The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Page: 96
xiv, 17-536 p. : front., plates ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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96 fIHE GULF CITY A MASS OF RUINS.
who are injured or destitute should come, but it included everybody.
He wished it distinctly understood that Houston was prepared
to care for all of those who left Galveston, whether they were
sick or well, rich or poor. It was his belief and the belief of those
associated with him on the General Relief Committee that Galveston
must be depopulated until sanitation can be completed, and all
people have been urged to come from that city to Houston.
THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF TWO HOUSTON WOMEN.
Mrs. Bergman, wife of Manager Bergman, of the Houston
Opera House, gave a thrilling account of her escape during the
Galveston storm. She was summering in a cottage on Rosenberg
avenue, two blocks back from the beach, at Io o'clock on Saturday.
The water was up about three feet, and she donned a bathing suit
and proceeded to the Olympia to talk over the long distance phone
to her husband at Houston. At the Olympia she was waist deep
in water. At 2 o'clock the water about her house was so deep she
became alarmed, and in a bathing suit she and her sister evacuated
the high cottage they occupied.
The neighbors living in the next house, being old Galvestonians,
laughed at them. Out of that family of fifteen there were
saved three, and they only because they were down town. Mrs.
Bergman and her sister started for the Central Telephone office,
the water being from waist to armpit deep. Both are expert
swimmers, and they buffeted the winds and waves for several
blocks. Finally they spied a negro with a dray. They chartered
him for two dollars to take them to the Central Telephone Station.
After proceeding two blocks the mule was drowned, and all were
washed off the dray, the negro being lost.
Mrs. Bergman and her sister, by wading and swimming,
reached the telephone station, and found refuge until the firemen
commenced to bring dead bodies into the building. Then they
concluded to go to Belton's livery stable, where Mr. Bergman kept
his horse. This was the hardest part of the trip, although the
distance was only 600 yards. It was in the heart of the city, and
glass, bricks, slate and timbers flew in showers.
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The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times (Book)
This book covers the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the United States' deadliest natural disaster. It includes accounts from survivors and eyewitnesses, and photos of the devastation.
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Lester, Paul. The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times, book, 1900~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth26719/m1/119/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.