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

COST OF THE SEA WALL.

As to the expense of such a structure, it is thought by engineers that a liberal estimate would be about $1,500,000 per mile. This wall, as projected by Colonel Robert, would extend from a point on the south jetty, where the latter crosses the Gulf front of the city, and would follow the line of the beach, two or three feet above the water level, until it reached the southwestern limit of the island, in the shallow water of West Bay. At the latter point the danger from storms is not serious.

At present the depth of water between the jetties is 26½ feet, and it is thought that it will soon be thirty feet. The average depth of the original channel across the twenty-five miles of Galveston Bay is about twelve feet. It is proposed by Colonel Robert’s plan to increase this to at least twenty-five feet. An additional and supplementary plan is to extend the improvement, so as to create a system of coast channels that will transform Galveston into a central port with a labyrinth of waterways.