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
CHILDREN CRYING AND WOMEN PRAYING.
“About 4 o’clock the people who were able to get conveyances began to
come in from the residence districts. The hotel did not serve any
supper. From 6 to 10 o’clock was the worst of the storm, and during that
time there was about 1200 people in the house. We were just as nearly
like rats in a wire cage as anything could be. At 10 o’clock the water
was four feet deep in the office, and it was certain death to go out
doors. We were in pitch darkness all the time, although some one had
secured one candle and set it up in the dining-room. Children were
crying and women praying and throwing their arms around the men’s knees
and asking them to save them. It was certainly as horrible a night as
any one ever put on earth. I have been on the road thirty years, have
been in all parts of the world, have had many hairbreadth escapes, but
they did not amount to a snap of the fingers besides this.
“We had one particularly hard gust that lasted about five minutes, and
on looking at my watch I saw that was a little after 10 o’clock. At 12
o’clock it had died down considerably, and the water fell two feet in
about twenty minutes.
“In the early morning we ventured out, although it rained most of the
forenoon. In the afternoon I took a walk down to the beach which is
ordinarily ten minutes’ walk, but it took me an hour and one-half on
this occasion. Once I slipped and twisted my ankle slightly. My foot
came down on something soft, and I found that it was the breast of an
old man with long whiskers.
“As I returned to the hotel I counted thirty-five bodies, five in one
bunch. I saw a negro go out of a house with a load of bedclothes and
other stuff and a soldier stopped him. The man claimed that he had been
sent there by the owners of the property. I personally saw no looting.
“I stayed there over Sunday night, and on Monday morning seven of us
bunched together and paid a man $100 to take us over the bay. On the way
over we counted more than ninety bodies passing close to us, and on
Sunday forenoon I believe there were about as many bodies in the bay as
there were fish. I am certain in my own mind that I saw over 1000
bodies.
STRONG MAN FAINTS.
“Early Sunday morning Jack Frost, of this city, walked into the Tremont
Hotel, nearly naked and broken and bruised from head to foot. He fainted
and was carried to a room and a doctor sent for. The doctors said that
the bones of his right hand were broken, one clavicle broken and his
left shoulder dislocated, besides being horribly bruised and mangled.
Several inquiries from the doctors elicited the information that it was
a close question of life and death when I left. He was caught at
Murdock’s pavilion when the storm came up, and could not get away. No
one knows just where he landed.”
[Illustration:
VIEW OF CENTRAL PARK, SHOWING DAMAGED HIGH SCHOOL IN THE CENTER,
TRINITY CHURCH IN THE REAR AND TREMONT HOTEL AT THE RIGHT]