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

WATERS OF BAY AND GULF MEET.

The south jetty, which marked the northern and eastern boundaries of the reservation, pointed its long line of rail-capped rocks five feet above the tide before the storm. But when the northeast gale backed the waters of the bay against the stone wall and the storm swelled the bay out of its banks, the water rose above the jetty and swept like a millrace to meet the waters of the gulf, which came running in from the southeast. This was early in the afternoon, and as the hurricane increased in velocity and the gulf roared out its warning, the terrible work of destruction commenced. The reservation was inundated and the force of the mighty waters quickly dug channels beneath the fortifications.

Then the wind and gulf joined forces and the great coast defenses succumbed to the attack and were washed from their foundations and half buried in the grave dug by the waters of the gulf. The immense concrete and rock structures toppled like toy houses as the greedy waters plowed channel after channel in the quicksand upon which the batteries stood. With the wooden structures, the barracks and warehouses, the wind made quick work, and the wreckage was shot through the rapids and carried to sea.

As the waters on their reservation rose higher and higher and the fortifications sank from view the lighthouse stood alone in the high sea which made the gulf and bay one. In this structure two human souls watched the storm gods at work and waited for their time. There was no hope of escape. The steel bridge leading from the top of the jetty to the lighthouse had been twisted by the wind and carried away; the lifeboat which hung from davits beneath the house had been snatched from its position and smashed against the iron supports, and the water carried off the splintered remnants.

Night came and the lamp in the tower, as though defying the hellish work of the raging elements, cast its mellow rays of light upon the scene of devastation and death which Night had just covered with its mantle. That human hands should dare to illuminate the appalling scene of tragedy must have enraged the murderous elements, and the storm batteries were turned on the tower. For an hour or more the attack continued with increasing vengeful power, and then—the light went out. Satisfied, perhaps, that the last defender of the reservation had been silenced the warring elements abandoned their fierce attack and entered the city to finish their destruction.

With the dawning of day an aged couple, who had faced many dangers in life’s stormy sea together, came out on the gallery of the lighthouse and, standing arm in arm, viewed the funeral procession in the bay. They had survived the night, and while they stood there high above the water in silent thanksgiving for their safe deliverance, they saw the ebbing tide carrying its dead to sea. Out through the jetties the long cortege moved swiftly, with the angel of death piloting the craft of human corpses.