“Business men know that if Galveston should go down its shipping would promptly be transferred to New Orleans. But it is the glory of the people of New Orleans that since the storm they have said not a word against the rebuilding of this city, but have generously and nobly responded to the appeals for Galveston’s sufferers.
“In spite of any ambition of rival ports, in spite of the timidity of women and some men, the people of Galveston, patiently and soberly, with loyalty and courage, are determined to rebuild on the ruins of this once beautiful city a metropolis that shall prosper and endure. They are determined to do this, in spite of the possibility that their homes and industries may again be wrecked by storm. If you ask them why, they will tell you, “No community is immune from disasters of this kind. It merely happened that Galveston was in the path of the storm.” And then they will go back to burying their dead.
“Captain Randall, of the steamship Comeno, which has arrived from New Orleans, reports that coming up the bay he saw a great many human corpses, and that the banks of Pelican Island were strewn with the dead. Pelican Island is six miles from Galveston.
“The various railroads entering the city are determined to assist to the full extent of their ability in rebuilding the city. Colonel L. J. Polk, of the Santa Fe, has received a very encouraging message from the headquarters of his road, declaring confidence in Galveston, and urging the business community to push forward the work of reconstruction. Colonel Polk said in an interview:
“The railroad interests have decided to combine their forces in order to rebuild as quickly as possible a bridge from Virginia Point to Galveston. A large number of men will go to work with this end in view. You may say to the country that in six days a bridge will have been built and trains running over it. I have had a consultation with the wharf interests, and they have promised us that they will be prepared to handle ingoing and outgoing shipments by the time the bridge is finished. The bridge we shall build will be substantial, but of temporary character. We shall subsequently replace it with a more enduring structure. There is no reason why Galveston ought not to resume normal commercial conditions in ten days.