Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-07-04

priest asked
''oh. I've got an awful head" the man
replied.
The young priests brows knitted
Head, head?'' he repeated as IL ques-
tioning himself what it meant Then it
dawned upon him.
What" he asked feebly. had you
'rd have been all right the sufferer
responded, III I had stuck to straight
stuff, but / got hold of two bottles OF
claret and put them on top of the whis-
ky"
There were a few strasglers abroad
when the young clergyman walked home
He didn't walk In the middle of the road
either. He stoTped every straggler.
whether the straggler tried to dodge or
not.
Don't you believe" he told each and
every one of them. that we've got yell
low fever in this town. We have some
mild fever. and these doctors have fright
ened US stiff. That's ALL"
And he was right. The doctors had
blundered. Guiteras, the worlds greatest
authority on yellow fever. had blundered
worst OF ALL There was no more yellow
fever in Galveston than there was at the
north pole. Ten thousand persons were
down with dengue, a mild fever, from
which every one of the 10000 recovered.
and that was all. City, state and national
guarantees had done thousands of thou
sands, If not millions, of dollars Of dam
age, but there was no help. All of which
shows that the real danger is not so bad
as it seems to be.
But there was danger enough. real and
fancied. in the Galveston storm. one of
the greatest storms in the history of the
world, a tragedy that cost more than
5000 lives. DESTROYED property valued at
more than s2O,0O,OO and wrecked the
city. A big storm from the north and a
hurricane from the West Indies met over
the city September s. 1900, and struggled
for supremacy. The storm from the north
piled the waters Of the bay over the bust
ness part of the city early in the day,
flooding the streets and blocking transpor-
tation. Then the hurricane from the West
Indies piled the waters up OIL the gulf
side of the island. In the afternoon the
waters of the bay and the gulf met. 1t
was blowing 100 miles an hour. The city
was submerged, the waters were rising
rapidly. houses were topping and the
wind was increasing in intensity every
minute. When the hurricane reached 40
miles an hour the wind registering instru-
ments failed. How hard the wind blew
after that no one knows. The storm did
not reach Its height until long after mid
night. 1t blew so terrifically that 1t stag
gers credulity to state the facts. An ocean
steamship of more than 1000 tons was
driven across country twenty-five miles
inland and landed against the side of a
big embank1nent
The steamship Roma was driver
through the four bridges spanning Gal.
weston bay. Three of these bridges were
railroad structures and the other. with
concrete piers. belonged to the county.
How that steamship went through tim
bers and concrete without being ripped to
junk Is a mystery of mysteries, but the
Roma later on was floated and now sails
the sea Ocean liners sailed that day
and night where liners never sailed be-
fore or since Railroad cars, trucks and
all were carried from their tracks and
scattered broadcast over the prairie. The
combined force of mind and water lifted
vast lengths Of steel rail-rail weighing
seventy pounds to the yard-and wound
those rails up like corkscrews.
st. Mary's Cathedral was a place of
refuge that fearful night for about 200
persons. The young priest was in the
confessional part of the time and the rest