by Erik Larson
9 “This conduct”: National Archives: General Correspondence. See clipping, Sept. 2, 1900, in Box 1475.
10 “A very bitter opposition”: National Archives: General Correspondence. Letter, Sept. 5, 1900, H. H. C. Dunwoody to William Stockman. Box 1475.
11 On Saturday, September 1: National Archives: General Correspondence. See clipping from La Lucha, Sept. 1, 1900. Box 1475.
12 On August 31, Julio Jover: National Archives: General Correspondence. See clipping from La Lucha, Sept. 3, 1900, containing Jover’s dispatch of August 31. Box 1475.
13 The next day, Belen’s Father Gangoite: National Archives: General Correspondence. See clipping from Diario de la Marina, Sept. 2, 1900, containing Gangoite’s dispatch of Sept. 1, 1900. Box 1475.
14 By Friday, the total: Monthly Weather Review, Sept. 1900, 377.
New Orleans: Captain Halsey’s Choice
1 At 9:20 A.M. Wednesday: Monthly Weather Review, Sept. 1900, 374; Fernandez-Partagas, 101, note 34; The New York Times, Sept. 11, 1900, 3.
2 Wrote Piddington: Piddington, 376–77.
3 The Louisiana entered: Fernandez-Partagas, 101, note 34.
Straits of Florida: A Matter of Divination
1 Shortly after noon: The Daily Register, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 6, 1900.
2 “We are today near”: National Archives: General Correspondence. See clipping from La Lucha, Sept. 6, 1900, quoting Jover’s dispatch of 8 A.M. Sept. 5. Box 1475.
3 Winds reached: Fernandez-Partagas, 99, note 21.
4 In Key West: Ibid., 99, note 22.
5 Its velocity dropped: Ibid., 99, note 21.
6 The next morning: National Archives: General Correspondence. See clipping from Havana Post, Sept. 7, 1900, quoting Stockman’s dispatch. Box 1475.
7 Two hours later: Letter, E. M. Vernon, chief, Forecasts and Synoptic Reports Division, to M. S. Douglas, Nov. 9, 1956. Vernon, in response to an inquiry from Douglas, apparently for her book, Hurricane, wrote, “We can find no reference to the issuance of hurricane warnings for the Texas or Louisiana coasts for this hurricane.” Rosenberg Library. 95-00020. Box 1, File 7.
8 “Advise quick”: National Archives: General Correspondence. See telegram, Sept. 6, 1900, from Ocean Fishery, Long Branch, N.J., to Weather Bureau, Washington. Box 1475.
9 “Not safe to leave”: National Archives: General Correspondence. Telegram, Sept. 6, 1900, Chief Willis Moore to Ocean Fishery, Long Branch, N.J.
10 He told Jover: National Archives: General Correspondence. See clipping from La Discusion, Sept. 11, 1900, and attached translation, containing interview with Dunwoody. Box 1475. At one point Jover exclaims, “… I believe that nobody has the right to forbid a citizen telegraphing to a newspaper all that he wishes, be it true or false.” To which Dunwoody responds, “Well I understand that it is not just but can not the government do what it pleases? Moreover the government has a meteorological Bureau and it does not need any more.”
Key West: M Is for Missing
1 The map that reached Erie: National Archives: General Correspondence. National Weather Map, Erie, Pa., Sept. 6, 1900. Box 1475.
Gulf of Mexico: The Devil’s Voice
1 Once past the bar: Fernandez-Partagas, 101, note 34.
2 At 6:00 A.M. Thursday: The New York Times, Sept. 11, 1900.
3 At one o’clock, Halsey: Ibid.
4 “I do not like to speak: Ibid.
5 The Louisiana rose clear: Ibid.
6 In 1912, the Reverend J. J. Williams: Tannehill, 18.
7 The frightened Malay: Piddington, 208.
8 To Gilbert McQueen: Reid, 92.
9 One of the strangest: Reid, 73–76; also Piddington, 340.
10 On September 1, 1923: Tannehill, 128.
11 A Weather Bureau meteorologist: Ibid., 129.
12 In Galveston, Thursday: Daily Journal.
The Storm: Swells
1 The tallest wave: Lockhart, 115.
2 A tsunami: Zebrowski, 134. Zebrowski tells the story of the U.S.S. Wateree, a paddle steamer caught in a tsunami that came ashore in northern Chile on Aug. 13, 1868. Investigators discovered the wave continued traveling another 5,580 miles to strike the Sandwich Islands twelve hours and thirty-seven minutes later. They computed an average speed of five hundred miles per hour. Rear Admiral L. G. Billings wrote, “Looking seaward, we saw, first, a thin line of phosphorescent light, which loomed higher and higher until it seemed to touch the sky; its crest, crowned with the death light of phosphorescent glow, showing the sullen masses of water below.” The Wateree landed upright and intact three kilometers inland. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey later estimated the tsunami had risen to seventy feet in height. See Zebrowski, 131–35.
