The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1900-10-07
STORIES OF GUI rsT0RM
What the Crew Of the Alamo
Saw In Galveston Bay.
GREAT VELOCITY OF THE WIND.

Captain Hix Tells His Experience.
Toagheat @OGsper" He Ever witt
neased-Big ship Blown Threngh
+ Three Heavy Bridges.
The Mallory line steamship Alamo,
which came so near being destroyed by
the West Indian hurricane that de-
stroyed Galveston. arrived In New
York q few days ago. Every. one on
board. from the captain down to the
cabin boy, had q story to tell concern
Ing what he experienced. what he saw
and how he felt during the great storm.
About 8 o'clock on the morning Of
the Storm" said Captain George b.
Xix. .'the rapid fall Of my barometer
indicated that trouble was impending.
and went up to the weather bureau at
Galveston to get some information as
to what to expect. The weather man
said there was no cause for uneasiness,
as we would only catch an offspur Of
the storm that had struck the Florida
coast a few days before. Well, young
man. 1 replied, it's going to be the
toughest offspur you ever saw, and I
am going back to make my ship fast
| ~ CNCA lAAAS ~1A SGN A0A4 0A~ <A~ANA
did.
"As for the storm, you couldn't call 1t
a tidal wave, for the water rose gradu-
ally until 1t was from six to ten feet
above normal and in some places when
| the wind was fercest as much as Il
feet. As the dock disappeared beneath
| the water the Alamo, rising with the
tide. ground 1t to pieces until she final
ly rested on top of the piles. During
| all this time the waves poured over the
vessel, and the harbor was full of drift
ing ships, four Of which struck us. one
of them tearing the stern Of the Alamo
| away and destroying her steering gear.
| "The next day the Alamo slid of the
! piles and went ashore about a half
mile up the flats, where she was finally
pulled of by the tug Wilmot from New
Orleans, the most powerful tug in the
gulf"
Captain Xix said that one OF the re-
markable things he witnessed was a
big 1000 ton steamship crash through
three railroad bridges with as much
ease apparently as IL they were paper.
The Mallory line sheds and the roofs
of buildings on the shore were crum-
bled up like parchment by the storm
until they resembled huge rolls of pa
per, when they disappeared In the air.
never to be seen any more. The city
from Fourteenth street to East End
and from Avenue P to Avenue Q was
completely destroyed. In all he f1gur-
ed that 374 blocks had been wiped out
OF existence.
John Wallace. a steward. In telling
his experiences said:
Everybody on the ship was scared,
of course; some worse than others. but
the worst scared of them all was the
captains waiting boy. We thought he
| was lost until we found him In potato
barrel alongside the engine room.
lone Of the saddest sights saw was
the dead bodies of a Sister Of Charity
and three little boys lashed together
floating In the water. Another sight
Just as pitiful was the burning of the
bodies on the shore. with the women
and children looking on and crying a.
IL their hearts would break. During
the storm the Norwegian steamer CYL
ler brushed up against the Alamo. and
| six of hel crew jumped aboard oul
ship. The captain said he felt like
throwing them back into the water fo
deserving their comrades. but he allow
ed them to stay aboard till morning
when he put them ashore"