more collected. It was warm in the batik, at compared with the intense cold outside; he removed his overcoat and threw it over the back of that chair in the corner. This fact is shown by the direction of the footsteps toward the chair, and by a mark di rectly below the arm of the chair where the garment trailed upon the wet floor. Chatham's carelessness was fraught with serious consequences; for, as luek would have it, there was. in one of the pockets of his coat, an important letter, which slipped out and fell upon the floor superscription uppermost. Here is the envelope it self, which I have pieced together. You will see that it is soiled only upon tiie back, and liert; near the chair is the faint oblong mark which is left upon the floor. Chatham went to the telephone in the cashier's office. He probably did not see the letter fall. It caught Arbogast's eye, however; and you can imagine his surprise when he saw that it was addressed to his wife. What had his accomplice to write to his wife? Arbogast evidently was not restrained by any feelings of delicacy in the matter, or else he was already suspicious of Chatham; for lie picked up the envelope, tore it open, and read the letter which lies before you, as I have pieced it together. It makes interesting reading. I do not wonder that Arbogast lost his head when he saw it. Read it for yourself." "Why,"exclaimed Dunlap, after read ing the letter, "this announces his in tention of committing suicide." "Precisely; and yet Arbogast did not commit suicide; probably never had any intention of doing so; and, at any rate, dirl not write that letter. You will observe that it is not signed; the name is typewritten, like the rest of the letter, which, moreover, was not writ ten here, as the superscription would seem to indicate. I have tried your typewriter, and although it is of the same make as the one upon which this letter was written, there are several characteristic differences in the align ment and in the imperfections of the type. "Besides," continued Sturgis, thoughtfully, "the letter itself bears evidence, on its face, that it could not have been written by Arbogast. Your bookkeeper was of a weak, nervous, ex citable temperament, as all his actions plainly show. Before such a man is brought to the point of taking his own life, he must have passed through a more or less protracted period of ago nizing nervous tension, of which you and I can hardly form any adequate conception. Cnder the circumstances, if he loved his wife, conscious that by his guilt, he was about to plunge her into the depths of grief and shame, he might have written her an incoherent and hysterical letter, or a tender and repentant letter, but never this frigid, matter-of-fact statement of a supreme decision. This litter Is the work of a cold and calculating nature, incapable of ordinary human feeling. The man who wrote it would not have written to his wife at all, or would have written only to serve some selfish purpose. From what I know of Arbogast, I do not believe he was capable of compos ing these lines." "You think, then, that the letter was written by Chatham," said Dunlap. "But what object could Chatham have for writing such a letter?" "Xo," answered Sturgis. "I do not think that Chatham wrote this letter. That is the curious part of it. I cannot believe that if Chatham had been aware of the important nature of its contents, he could have been willing to leave it for an instant within Arbo gast's reach," "But who, then, could have been its author, and why should he Have in trusted the letter to Chatham?" "To your second question, my answer is, probably because he wanted it mailed from the main post office at about the time that Arbogast would leave the bank. To the first, I cannot yet give any positive answer, although, as you will presently see, there are some clews pointing to our unknown quantity 'X' as the author of this let ter. But let us not anticipate. Suppose we return to our drama. When Arbo gast read this letter, he evidently thought, as I do, that somebody was playing him false; that he was to be gotten rid of in some safer way than exile; in short, that, as somebody said of one of the Turkish sultans, he was to be 'suicided.' He must have had strong reasons to suspect Chatham of treach ery; for he at once impulsively jumped to the conclusion that his only chance of safety lay in striking before he could be struck. At any rate, while the accountant wis busy at the telephone, Arbogast stood near this desk, mechan ically tearing to pieces this letter, while he planned the accountant's death. He had taken with him your re volver. As the thought of it flashed upon his mind, his resolution was in stantly taken. He stealthily crept to the paying teller's wicket. Through it he could see the telephone closet, the door of which stood