Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, September 11, 1900.
DEATH'S DOMAIN.
Wind-Swept Coast of Texas Strewn With Corpses.
GALVESTON'S EXPERIENCE.
Story of the Storm's Awful Doings There Told by a Survivor.
Saturday Night Was All Agony For the Residents, the Water Being Five Feet Deep in Highest Portions of the City, Swamping the Electric Light Plant and Leaving Darkness—When Waters Subsided Slime Covered the Town and This With the Dead Bodies of Animals and Corpses Washed From Cemeteries Cause Danger of Pestilence—Work of Picking Up Corpses Begins—Some Miraculous Escapes—Relief Asked For and Sent—Storm Dwindles to a Gale and Dies Away in Oklahoma.
HOUSTON, Tex., Sept. 11.—Richard Spillane, a well known Galveston newspaper man and correspondent in that city, who reached Houston after a terrible experience, gives the following account of the disaster at Galveston:
One of the most awful tragedies of modern times has visited Galveston. The city is in ruins and the dead will number probably 1,000. I am just from the city, having been commissioned by the mayor and citizens' committee to get in touch with the outside world and appeal for help. Houston was the nearest point at which working telegraph instruments could be found, the wires as well as nearly all the buildings between here and the Gulf of Mexico being wrecked.
When I left Galveston shortly before noon Sunday the people were organizing for the prompt burial of the dead, distribution of food and all necessary work after a period of disaster.
The wreck of Galveston was brought about by a tempest so terrible that no words can adequately describe its intensity and by a flood which turned the city into a raging sea. The weather bureau records show that the wind attained a velocity of 84 miles an hour when the measuring instrument blew away, so it is impossible to tell what was the maximum.
The storm began at 2 o'clock Saturday morning. Previous to that a great storm had been raging in the gulf and the tide was very high. The wind at first came from the north and was in direct opposition to the force from the gulf. While the storm in the gulf piled the water up on the beach of the city, the north wind piled the water from the bay on the bay part of the city.
Fled For Safety.
About noon it became evident that the city was going to be visited with disaster. Hundreds of residences along the beach front were hurriedly abandoned, the families fleeing to dwellings in higher portions of the city. Every home was opened to the refugees, black or white. The winds were rising constantly and it rained in torrents.
The wind was so fierce that the rain cut like a knife.
In the meantime the wind had veered to the southeast.
Very few, if any, buildings escaped injury. There is hardly a habitable dry house in the city. When the people who had escaped death went out at daylight to view the work of the tempest and the floods they saw the most horrible sights imaginable. In three blocks from Avenue N to Avenue P, in Tremont street, I saw eight bodies. Four corpses were in one yard.
The whole of the business front for three blocks in from the gulf was stripped of every vestige of habitation, the dwellings, the great bathing establishments, the Olympia and every structure having been either carried out to sea or its ruins piled in a pyramid far into the town according to the vagaries of the tempest.
The first hurried glance over the city showed that the largest structures, supposed to be most substantially built, suffered the greatest.
Orphans Buried in Ruins.
The Orphans' home, Twenty-first street and Avenue M, fell like a house of cards. How many dead children and refugees are in the ruins could not be ascertained. Of the sick in St. Mary's infirmary, together with the attendants, only eight are understood to have been saved.
The Old Women's home on Rosenberg avenue collapsed and the Rosenberg schoolhouse is a mass of wreckage. The high school is but an empty shell, crushed and broken. Every church in the city, with possibly one or two exceptions, is in ruins.
By 3 o'clock the waters of the bay and gulf met and by dark the entire city was submerged. The flooding of the electric light plant and the gas plants left the city in darkness. To go upon the streets was to court death. The wind was then at cyclonic velocity, roofs, cisterns, portions of buildings, telegraph poles and walls were falling and the noise of the wind and the crashing of the buildings were terrifying in the extreme. The wind and waters rose steadily from dark until 1:45 o'clock Sunday morning. During all this time the people of Galveston were like rats in traps. The highest portion of the city was four to five feet under water, while in the great majority of cases the streets were submerged to a depth of 10 feet. To leave a house was to drown. To remain was to court death in the wreckage. Such a night of agony has seldom been equalled. Without apparent reason the waters suddenly began to subside at 1:45 a. m. Within 20 minutes they had gone down two feet and before daylight the streets were practically freed of the flood waters.
Soldiers Reported Dead.
At the forts nearly all the soldiers are reported dead, they having been in temporary quarters which gave them no protection against the tempest or the flood.
