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Mr. Charles Gray
Hancock County Historical Society
January 31, 1995
Page 3
Around 1920 a man (can't recall his name) approached my grandfather about building a turtle soup processing plant.
My grandfather allowed him to build his operation just south of the Peerless Plant. My father recalls that the building was about 30 x 60 with a huge pen adjoining it on the bay side. The turtles were held in their pen and my father remembers riding on the backs of the huge creatures.
The same man asked.my grandfather to join him in bringing a ferry to Bay St. Louis to transport cars across to Henderson Point. My father does not know what happened to the ferry after the storm. About 12 cars were carried on the lower deck while passengers could ride on the deck above. On summer nights, big bands were invited to perform on the ferry upper deck. At 8:00 P.M. passengers were invited to dance to the big band music and enjoy refreshments on the upper deck as the ferry made it's 30 minute trips back and forth between Bay St. Louis and Henderson Point. The last load of cars was taken to Henderson Point at midnight, then half way across the bay, the captain stopped the engines and allowed the ferry to drift while the passengers danced the night away to the strains of the hit music of the day.
The storm was devestating to the lives of my family. Peerless was wrecked beyond repair. More than 20 large skooners and 8 to 10 smaller craft were lost. One rested in the middle of the railroad and was dynamited. One was found completely intact in a forest two miles away. During the storm, one ship was washed toward shore and was dangerously close to smashing into the Firsching home. By some miracle, a huge wave washed the vessel between two large pine trees on the beach. The crew on board lashed the ship to the trees, and cut down the masts thus sparing the house and the terrified occupants inside. Grandfather's safe was found miles away. The door was frozen shut and a professional safe cracker was imported from New Orleans to open it. The documents and currency inside were mashed together into a worthless paste. Thousands of dollars worth of canned products were washed away - some of them already paid for by customers. Their home, which had been refuge for dozens of storm survivors, was severely damaged. My grandfather, who was a man of humor, sold his remaining assets, paid off all of his debts and moved his family to Houston. His eldest son,