open. Chatham was in direct range, as Arbogast raised the pistol, and, without a word of warn ing, fired. The accountant held the re ceiver of the telephone to his ear. This saved his life; for the bullet entered his left hand and remained embedded in his flesh. When the bullet struck him, Chatliamfell forward, striking his head against a corner of the telephone box, and inflicting a slight scalp wound. I found a few hairs of an intensely red hue, which are evidently his. I also found shreds of his cloth ing which caught on a projecting nail as lie fell; and I infer from these his taste for loud dress. He recovered himself before Arbogast was ready to fire a second time and ran into the clerk's room, probably hoping to make his way to the street through the Exchange Place door. But at the same time, Arbogast rushed through the reception room and this ofliee, reaching the vestibule in time to head off Chatham, who then turned back and ran through the secretary's room, with Arbogast. in pursuit. [To He Continued ] SHE SAW IT FIRST. A I'll I In del plila Tenni«ter Who Proved Himself it Chesterfield in Manner*. He was only a teamster, but his soul was filled with a chivalry which we are led to believe typified the knights of old. And in a coat of mail he might have passed muster, for be was a big', brawny chap, with no little physical beauty of the rough sort, says the Philadelphia Record. As he guided his heavy dray down Market street hill the other morning one of the horses slipped in the icy street, and in his effort to recover his equilibrium lost a shoe. Putting the brake down hard, the driver jumped from his seat to recover the shoe. But. quick as he was another claim ant was ahead of him. She was a fashionably attired young girl of about 18, with a roguish, laughing face. Just as the teamster leaned over to pick up the horseshoe a dainty gloved little hand reached in ahead of his big red one and clutched the coveted prize. "I got it first," she cried, laughing gleefully. "Let me keep it, do. please. It's such good luck if you see it come off yourself." The big teamster removed his fur cap and bowed with Chesterfieldian grace. "Certainly, miss," he replied, gallantly, "if I can assist you to good luck 1 shall be most happy." Then, quite unabashed, he climbed tip to his seat, and the girl walked up the hill with the horseshoe. , Animal Gluttons. Most people, if asked what animal eats the most, would probably say the lion or tiger. This is qtiite a mis take, says the London Daily Mail. Thirty to forty pounds of flesh will satisfy a lion, which, as an average specimen weighs over 450 pounds, is by no means extravagant. A bear has much more capacity than a lion and can make away with o small pig at a meal, say half a hundredweight of meat. Wolves are among the hungri est of the larger carnivors. A wolf will starve for a fortnight, and then eat a third of his own weight at a 6ingle meal. Thnt Wni 1 nreanonnlilr. "Well," said Mr. Giddings, at length. "I'd buy a typewriter from you if you would give me the propter sort of guar antee." "I'll give you every guarantee in rea son," said the agent. "What do you want?" "I wish you to guarantee that it will spell correctly." —Town X®pics. AX AWFUL STOKM. It Sweeps Along- tho Gulf Coast of Texas. (.riul Limn <>• 1.1 la- Over I,(MM( Head In Gait colon i*r<>|>erl) Lum Kill mated 8< I H,000,000 One ol • Ik- Greatest < alastro l>lii)-« of Late 1 rarK< Houston, Tex., Sept. 10.—The storm that raged along the coast of Texas Saturday night was the most disas trous that has ever visited this sec tion. Galveston, Tex., Sept. 11.—Starting as soon as the water begun to recede the work of rescuing the wounded and dying from the ruins of their homes began. Screaming women, bruised and bleeding, some of them bearing the lifeless forms of children in their arms, men broken-hearted and sobbing, bewailing the loss of their wives and children; streets till ed with floating rubbish, among which there were many bodies of the victims of the storm, constituted part of the scene. As Sunday morning dawned the streets were lined with wounded, half clad people, seeking the aid of physi cians for themselves and for friends and relatives who could not move. Police Officer John Howie was found in a pitiable condition, the toes on both of his feet trid two ribs being broken and his head bruised. He re ported that his lionse, with wife and children, had been swept into the gulf. All the residences which have escaped destruction have been turned into hospitals, as have the leading hotels. Information from both the extreme eastern and extreme western por tions of the city were difficult, to ob tain, but the reports which were re ceived indicated that those two sec tions had suffered fully as much as the rest of the city. Fifteen men, constituting all that remained of a company of regular soldiers stationed at Ihe Reach barracks, were marched down Market street. The loss of life among the soldiers in the barracks, which were destroyed, must havt been fully a hundred. San Antonio. Tex., Sept. ll.