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 Galveston disaster needs a like body. Food and shelter will before long be provided. This is but a beginning. Contributions are pouring out all over the country and organized work has not yet begun. Any sum really needed by Galveston can be raised if it is asked by an authoritative body, able to speak definitely and with precision of the losses sustained by churches, hospitals, institutions and individuals, and competent to distribute relief with efficiency and economy. If Texas and Galveston put such a body before the country in complete control the desultory giving already begun will be succeeded by organized, systematic contributions equal to the great need, great as it is.”

CHAPTER X.
Details of the Overwhelming Tragedy—The Whole City Caught in the Death-Trap—Personal Experiences of Those Who Escaped—First Reports More Than Confirmed.

The centre of the West Indian hurricane, which had been predicted for several days, struck Galveston at 9 o’clock Saturday morning. At that hour the wind was in the north and the waters of the bay were rising rapidly. The Gulf was also turbulent, and the water, forced in by the tropical storm, rolled up the beach and gradually swept inland. About 2 o’clock P. M. the wind was rising rapidly, constantly veering, but settling towards the east and coming in fitful jerks and puffs, which loosened awnings, cornices, slated roofs and sent the fragments flying in the air.

The waters of the bay continued rising and creeping ashore, mingled with the waters from the clouds, and filled the downtown streets and invaded stores. Despite the danger from flying missiles, as the afternoon wore on, men ventured out in the streets in hacks, in wagons, in boats and on foot, some anxious to get home to their families, some bent on errands of mercy, and others animated by no purpose save bravado.

Gaining in velocity, the wind changed to the northeast, then to the east, and the waters rose until they covered the city. The wind howled frightfully around the buildings, tearing off cornices and ripping off roofs. The wooden paving blocks rose from their places in the streets and floated off in great sections down the streets.

At 6.30 o’clock the wind had shifted to the southeast, still increasing in velocity. At that hour the wind gauge on the roof of the United States Weather Bureau registered eighty-four miles an hour then blew away. Still the wind blew harder and harder and even the most fortunate houses lost all or a part of their coverings. The storm reached its height at about 8.30 o’clock. At 9 o’clock the wind began subsiding and the waters to recede.

But the fury of the storm had not been spent until well into Sunday morning. At 1 o’clock the water had fallen until the streets were inundated no more than they would be by a big rain. Sunday morning broke clear, and the sun shone brightly on a scene of wreck and ruin, which verily beggars description.

The streets were piled with debris, in many places several feet high. Buildings were shorn of roofs, cornices, chimneys and windows. Stocks of goods were damaged by floods from below and rain from above. But it was the wind which had wrought the greatest havoc in every respect. The damage from waters of the bay was inconsequential when compared with that from wind. The eastern part of the city received the full force of the storm and suffered most, although no section escaped serious injury.

FRANTIC PEOPLE HUNTING RELATIVES.

All along the beach for about four blocks back scarcely a residence was left. The beach district was shorn of habitations. Back of that houses and timbers piled up, crushing other buildings which lay in their path. Men and women walked through the slimy mud that overspread the streets, homeless. Men and women rushed around frantic, hunting their relatives. Dead and wounded men, women and children lay around waiting the coming of the volunteer corps organized to remove the bodies to improvised morgues and hospitals. There was no thought of property damage; those who had escaped with their families, losing all else, felt satisfied and thanked their Maker.