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

THE STORM GROWS WORSE.

“When the storm kept growing steadily worse we got a rope ready, so that if the worst came we could all be tied together. One family whom I knew did this. They tied loop knots around their wrists. All were drowned together and all were buried in the same hole. All night long we could hear cries for help. To every one who came we gave shelter. Once some one knocked at the door; when we opened it a woman fell headlong across the doorstep. She had fainted from exhaustion. We found a little girl in the basement, who had been tied to a skiff. She seemed dazed, and kept talking about a beautiful carriage she had seen.

“We did not know what she meant, but next morning we saw a neighbor’s carriage perched high on top of a pile of wreckage. Even when we looked out of the window we could not tell the extent of the damage. The moon rose, giving a very clear light, by which we could see objects floating around. It did not rain. The people were drowned by the water backing up from the bay and the Gulf.

“At first the wind was to the northeast. This backed the water up from the west bay. Suddenly it turned to the southeast, causing a tidal wave. The water was from four to six feet deep. Two of the observers remained in observatory all night. The wind gauge broke when the wind was blowing from 115 to 125 miles an hour.