—Gov. Savers has issued a proclamation to the mayors of all Texas cities, stat ing he will receive and forward all contributions, clothing, etc., that may be sent for the relief of storm-swept Galveston and other southeastern Texas cities Chicago, Sept. 11. —The following statement of the situation at Galves ton and along the coast was received from Dallas, Tex., la- t night by Charles S, Diehl, general manager As sociated Press: From the latest re ports which are considered reliable, the disaster at Galveston and along the coast has not been exaggerated. The waters of the gulf and the bay met. covering the island to a depth of six to I!.' feet. During this sudden flood a most terrible storm was rag ing. the wind blowing about 80 miles per hour. Many of the dead have been uncovered; others are still un der the debris; others carried out to sea. It is not possible to give at this time a reliable report as to the num ber of deaths. From estimates made by reliable persons who have just come from Galveston, it is believed that not less than 1,500 and possibly as many as ">,OOO people were destroy ed. Some of the best public buildings and private establishments were wrecked. Thousands of homes were swept entirely away. It is quite safe to set this down as one of the great est disasters that has ever visited the United States. Houston, Tex., Sept. 17. —Details from the storm-swept district of Tex ns hourly disclose heartrending feat ures nnd confirm early rumors of one of the greatest catastrophes of late years. in Galveston tho dead are being gathered up as rapidly as possible, taken to sen on barges and there con signed to their last resting place. This action is necessary to protect the survivors from pestilence, and be cause the ground is too wet to per mit of digging graves. Dallas, Tex.. Sept. 12.—A bulletin received at noon states that Gov. Say ers lias placed Galveston city nnd isl and under martial law. Adjt. Gen. Scurry is ordered to have state troops to take charge of it. The citizens seem to have the situ ation well in hand. United States troops and Company G, volunteer guard, with citizens, patrol the street to prevent looting. Several persons have already been shot, it is reported. A soldier of Capt. Knfferty's battery, while pa trolling the beach Tuesday morning, ordered a man to desist from looting. The fellow drew a weapon and the soldier shot him dead. Other men have also been shot, but the details are not known nor can tlie exact number be ascertained, but it is prob able that ~~> were killed. Some of these were shot for failing to halt when ordered to do so. Others were shot for vandalism. Galveston, Tex.. Sept. I'.'. Messages were sent from here yesterday ask ing that revenue cutters be ordered to Galveston bay to assist, in trans porting provisions to the city. Tele grams were also sent to New Orleans and Mobile asking for tugs. It is • pule probable that in the next day or two free communication will be es tablished. Washington. Sept. IJ. Orders have been issued bv Ilie war department for the immediate shipment ti (ial veslon of N55 tents and ">0,f)()0 rations. These stores and supplies are divided between St. Louis and San Antonio. This represents about all such sup plies the government has on hand at the places named, but it is stated at the department that the order could be duplicated in a da v. Galveston. Tex., Sept. K! Yester dav supplies began to arrive, but so meager are the facilities that the amount was really pitiable. The pro- Visions that reached here came from Houston by steamer, but there are | so many to feed that it did not >_ r > far. \ crowd quickly (fathered and i they were distributed in a short time. The situation doesn't look so bad now that relief has actually come and j more is on the wav, but it is not j meant to be said that further relief is not needed. The city and island is covered with carcasses of horses. mules, cow-, dogs. rats and cats. Ihe odor from these, and from Ihe human bodies, are |>oisonin(f the air. and it is a mat ter of impossibility to dispose of even one-tenth of the putrifyiiig carcasses this week. The number of people trying 1 to leave is great. Dallas. Tex., Kept. 111. W. II Mo- Graf h. manager of the Dallas Klee trie Co., reached Dallas yesterday • li reet from Galveston. He said: "Van dalism at Galveston has been horri ble. The most rigid enforcement «>P martial law has not been able to sup press it entirely. Adjt. Gen. Scurry's men have arrested a hundred or more negroes. tli of whom were found wirli effects taken from dead bodies. The-e were ordered tried