HOUSE ROLLED MANY YARDS.
One of the experiences of the storm was that of Miss Reine Stanton of Houston, who, with her father and a younger sister, were camping on her farm two and a half miles from Letitia. The house rolled for a distance of 200 yards and then collapsed. The girls were rescued several hours later in an unconscious condition, but, though quite seriously injured, they may recover. All the buildings on the place were wrecked.
“You have often heard that men are fond of the ‘jug,’” said one of the refugees. “Well, I am fond of two jugs, for they are the cause of my being here to-day. I owned a little shanty on the west end of Galveston Island, and, like many others who lived there, I thought and argued that we were not in the storm center, and had seen the water come up near my shanty many times before and recede. This time it not only came up to my little home, but into it. After waiting patiently for it to go down, it kept climbing higher and higher into it. It dawned upon me all of a sudden that all means of escape had been cut off.
“I looked around for something that would bear my weight upon the water. I saw in the corner of my house two two-gallon jugs. I took them and securely fastened a stopper in each and got a piece of rope and then fastened them to my body by passing the rope around under my arms, and securely tying them to each other. I then went out on the gallery and when the crash came I dove off into the maddening waters. I suppose that I was carried about twenty miles down the island and thence back, God knows how far, and inland about eight miles. When I became conscious it was nearly daylight Monday morning. I walked here, where I have some friends, and have been recuperating.
“Yes, I believe in jugs, at least for life saving purposes only.”
An amusing incident occurred at the International and Great Northern depot. One of the ladies’ relief corps from the North was highly indignant and pitched into Superintendent Trice because sleepers were not attached to the train going down to Texas City.
WANTED PALACE CARS.
“We’ve rode in those Pullmans all the way from New York, and it’s a shame and outrage that you intend making us ride in a day coach now. We want those sleepers to live in.” She was wrathy, but when the colonel informed her that before the party got out at Galveston they’d have to walk on dead bodies, wade through slush and slime and have a tough time generally she’d think a day coach was a palace, she said no more. It is evident that some of the “relief corps” consider the trip a pleasure jaunt. When they have been in Galveston a few days they will probably change their minds.
“First reports of storm damage are always rather exaggerated,” remarked a gentleman of the Arcola plantation. “At first everything looks as though it were completely wrecked, but after the calm comes and the work of straightening up begins it is astonishing to see how little property really is damaged. We had considerable damage on our place. The cabins blew down and the convict house was unroofed. When this occurred we turned all the convicts out on the prairie and the next morning all of them voluntarily reported for duty except six, and they worked like trojans assisting in the work of cleaning up. The cane crop suffered considerably, but is by no means a loss. It is recuperating nicely. Very little corn was lost, because most of it was gathered.”
Mr. Fred. Erickson, who returned from Galveston, says he saw a lady, who was drowned among the many others on a burial barge, who had on a fine watch, diamond earrings, several diamond finger rings; besides, he noticed that she wore gold clasp garters with her name upon them.