The Great Galveston Disaster / Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of Death; Terrible Sufferings of the Survivors; Vandals Plundering Bodies of the Dead; Wonderful Exhibitions of Popular Sympathy; Millions of Dollars Sent for the Relief of the Stricken Sufferers

by Paul Lester

CHILDREN CRYING AND WOMEN PRAYING.

“About 4 o’clock the people who were able to get conveyances began to come in from the residence districts. The hotel did not serve any supper. From 6 to 10 o’clock was the worst of the storm, and during that time there was about 1200 people in the house. We were just as nearly like rats in a wire cage as anything could be. At 10 o’clock the water was four feet deep in the office, and it was certain death to go out doors. We were in pitch darkness all the time, although some one had secured one candle and set it up in the dining-room. Children were crying and women praying and throwing their arms around the men’s knees and asking them to save them. It was certainly as horrible a night as any one ever put on earth. I have been on the road thirty years, have been in all parts of the world, have had many hairbreadth escapes, but they did not amount to a snap of the fingers besides this.

“We had one particularly hard gust that lasted about five minutes, and on looking at my watch I saw that was a little after 10 o’clock. At 12 o’clock it had died down considerably, and the water fell two feet in about twenty minutes.

“In the early morning we ventured out, although it rained most of the forenoon. In the afternoon I took a walk down to the beach which is ordinarily ten minutes’ walk, but it took me an hour and one-half on this occasion. Once I slipped and twisted my ankle slightly. My foot came down on something soft, and I found that it was the breast of an old man with long whiskers.

“As I returned to the hotel I counted thirty-five bodies, five in one bunch. I saw a negro go out of a house with a load of bedclothes and other stuff and a soldier stopped him. The man claimed that he had been sent there by the owners of the property. I personally saw no looting.

“I stayed there over Sunday night, and on Monday morning seven of us bunched together and paid a man $100 to take us over the bay. On the way over we counted more than ninety bodies passing close to us, and on Sunday forenoon I believe there were about as many bodies in the bay as there were fish. I am certain in my own mind that I saw over 1000 bodies.