El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-09

| get It's full Drunt, ana IN all the cases
it had a very narrow escape. In 1857
the entire island was flooded, and the
waters of Galveston bay and Gulf
met over it so that it completely dis
| appeared from view: but the town was
| then a small one. and thel OSS of life
was inconsiderable. In the storm of
| October 8, 1867. Galveston again went
under water, the Gulf pouring over
it so that Mechanic street, the prin-
cipal business thoroughfare. was six
feet deep-and it then was on the edge
of the storm and did not catch its full
force. Again, in 1871 it was twice be-
meath the waters, first in June and
again in September, n flood coming
from the waters of the Gulf. the other
when the water was piled up in the
bay until it swept through the princi-
pal streets back to the Gulf of Mexi-
co. In October, 1878, and in Septem-
Der, 1875, and December, 1877, the town
was again flooded.
Five Floods in Ten Years.
Thus five times in ten years Calves
ton was swept by the waves and be-
came a second Venice, all of its streets
being from two to five feet under wa
ter. All of those storms were severe
and did great damage, although Gal
weston caught only their fringe. But
the storm of 1875 was by far the worst
.@@o ShSh oSARS 0AAy
an hour, perhaps h disaster which
has visited it today. Had not the wind
changed at the very it threat
ened to destroy the Island City the lat
ter would have probably been swept
into h Gulf with great loss of life.
The storm did Galveston an immense
amount of damage and there were lives
lost all along the Texas coast, but the
city escaped a great catastrophe. A
strong south wind PILED the water up
in Galveston bay until in Buffalo bayou
near Houston, it reached a height of
thirty-seven feet. Forty persons were
drowned in and round Galveston.
Morgan's dredging feet was sunk. the
government works swept away and in
calculable harm dOn hen the wind
veered around to the north and all this
immense mass of water vas thrown
back on Galveston Island. In twenty
five minuteS it had cut the island in
half, making a channel $50 feet wide
and 25 feet deep at h east end, near
Fort Point, and just beyond the built
up portion of the sland. The Land
washed away like so much sugar, and
it was evident hat the entire island
would be swept into the Gull, but just
as the new-made channel reached the
city the wind receded again, the water
was driven eastward and passed out
through Galveston Pass. 1t vas the
narrowest of escapes. for fifteen min
utes more Of that north wind would
probably AVE carried a hundred hous-
eS out to sea and drowned every Occu-
pant. The channel cut by the storm
of 1875 still remains as a warning Of
danger to every one on h island,
unless it was destroyed in the storm
the other day.
Two years afterward, in 1877. an
other storm destroyed the govern
ment works at Galveston harbor, but
the town escaped any very great in
jury. The storm of 1886 which de-
stroyed Sabine Pass and Johnson
Bayou, was the last serious one to visit
Galveston n again that town was
flooded.
Trapped Like Rats.
These storms explain to a large ex-
tent the present Galveston disaster. 1t
bred a feeling of desperate confidence
among the people hat no storm could
inJure Galveston. When, therefore, the
hurricane struck it on Saturday, in
stead of seeking places of safety they
shut themselves in their houses n
waited for the storm to blow. They
knew, of course, that the streets would
be under water, but the streets a
been under water so often before that
this did moi carry the same significance
to them as it would to the people of
other cities. But this time to storm,
which had lodged around Galveston
so often before, struck the island fair
ly and squarely. This confidence
caused the great loss of life. At Sa-
bine Pass and other places which suf-
fered from the recent hurricane the
people sought refuge on the higher
ridges, or c-Ongregated in the stronger
buildings; but in Galveston they shut
themselves up in their houses and were
trapped like SO many rats.
Islands Never Made for Settlement.
1t will be some time before it is DOS
sible to determine what effect the
storm las had on the island proper
and on Galveston bay and the jetties.
Apparently the island is less hurt than
by the storm of September II, 1875.
when the southern portion of it was
cut of; but it is not certain that it
has escaped permanent injury, for it
is covered everywhere by sea Ooze. AS
for the bay and the ~jetties, upol
which the United States government
expended IS, 200, 900, to which Calves
on owes so much of it's present pros
perity. only a careful examination can
whether they have been injur-
or not. Judging by the experience
of lndianola, Sabine Pass and other
places the chances are that the whole
of the bay and the sur
country has been changed by
the storm. But is has proved once
again that in their present condition
the sand islands of the Gulf were new
err made for settlement.