Galveston: Heat
1 He was a veteran: Galveston News, Sept. 13, 1900; see also Weems, 20–22, 26–27, 46. For details of ship’s size and ownership, see “Vessels at Galveston” in The New York Times, Sept. 11, 1900. Also, in the Rosenberg Library’s vast collection of storm photographs I found a post-storm photograph of a barge being loaded with corpses. A large ship is moored near one end of the barge. Close examination with a magnifying glass shows the ship is the Pensacola. Members of her crew stand at the bow watching the macabre proceeding. Rosenberg Library. Storm of 1900 Collection. Photograph G-1771, File 1.2. No. 9.
2 Simmons pulled out: Weems, 20–21.
3 He did note, however: Ibid., 21.
4 At 9:35 A.M. Galveston time: Daily Journal.
5 “Well, young man”: The New York Times, Sept. 23, 1900.
6 “Menard,” Simmons said: The New York Times, Sept. 13, 1900.
7 “It looked as if”: Ibid.
8 There would be no: Cartwright, Galveston, 167.
9 “Thursday afternoon”: Young, 1.
10 “For my own satisfaction”: Ibid., 1.
11.“The error I made”: Ibid., 1.
12 That evening, at precisely: Observations.
Cuba: “Who Is Right?”
1 Dunwoody had written: National Archives: General Correspondence. Letter, Sept. 5, 1900, H. H. C. Dunwoody to William Stockman. Box 1475.
2 “No dangerous winds”: National Archives: General Correspondence. Letter, William Stockman to H. H. C. Dunwoody, Sept. 7, 1900, this page. Box 1475.
3 Any comparison of: Ibid., 15.
4 “At day-break”: National Archives: General Correspondence. See Father Gangoite’s dispatch in clipping from La Lucha, Sept. 10, 1900. Box 1475.
PART III: SPECTACLE
Observation
1 “The sky seemed”: Mason, 78–79.
Gulf of Mexico: The Pensacola
1 At 10:30 that morning: Galveston News, Sept. 13, 1900.
The Beach: Delight
1 The other was: Young, 1.
2 “I was certain”: Ibid., 1–2.
3 Later Isaac took: Cline, Storms, 93.
4 If not for him: Letter, E. M. Vernon, chief, Forecasts and Synoptic Reports Division, to M. S. Douglas, Nov. 9, 1956. Rosenberg Library. 95-00020. Box 1, File 7.
5 Bornkessell replied: Weems, 45.
6 “The storm was”: Personal Accounts: Blagden, 6.
7 He advised them: Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
8 One resident, Sarah: Personal Accounts: Hawley, Sarah, 1.
9 The car was crowded: Personal Accounts: Goodman, 2.
10 On Sunday, September 2: Galveston News, Sept. 2, 1900.
11 They found: Galveston News, Sept. 8, 1900.
12 “There have been”: Rosser, Angie.
13 Many decades later: Ibid.
14 “Even so”: Personal Accounts: Cortes, 2.
15 That morning Mrs. Charles Vidor: Weems, 37–38.
16 “I remember now”: Ibid.
17 “I left home”: Personal Accounts: Hopkins, “The Day,” 1. See also other Hopkins accounts.
18 One witness reported: Mason, 81.
19 “The sight was grand”: Personal Accounts: Davis, 2.
20 “My family pleaded”: Personal Accounts
: Wolfram, 1.
21 “We have had storms before”: Mason, 79.
22 Judson Palmer, secretary: First Baptist Church, 1.
23 “For a while”: Rollfing, 3: 1.
Ritter’s Café: “You Can’t Frighten Me”
1 Rabbi Henry Cohen: Nathan and Cohen, 132–45. See also Cartwright, Galveston, 145–46, 165–66, and “Blow,” 114.
2 Saturday morning: Mason, 108–9; see also Personal Accounts: Focke, 4. A friend of Stanley Spencers encountered Mrs. Spencer on Monday, Sept. 10, and learned from her that Mr. Spencer’s face seemed wholly unmarked even though the back of his head had been crushed. Personal Accounts: Hawley, J. H., 3–4.
