Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-06-30
G~alveSton'S Great Sea Wall
Rapidly Nearing Completion
Believed That the Massive Concrete Barrier Will Forever Secure the
of the Gulf from Waves and Storm.

Waves and Storm.
disturbance, about the time the hur-
ricane of 1900 entered the gulf, 1t had.
apparently, greatly increased In en-
ergy since Ii was last noted, and by the
time IL attacked Galveston il was blow
ing at al estimated velocity of 40 miles
an hour.
A wind blowing at this rate is a phe-
nomenon with which the weather bu-
reaus had little to do until the Calves
ton storm, but at this tremendous We
locity the wind simply picked up the
waters OF the Gulf of Mexico n hurled
them over the island city, dealing out
death and destruction until its mighty
force had been spent.
Such a wind blowing for two hours
over any other city would have don as
much n probably a great deal more
damage than was m at Galveston.
but the chances are that IL Will never
again be duplicated. That a wind of
such enormous velocity is possible has
been proved In virtue Of its having oc-
! Cured at Galveston; still. its duplica-
ton is SO remote a possibility nat the
weather bureau of Washington has de-
signated the storm OF September s,
1900, as a freak.
Galveston is now, however, well pro-
tected from any recurrence of freak
storms in the future, for a great sea
wan, mightier han the wall of China
and infinitely more useful, has been
built around her three open sides, and
as II stands 1t Is representative of the
characteristic engineering achieve
ments for which the present time is
noted.
The engineers who were chosen to de-
eide upon some safeguard recommend
ed a wall extending from a connection
with the government jetties at Avenue
A and Sixth street, running south and
southwest around the city to Thirty
ninth street. The wall is a little over
three miles in length, sixteen feet wide
at the base, five feet at the top and sew
enteen feet high above mean low tide.
The foundation of the wall rests upon
four rows of round piling twelve inches
In diameter and driven four feet apart
into the ground and forty-four feet
down into the clay. There is also a row
Of sheet piling just inside the outside
row of round piling, driven into the
ground twenty-six feet below mean low
tide to prevent undermining. There Is
also an apron twenty-seven feet wide
by four feet thick extending seaward
in front of the wall, composed of solid
granite blocks, as a further protection
in yase OF storms n undermining cur
rents.
The wall proper is composed of solid
| NAAN Z CIV "a NJ ~ q LlO1tl
Granite Mountain, Tex; sand from San
Jacinto river, cement from Germany
n water from Alta Iona, Tex; all
thoroughly mixed by immense rlachin-
cry constructed especially for the pur-
pose and stamped into forms in sec
tons, and, to give additional strength,
Immense steel rods, line feet in length,
were placed in the wall every three feet
as the wall went up.
Some Striking Figures.
To better judge of the magnitude of
this great undertaking the following
figures are appended: Concrete used,
102. 900 yards, or $50, 900 tons, or $500
carloads; riprap, or broken stone, to
prevent the action of the water directly
on the sea wall, 100, 900 tons, or 5000
carloads; sand, 10000 yards, or $4,000
tons, or $500 carloads; cement, 1875, 200
barrels, or $4,000 tons, or 1850 car
loads; round piling, $4,000 tons, or 1000
carloads; sheet piling, 1900, 900 feet, or
$50 carloads; reinforcing steel rods, 10
carloads; total number OF carloads 49,
900. This is equal to one carloads of
10000 pounds, or 20 tons to every foot
of completed wall.
The funds for this immense under
taking was raised practically by the
people Of Galveston. The legislature
authorized Galveston county to issue
81, 500, 900 in 4 per cent. bonds, run
ming for forty years, and these the citi-
Gems of the town Immediately sub
scrlbed for. The sentiment of the peo-
pie OF Galveston was behind this work
and the public credit which was evoked
to carry 1t into effect, and as such it
stands without parallel.
The plan adopted for the completion
OF the work contemplates a portion
filled in to the height of the wall for
d distance Of 100 feet back and his will
be made into a driveway, which will,
when completed, be one of the most
beautiful to be found In the south, and
at the same time II will render the
city as safe a place for human habita-
ton as any other in the world.
There was not. according 70 mr.
Henderson's report. a single individual
OF the entire population who escaped
loss to a greater or lesser extent in
the hurricane that swept the city, and
not only was this true, but confidence
In the ability OF the city TO fulfill it's
promises to pay after the tremendous
losses 1t had suffered was severely
shaken, and public credit was practic-
ally gone.
But IL the storm had destroyed thou
sands OF lives and had wiped out mil
lions of dollars worth OF property, IL
had at the same time developed a quail
ity OF strength, f%ortitude and self re-
lance in those who were left OF which
the world has had too few examples.
The great wall the living have built
stands as a monument to those who fell
victims to the storm kings anger and
a silent barrier against any storm that
may ever visit Galveston again, and
those who make IL their homes may
rest henceforth in peace AND security
| under It's protecting wing.