Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-09-13


Be Fully N Thousand-The Largest
Structure. iH the City Suffered the
Greatest From the Fary of the
storm-orPhans' Home Fell Like n
House of Cards-Nced For Immedi-
ate Assistance For the stricken
Survivors.
Houston. Tex. Sept. ll.-Richard
Spillane. a well known Galveston news
paper man and press correspondent in
that city. who reached Houston yester-
day after a terrible experience. gives
the following account OF the disaster al
Galveston
One Of the most awful tragedies of
modern times has visited Galveston.
The city Is in ruins and the dead viii
number probably a thousand. ! am
Just from the city. having been com
missi0ned hy the mayor and citizens
committee 70 get in touch with the
outside world and appeal for help.
Houston was the nearest point al which
working telegraph instruments could
be found, the wires. as well as nearly
all the buildings between here and the
Gulf OF Mexico being wrecked
When left Galveston shortly before
noon ON Sunday the people were organ
izing for the prompt burial OF the dead,
distribution of food and all necessary
work after "A period Of disaster.
The wreck Of Galveston was brought
about ly a tempest as terrible that no
words can adequately describe its in
tensity. and by a food which turned
the city into raging sea. The weather
bureau records show that the wind at
tained a velocity OF s. miles an hour
when the measuring instruments blew
away. so IL is impossible 10 tell what
was the maximum.
BcEinaIBg Of the storm.
The storm began at > O'Clock Satur-
dsy morning Previous 10 that a great
storm had been raging in the gulf, and
the tide was very high. The wind at
first came from the south. and was in
direct opposition 10 the force from the
gulf. While the storm in the gulf
piled the water upon the beach side Of
the CITY the next wind piled the water
from the bay on to the bay part Of the
city.
About noon II became evident that
the CITY was going 10 be visited with
disaster Hundreds nf residences along
the beach front were hurriedly ahan-
dnned. the families fleeing TO dwellings
in higher portions of the city. Every
home was opened 10 the refugees. black
or white. The winds were rising con-
s-sntlv and IL rained in torrents. The
wind was SO fierce that the rain cut
like knife
Rv 5 O'Clock the waters Of the gulf
and hay met. and by dark tie entire
city was submerged. The flooding of
the electric light plant and the gas
gas plants left the city in darkness.
To 60 upon the streets was TO court
death. The wind was then az cyclonic
velocity. Roofs. cisterns. portions Of
buildings. telegraph poles and walls
were falling. and the noise or the wind
and the crashing OF the buildings were
terrifying in the extreme. The wind
and waters rose steadily from dark un-
I'll las o'clock Sunday morning.
During all this time the people Of
Galveston were like rats in traps. The
highest portions Of the city was four
TO five feet under water. while in the
great majority of cases the streets
were submerged to depth of ten feet
To leave a house was to drown. To
remain was TO court death in the
wreckage- Such a night Of agony has
seldom been equaled. Without appar-
ent reason the waters suddenly began
TO suhside AT las a m. Within 20
minutes they had gone down two feet,
and before daylight the streets were
practically freed Of the flood waters.
In the meantime the wind had veered
10 the southeast.
Very Few buildings Escaped.
Very few il any buildings escaped
injury There is hardly a habitable
dry house in the city. When the peo-
pie who had escaped death went out
at daylight to view the work of the
tempest and the floods. they saw the
most horrible sights imaginable. In
the three blocks from Avenue n TO
Avenue p. in fremont street. | saw
eight bodies. -Four corpses were in one
yard.
The whole OF the business front for
three blocks in from the gulf was strip
ped of every vestige of habitation, the
dwellings. the great bathing establish
ments. the Olympia and every struc-
to sea or it's ruins piled in pyramid
far into the town, according to the
vagaries OF the tempest.
The first hurried glance over the city
showed that the largest structures,
supposed TO be the most substantially
built. suffered the greatest The Or
phans' Home. Twenty-first and Avenue
Nj. fell like a house of cards. How
many dead children and refugees are
in the ruins could not be ascertained.
or the sick in St Mary's Infirmary, to-
gether with the attendants, only eight
are understood to have been saved
The Old Woman's Home, on Rosen-
berg avenue collapsed and the Rosen-
berg school house is a mass of wreck
age The Ball high school is but an
empty wall, crushed and broken. Ev-
cry church in the city with possibly one
or two exceptions IS in ruins
At the fort nearly all the soldiers
are reported dead, they having been I'm
temporary quarters, which gave them
no protection against the tempest or
the food.
At military headquarters, depart
rnent OF Texas, at San Antonio the in
ACl liAALAOLA 10 LlldN Vi I-O Iltil SIdllOliFu
at Fort San Jacinto, Galveston, only
10 escaped. Further information is
that the captain in command is among
the victims. Lieut. Col c. S. Roberts,
adjutant general, department of Tex
as, is in Galveston on tour of in
spection. 1t is not known if he is
among the small number at the fort
who escaped.
No report has been received from the
Catholic Orphan asylum, down the ISL
and. but it seems impossible that it
could have withstood the hurricane.
If it fell all the inmates were no doubt
lost. for there was no aid within a mile.
The bay front from end to end is in
ruins. Nothing but piling and the
wreck Of great warehouses remain.
The elevators lost all their upper
works, and their stocks are damaged
by water.
The life saving station at Fort Point
was carried away, the crew being