The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Page: 240
xiv, 17-536 p. : front., plates ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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240 THRILLING NARRATIVES BY EYE-WITNESSES.
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 Iooo 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.
"The wind reached its strongest about 6 o'clock. Then the
water was in the rotunda of the hotel. Part of the skylight had
blown off and the rain was pouring in. Many of the windows
were broken by flying pieces of debris and the rooms were flooded.
My room was among those flooded. Joe Morrow had a room that
was dry, and he and Harry Archer and myself crowded into it.
Morrow got four inches of candle somewhere, and we had half a
dozen dry matches. We burned the candle from time to time during
the night to cheer uis up. All of us were scared and did not
know what minute everything would go. After midnight the
storm began to go down, and at 5 o'clock in the morning the water
had gone out of the hotel and part of Tremont street was above it.
"We set out to find W. H. McClure, who had had an awful
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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/m1/294/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .