New-York tribune., 1900-12-15
NEw-YORK DAILY TRIBUNE. SATURDAY DECEMBER Is rOo
THE PASSING THRONG.

NJ. H. Read OF Galveston. Tex. speaking yesterday
at the Hotel Imperial Of the recent terrible storm
that laid waste his home city. said
THE mo one who not present can
GALVESTON appreciate or even comprehend the
DISASTER awful and destructive nature OF
the storm Looking back on e. the
only wonder Is that the waves we're checked at al
and that they did not sweep clear across the ISL
and and wreck and ruin the entire city. The wind.
coming originaIy from the northeast. az O'Clock
eighty miles an hour at $50 when The wind in
struments blew away. it had risen to over ninety
east. Later stiH II came from the southeast, and.
while there was nothing to gauge It's speed oy. y
estimated that II must have been travelling az from
- 20 10 miles an noGr Inc storm m IL T If "a ana ~
this time had banked uD immense amount OF
the storm 'e was at ifs Seisht great waves twenty
and thirty feet high broke in the streets and over
structiOn and appalling loss OF life f0hoWed.
What was az first the greatest OF dangers % bs ts
city front there used to run a trolley Hne. bnit W
The sIsepers fbevS rested on VVbich were IN turn
clamped TO the piles that formed their road6ed ~
for road It would perhaps have been better had
It been constructed less substantially and been az
the inrushng waters that they tore up sections OF
ber Of feet long and hurled them against the build
tngs on the water front Tnese sectlott5, y, -
formed in each and every instance battertng rams
which nothing constructed by man could nave VIII
stood"
"The waterfront structures" continued MI
Read. "feIl to ruins at the first assault. and the
waters OF the Gulf flowed over
wRECKAGE them Destroyed they yet became
FORMED A the instrument for the destruction
BREAK Of others for the material OF which
WATER they were composed added itself
TO the uprooted railway line ana
was hurled by the waves against the buildings be-
hind A. avery- fresh line uen down the power OF
the destroyer in this way increased. but finally
the wreckage became so enormous that the waves
could push Il inland no further. and IT formed
natural breakwater against which the surglng
tectng circle formed Of the wreckage OF the oulld
ings torn down, what was left OF GalVsston lOun9 @
preservation and safety. Two thousand structures
were thus destroyed and from three TO Ten people
greater part of the loss Of life occurred TEts work
on Lne wafer was steady ana 1 sIar,1s Cen
Destroyed more capr1cionsiy Eor b9,,se A.
gresham Hawley was IN susstaneial @ noasT 1s ~
a brick house erected some hfty years ago.
when the work done was Of the best Az tne otnsr
corner was a modern stone structure buln regard
less OF expense. in which strength ana sscarlS nS
were nrst CONSIDERATION II nad ,,I Ie snd vbeo
finished its architect had comDlacently informed
s oTneF s at m ne ns OF beaver ana the forces
OF the elements These three houses occupied tne
Hawley's was the least substantial Of the lot The
wind tore down wall OF the prlck mouse. 1ooS on
Enough was left. however. to repair. and II has
since been restored. Ihe SpeCAlly ConSlEu--lcu
stone house was utterly demolished, and left a
hopeless mass Of ruins Mr.. Hawley's house es-
caped with the locs OF two three chimneys and
a few states from the roof being left otherwise
intact
1T Is all business activity and life In Galveston
again. Incredible it may seem, IN the snort
time that has clans "a since the storm more than
s 900 900 worth OF merchandise has passed over our
ruined wharves.
ga breakwater seven miles long and ten TO twelve
feet high above mean low water. engineers say,
would forever prevent a repetition. IL would cost
some 81 O000 and require from two TO three years
10 construct. Needless say. we are praying that
Congress will Immediately authorize it, for IL Is
necessity not alone Galveston, but 10 all Texas,
Of which Galveston Is the prinepaI port as ~
would do away with any danger OF a repetition Of
the recent disaster which in history hnds It's only
parallel the Lisbon horror. that occurred ABOUT
the middle OF the eighteenth century