No report has been received from the Catholic Orphan asylum down the island, but it seems impossible that it could have withstood the hurricane. If it fell all the inmates were no doubt lost, for there was no aid within a mile.
The bay front from end to end is in ruins. Nothing but piling and the wreck of great warehouses remain. The elevators lost all their superworks and their stocks are damaged by water.
The lifesaving station at Fort Point was carried away, the crew being swept across the bay 14 miles to Texas City.
I saw Captain Haines and he told me that his wife and one of his crew were drowned.
The shore at Texas City contains enough wreckage to rebuild a city. Eight persons who were swept across the bay during the storm were picked up there alive. Five corpses were also picked up. There were three fatalities in Texas City. In addition to the living and the dead which the storm cast up at Texas City, caskets and coffins from one of the cemeteries at Galveston were being fished out of the water there.
In the business portion of the city two large brick buildings collapsed.
Industrial Establishments Wrecked.
The cotton mills, the bagging factory, the gas works, the electric light works and nearly all the industrial establishments of the city are either wrecked or crippled. The flood left a slime about one inch deep over the whole city and unless fast progress is made in burying corpses and carcasses of animals, there is danger of pestilence.
Some of the stories of escapes are miraculous. William Nisbett, a cotton man, was buried in the ruins of the Cotton Exchange saloon and when dug out in the morning had no further injury than a few bruised fingers.
Dr. S. O. Young, secretary of the Cotton Exchange, was knocked senseless when his house collapsed, but was revived by the water and was carried 10 blocks by the hurricane.
A woman, who had just given birth to a child, was carried from her home to a house a block distant, the men who were carrying her having to hold her high above their heads, as the water was five feet deep when she was moved.
Many stories were current of houses falling and inmates escaping. Clarence N. Ousley, editor of The Evening Tribune, had his family and the families of two neighbors in his house when the lower half crumbled and the upper part slipped down into the water. Not one in the house was hurt.
Of the Lavine family six out if seven are reported dead.
Of the Burnett family, only one is known to have been saved.
The family of Stanley G. Spencer, who met death in the Cotton Exchange saloon, is reported to be dead.
The Mistrol House in the west end was turned into a hospital. All of the regular hospitals of the city were unavailable. Of the new Southern Pacific works little remains but the piling. Half a million feet of lumber was carried away.
Ocean Steamers Stranded.
Eight ocean steamers were torn from their moorings and stranded in the bay. The Kendal Castle was carried over the flats [from] Thirty-third street wharf to Texas City and lies in the wreckage of the Inman pier. The Norwegian steamer Gyller is stranded between Texas City and Virginia Point. An ocean liner was swirled around through the west bay, crushed through the bay bridge and is now lying in a few feet of water near the wreckage of the railroad bridges. The steamship Taunton was carried across Pelican Point and is stranded about 10 miles up the east bay. The Mallory steamer Alamo was torn from her wharf and dashed upon Pelican flats against the bow of the British steamer Red Cross, which had previously been hurled there. The stern of the Alamo is stove in and the bow of the Red Cross is crushed.
Down the channel to the Jetties two other ocean steamships lie grounded. Some schooners, barges and smaller craft are strewn bottom side up along the slips of the piers. The tug Louise of the Houston Direct Navigation company is a wreck. It will take a week to tabulate the dead and the missing and to get anything near approximate idea of the monetary loss. It is safe to assume that one half of the property of the city is wiped out and that one half of the residents have to face absolute poverty.
At Texas City three of the residents were drowned. One man stepped into a well by a mischance and his corpse was found there. Two other men ventured along the bay front during the height of the storm and were killed. There are but few buildings at Texas City that do not tell the story of the storm. The hotel is a complete ruin. The office of the Texas City company was almost entirely destroyed. Nothing remains of the piers except the piling. The wreckage from Galveston litters the shores for miles and is a hundred yards or more wide.
For 10 miles inland [from] the shore it is a common sight to see small craft, such as steam launches, schooners and oyster sloops. The lifeboats of the lifesaving station were carried half a mile inland, while a vessel that was anchored in Moses Bayou lies high and dry five miles up from Lamarque.
The Galveston News asked to have it announced that all the men of its staff are safe.
PAGE TWO—EDITORIAL.
An Appalling Calamity.
The disaster which befell the city of Galveston, Tex., during the thirty hours' hurricane on Saturday and Sunday is appalling beyond description. The city lies upon an island out from the shore— a sandbar, no part of which is more than ten feet above the surface of the water. The tide ordinarily rises there to a height of about two feet. At 2 o'clock Saturday morning the storm began and continued to increase in violence till 1:45 o'clock Sunday morning when the hurricane was at its height. A great storm had previously been raging in the gulf and the tide was unusually high.
