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

DODGING TIMBERS IN THE WATER.

Thus Brophey struggled, several times giving up and letting himself go down, but rising each time with a determination to fight until the bitter end, although terrible odds were against him. After having been in this mighty whirlpool for almost an hour, dodging huge timbers, crawling on roofs and sides of houses, being sucked under with them, he saw a house standing. With almost a last effort, he struggled and fought his way to a window of the house. There were ready hands to pull him through the window.

This haven which saved his life, together with a number of others, belonged to a negro and is situated near Thirty-seventh street. It was filled with negro refugees, and it is, indeed, to their credit that they struggled with such heroism to save Brophey and several others who drifted by.

Getting into the house, he threw himself on the floor, more dead than alive, and there remained until after the storm, when he was taken by friends to the Tremont Hotel, where he has become convalescent.

One of the interesting features of the story of his terrible struggle is his unintentional rescue of a dog. Early in his mad career in that most awful caldron he ran across a dog. From that time until his rescue it stayed with him, and would not be pushed off, and at last succeeded in crawling into the window after him. He is going to send for the dog, and declares that never while he is living will it want for a rug to sleep on and a bone to eat.

A. C. Fonda, chief clerk in the Santa Fe general freight office, at Galveston, had a fearful experience during the storm. He said that on Saturday afternoon, when it became apparent that the flood was going to be very high, that he went down to his home to remove the furniture from the lower floors to the upper, never dreaming that the effects of the storm would be more than a flooding of the first floors of residences. His family being away in California, fortunately for them, he worked alone and had about removed everything when the water got so high that he could not escape from the house.