Galveston Storm. - On September 8 and 9, 1900, the most severe hurricane that has visited North America swept over the southwestern coast. Galveston city and county suffered most. The barometer and other weather indications warned the people of approaching danger, but little attention was paid the signals: even on Saturday morning, when the waters rose, when the rain fell with violence, when the wind grew higher and higher, people thought the storm would amount to little. By 8 P.M., however, the wind had increased to one hundred and twenty miles an hour, and Galveston realized that the awful calamity was upon her: men, women, and children battled for life against the waters of the bay, the waters of the Gulf, and - far more cruel than these - the awful fury of the gale; thousands of houses were shattered or tossed like straws upon the waves; thousands of human lives were lost; in the darkness, mothers had children swept from their arms; fathers, in an agony of despair, saw wives and little ones perish while they were powerless to save. Sunday morning dawned clear and bright, but surely the sun never looked down upon a sadder sight; our fair "City by the Sea" lay in ruins; everywhere were death and desolation. For hours Galveston was entirely cut off from the outside world. Bravely did the people of the stricken city take up the burden laid upon them. The militia was ordered out to stop looting and violence. Men who had never known physical labor worked like slaves to clean the city and to burn the corpses that both the earth and the waves refused to keep. Gentle women toiled day and night nursing the injured, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the orphans, and comforting the broken-hearted. As soon as the disaster become known, the whole civilized world hastened to send assistance. (Notes: Mexico"s Kindness - Let us never forget that the Congress of the Republic of Mexico appropriated from the treasury $30,000 for storm sufferers, while private Mexican citizens also gave liberally.)

Loss of Life and Property. - It will never be known how many people perished in the storm. Governor Sayers in his official report places the number at six thousand; the property loss is estimated at $40,000,000.

Course of Governor Sayers. - The sums contributed to the flood sufferers amounted to one and a half million dollars, besides a large amount of supplies of every kind. Most of this passed through the governor's hands; too much praise cannot be given to the prompt and efficient way in which these funds and supplies were managed.

Mrs. Anna J. Hardwicke Pennybacker, A History of Texas For Schools: Also For General Reading and For Teachers Preparing Themselves For Examination, Revised Edition (Austin, Texas: Mrs. Percy V. Penny Backer, Publisher, 1924), page 281