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

“She called upon the darkey to give up the article, but she declined to do so, taking the position that in such times it was anybody’s property. Fortunately for the rightful owner a gentleman friend happened to come along during the controversy, and, hearing the nature of it, forcibly took the basket from the woman, who was even then bold enough to stand cursing the man for his interference. I did not see any parties mutilating or robbing the dead, but I met several others in Galveston who had.

“I left on Tuesday morning, being fortunate enough to get passage on a schooner that carried me to Texas City. From there I caught a train to Houston. All day Monday in Galveston it seemed to be one continual procession of bodies, which were being carried in wagons, drays, fire ladders, and every other imaginable conveyance. Some of the bodies were minus heads, arms or feet, which, added to the advanced stage of decomposition, not only made the scene particularly horrible to witness, but extremely nauseating on account of the smell from the bodies. Particularly toward the close of Monday the bodies were found so rapidly that any effort to carry them to any special point for burial had about ceased and they were covered up in the sand, laid down on the wharf or left where they were found. Even after I was fortunate enough to get a schooner to carry me to Texas City it seemed that there were almost as many floating in the bay and being carried off or lying around on the mainland as I had seen in Galveston itself.

“It was a horrible experience which I passed through, which I hope will never occur again in my lifetime, and I feel that I cannot too strongly call attention to the urgent needs, both in food and clothing, not only of the poor classes, but of the best people in Galveston, who up to the time of this terrible calamity had not known what want was, and who even now seem ill at ease in knowing how to make their wants known.”

STORM OF INDESCRIBABLE FURY.

Rudolph Daniels, Assistant General Passenger Agent of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, was in Galveston during the storm, and returned to Dallas on the 12th. Mr. Daniels said: “I can only give you my experience and what I saw. The storm was indescribable in its fury, and it was hard to realize the extent of the devastation and destruction even when on the scene. It does not seem real or possible.

“I was in a restaurant near the Tremont Hotel when the storm broke. It began blowing a gale about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, but the wind did not reach an alarming height until about 4 o’clock. Myself and friends saw that it was going to be a storm of more than ordinary fury and started for the Tremont. The street was three feet deep in water and we got a carriage. We had to draw our feet up on the seats to keep out of the water.

“At 5 o’clock the wind was blowing a hurricane, and the water came over the sidewalk in front of the Tremont.

“The water in the street was full of telegraph poles, beer kegs, boxes and debris of all sorts. The wind was carrying all sorts of missiles. On a great many roofs in Galveston oyster shells were used instead of gravel. The wind tore them off and hurled them through the air with great force, injuring people and breaking windows. The air was full of flying glass and every imaginable thing that could be blown away. Mixed with the roaring of the hurricane was a bedlam of strange noises, the crash of breaking glass, rumble of falling walls and rattle of tin roofs making an infernal sound.

“The people for blocks around endeavored to make their way to the Tremont. Rescuers stood on the sidewalk to assist those who were trying to cross the street, which was over waist-deep in water. The water was lashed to foam by the wind and the air was thick with spume and spray. When a person, man, woman or child, would get in reach, those on the sidewalk would seize them and drag them into the hotel.

“Soon there were about 1000 people in the hotel. Women with hardly clothing enough to cover them, and that wet, were crowded along the halls and stairways. They were moaning and babies were crying. Outside in the storm all seemed a sort of haze. No definite shapes could be seen across the street.