The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-16
SAW the STORMS TBRRoh
A -. Louis Man Tells a clear sud Thorough
Strry OF the storm.

ottry " TVS ~"
ST. LOUIS, Mo, Sent. Is. -Adplbert Bsecher n
1891 Cook avenus and Armand r Alphonso Of
1915 Warren street. Pullman car conductors
running 10 Galveston ever the Missouri. Kansas
and Texa. Raiirosd. arrived ONE this morn
ing. On their last run South thev reached Gal
weston on satu day morning and were there
throughout VIC storm. Mr.. Beecher saws:
"wheo the wafer recedes 20 It's norma stage
and Q co1sus Is made Of the dead and an &C
counting taken Of the rTopsr- losses the total
will BE- found to be greater than anybody has
vet imagined But when the character Of the
storm Is considered It's wonderful that any
thing in It's path escaped death or vreck age. I
was In the st. Louis cyclone, but II had but q
nit. Of the destructive power that RACED over
Galveston for thrse hours. This wind was only
a part Of tho wrscking force Of the storm. The
measureless waters OF the sea vera its ally and
undermined and churned into bits what II failed
to over'urn.
Whom I Preached Galveston Saturday morning
the indications OF the hurricane were IN the
air. but there was no warning that II was TO
have sufficient strength 10 wreck he city. After
Ind registered az the fremont Rouss and
changed NV olothlrg Invent down 70 the beach.
The b eseers we're bounding high, and even
then IL was scout II o'clock. the waters were
DeElFnlDE lVtT mdItn on wv CITY NJ CloCk
in the afternoon | again walked down to the
beach. The water had made considerable prog
res7 or its march. for The gauge showed that II
was three feet higher UP the beach than It
should be.
An hour later the threatening clouds beran
10 pslr out n dslusa. II was such a raj as ons
sees but oncs IN q lifetime. IL fell In sheets and
III. vision could net 0enetrate IL more than 20
yards. A. tn. same jim~ the wind increased
its velocity from IS mi % TO rs Mills an hour.
AT o'clock the situation BEGAN t. take on a
serious aspect in the minds Of the neopls. Tie
water had m7d- its way through all tbs streets
Of the city and tho velocity OF the wind was
rising. IL was perhsrs blowing eighty miles an
hour al that time. Al Q o'clock the water was
even with the street curbs 1t was as black as
midn ght out OF doors.
1T was at this hour that the storm broke on
the city in all Is fury. The wind sudd emily be-
came cyclon!c in u velocity. sweeping at tho
rate OF 1875 miles an hour. The rain fell IN great
sports. and he roar Of wind and water was
d~s fleming. Two hundred persons .hut of from
their homes sought refuge at the hotel. The
que IA Of the fremont House sat secure IN The
iobbiss. They knew the storm VAS IN but little
dreamed OF the ruin IL was working. They
told io,es. laughed. danced and made merry,
while death held u carnival In less fortunate
sections.
GREAT FEAR cAlfK UPON THEM.
I'm a few moments the water found Its wsv
int the lobby. In an Instant all appearance OF
revelry vas bsnishsd and ear-the kind that
men nevsr ~forgst-took possession OF the mirth
Makers, Ono' the water made an opening IN tho
lobby II poured through in streams. In an
hour 1t stood three feet deep where the
guests had been sitting and was still rising at
the rate OF half an in-h 20 the mi luts. Above
he roar o. the torn could be heard the crash
o. fail ng huildinss. and the hetel. built sollily
as any structure on the island. shook from the
assaults Of wind and water.
700 the velocity ~ the vivid fell 70
seventy-1ve miles an hour and the water rad
no, risen any for twenty-five minutes. 1t was
Their tiv> feet deep in the lobby. Twenty min
utes later thu water had fallen three inches and
tho velocitv Of the wind stu further d'cr essed.
when Sunday came the sky was sul cloudy
and the wind was blowing in from the ses with
considerable velocity. but II WIS clear that tho
storm had passed. The scene was ons OF desc
lation and despair.
NO, a h. use n the city had been untouched.
Few we're left even habitsble. The whole ely
was a vast swamp. the waters having filed the
streets with slime There was moth nc whole
some 70 eat, The only provisions left were
canned goods and they were spo led. There
wa no water TO drink. Famine and pestlencs
walked In the track of the storm.
A provisions In the city were cenhscsteA on
Sunday by the authorities. and tho survivors
were put on ration'. Dead bodies 81 men.
women, Children and an mails Of all kinds lay
promiscuously about the streets and on the
beaon. but no effort was made 10 bury them.
With the coming Of might ghouls made t cir
apr earance and Carried on a profitable business
in robbing the oead.
The o 1t day the authorities got their bear
ins.. Realizing that unless the bodies we're
buried Immediately they would add to
tho threats o. p.stlence. they gave the
order 10 throw them int the sea.
During Mondar l counted hfty wagons on
their way to barge sndlngs, erch Of them
co tain,ng from six to thirty bodies.
Ten ot III m were in ona company, There was
no effort to identify the dead. They we're
pick d up on the street aud thrown into the sea
a, found, with all their jewelrv and money on
them. Armed men were sent about o city a.
patrols and on Monday ninht shot down several
person found roboinR bodies.
a"Ihe DO les we're not only IN evidence on the
island but also in the waters. They could be
seen everyw here. | counted several floating
with the tide on Mo day afternoon The
80 the water until the "a rol' began t. shoot
hem down as though they wcrs b yond the
pale Of the law Then they stopped operations.
The sufferinss Of the people on Tuesday be-
came acute. The need Of water. provisions and