Evening journal., 1900-09-11
People Held Prisoners Like
Rats in a Trap
ENTIRE CITY WAS SUBMERGED
Largest Structures in the City Sui-
ierCd The Greatest From the
Fury Of The Storm

Houston. Tex. Sept 11.-Rlchard
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 at
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
nissioned by the mayor and citizens
committee 10 get In touch with the
outside world and appeal for help.
Houston was the nearest point at 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 period Of disaster.
The wreck Of Galveston was brought
about by a tempest as terrible that no
words can adequately describe its in
tensity, and by flood which turned
the cityinto q raging sea. The weather
bureau records show that the wind at
tanned a velocity of "a miles an hour
when the measuring instruments blew
away. so 1t is impossible TO tell what
was the maximum.
tsWs DegiRninR of the storm.
The storm began az o'clock satur-
day morning. Previous to 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 to the force from the
gulf While the storm in the gulf
Mjled the water upon the beach side OF
Mie uItu the text wind piled the water
hom the bay on TO the bay part OF the
city.
e-About noon II. became evident that
the city was going to be visited with
disaster. Hundreds OF residences along
the beach front were hurriedly aban-
doned, the families fleeing 10 dwellings
IN higher portions OF the city Every
home was opened 70 the refugees black
or white. The winds were rising con-
stantly and 1t rained in torrents. The
wind was so fierce that the rain cut
like a knife
BY o'clock the waters Of the gulf
and bay met. and by dark the entire
city was submerged The flooding Of
the electric light plant and the gas
gas plants left the city in darkness.
To go upon the streets was to court
death The wind was then at cyclonic
velocity. Roofs. cisterns, portions Of
buildings, telegraph poles and walls
were falling, and the noise OF the wind
and the crashing Of the buildings were
terrifying in the extreme. The wind
and waters nose steadily from dark un-
I'll 1;45 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
60 five feet under water. while in the
great majority OF cases the streets
we're submerged TO a depth of ten feet
To leave a house was to drown. To
remain was 20 court death in the
wreckage. Such a night of agony has
seldom been equaled Without appar-
ent reason the waters suddenly began
TO subside at las a. m. Within 20
minutes they had gone down two feet.
md before daylight the streets were
practically freed Of the flood waters.
In the meantime the wind had veered
20 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.
ture having been either carried ont
10 sea or its ruins piled in a 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.