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

FACING THE FIERCE BLASTS OF THE STORM.

“Then it was all that the crew of one officer and seven men could do to pull the boat against the fierce blasts of the cyclone. By working all Saturday afternoon and evening and up to one o’clock Sunday morning the brave boys succeeded in rescuing thirty-four men, women and children, whom they put in a place of safety and provided with enough provisions for their immediate needs. Finally, on account of the darkness, the increasing violence of the storm and the vast amount of wreckage in the streets, the rescuing party was reluctantly compelled to return to the vessel.

“On board the ship it was a period of intense anxiety for all hands. No one slept, and it was only by the almost superhuman efforts of the officers and crew that we rode out the hurricane in safety. With the exception of the carrying away of the port forward rigging and the smashing of all the windows and skylights, the vessel sustained no serious injury. Not a single person on board was injured in any way.”

Under date of September 11 the same officer writes: “We think there have been 5000 lives lost. I cannot begin to tell the number of houses blown down or damage done. Our new distiller, which came down on the New York steamer, has been set up on deck, and we are thus enabled to relieve much suffering by supplying drinking water to the many who call on us for relief. We have also furnished as much food to the needy as we can possibly spare.

“All that can be thought of now is the disposing of the dead. Already one steamer load and four barge loads have been sent out to sea. During the height of the hurricane the tide rose seven or eight feet above the usual high water mark and three feet over the wharves.

“There are five hundred men working to repair the city water works and in the meantime we are furnishing all the water we can possibly distil to the sufferers and aiding them in such other ways as lie in our power.”

With a view to the restoration of the fortifications in the harbor of Galveston, General Wilson, chief of engineers, organized a Board of engineer officers, consisting of Colonel Henry M. Robert, stationed in New York; Major Henry M. Adams, stationed in New Orleans; Captain Charles H. Riche, stationed in Galveston, and Captain Edgar Jadwin, stationed in New York, to meet in Galveston at the call of the senior officer about October 20.