The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Page: 198

198 DETAILS OF THE OVERWHELMING TRAGEDY.
about on the raging sea. Part of the time they think they were
far out in the Gulf. They know they were out of sight of lights
and buildings much of the time.
Mr. William Blair, a member of the Screwmen's Association,
with a party of twelve, took in what he said to be the first boat
that carried news from the mainland. The trip this party made
was one of the most heroic on record. Mr. Blair said:
ONE LONE HOUSE STANDING.
"We were caught in Houston in the storm, and Sunday
morning as soon as the storm abated we resolved to get to our
families and friends in Galveston, if such a thing was possible.
A party of twelve of us left Houston on a'Southern Pacific train.
We got as far as Seabrook and there we found everything washed
away, and dead bodies here and there. One lone house was
standing. Clear Creek bridge had been washed away and the
railroad track was turned over. We went back to Houston and
waited there till 4.40 P. M., and took the Galveston, Houston
and Henderson regular train and succeeded in getting as far as
Lamarque.
The whole country was under water, but we decided to get
to Galveston any way that night. We pulled out towards Virginia
Point, wading in water up to our necks, some times swimming.
At one place it got so deep that we got a lot of drift together and
constructed a sort of a raft and ferried over the places. I was
about to forget to tell you that one of our party was a woman, a
Miss Beach. She had a sick sister in Galveston at the infirmary
and she had determined to get to her if possible. That brave and
fearless women kept up with the men wading and swimming, and
while others lagged and some dropped out along the way, she
never once faltered, and I have never before seen her equal for
courage and determination.
"There were six of us when we got to Virginia Point, others
had turned out toward Texas City. We got as near to Virginia
Point as we could, we found three railroad engines there, one of
them turned over. There were some cars scattered along the