The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Page: 391
xiv, 17-536 p. : front., plates ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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CHAPTER XX.
The Storm's Murderous Fury-People Stunned by the Staggering
Blow-Heroic Measures to Avert PestilenceThrilling
Story of the Ursuline Convent.
WHILE the story of Galveston's woe can never be told, yet tne
demand naturally should be that as much shall be told as
the human mind is capable of telling. The man does not
live now, and the man never lived who could draw the picture in
all its horrible details. The greatest of poets sang of the destruction
of Troy. Tacitus, and later other historians, have told of the
deeds of the madman Nero. The contests between Marius and
Sulla have filled pages through all time. The destruction of Pompeii
has been vividly described by novelists and historians.
The French revolution, with its September and August massacres,
its ravages, and its other fiendish details, have been in the
hands of Carlyle and a score of French writers; the Gordon riots
have been described by Dickens-but never a poet or historian or
novelist has drawn anything near as shocking a pictu-.e of any
event in the past as this stern and frightful realit .
Nearly every event of the past which has shocked humanity
came about through contests between men. But men tire and men,
however bitter, at last will abate their anger. In this case it was
helpless humanity on the one side. In this case it was terrible
nature in all its fury and strength on the other. There could be
no appeal for mercy, because the winds have no ears. There was
no resistance, because the arms of the waters were those of a giant
demon. There were appeals, but they were directed above the
storm. There were struggles, but they were simply those of the
drowning. Those who survived were incoherent to a great degree.
The wind shrieked; it did not whistle as winds do. They all
qgree on that. The air was filled with spray, a blinding spray
which affected the nostrils and throat and begat an inordinate
thirst. It was dark. Yet it was light. They all agree on that.
391
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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/m1/449/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.