Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas. Page: 87
180 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Birge's house split in two on a line running north and
south through its center, and then go to pieces." Suddenly
she herself was swept into the air and carried
at a height which she could not determine for a distance
of 900 feet. Her descent to earth was gentle and would
have caused her much less inconvenience had she not
come down head first. Although she was fully conscious
throughout her extraordinary flight, she was able
to see nothing. Safe on the ground again, she found
that her stockings were ripped into ribbons exactly
as though they had been deliberately cut with sharp
shears. There was also a neat slit along each of the
steel stays of her corset, although her outer clothing
was not damaged.HOUSTON STREET BRIDGE in a view taken from the southeast.-Many
homes were wrecked here and several lives were lost.
Mrs. Ely's experience is a typical example of miraculous
escape. The two story brick house in which the
Elys lived was totally demolished. When the storm
struck, Mrs. Ely, her two daughters, and a young Negro
servant were in the building. Piner describes their
escape as follows:
At the time Mrs. Ely's house was struck, she was standing
in a little niche against the south front wall and between a
front door on her right and a partition door on her left.
Between her and the front door was a window. Her two little
girls were between her and the front south wall. Behind
her along the partition wall stood a very fine, tall, oldfashioned
wardrobe. During the crash that wardrobe was
rent asunder and the south end of it fell across Mrs. Ely's
head and back. The top of the end lodged on a casing over
her head. A heavy piece of timber fell at her right and below
the piece of wardrobe, so that the space occupied by Mrs. Ely
and her two daughters was about the size of an average trunk.
The brick was piled above them six or eight feet high. It
was the only place in the main building where they could
possibly have been saved.
A negro boy in the kitchen dropped behind a box or chest
and was likewise saved in the only possible place of salvation
in his department of the house. Mrs. Ely testifies that
during the lull between the two gusts, she distinctly heard and
recognized the voice of her neighbor crying for help; that the
voice arose high and faded away into the dimmest tones. Her
neighbor's body was found 325 feet southeast of Mrs. Ely's
residence, and shortly afterward died in her husband's arms.
The action of the storm was often capricious. Tremendous
stones were carried to great distances. Tombstones
in West Hill were scattered about. Planks were
found to have pierced heavy trees and remained there
like sign posts. Two milk buckets at the bottom of a
twenty-foot well were sucked up, and the ropes by
which they had hung were shredded. Bermuda grass
was neatly lifted from lawns. A dress skirt was found
tightly drawn through a curtain ring. Pine and poplar
siding was found bristling with straws that had been
driven deep into the planking by the force of the wind.
Uprooted fence posts were found with the barbed wire
87neatly wrapped around them. A trunk, locked and undamaged
was found three miles from town. One old
cow, otherwise unhurt, had her horns wrenched off. A
horse that had been tied with a close halter on him in
the stall of a barn was found. The barn and stall in
which he was tied were gone as was the halter, which
would have had to be unbuckled for removal, but the
horse was unhurt. Two purses were in the drawer of
an old-fashioned sewing machine. One contained five
dollars in bills, the other small change to the amount of
thirty-five cents. The purses were found on the ground
near the wreckage of the sewing machine. The purse
containing the five dollars, was unscathed, but the storm
had ripped the seam of the other purse and pilfered the
coins.
Sixty-six people were killed by the storm or its
effects. Twenty-five of these were Negroes and fortyone
white. Disposal of the bodies began almost immediately.
Sixty men were reported digging graves at one
time. Carloads of coffins were shipped in; and most
of the victims were buried in West Hill Cemetery,
within sight of the scene of their tragedy.
Worst stricken by the storm was Luke Montgomery,
who besides his wife lost three children to the tornado.
When his minister entered the room to which the
bodies had been taken, Montgomery rose mournfully,
extended his hand, and said, "Brother Ivey, I have no
family now." They buried these victims two to the left
two to the right. When Professor Piner sought to comfort
his friend, he found him standing upon the narrow
ridge between the graves. Piner offered such comfort
as he could. In reply Montgomery said, "I love my
dead as I loved them living. I do not understand it, but
it must be well. I leave it all in the hands of God. He
never makes mistakes."
Others, of a more skeptical bent, did not agree. A
few days later a Catholic priest was trying to explain
to one of the children of his flock that God is always
good. 'Then where was He last Friday?" the boy demanded.
Nor were all victims pious in their reaction.
A small boy named Jimmy Herron was taken to the
hospital with head injuries which caused his eyes to
be bandaged for several days. When at last the bandage
was removed, the boy rose on his elbow and surveyed
the stricken and wounded with whom the hospital ward
was crowded. "Well, don't that beat hell!" he exclaimed.
Later he objected to being removed from the ward
because he observed that the food was good and he
had never enjoyed being anywhere so much in his life.
One child who was taken to the hospital for treatment
was given an orange as a reward for being a brave
little girl. When her frantic family found her some
time later, she greeted her little brother cheerfully with
"Oh, Buddie, I had a whole orange to myself."
During the storm a stray dog lost two-thirds of its
tail and broke a foreleg. H. O. McGill, a salesman who
distinguished himself by his heroic efforts to aid the
injured, bound the fracture in splints. Apparently the
dog realized what had been done for him and continued
to hang around the hospital. When he was put out at
night, he stayed by the door and lined up the next day
for treatment along with the human patients. He submitted
to the dressing of his wound very patiently and
licked McGill's hand when he was through.
As might be expected, numerous people claimed
that they had received premonitions that destruction
threatened. The most remarkable instance of warning
was reported by Tom Wood, who the preceding night
had dreamed of a giant cloud that had descended on
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Grayson County: An Illustrated History of Grayson County, Texas. (Book)
An illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas with numerous photographs and a pioneer name index (p. 120).
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Landrum, Graham. Grayson County; an illustrated history of Grayson County, Texas., book, 1960; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24647/m1/91/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.