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
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.
WINDOWS BROKEN AND ROOMS FLOODED.