LATER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 217, 12 September 1900, Page 5

LATER.

EIGHT STEAMSHIPS

WRECKED,

TOTAL LOSS OF LIEE, 5,000

NEW YORK, September 12

Eight steamships were wrecked in Galveston harbour, involving'■ the loss of many valuable lives and much

valuable cargo.

During the worst of, the hurricane the wind reached a velocity of 84

miles an hour

The loss of life throughout Texas is estimated at five thousand.

In common with midst of the Southern States,' Texas -is often visited: by cyclones .of terrific:,... force..' These storms.have beenM known to. lift,heavy ■good's' trains.'bodily from the rails, arid nothing can stand against" theiri. jWhole towns have been blottedjP.ut by them. Galveston: is, to Texas' what New Orleans is to Louisiana; the chief port of the State. It is the centre of the great cotton trade of the State, and has of late years acquired some importance as a manufacturing, centre. It has a population of some-40,000, arid is low lying, situated on Galveston Island, on the coast of the Mexican Gulf. It is the fashionable summer resort anC watering place of the Southern States, arid Is a very pretty town, typical of the Southern part of the Union. Its, importance, however, lies in the fact-that it is the great seaport of the Pacific "slope" for New York trade. The Southern Company's railway runs from Houston and Galveston to Oakland, near San Francisco, and by this route the whole, of the New York trade'"firids. its way to the,:' Western States. The well-; known Morgan line of steamers has its, headquarters at Galveston, and conveys the cotton to New York. Galveston is'thehome of the "Cotton kings," and the damage to property caused by the above disaster milst have beeny very -reat. < n [Texas is the. largest State in the Union (265,780 sq. m.). It covers nearly nine per cent, of the total; area o_ the United States, exclusive of Alaska, and is larger than France or Germany, and more' than twice as large as the British Isles. Its extreme -length is about 900 miles, 'and -its greatest breadth,.Jso--, j The: coasj^hyne- is;.4pp riiiles loiig. From tbe low, flat prairie lands along the coast the land "rises till it reaches the plateau and -mountains of. the;^distant west; -some of [whose peaks attain, 5000 fee^ Along

the coast, is a fringe of low islands (Padre Island is 100 miles long) am* peninsulas, .(separated from the mainland by lagoons. The . alluvial coastbelt, extending from 25 toy6o miles inland, comprises both fertile lowlands and stretches of barren soil. Beyond lies a terrace of rich rolling land called the "prairie belt." In the eastern prairie sections there .are extensive timber regions. . N. and W. o_ the prairies -he land presents a rough, broken surface, with occasional bluffs. On the southern border of the plateau the -elevation is about 1000 feet, but a height o_ 2000 feet is reached as the ascenit continues-; towards the arid Llano Estacado and the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains. The coal measures occupy about 10,000 square miles, besides extensive beds of brown, lignite. There are vast deposits; of iron-ore, tin and 'other metals are found, and the supply of lime, gypsum, and salt is inexhaustible. Agriculture and stpck raising are the leading occupatioiia Rather more than one half of the. eji» tire "area is practically uninhabited, but settlements are extending. Texas ranks, foremost in cattle raising, thanks to its pasturage-and climate, and in the number of other live stock is almost -without a rival., Wool, and dairy produce are important staple-. Since 1.83, when its crop surpassed that of Mississippi, Texas has been the leading cotton y State. ' Wheat rand the other ; grainis"are extensively/Cultivated. Sugar, ; a(nd rioe yield abundtot harvests along the coast, aiid tniits are produced -in the south., There are five cities or towns with over 20,000 inhabitants—Dallas (38,000),;. San"Antonio, Galveston, Houston and Fort Worth; while __ustin v(the' capital),; Waco, Laredo, Denison and El Pasco have : between 10,000 and 15,000.': Texas formed; part of the Spanish prbyinjce of; Mexico; which in ,1882 bceanie -^republic. In 1835 it declared.its' indepehence, and 1836 Houston; was made 'President,, In' 1845, Texas,with f am area of 375,000 square miles, was annexed to. the Unitedylta-es, this being the prime cause of the Mexicaia war. The State seceded from the - ,lft_io_i in 1861 ..and a-e-entered it"" in ' 18.0." Pop. . (1870), 818,579;: ;(18_6j''"_,--_*,?_-} (i 890)>15.--S_.t 523 (492,837 colour fed)