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

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
	PAGE
First News of the Great Calamity—Galveston Almost Totally Destroyed by Wind and Waves—Thousands Swept to Instant Death	[17]
CHAPTER II.
The Tale of Destruction Grows—A Night of Horrors—Sufferings of the Survivors—Relief Measures by the National Government	[29]
CHAPTER III.
Incidents of the Awful Hurricane—Unparalleled Atrocities by Lawless Hordes—Earnest Appeals for Help	[42]
CHAPTER IV.
The Cry of Distress in the Wrecked City—Negro Vandals Shot Down—Progress of the Relief Work—Strict Military Rules	[61]
CHAPTER V.
Vivid Pictures of Suffering in Every Street and House—The Gulf City a Ghastly Mass of Ruins—The Sea Giving Up its Dead—Supplies Pouring in from Every Quarter	[86]
CHAPTER VI.
Two Survivors Give Harrowing Details of the Awful Disaster—Hundreds Eager to Get out of Galveston—Cleaning up the Wreckage	[107]
CHAPTER VII.
Not a House in Galveston Escaped Damage—Young and Old, Rich and Poor, Hurried to a Watery Grave—Citizens With Guns Guarding the Living and the Dead	[129]
CHAPTER VIII.
Fears of Pestilence—Searching Parties Clearing away the Ruins and Cremating the Dead—Distracted Crowds Waiting to Leave the City—Wonderful Escapes	[146]
CHAPTER IX.
Story of a Brave Hero—A Vast Army of Helpless Victims—Scenes that Shock the Beholders—Our Nation Rises to the Occasion	[167]
CHAPTER X.
Details of the Overwhelming Tragedy—The Whole City Caught in the Death Trap—Personal Experiences of Those Who Escaped—First Reports More than Confirmed	[191]
CHAPTER XI
Galveston Calamity—One of the Greatest Known to History—Many Thousands Maimed and Wounded—Few Heeded the Threatening Hurricane—The Doomed City Turned to Chaos	[212]
CHAPTER XII
Thrilling Narratives by Eye-witnesses—Path of the Storms Fury Through Galveston—Massive Heaps of Rubbish—Huge Buildings Swept into the Gulf	[234]
CHAPTER XIII
Refugees Continue the Terrible Story—Rigid Military Patrol—The City in Darkness at Night—Hungry and Ragged Throngs	[257]
CHAPTER XIV.
Dead Babes Floating in the Water—Sharp Crack of Soldiers’ Rifles—Tears Mingle With the Flood—Doctors and Nurses for the Sick and Dying	[273]
CHAPTER XV.
Family in a Tree-top All Night—Rescue of the Perishing—Railroad Trains Hurrying Forward With Relief—Pathetic Scenes in the Desolate City	[293]
CHAPTER XVI.
Startling Havoc Made by the Angry Storm—Vessels Far Out on the Prairie—Urgent Call for Millions of Dollars—Tangled Wires and Mountains of Wreckage	[318]
CHAPTER XVII.
Governor Sayres Revises His Estimate of Those Lost and Makes it 12,000—A Multitude of the Destitute—Abundant Supplies and Vast Work of Distribution	[340]
CHAPTER XVIII.
An Island of Desolation—Crumbling Walls—Faces White With Agony—Tales of Dismay and Death—Curious Sights	[360]
CHAPTER XIX.
Thousands Died in Their Efforts to Save Others—Houses and Humans Beings Floating on the Tide—An Army of Orphans—Greatest Catastrophe in our History	[371]
CHAPTER XX.
The Storm’s Murderous Fury—People Stunned by the Staggering Blow—Heroic Measures to Avert Pestilence—Thrilling Story of the Ursuline Convent	[391]
CHAPTER XXI.
Unparalleled Bombardment of Waves—Wonderful Courage Shown by the Survivors—Letter from Clara Barton	[416]
CHAPTER XXII.
Galveston Storm Stories—Fierce Battles with Surging Waves—Vivid Accounts from Fortunate Survivors—A City of Sorrow	[440]
CHAPTER XXIII.
Heroic Incidents—Arrival of Relief Trains—Hospitals for the Injured—Loud Call for Skilled Labor	[461]
CHAPTER XXIV.
One Hero Rescues Over Two Hundred—Traveler Caught in the Rush of Water—Report of a Government Official—How the Great Storm Started	[477]
CHAPTER XXV.
Storms of Great Violence Around Galveston—Wrecked Cities and Vast Destruction of Property—Appalling Sacrifice of Life	[497]
Imprisoned by the Storm	[509]
Names of the Victims of the Great Galveston Horror	[517]

HOTEL GRAND AND ITS ENVIRONS—GALVESTON

BRINGING THE INJURED TO THE HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT

CHAPTER I.
First News of the Great Calamity—Galveston Almost Totally Destroyed by Winds and Waves. Thousands Swept to Instant Death.

The first news of the appalling calamity that fell like a thunderbolt on Galveston came in the following despatch from the Governor of Texas:

“Information has just reached me that about 3000 lives have been lost in Galveston, with enormous destruction of property. No information from other points.

“JOSEPH D. SAYRES, Governor.”

This despatch was dated at Austin, Texas, September 9th. Further intelligence was awaited with great anxiety in all parts of the country. The worst was feared, and all the fears were more than realized. Later intelligence showed that the West Indian storm which reached the Gulf coast on the morning of September 8th, wrought awful havoc in Texas. Reports were conflicting, but it was known that an appalling disaster had befallen the city of Galveston, where, it was reported, a thousand or more lives had been blotted out and a tremendous property damage incurred. Meagre reports from Sabine Pass and Port Arthur also indicated a heavy loss of life.

Among those who brought tidings from the stricken city of Galveston was James C. Timmins, who resides in Houston, and who is the General Superintendent of the National Compress Company. After Mr. Spillane he was one of the first to reach Houston with news of the great disaster which had befallen that city, and after all he reported it was evident that the magnitude of the disaster remained to be told.

After remaining through the hurricane on Saturday, the 8th, he departed from Galveston on a schooner and came across the bay to Morgan’s Point, where he caught a train for Houston. The hurricane, Mr. Timmins said, was the worst ever known.

The estimate made by citizens of Galveston was that four thousand houses, most of them residences, were destroyed, and that at least one thousand people had been drowned, killed or were missing. Business houses were also destroyed. These estimates, it was learned afterward, were far below the actual facts.

The city, Mr. Timmins averred, was a complete wreck, so far as he could see from the water front and from the Tremont Hotel. Water was blown over the island by the hurricane, the wind blowing at the rate of eighty miles an hour straight from the Gulf and forcing the sea water before it in big waves. The gale was a steady one, the heart of it striking the city about 5 o’clock in the evening and continuing without intermission until midnight, when it abated somewhat, although it continued to blow all night.