Bolivar Point: The Lost Train
1 “When we crossed”: Coulter, 95–99; First Baptist, 3; Mason, 84–85.
2 Another passenger: Personal Accounts: Benjamin.
3 Poe lived in Lake Charles: Coulter, 89–90; Mason, 85–86, 162.
4 Marie Berryman Lang: Personal Accounts: Lang. See also Weems, 42.
25th and Q: A Gathering of Toads
1 “The storm swells”: Cline, Storms, 93.
2 By 2:30 P.M., Galveston time: Ibid., 94.
3 Isaac reported: Ibid., 94.
4 Joseph gave himself: Cline, Joseph, 51.
5 Along the way: Tapp, 8.
6 Stay put, Isaac said.: First Baptist Church, 2. Weems, 74.
7 “Those who lived”: Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
8 “Many went to his house”: Personal Accounts: Blagden, 6.
9 “Every little board”: Personal Accounts: Bettencourt, 16.
10 The water was: Cline, Joseph, 53.
11 Neck deep: Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
12 “He knew better”: Cline, Joseph, 53.
13 Evacuate: Ibid., 53; Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
14 Stay: Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
PART IV: CATACLYSM
Telegram
1 We have been: Telegram. National Archives: General Correspondence.
The East Side: Louisa Rollfing
1 August Rollfing: Rollfing, 3: 4.
2 At about two: Cline, Tropical Cyclones, 246.
3 She watched quietly: Rollfing, 3: 3.
Avenue P½: Parents and Their Choices
1 At two o’clock: Young, 2.
2 The water moved fastest: Author’s analysis. Most of the city’s streets were lined with high curbs, which acted like erosion gullies to channel the flow of water.
3 Young saw: Young, 2. Specifically, Young recalls seeing “wrecked shanties, boxes, barrels, wooden cisterns and everything else that fell in [the current’s] power.” That carriages and outhouses and myriad other things floated within is beyond question. He makes no mention of seeing bodies, however—although by that time there were many embedded in the current coursing through the city.
4 “Being entirely alone”: Young, 2.
5 As Louise Hopkins: Personal Accounts: Hopkins, “The Day,” 1–4.
6 There were boxes and boards: Again, the flow carried all manner of debris. It also carried snakes. After the storm, one captain reported encountering snakes far out in the Gulf. See note for this page, Venomous snakes.
7 Louise noticed that: Personal Accounts: Hopkins, “The Day,” 5.
8 At precisely 2:30 P.M.: Daily Journal.
9 At 5:15, the wind: Daily Journal.
10 “We had a warm feeling”: Personal Accounts: Hopkins, “The Day,” 6.
11 “When it was lighted”: Personal Accounts: Hopkins, Interview, 14–15.
12 A neighbor couple: First Baptist Church, 2.
13 It grew cysts: Personal Accounts: Cortes, 4.
14 At 7:00 P.M.: First Baptist Church, 2.
15 “I cannot pray”: Ibid., 2.
16 Garry Burnett recommended: Ibid., 2.
25th and Q: Isaac Cline
1 “At this time”: Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
2 At 6:30 P.M.: Ibid., 373.
3 The sea was strangely flat: Young, 3.
4 The Neville house: Photograph. 2502 Avenue Q. Rosenberg Library. Street File: Avenue Q.
5 It contained homes: Rollfing, 3: 7. For the most vivid record of destruction, see the Rosenberg Library’s collection of aftermath photographs, some of which are quite grisly. One photograph, G-1771, File 7.5, No. 13, shows a vast plain of wreckage where Isaac Cline’s neighborhood had once existed. Another, G-1771, File 1.2, No. 8, shows six men apparently about to bury the body of a woman. She is well and elaborately dressed in pantaloons with horizontal stripes and a dress printed with bold, broad vertical stripes. The men represent a cross-section of society. One is black, his face deeply furrowed with an expression of distaste. It is possible he is expressing disdain for the photographer. Another member of the party is young, clean-shaven, and handsome, dressed neatly in a long-sleeved white shirt, straw hat, and suit pants. Close examination with a magnifying glass reveals that his eyes are closed. The men stand in a great sea of shattered boards.
6 “I was standing”: Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
7 (Joseph claims …: Cline, Joseph, 53.
