Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-09-02
FORMER RESIDENT OF CEDAR
FALLS DESCRIBES TERRIBLE
EXPERIENCES.
NIGHT OF TERROR
SPENT BY PEOPLE
Thousands Of Residences Made Unin-
habitabIe by Hurricane and Driving
Rain-windows Blown Out Of Houses
and Occupants Drenched While Elk.
peetine Injury and Perhaps Death.
pecial to Times-Republican

!
| Cedar Falls. Sept. "A graphic word
picture of the horrors and hardships
they endured, their imminence to
death and destruction. and the awful
i devastation resulting from the recent
Texas hurricane and flood is contained
in letter from Mrs. G.. A. PEBBLES, of
| Alvin, Tex, to Mrs. C. A. Boehmler. of
/ this city. DR.. PEBBLES was one Of the
| pioneer residents of Cedar Falls and
was a practicing physician here until
five or six years ago, When he moved
his family to Texas to engage in fruit
growing. They operate fruit ranch
near Alvin, which is close to Galveston.
where the storm did many millions OF
dollars damage and cost a number OF
lives. The wind during the hurricane
attained a velocity of more than 10
miles an hour which was accompanied
by a downpour of rain. 1t was his
toric storm and what Mrs. PEBBLES
says of her familys experience was
the experience of thousands of others.
She says:
A Night Of Horror.
my poor pen can't begin to de-
scribe to you the night we put in, Aug.
16. We got the warning Sunday night
about s o'clock The wind began to
rise at a. M, Monday. Monday fore
noon was cloudy. We picked figs as
we were in the midst of the season,
picking every day. At l o'clock 1t was
blowing hard and raining and | did
not want doctor to go to town with
them so he let a hired man go. When
the latter returned at p. M, the
wind was reported blowing fifty miles
an hour. 1t kept increasing in velocity.
No one could eat any supper. We got
the stock fed and turned loose and
doctor could hardly get back to the
house. At o'clock we gathered our
valuables together and made all prepa-
ration possibles before it got so dark
we could not see. The rain beat in
around the windows and chimney. We
mopped it up and tried to keep up
with it-and did until about midnight
when one of the attic windows blew
in. Doctor and Helene went up and
nailed board over it. held the
lantern. We did it to keep the draft
,, out. The water just poured in in pail
fuls We were wet and wading in
water in every room except a part OF
the living room. We rolled rugs up
and placed the piano in the center OF
the room and laid down thick COM
forterS to absorb some OF the water.
About this time q window in the
kitchen blew in. Doctor and I held
big comforter up to that hole for
over an hour in the dark. he upon the
kitchen table and I beside him. We
held it there by sheer force and will.
while the girls pushed the dining table
against the door. All this time the
wind and rain was from the north
east There was lull of about ten
minutes and the wind switched to the
south and increased in fury-it Just
screamed We could scarcely hear
each other speak without shouting. 1t
was awful. We tied two sheets to-
gether and went into the bathroom as
the safest place and were prepared to
tie ourselves together and creep 70
hedge near the house If the house
went The wind at 2 a. m. blew at 100
miles an hour. according to the gov
eminent register. and at 30 miles for
a long time. You may have seen the
record in the papers. A report OF the
wind velocity was given every hour.
Our house stood, never moved an
inch, but the walls inside are ruined
The vines were torn from the porch
and the outbuildings blown away with
the exception of the barn which was
left standing, but doors and roof gone.
The stock passed thru the storm safe
ly. Our beautiful yard was ruined
trees uprooted. broken and twisted in
to one mass of debris.
II never longed so for daylight, and
so dreaded to have it come. 1t was a
sorry sight. We began to look here
and there to see If this one was stand
ing or gone.
No One Escapes Loss.
Everyone has suffered. No one
escaped. will mention one instance.
A fine old southern gentleman, his
daughter and her little girl years old.
left their house when 1t went off its
foundation, crawled in water and chung
to bushes all night. I could tell you
of others all around us. Alvin is Il
sorry sight. Houston was really dam
aged as much if not more than CAL
weston. You can't get in the city
without a pass To think of that
wonderful causeway; two-thirds Of 1t
gone. The water was washed over
the sea wall and there is not thing
left on the beach. There was not such
a great loss Of life in Galveston this
time because the city was under
martial law and the soldiers drove the
people downtown, where they were
sheltered as best they could be. The
Gulf of Mexico was never before on
such rampage. 1t was the third
worst storm on record. The barometer
went the lowest ever known but once
and that was one Of the storms in In