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 De — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
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 De
John Stuart Mill · en
The above message was addressed to Superintendent Felton, Dallas, and
comes from Mr. Vaughn, manager of the Western Union office at Houston.
The Missouri, Kansas and Texas north bound “flyer” was reported wrecked
near Sayers.
The office of the Western Union Telegraph Company at St. Louis was
besieged with thousands of inquiries as to the extent and result of the
terrible storm that cut off Galveston from communication with the rest
of the world. Rumors of the most direful nature come from that part of
Texas, some of them even intimating that Galveston had been entirely
wrecked and that the bay was covered with the dead bodies of its
residents. Nothing definite, however, could be learned, as the Gulf city
was entirely isolated, not even railroad trains being able to reach it.
All the telegraph wires to Galveston were gone south of Houston, and to
accentuate the serious condition of affairs the cable lines between
Galveston and Tampico and Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, were severed; at least
no communication over them was possible.
The Western Union had a large number of telegraph operators and linemen
waiting at Houston to go to Galveston, but it was impossible to get them
there. San Antonio was being reached by El Paso, in the extreme
southwestern portion of the State, a procedure made necessary by the
prevailing storm.
WATER BLOWN COMPLETELY OVER THE CITY.
Mr. Joyce, another refugee from Galveston, made the following statement:
“The wind was blowing Saturday afternoon and night at about seventy-five
miles an hour, blowing the water in the Gulf and completely covering the
city. The people of Galveston did not think it was much at first and
kept within their homes, consequently when the wind began blowing as it
did and the water dashed against the houses, completely demolishing
them, many lives were lost. I have no idea how many were killed, but
think there will be several thousand deaths reported, besides many
people whom we will know nothing about.
“I was in the storm which struck Galveston in 1875, but that one, bad as
it was, was nothing in comparison with Saturday’s.”
The following account of Galveston will be of interest to readers in
connection with the great disaster that has ruined that once prosperous
and thriving city.
Galveston is situated on an island extending east and west for twenty
seven miles, and is seven miles in its greatest width north and south.
No city could be in greater danger from such a horrible visitation as
has now come to Galveston. In no part of the city, with its former
38,000 population, is it more than six feet above the sea level.
The flat condition not only points to the desperate situation of the
people at such a time as this, but their danger may be considered
emphasized when it is known that exactly where the city is built the
island is only one and one-quarter miles wide.