When the waters rushed into Dr. Cline’s home and began to rise rapidly he realized his peril, but it was then too late to escape. His brother, also of the weather bureau, Mr. Joe Cline, came to his rescue to help save the family or perish with them. Standing on his brother’s front porch Mr. Cline motioned to the neighbors on the opposite side of the street to go north, meaning to get out, for no voice could be heard across the street in the teeth of that terrible northeaster.
This was the last warning that was given, and then the chief of the Weather Bureau, while with his devoted brother and their loved ones disappeared within their own homes to await their doom. It was not many hours coming. Higher and higher the water rose, and they mounted the second floor till the waves mounted higher, and buildings about them crashed and fell, adding to the number of inmates of the houses others who had been driven out and were seeking safety.
Finally, the building gave way beneath the pressure of the wreckage behind it. The Cline family was in the room and had resolved to go by threes. Dr. Cline had with him Mrs. Cline and their little 6–year-old girl, Esther. His brother, Joe, took charge of the two older girls. As the house went over Mr. Joe Cline and his charges were thrown through a window which they were near and they caught on the roof. A dresser pushed Dr. Cline and his wife against the mantle and his little one was knocked from his left arm. They were all pinioned beneath the roof.
FOUND IT WAS THE FOOT OF HIS BABY.
Dr. Cline, holding to his wife, prepared for death, but throwing his left hand above his head, felt something strike his hand. He grabbed the object and it proved to be one foot of his baby that had been knocked from his grasp when the roof fell in. The water had driven her little body to the surface through an opening, which, although in an almost dying condition, he realized. By some means—he doesn’t know how—he was released from the timbers that held him down, and he, too, was sent up by the rush of water to the surface. With his feet and arms he reached for his wife, who had been torn from his grasp, but he could not find her, and so she perished. Their experience in drifting on debris was that of hundreds of others. For hours they were tossed about on the raging sea. Part of the time they think they were far out in the Gulf. They know they were out of sight of lights and buildings much of the time.
Mr. William Blair, a member of the Screwmen’s Association, with a party of twelve, took in what he said to be the first boat that carried news from the mainland. The trip this party made was one of the most heroic on record. Mr. Blair said:
ONE LONE HOUSE STANDING.
“We were caught in Houston in the storm, and Sunday morning as soon as the storm abated we resolved to get to our families and friends in Galveston, if such a thing was possible. A party of twelve of us left Houston on a Southern Pacific train. We got as far as Seabrook and there we found everything washed away, and dead bodies here and there. One lone house was standing. Clear Creek bridge had been washed away and the railroad track was turned over. We went back to Houston and waited there till 4.40 P. M., and took the Galveston, Houston and Henderson regular train and succeeded in getting as far as Lamarque.
“The whole country was under water, but we decided to get to Galveston any way that night. We pulled out towards Virginia Point, wading in water up to our necks, some times swimming. At one place it got so deep that we got a lot of drift together and constructed a sort of a raft and ferried over the places. I was about to forget to tell you that one of our party was a woman, a Miss Beach. She had a sick sister in Galveston at the infirmary and she had determined to get to her if possible. That brave and fearless women kept up with the men wading and swimming, and while others lagged and some dropped out along the way, she never once faltered, and I have never before seen her equal for courage and determination.
“There were six of us when we got to Virginia Point, others had turned out toward Texas City. We got as near to Virginia Point as we could, we found three railroad engines there, one of them turned over. There were some cars scattered along the track and in one caboose were some injured people. A portion of our party stopped there to do what they could for them.