The wind at first came from the north. While the storm in the gulf piled the water up on the beach on the south or front side of the city the north wind piled the water from the bay up on the back part of the city.
About noon Saturday it was seen that the city was going to be visited with disaster. Hundreds of residences along the beach front were hurriedly abandoned, the inmates fleeing to dwellings in higher portions of the city. Every home was opened to the refugees, black or white. The winds were rising constantly and it rained in torrents. The wind was so fierce that the rain cut like a knife.
At 3 o'clock Saturday morning the waters of the gulf and bay met over the top of the island submerging the entire city. The flooding of the electric light plant and the gas plants left the city in darkness. The wind was then at cyclonic velocity, roofs, cisterns, portions of buildings, telegraph poles and walls were falling and the noise of the wind and the crashing of the buildings was terrifying.
The winds and waters rose steadily until 1:45 Sunday morning. During all this time the people were like rats in traps. The highest portion of the city was four and five feet under water, while in the great majority of cases the streets were submerged to the depth of ten feet. To leave was to drown. To leave was to court death.
Without apparent reason the waters began to subside at 1:45 Sunday morning. Within twenty minutes they had gone down two feet and before daylight the streets were freed of the flood waters.
In the meantime the wind had veered to the southeast. Very few if any buildings escaped injury. There is hardly a habitable dry house in the city.
Galveston had a population in the last census of 29,084, and it is feared that the loss of life will reach 5,000. The financial loss is estimated at from $15,000,000 to $20,000,000. Every church in the city with one or two exceptions is in ruins. The Orphans' Home collapsed and no one knows how many children are in the ruins. The shore is strewn with wreckage for a hundred miles. The life saving station was swept away, and the crew carried fourteen miles across the bay, The docks are all gone except the piers on which they rested. All the bridges between the island and the mainland are down. Eight ocean steamers were torn from their moorings and stranded in the bay. Several of the steamers are bodily smashed. One of the largest of the ocean steamers was thrown badly upon the top of the ruins of its dock. The wind was blowing 84 miles an hour when the instruments which measured its velocity blew away. No one knows how much higher the wind got. The storm continued far inland, as well as upon the island, and small crafts such as steam launches, schooners and oyster sloops are now landed high and dry ten miles or more back from the shore. Half the city of Galveston is facing utter and absolute poverty with nothing to eat and no means of securing anything. Relief is being sent from all quarters, but the transportation question will be a serious difficulty for some days to come yet.
This is not the first time Galveston has been damaged by wind and water, though nothing previously has ever equaled this disaster. In 1873 a tidal wave accompanied by wind swept over nearly the whole city, but the wind was less severe and a counter wind drove the water back after a very short period.
BURYING THE DEAD.
Dumping Them Into the Sea as a Sanitary Measure.
HOUSTON, Tex., Sept. 11.—G. L. Russ, passenger conductor on the International & Great Northern R. R., was among a party of refugees who reached this city at midnight. Mr. Russ said to a reporter:
"I will not attempt to describe the horror of it all; that is impossible. When I left Galveston men armed with Winchester rifles were standing over burying squads and at the point of rifles compelling them to load the corpses on drays to be hauled to barges, on which they are towed into the gulf by tugs and tossed into the sea. As I left I saw a barge freighted with dead on its journey to the gulf. This manner of burial is imperative; the living must be protected now."
Mr. Russ's story was confirmed.
VIRGIL.
VIRGIL, N. Y., Sept. 8.—The ninth annual reunion and picnic of the Hutching's family was held at Virgil village at the home of Marvin B. Williams on Thursday, Sept. 6. There were present 136 friends and relatives from all parts of the state and some from the state of Pennsylvania. The day was an ideal one, with a refreshing shower to lay the dust. The dinner was served in the Grand Army hall. The tables were just loaded down with chicken pies, chicken salad, cakes, pies and every thing that heart could desire for the inner man. Afterward the business meeting of electing new officers, etc., occurred. Then Miss Fmma Vantine of Groton read an original composition called "Our Family Tree" which was as follows: [omitted due to space and time—CC ed.].
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| Lower Drawing, Messenger House Hotel. |
ANOTHER LAND SALE.
And Free Distribution of Silverware on Saturday, Sept. 15.