8 The brothers herded: Ibid.
9 “These observations”: Cline, “Special Report,” 373.
10 One block north: Young, 2.
11 “The debris fairly flew”: Ibid., 2.
12 One witness: Galveston Galveston News, Sept. 13, 1900, 5.
13 Dr. Cline’s house: Author’s analysis, based on Young’s proximity to Isaac Cline’s house, and the orientation of his house. Young, 2. See also Fire Insurance Map. Regarding the absence of Cline’s galleries, see Cline, Joseph, 53.
14 “Strangely enough”: Cline, Joseph, 53.
15 “I urged them”: Ibid., 53.
16 In Dallas, three hundred: Acheson, 211; Mason, 106.
17 (whose Galveston agent: See death list, Galveston News, Sept. 14, 1900. W. Pilford of the Mexican Cable Company is listed, along with his four children, Madge, Willie, Jack, and Georgianna. The list cites the location where they were killed as “Twenty-fifth and Q.” Isaac’s corner.
18 At that moment: Acheson, 211; Mason, 106.
The Levy Building: Vital Signs
1 Saturday evening, John Blagden: Personal Accounts: Blagden, 1–2.
2 Meteorologists discovered: Cline, “Special Report,” 374.
3 Barometric pressure had fallen: Daily Journal.
4 In Galveston harbor: Weems, 101.
5 The hull was built: Ibid., 102.
6 In the train station: First Baptist Church, 4.
7 Years later, scientists: Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas, 9.
8 “Assuming that the reading”: Garriott, “West Indian,” 392.
9 The bureau later estimated: Monthly Weather Review, Sept. 1900, 424.
10 Each would generate: For an excellent discussion of wind force and effects, see Zebrowski, 248–51
11 Captain Storms: Mason, 160.
12 One man tied his shoes: Personal Accounts: Wolfram, 1.
13 A survivor identified: Personal Accounts: “Charlie,” 1–2.
14 One of the deadliest: Pielke and Pielke, 199.
15 In 1876 Henry Blanford: Monthly Weather Review, “What Is a Storm Wave?” Oct. 1901, 461.
16 In October: Garriott, “West Indian,” 391.
17 If a hurricane strikes: Henry et al., 19.
18 In effect, the storm’s trajectory: Cline, “Relation,” 208. Garriott, “West Indian,” 391; for a summary of the hurricane’s character and path, see 384–92.
19 The first shift: Cline, Tropical Cyclones, 246.
20 At 7:30 P.M., the wind: Cline, “Special Report,” 373. Cline, “Relation,” 207.
Avenue P½: The Wind and Dr. Young
1 About seven o’clock: Young, 2.
2 A single cubic yard: Cline, “Relation,” 203.
3 One man reported: First Baptist Church, 34.
4 “It turned partly”: Young, 3.
5 “The wind at 125:” Ibid.
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6 “The drops of rain”: Ibid.
7 Venomous snakes: Henry et al., 19, 23. Here I make the assumption that phenomena common in later hurricanes were likely to have occurred in the Galveston hurricane. Henry et al. cite Hurricane Audrey, which struck the Louisiana coast in 1957. “It is thought that the majority of people who drowned sought safety by climbing into high trees and then fell into the rising flood waters after they were bitten by snakes also taking refuge in the trees” (19). Later, they state, “Snakes, which are strong swimmers, will be along roads, in the remains of buildings, in trees, and in other high and dry places” (23). A schooner, Viva, out of Corpus Christi, arrived in Galveston soon after the storm. A passenger, Leopold Morris, told a Galveston News reporter he saw large snakes swimming in the Gulf. “The snakes seemed to plead for a ride on the boat, and if ever I saw a serpent look kindly toward a human being those were the ones.” Galveston News, Sept. 16, 1900.
8 A rocket of timber: Cartwright, “Big Blow,” 114.
9 At the expensive Lucas Terrace: Mason, 126–27. For a compelling photograph of Lucas Terrace before and after the storm, see Weems, plates, between 84 and 85.
10 At another address: Mason, 157–58.
11 “The house rose”: Young, 3.
25th and Q: What Joseph Saw
1 “As the house capsized”: Cline, Joseph, 54.
2 “All the other occupants”: Ibid.
3 “I had hoped”: Ibid., 55.
The Beach: Ruby Credo
1 As soon as Ruby Credo’s: Tapp, 8–9.
2 “The water was rising”: Ibid., 9.