by court-martial. They were convicted and ordered shot. One negro had 21! finders with rings on them iu his pocket." Chicago. Sept. 13. -The following 1 statement was received at II o'clock last night from It. G. Lowe, manager Galveston News: "A summary of the conditions prevailing at Galveston is more than human intellect can mas ter. ISriefiy stated, the damage to property is anywhere between $15,- 000,(100 and $20,000,000. The loss of life cannot be computed now. No lists could be kept and all is guess work. Those thrown out to sea and. buried on the ground wherever found will reach the horrible total of at least 3,000 souls. My estimate of the loss on the island of the city of Gal veston and the immediate surround ing district is between 4.000 and 5.00(1 deaths. I do not make this state ment in fright or excitement." The Association Press has received the following from Mayor Jones, of Galveston: "We are reeehing nu merous telegrams of condolence and offers of assistance. As the telegraph wires are burdened we beg the Asso ciated J'ress to communicate this re sponse to all. Nearby cities are sup plying and will supply sufficient food, clothing, etc., for immediate needs. ( ities farther away can serve us best by sending money, ( hecks should be made payable to John Scaly, chair man of the finance committee. AU supplies should come to W. A. McVi tie, chairman relief committee." All attempts at burying the dead at Galveston have been -utterly aban doned and bodies are now being dis posed of in the swiftest manner pos sible. Galveston, Tex., Sept. 14.—Galves ton is beginning slowly to recover from the stunning blow of last week and though the city appears to be pitilessly desolated, the authorities and the commercial and industrial interests are setting their forces tir work and a start has at last been made toward the resumption of busi ness on a moderate scale. flic further the ruins are dug into the greater becomes the increase in the list of those who perished as their houses tumbled about their heads. On the lower beach Wednesday a searching party found a score of bod ies within a small area, going to show that the bulwark of debris that lies straight across the island con coals many more bodies than have been accounted for. More than 2,000 dead bodies have been identified and the estimate of Mayor Jones that 5.000 souls perished in Saturday's great hurricane does not appear to be magnified. The city still presents the appear ance of widespread wreck and ruin. Little has been done to clear the streets of the tangle of wires and th-i masses of wreck, mortar, slate, stone and class that bestrew them. Many of the sidewalks are impassable. Here and there business men h&vtl already put men to work to repair the damage done, but in the main the commercial interests seem to be un certain about following the lead of those who apparently show faith in the rapid rehabilitation of the island city. The appearance of the newspa pers after a suspension of several davs is having a good effect and both the News and Tribune are urging prompt succoring of the suffering and then equal promptness in recon struction. It is difficult to say yet what the ultimate effect of the disas ter is to be on the city. Many people have left and some may never return. What is most bothering business, men at present is what attitude the »ailroads, and especially the Southern Pacific, are to assume with respect to reconstruction. The decision of the transportation lines will do more than anything else to restore confi dence. One of the most serious results of the storm has been the ripping of the electric light and street car plants. The citv has been in absolute dark ness for several nights and only a few concerns who operate their own illu minating service are enabled to do business. Nearly every residence has gone back to the primitive candle. The work of relief continues ener geticallv. Mayor Jones and his asso ! eiates arc bending every nerve to open a direct line of transportation I with Houston by which he may be eu ! a bled promptly to receive the great quantity of provisions for the people on the way to the city. "I wish to say. however." said May or Jones, "we have made such ar rangements as will make it possible for us to feed the needy until we can get in our supplies. I think within a day or two our transportation facili ties will be sufficient temporarily to meet our needs. (lalveston has help ed other cities in their distress de spite her si/e and we are consoled by the generous response of the coun try to our appeal." Austin. Tex.. Sept. 14. Advices to Co v. Bayers ind'eate that several trains loaded with supplies for Ihe destitute are '*n route to Galveston. The arrival of these supplies will make the situation easier.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers