Читать книгу The Great Galveston Disaster - Paul Lester - Страница 9

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Mr. Joyce, another refugee from Galveston, made the following statement:

“The wind was blowing Saturday afternoon and night at about seventy-five miles an hour, blowing the water in the Gulf and completely covering the city. The people of Galveston did not think it was much at first and kept within their homes, consequently when the wind began blowing as it did and the water dashed against the houses, completely demolishing them, many lives were lost. I have no idea how many were killed, but think there will be several thousand deaths reported, besides many people whom we will know nothing about.

“I was in the storm which struck Galveston in 1875, but that one, bad as it was, was nothing in comparison with Saturday’s.”

The following account of Galveston will be of interest to readers in connection with the great disaster that has ruined that once prosperous and thriving city.

Galveston is situated on an island extending east and west for twenty seven miles, and is seven miles in its greatest width north and south. No city could be in greater danger from such a horrible visitation as has now come to Galveston. In no part of the city, with its former 38,000 population, is it more than six feet above the sea level.

The flat condition not only points to the desperate situation of the people at such a time as this, but their danger may be considered emphasized when it is known that exactly where the city is built the island is only one and one-quarter miles wide.

On the bay, or north side of the city, is the commercial section, with wharves stretching along for nearly two miles, lined with sheds and large storage houses. Then, in that portion of Galveston, there are three elevators, one of 1,500,000 bushels capacity, one of 1,000,000 and the third of 750,000.