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

WHOLE FAMILY KILLED BY STORM.

Among those who were caught in the storm that devastated Galveston on Sunday night were six persons who comprised the family of Peter E. McKenna, a former resident of Philadelphia. According to news received by their relatives in that city, all perished.

When word of the Texas disaster first came it was reported that the entire family had been lost, but it later developed that a married daughter, who lives in Omaha, Neb., was not visiting her parents, as was first supposed, and therefore escaped the death that overtook her relatives.

Peter E. McKenna, the head of the family, was well known in Philadelphia during his youth. His father was one of the pioneers in the religious press. The son followed the profession of his father, and after engaging in the publication of newspapers and religious weeklies until 1862 he sought fortune in the West.

VIEW OF PIER 23, SHOWING VESSEL OVERTURNED BY THE GALE

HOUSE ON CENTRE STREET BETWEEN N AND N½ AVENUES BRACED UP BY A FLOATING CISTERN

DESTRUCTION OF GALVESTON ORPHANS’ HOME

INTERIOR OF ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH WHICH WAS DEMOLISHED BY THE HURRICANE

Galveston at the time was a growing city, and as it offered the opportunities Mr. McKenna desired he settled there and devoted himself to the upbuilding of newspapers. His success was of such a nature that he made his permanent home in Galveston, and during the thirty-eight years that have passed, was recognized as one of the most foremost journalists in that city. Latterly he was connected with the Galveston “Despatch” and also conducted a publishing house for himself.

Separated as he was by thousands of miles from the city of his birth, Mr. McKenna was able to make only a few visits during the last twenty-five years, but he kept up a constant correspondence with several relatives. In these letters there was frequent mention of the fact that the city was lower than the sea and open to the attacks of any storm that might form in the Gulf of Mexico.