e we found a lot of 'em, 'leven under one house. We have
put only two in here to-day. Found 'em just now, right in that puddle.'

"'Could you tell me who they are?' I asked.

"'Lord! No,' was the answer. 'We don't look at 'em any more'n we have
to, else we'd been dead ourselves before to-day. One of these was a
colored man. They are all pretty black, now; but you can tell 'em by the
kinky hair. He had nothin' but an undershirt and one shoe. The other was
a woman; young, I reckon. 'Tenny rate she was tall and slim and had lots
of long brown hair. She wore a blue silk skirt and there was a rope tied
around her waist, as if somebody had tried to save her.'

"Taking a long pole he prodded an air-hole near the center of the
smoldering heap, from which now issued a frightful smell, that caused a
hasty retreat to the windward side. The withdrawal of the pole was
followed by a shower of charred bits of bone and singed hair. I picked
up a curling, yellow lock and wondered, with tears, what mother's hand
had lately caressed it.

"'That's nothin',' remarked the fireman. 'The other day we found part of
a brass chandelier, and wound all around it was a perfect mop of long,
silky hair--with a piece of skin, big as your two hands, at the end of
it. Some woman got tangled up that way in the flood and jest na'cherly
scalped.'

"I mention these incidents merely to show some of the conditions that
had to be met. The most we could do for the grief-stricken survivors was
to mitigate in some degree their bodily distress. The world knows how
generously the whole country responded to the call--how contributions
came pouring in by trainloads and shiploads, consigned to the Red Cross.
To distribute all this bounty judiciously was a herculean task--and our
working force was very small. The ladies and gentlemen of Galveston who
had suffered less than their neighbors, formed themselves into
committees, which opened relief stations in the several wards; and
through these channels the bulk of supplies was issued. If mistakes were
made, it was not from lack of faithful endeavor on the part of the
distributers; and let us hope that the errors, if any, were all on the
side of too liberal giving.

"Merely to sort over one carload of garments, so as to make them
immediately available--to put the infants' clothes in one department,
the shoes in another, grown-up dresses in another, coats and trousers in
another, underwear in another--was a work of ti