Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-27
OTHER STORMS AT GALVESTON
Pioneers Story of n Great Flood sixty
Five Years Ago.

Five Years Ago.
From the Denver Post
This flood does not surprise me In the
least" said ex-Judge John D. Elliott, a
pioneer of Colorado and Texas 1T was
not the first flood that Galveston has had.
and in all proba bility it will not be the last.
1 am well acquainted with the country
thereabout. and have been through one of
those terrible storms, and have heard an
account of another.
I'm 1865 1 was the editor and proprietor
of the State Gazette at Ausin. Tex l was
asked to buy half interest in the Calves
ton News. l thought before making the in
restment that l would inquire into the
prospects of the country. 1 went to Can't
Amos c. Turner. who had been stationed
with troops in that part of the country for
thirty years, and made inquiries. He adj
vised me not to embark in business there
as he said some day the whole place would
be washed away.
He said that in 1888 he had his troops
stationed on the island where the ruins of
the city of Galveston now are. Their bar
racks were built on the highest point of
the island. Terrific storms arose at one
time. and the point where the barracks
stood was eight feet under water His men
worked in the water all during the storm.
and 1t was with the greatest difficulty that
they Were able to save the buildings This
was done by propping them up with great
timbers With the captain were his wife
and baby, who was the first white child
born on the island. And it was by a mir
acle that they escaped with their lives.
The storm that I was in was one of the
most terrible ever known in the Gulf of
Mexico. l remember all the circumstances
distinctly. but l cannot quite recall the
date. l believe it was about May T. 1865.
Il had taken passage in the little ship
Orizaba, from Matagora. in western Texas,
to New Orleans We had been out about a
day: l was sitting on the deck with COM
panion. There was not cloud in the sky.
The sea was beautiful and smooth. The
master of the ship. Commodore Place.
called our attention to black speck about
rizon- That is cyclone; prepare your
selves for terrible Storm he said. Then
he excused himself and went about to make
his vessel taut.
US in all its fury. 1t was certainly the most
terrible experience of my life. 1 will never
forget how the captain looked. He had
himself dashed to the capstan, and from
speaking trumpet. He made for open sea,
and soon had his ship in the best possible
shape to resist the onslaughts of wind and
wave. but not until three or four men had
been washed overheard in the execution Of
his orders-
The storm grew more terrible every in
slant. First. the upper rigging blew away.
Then the mastS were broken of short and
the decks swept clean of everything.
ION board were $50 head of steers for
New Orleans. The captain caused these to
curely to the hulk of the ship with giant
hawSers and thrown overheard seventy
five each side. These floating carcasses
acted as buoyS. and We're the only things
in the world that kept us afioat.
I'VE at last drifted into Galveston, badly
wrecked and drawing six feet of water. We
found the Island of Galveston was almost
completely under water. Many ships went
n !,
titus of the Morgan line, running regularly
between Galveston and New Orleans. All
on board were lost except two three,
who chung to a part of the wheelhouse
which had been broken away and served Is
a raft. They were picked up.
During the storm the Island Of Dunier,
off the coast of Louisiana, was changed
from a beautiful tropical summer resort
into a bed of seething quicksand. On this
island hundreds of wealthy southern plant
ers were wont to spend the summer months.
There they had built palatial residences.
costing hundreds of thousands of dollars
and laid out beautiful parks and gardens.
The vegetation on this island was some
thing remarkable, there being trees which
were at least six feet in diameter. The
storm swept the island clean as sanded
floor. There was not vestge of the i'm
provements left. 1t Is believed that the
buildings stood until the soil was washed
away. and were then literally swallowed
in the quicksand that lies under IT.
THE city of Galveston Is built on an
island similar in geological construction to
Dunier. and might some day during one of
these terrible storms be inundated and
swallowed in the same way.
THE Island of Galveston is thirty miles
long and three miles wide. Its nearest ap-
proach to the mainland is two miles. The
houses of Galveston are merely shells. 1t
is impossible to get a good foundatio for
them. For their wharves and jetties they
drive piles down ten fifteen feet. At this
depth is encountered a seam of blue clay
two or three inches thick This is very
solid and gives a fairly good support Be-
low and above this strip there is nothing
but sand