NEARLY FROZEN TO DEATH.
“The wind beat the rain on me and nearly froze me to death. I was never so cold in my life. I think I had at least a dozen good hard chills before the water fell sufficiently for me to wade to a house half a block away, a little elevated cottage of two rooms in which fifteen or twenty colored people, who forgot their own misery when they saw me bareheaded, covered with blood and shaking with cold. They pulled me in out of the rain, wrapped some half dry clothes about my shoulders to get warmth in my body and for the moment forgot their own misery.
“When daylight came two of the men piloted me to town, where I met a friend whose room had escaped destruction. He took me there, sent for a doctor, had my wounds dressed and by 9 o’clock I was myself again and barring weakness from loss of blood was as well as ever.
“In conclusion, I desire to say this of the storm. In my opinion it began south of Cuba, developed fully near Yucatan, came to the northwest, landed west of Galveston, its center passing south of Galveston between 6 and 7 o’clock Saturday evening, and that it was from 200 to 300 miles in diameter. It passed to the northeast, going out of the United States over the great lakes through Canada and died out in the far North Atlantic. I have seen absolutely no report of this storm, but this is my conclusion from my observation.”
Said a citizen of Galveston: “It is not all tears in Galveston, not all sorrow. Hearts bowed down with grief are not heavy all the time, and there are smiles and good cheer and hearty hand shakes with it all. Here is a sample of the conversation:
“‘Hello, Bill, I’m glad to see you alive!’
“‘Same to you, old man,’ as they join hands in hearty clasp.
“‘How ’bout your family?’
“‘All safe, thank God.’
“‘I lost my little one, but the rest are safe. How’s your home?’
“‘Gone: knocked into kindling wood, but that don’t matter, as I saved my wife and children after a hard struggle.’