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The setting was Galveston, Texas, in the year 1900. The month was September and the day was the 8th. Isaac M. Cline was a meteorologist in Galveston at the time. While on duty at 5 am he noticed a storm brewing at sea. He knew it was more than just a storm and that it was a tropical cyclone, as hurricanes were called at the time. From atop the National Weather Service bureau, which was at 23rd and Market streets, Cline watched the storm swells rise, the barometer drop and the winds grow stronger. Cline went about town trying to warn residents of the impending doom, but to little avail.
The 15-and-a-half foot storm surge rolled over the island from gulf to bay. Houses collapsed, and as the surge continued, a wall of debris described as at least two-stories high pushed across the island. This wall destroyed everything in its path, building force as it moved across the island.
At the time, there were 37,000 residents of Galveston. The hurricane killed 12,000 residents of Galveston - one third of the population! This does not include people that lived in the surrounding areas. The entire city was pretty much leveled. No dollar amount of loss has been compiled for this hurricane.
To read actual news reports at the time, there are three different newspaper accounts in the HistoryBuff.com Online Newspaper Archive. To read them click the links below:
To view actual movies taken shortly after the storm, go to: http://www.1900storm.com/film/index.lasso
 View of Galveston from the bay after the hurricane |
During the War of 1812, Sam Wilson had a contract to supply meat to the United States military. Meat was salt cured and shipped in wooden barrels stamped with the initals "U. S." to mean the United States. (In this era, using the initals "U. S." instead of United States had not been done before.) Troops, seeing the barrels with the abbreviation often asked what it meant. Jokingly, someone related that the initials stood for Uncle Sam Wilson. The joke caught on and spread like wildfire. People began referring to anything that belonged to the goverment as being owned by Uncle Sam. Soon "Uncle Sam" started appearing in political cartoons and newspaper editorials. The first Uncle Sam drawings made him appear clean shaven and dressed in black. During the Civil War, Thomas Nast drew him as wearing red, white and blue clothes appearing like the United States flag and a beard. |
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The July brain teaser asked the question: There is only one word in the English dictionary that does not contain any vowels - a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y. What is this word? The answer was "sh" - as in "be quiet." Subscriber Lynette Hernandez pointed out that there is another word in the English dictionary with no vowels. The word is "nth." I checked all three dictionaries I have and "nth" is in all three of them.
The era is the old west in the United States. A man rides into Dodge, Kansas, on Friday. He rides out three days later on Friday. How did he do it? Answer: The horse's name was Friday.
Subscriber Barb Franklin has submitted a brain teaser for this issue. Her question is: Can you name a word in the English dictionary that contains all the vowels, in order (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y?) The word is an adverb and means to be playfully jocular or humorous. PS: If you make any money by winning bets on these brain teasers, a little commission would be nice :-) |
HistoryBuff.com Moved to New Server |
HistoryBuff.com has been online for almost 10 years now, since October 1995. The site now contains over 1,000 megabytes of files. Since the last issue of this newsletter was sent out, I have moved the Web site to a different server. The domain name used to access the site remains the same. Downtime was limited to 3 days or so while reconfiguring all of the files on the new server. I had simply outgrown the old server. The new server account now has room for 5,000 megabytes of space for files! |
August Contest |
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QUESTION: What was the 48th state to be admitted to the United States?
ANSWER: Arizona. |
Thirty-five people entered the contest. Eleven were disqualifed due to an incorrect subject heading or did not indicate which prize they wanted if they won. Two prizes went unclaimed. The August winners were:
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To enter the Grand Prize Contest, send by email an essay of not more than 75 words relating why you want to win it. One grand prize will be awarded.
To enter the Alternate Contest, answer the question below and indicate which ONE prize you want if you win. (Only one of each is available.) |
| Alternate Contest Question: Which country sold the Louisiana Purchase to the United States? |
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(One winner will be selected) | |
 World War II Archive | |
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(Only one of each offered) | |
 DVD Home Town Story (1951) One of Marilyn Monroe's Early Movies |
 DVD The Little Princess (1939) Classic Shirley Temple Movie |
 DVD Remember the Alamo Documentary by the History Channel |
 PC Game G. I. Combat The Battle of Nomandy |
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| Original Historic Newspapers | |
 Original Columbian Centinel historic newspaper from 1805 | |
 Original New England Galaxy historic newspaper from 1826 | |
 Original The Globe (Washington, DC) historic newspaper from 1839 | |
 Original New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette historic newspaper from 1853 | |
 Original New York Times historic newspaper from 1864 With lots of Civil War reports | |
| That's it for this issue.
Rick Brown
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