The representatives of the Smith Realty company of Springfield, Mass., have returned to Cortland and have secured from the Traction company another tract of land on the park hill which is now being surveyed and staked out into building lots and which will be sold upon the same plan as formerly on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 15. This tract is in two sections, one of which is within the ox bow formed by the [trolley] track making its return loop up to the park, and the other is on the hill between the Salisbury hill road and the new street next the car tracks, and all of this section north of the lots previously sold. This tract is considerably larger than the one previously secured. There were thirty-eight lots in the first tract and there are upwards of sixty in this tract, and the lots will average larger than those before.
There will be special cars on Saturday afternoon to the place of sale. The cars will leave the Messenger House at 1:55 o'clock and transportation will be free to all adults who attend the sale. The Cortland City band will give a free concert as formerly and will accompany the party to the tract. The articles of silverware to be distributed will be a finer class than before.
Funeral of Mrs. Dodd.
The funeral of Mrs. Wm. Dodd, who died suddenly Saturday while on her way to Massachusetts for a visit at her old home, was held this morning at 10 o'clock at her late home, 11 Franklin-st., Cortland, Rev. Edward Taylor, D. D., of Binghamton assisted by Rev. Robert Yost, pastor of the Congregational church of Cortland, officiating. Mr. Yost read appropriate selections of Scripture and offered prayer and Dr. Taylor whose early home was near Mrs. Dodd's birthplace in Massachusetts and who was pastor of the Congregational church of Cortland at the time Mrs. Dodd became a member of it, spoke impressively of the life and character of the deceased. A quartet consisting of Mrs. Robert Yost, Mrs. Julia F. Twiss, Mr. C. F. Brown and Mr. A. W. McNett, sang selections which were favorites of Mrs. Dodd: "There'll be no Dark Valley" and "Some Day the Silver Cord Will Break," the latter being an especial favorite.
The floral tributes were profuse and exceedingly beautiful. The Ladies' Aid society of the Congregational church and the W. C. T. U., in both of which organizations Mrs. Dodd was an active member, were present in a body. The bearers were C. P. Walrad, B. T. Wright, W. D. Tuttle, and O. W. Lund. Burial was in the Homer cemetery.
DEATH OF MRS. LUCY PALMER.
Widow of Prosper Palmer and a Lifelong Resident of Cortland.
Mrs. Lucy Stillman Palmer, widow of the late Prosper Palmer, died at the home of her daughter Mrs. Mary F. Gillette, 97 Pendleton-st., this morning at 4:30 o'clock, aged 88 years, 5 months and 24 days.
Mrs. Palmer was one of seven children [of] John and Lucy Hubbard Stillman, and was born March 17, 1812, and was the last one surviving of these children. Mrs. Abigail McBain, who died in Marcellus about five years ago, was the oldest. The others in order of ages were: Mrs. Laura Randolph, who died in Michigan a long time ago, Miss Rachael Stillman, who died in Cortland, Mrs. Luke Gleason, who has been dead about four years, and John and Linus Stillman who lived in Iowa. Mrs. Palmer was a twin sister to Luke Stillman who died in 1888. A half sister, Mrs. Wm. R. Cobb of Marcellus, is still surviving.
On Jan. 2, 1833, the deceased was married to Prosper Palmer, and for nearly sixty-seven years the couple lived in Cortland or in the immediate vicinity, and till Mr. Palmer's death which occurred last November. The larger part of their married life was spent on the McGrawville road in what is known as Polkville, where Mr. Palmer with his brother-in-law Luke Gleason, conducted a sash and blind factory. From that place Mr. Palmer moved with his family to Cortland in 1868 , and in 1869 they moved to 56 Greenbush-st., where they lived thirty years, and till Mr. Palmer's death.
Six children were also born to Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, of whom two, Harriet and Linus, died early. The other four, who are all living, are: Mrs. Mary F. Gillette of Cortland, Rev. Adelbert P. Palmer of Camden, Mrs. Eugene W. Bates of Cortland, and Mr. Wm C. Palmer of Cortland.
Mrs. Palmer had been for the exceptionally long period of seventy-five years a member of the First M. E. church of Cortland. She was a devout Christian and a great student of the Bible which she read through again and again. Her late husband used to say that he knew she had read the Bible through twenty-one times, and it is quite probable that she has read it many more times than this. Up to her last sickness, which began in May with a slight shock [stroke], she was a daily reader of the book that was to her the best and greatest comfort. In her last sickness, when her mind was clouded and she failed to recognize her own children, she repeated many passages of Scripture without faltering. She lived in the Bible and the indelible impressions that it had stamped upon her were her latest recollections.
The funeral will be held Thursday at 2 o'clock P. M. at the house, 97 Pendleton-st. The burial will be made in Cortland.
