The Holly chieftain., 1900-09-14

| JulNSSkOI. ilitliopcAiS ahA .
seaport of Texas, has been visited by
the most destructive gale and Hood in
the history of America Estimates OF
! the loss of life vary from 1000 to 5000,
while no computation Of the property
\ loss has been made.
Port Arthur is under four feet OF wa.
| ter and many other towns on the gul1
coast have suffered disaster. the extent
Of which cannot be known for days.
The storm has extended inland and is
still raging, leaving in its wake scores
Of corpses and dozens of demolished
towns and villages.
Houston, Tex, Sept. 9.-10 p. m.-The
West Indian storm which reached the
| Gulf coast yesterday morning has
wrought awful havoc in Texas.
| Reports are conflicting, but 1t is
known that an appalling disaster has
befallen the city of Galveston, where,
| it is reported, thousand or more lives
| have been blotted out. and tremend-
I GUS property damage inflicted.
Meager reports from Sabine Pass
and Port Arthur also indicate heavy
loss Of life, but these reports cannot be
confirmed at this hour.
| The first news to reach this city from
the stricken city of Galveston was re-
ceived tonight. James G. Timmins OF
Houston arrived here at s o'clock to-
night from Galveston. After remain
ing through the hurricane on Saturday
he departed from Galveston on a
schooner and came across the bay to
Morgan's Point, where he caught a
train for Houston. The hurricane, Mr..
| Timmins said, was the worst ever
| known.
The estimates made by citizens OF
| Galveston was that 1000 houses, most
of them residences, have been destroy,
| ed, and that at least 1000 people have
been drowned, killed or are missing.
| Some business houses We're also de-
stroyed, but most of them stood,
though badly damaged.
The city, Mr.. Timmins AYERS, Is a
complete wreck, so far as he could see
from the water front, and from the
fremont hotel. Water was blown over
the island by the hurricane, the wind
blowing at the rate of eighty miles an
hour straight from the gulf, and fore
| ing the sea water before it in big
waves. The gale was a steady one, the
heart Of it striking the city about 5
| o'clock yesterday evening and contin-
night last night. when it abated some
what although it continued to blow all
night.
The scenes during the storm, Mr.
Timmins said, could not be described.
! Women and children were crowded in.
to the fremont hotel where he was
seeking shelter. and all night these un-
fOrtunates were bemoaning their loss
Of kindred and fortune. They were
| grouped about the stairways and In
the galleries and rooms Of the hotel
What was occurring In other parts OF
the city he could only conjecture.
The city Of Galveston, he says, is
now entirely submerged and cut OF
from communication. The boats are
gone the railways cannot be operated
and the water is 50 high that the people
cannot walk out by way of the bridge
across the bay, even should that bridge
be standing.
Provisions will be badly needed, as a
great majority of the people lost all
they had. The water works power
house was wrecked and a water fam
Inc Is threatened, as cisterns were ruin
ed by the overflow Of salt water This
Mr.. T1mmins regards as the most seri-
Gus problem to be faced now. The city
10 In darkness, its electric plant having
been ruined.
There is no way of estimating the
property damage at present. So far as
he could see or hear Mr.. Timmins says
the east end portion Of the city, which
Is the residence district. has been prac-
tically wiped out of existence.
In the west end. which faces the gulf
on another portion Of the island, very
much havoc was done.
The beach was swept clean, the bath
houses are destroyed, and many Of the
residences are total wrecks.
The town OF Alvin is reported to be
practically demolished.
Hitchcock has suffered severely from
the storm, while the town Of Alta Lo-
ma is reported without a house stand
Ing. The town of Pearland has lost
one-half Of its buildings.
One-half of the state of Texas was
swept by the hurricane.
It ragged furiously from half past
o'clock until noon to-day. The storm
prevailed for thirty hours, but was most
destructive during the night. Hardly
a place, from the Red River on the
north, to the gulf on the south, escaped.
Galveston and the gulf coast were
stricken yesterday afternoon, and the