Isaac's Storm (53 page)

Authors: Erik Larson

BOOK: Isaac's Storm

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104.
He
spent
a
good
part:
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
The
complete
story
lies
in
Box
1471.
It
begins
with
a
letter
from
a
secret
informant
to
Stockman,
dated
Aug.
8,
1900,
and
ends
with
Moore's
terse
letter
of
Sept.
6,
1900,
two
days
before
the
Galveston
storm.

105.
On
August
24,
1900,
W.
T
Blythe:
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
Letter,
Aug.
24,1900,
Blythe
to
Moore.
Box
1475.

105.
On
August
28,
Willis
Moore:
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
Letter,
Moore
(as
acting
secretary
of
agriculture)
to
Gen.
T.
T.
Eckert,
Western
Union,
Aug.
28,1900.
Box
1475.

106.
"This
conduct":
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
See
clipping,
Sept.
2,1900,
in
Box
1475.

106.
"A
very
bitter
opposition":
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
Letter,
Sept.
5,1900,
H.
H.
C.
Dunwoody
to
William
Stockman.
Box
1475.

107.
On
Saturday,
September
1:
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
See
clipping
from
La
Lucha,
Sept.
1,1900.
Box
1475.

107.
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.

107.
The
next
day,
Belen's
Father
Gangoite:
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
See
clipping
from
Diario
de
la
Marina,
Sept.
2,
1900,
containing
Gan-goite's
dispatch
of
Sept.
1,1900.
Box
1475.

108.
By
Friday,
the
total:
Monthly
Weather
Review,
Sept.
1900,377.

New
Orleans:
Captain
Halsey's
Choice

109.
At
9:20
A.M.
Wednesday:
Monthly
Weather
Review,
Sept.
1900,374;
Fernandez-Partagas,
101,note
34;
TheNew
York
Times,
Sept.
11,1900,3.

109.
Wrote
Piddington:
Piddington,
3
76-77.

110.
The
Louisiana
entered:
Fernandez-Partagas,
101,
note
34.

Straits
of
Florida:
A
Matter
of
Divination

111.
Shortly
after
noon:
The
Daily
Register,
Mobile,
Ala.,
Sept.
6,1900.

111. "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.

112. Winds
reached:
Fernandez-Partagas,
99,
note
21.

112.
In
Key
West:
Ibid.,
99,
note
22.

112.
Its
velocity
dropped:
Ibid.,
99,
note
21.

113.
The
next
morning:
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
See
clipping
from
Havana
Post,
Sept.
7,1900,
quoting
Stockman's
dispatch.
Box
1475.

113.
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.

113.
"Advise
quick":
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
See
telegram,
Sept.
6,
1900,
from
Ocean
Fishery,
Long
Branch,
N.J.,
to
Weather
Bureau,
Washington.
Box
1475.

114.
"Not
safe
to
leave":
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
Telegram,
Sept.
6,1900,
Chief
Willis
Moore
to
Ocean
Fishery,
Long
Branch,
N.J.

114. He
toldjover:
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

115. 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

117.
Once
past
the
bar:
Fernandez-Partagas,
101,
note
34.

117.
At6:00A.M.
Thursday:
TheNew
York
Times,
Sept.
11,1900.

118.
At
one
o'clock,
Halsey:
Ibid.

118.
"/
do
not
like
to
speak:
Ibid.

118.
The
Louisiana
rose
clear:
Ibid.

120.
In
1912,
the
Reverend
J.
J.
Williams:
Tannehill,
18.

120.
The
frightened
Malay:
Piddington,
208.

120.
To
Gilbert
McQueen:
Reid,
92.

120.
One
of
the
strangest:
Reid,
73-76;
also
Piddington,
340.

122.
On
September
1,1923:
Tannehill,
128.

122.
A
Weather
Bureau
meteorologist:
Ibid.,
129.

122.
In
Galveston,
Thursday:
Daily
Journal.

The
Storm:
Swells

124.
The
tallest
wave:
Lockhart,
115.

125.
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

126.
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-l771,
File
1.2.
No.
9.

126. Simmons
pulled
out:
Weems,
20-21.

127
He
did
note,
however:
Ibid.,
21.

127. At
9:35A.M.
Galveston
time:
Daily
journal^

127.
"Well,
young
man":
The
New
York
Times,
Sept.
23,1900
128.
"Menard,"
S.mmonssa.d:
TheNew
York
Times,
Sept.
13,1900.

129.
"It
looked
as
if":
Void.

130.
There
would
be
no:
Cartwright,
Galveston,
167.

130. "Thursday
afternoon":
Young,
1.

131. "For
my
own
satisfaction":
Ibid.,
1.

131.
"The
error
I
made
":
Ibid.,
1
-

131. That
evening,
atprecisely:
Observations.

Cuba:
"Who
Is
Right?"

132. Dunwoody
had
written:
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
Letter,

William
Stockman
to
H.H.C.
Dunwoody,Sept.7,
1900,
page
14.box
1475.

133. Any
comparison
of:
Ibid.,
15.

134. "At
day-break":
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.
See
Father
Gan-

goite's
dispatch
in
clipping
from
La
Lucha,
Sept.
10,1900.Box
1475.

PART
III:
SPECTACLE

Observation

137.
"The
sky
seemed":
Mason,
78-79.

Gulf
of
Mexico:
The
Pensacola

138
At
10:30
that
morning:
Galveston
News,
Sep,
13,

The
Beach:
Delight

140.
The
other
was:
Young,
1.

140.
"I
was
certain":
Ibid.,1-2.

140.
Later
Isaac
took:
Cline,
Storms,
93.

141.
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.

141.
Bornkessell
replied:
Weems,
45.

141.
"Thestorm
was":
Personal
Accounts:
Blagden,6.

141.
He
advised
them:
Cline,
"Special
Report,"373.

141.
One
resident,
Sarah:
Personal
Accounts:
Hawley,
Sarah,
1.

142.
The
car
was
crowded:
Personal
Accounts:
Goodman,
2.
142.
OnSunday,
September
2:
Galveston
Mews,
Sept.
2,1900.
142.
They
found:
Galveston
Mews,
Sept.
8,1900.

144.
"There
have
been
":
Rosser,
Angie.

145.
Many
decades
later:
Ibid.

145.
"Even
so":
Personal
Accounts:
Cortes,
2.

145.
That
morning
Mrs.
Charles
Vidor:
Weems,
37-38.

146.
"/
remember
now
":
Ibid.

146.
"I
left
home":
Personal
Accounts:
Hopkins,
"The
Day,"
1.
See
also
other
Hopkins
accounts.
148.
One
witness
reported:
Mason,
81.
148.
"The
sight
was
grand":
Personal
Accounts:
Davis,
2.
150.
"My
family
pleaded":
Personal
Accounts:
Wolfram,
1.

150.
"We
have
had
storms
before":
Mason,
79.

151.
Judson
Palmer,
secretary:
First
Baptist
Church,
1.

152.
"For
a
while":
Rollfing,
3:
1.

Ritter's
Cafe:
"You
Can't
Frighten
Me"

155.
Rabbi
Henry
Cohen:
Nathan
and
Cohen,
132-45.
See
also
Cartwright,
Galveston,
145-46,165-66,
and
"Blow,"
114.

158.
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.