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| Cortland House. Groton Ave. and Main Street. |
SEEN ON GROTON-AVE.
Interesting Facts Connected With the Paving of That Street.
The Groton-ave. paving job is being pushed rapidly along during these bright, sunny days. The fine grading is completed from Otter Creek nearly to Homer-ave., and sand and crushed stone for the concrete have been hauled onto the grading. The sluice ways have been put in as far as the grading extends, and the curbing has been started on the north side of the street.
The dirt from the excavations is being drawn to the east end of the street where the grade will be about eight inches higher than at present.
A great deal of care is being taken in the drainage of the street. Aside from the regular sluiceway on the south side, a 4-ineh tile is laid the whole length of the street. At present there is not a drop of water coming from the springs along this side of the street. From the highest part of the street the drain will empty west into Otter creek, and at the eastern end it will flow into the sewer. It will be noted that this drainage which goes into the sewer is not surface water, from the water from the springs along the high bank on the south side. No surface water passes into the sewers.
DIED OF PNEUMONIA.
M. V. Coggeshall Went to Work Too Soon After the Grip.
Mr. Marshall V. Coggeshall died at his residence, 38 Squires-st., Cortland, last night at midnight, aged 49 years, after an illness of one week. About three weeks ago Mr. Coggeshall was afflicted with grip, and was confined to the house for a few days thereby. It is thought he had not fully recovered from this sickness and that he began his work too soon after it. He was taken with pneumonia a week ago, and this with weakened heart action, caused his death. He leaves a widow to mourn his loss.
The funeral will be held at the home to-morrow at 11 o'clock and at the church at Truxton at 2:30 P. M. Burial in the family lot in the Truxton cemetery.
FELL FROM HAND CAR.
Riding on the Car to a Fire When the Accident Occurred.
Edward Crozier was seriously hurt last night by falling from a D., L. & W. hand car on which he, with Frank Stanton, was riding, having notified a section gang of a fire at the second bridge above the station. Young Crozier while riding along fell in front of the car and pulled Stanton off with him. The car ran over Crozier and injured his back, while Stanton escaped with slight bruises.
Died In Fabius.
Mr. DeForrest William Glass died at his home in Fabius, N. Y., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, at the age of 61 years. The deceased was a native of Truxton, from which place he moved to Fabius while a boy with his widowed mother. He is survived by his wife, an adopted daughter Mrs. Clarence Kennedy, and by two sisters Mrs. Isaiah H. Rhodes of Cortland and Mrs. Harvey D. Mason of Fabius. The funeral was held at the house on Friday at 12:30 o'clock and was attended by a large number of friends and relatives from Cortland, Truxton, Syracuse and Fulton. The services were conducted by Rev. E. H. King. Burial was in Truxton.
Here is a Fish Story.
A party of ten campers including some from Cortland is at Stone cottage, Ten Mile Point, Skaneateles lake. The party dined Monday upon a trout caught by Miss Jessica Paddock of Camillus which was the largest fish caught by any member on this camp, in fact none of the others have secured trout, though perch and bass are said to catch hold of the boats and beg to taken to the frying pan. One young man from Syracuse university trolled one hour and brought in seventeen of the latter who had swallowed the same spoon hook and strung themselves one behind the other upon his line.
BREVITIES.
—John L. Lewis lodge will work the third degree this evening.
—The choir of Grace Episcopal church will meet for rehearsal on Thursday evening promptly at 7:30 o'clock.
—Four hundred seventy-five tickets for the Moravia baseball game at Athletic field next Saturday have been sold already.
—The Normal school reopens to-morrow morning at 8:45 for the fall term. New students are seen upon the streets upon all sides.
—The eighteenth annual reunion of the Twenty-third regiment, New York volunteers, will occur at the armory in Elmira on Friday, Sept. 14.
—The first meeting of the year of the Ladies' Literary club will be held Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock at the home of Mrs. A. O. Henry, 25 Owego-st.
—The first meeting of the Fortnightly club for this season will be held to-morrow afternoon at 3:30 o'clock at the home of Mrs. F. L. MacDowell, 78 Tompkins-st.
—New display advertisements to-day are: Tyler & Smith, Autumn clothes, page 4; Opera House, Auburn-Lorton Comedy Co., page 5; Theo. Stevenson, Life insurance, page 7.
—The Cortland baseball team will play two games with the Moravians tomorrow at the fireman's meeting at Moravia. The game here Saturday with the Moravia boys will have added interests on account of these two games.
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