For Sale —American Paradise
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204. The Miami Daily News later reported that the destruction: Miami Daily News, September 17, 1928
204. “So it was just a little bit before dark that the water began”: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida
205. Zora Neale Hurston eloquently described: Hurston, Zora Neale, Their Eyes Were Watching God (New York, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006) p. 158
205. San Felipe, in effect, was still over water as it roared inland: Interview with Michael Laca, producer of TropMet.Com, in Miami, October 8, 2014
205. In Belle Glade, Jabo Tryon was digging into his pie: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida
205. A few minutes before eight p.m., the barometric pressure reading in nearby Canal Point was 28.54: Monthly Weather Review, September 1928, p. 349
206. Jack Zuber walked into the kitchen of his house: Miami Daily News, September 24, 1928
206. At nine p.m., the barometer at Canal Point was reading 27.97: Monthly Weather Review, September 1928, p. 349
206. “Water was lapping up over the porch”: Miami Daily News, September 24, 1928
206. In the Tedder Hotel in Belle Glade: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida
206. At Jack Zuber’s farm, the water had risen: Miami Daily News, September 24, 1928
207. San Felipe’s winds had driven more and more water against the dikes: Hurston, Zora Neale, Their Eyes Were Watching God (New York, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006) p. 158
207. Water began filling the house where nineteen people, including Helen McCormick: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida; Ocala Star-Banner, October 30, 1981
208. The stalks closed around them, weaving a lattice-like trap: South Florida Developer, September 28, 1928
208. As the storm started rising, Vernon Boots and his family decided: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida
208. In Indiantown, a blast of wind lifted a small building: South Florida Developer, September 20, 1928
208. Frances Ball and her companions picked their way: Frances Ball, letter to parents, September 17, 1928, from the collection of Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida
209. At about the same time Frances Ball went to bed, Margaret Best finished: Lowell Sun, September 25, 1928
209. Frances Ball, still picking bits of plaster: Frances Ball, letter to parents, September 17, 1928, from the collection of Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida
209. Vernon Boots and his brothers began slogging: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida
210. “Water, knee-deep, covered all the land”: Will, Lawrence E., Okeechobee Hurricane: Killer Storms in the Everglades (Belle Glade, Florida, The Glades Historical Society, 1990) pp. 131–132
210. Jack Zuber, still unconscious on the raft that had been a side of his house: Miami Daily News, September 24, 1928
210. But the Red Cross was getting alarming reports: Telegram, J. Denham Bird to American Red Cross Headquarters, Washington, D.C., September 17, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
210. In Jacksonville, Red Cross officials received a message from an amateur radio operator: American Red Cross News Release, September 17, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
211. “If necessary, of course, I will act on the request.”: Kleinberg, Eliot, Black Cloud: The Great Florida Hurricane of 1928 (New York, Carroll & Graf, Publishers, 2003) p. 130
211. Without waiting for details of the Lake Okeechobee horror to emerge: Tampa Morning Tribune, September 19, 1928
211. As the storm spun northward, an announcer on WDBO radio: Tampa Morning Tribune, September 21, 1928
211–12. The Palm Beach Post said the Red Cross was estimating that fifty people had been killed: Palm Beach Post, September 18, 1928
212. The St. Petersburg Times reported that thirty bodies, most of them African Americans: St. Petersburg Times, September 18, 1928
212. “If you have made any winter plans about Florida, don’t let any news reports”: Tampa Morning Tribune, September 19, 1928
212. In Tallahassee, Governor John Martin also was following: Stuart Daily News, September 21, 1928
212. Around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 19, Red Cross vice chairman James Fieser: Transcript of radio messages to American National Red Cross, September 19, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
213. But the editorial page in that day’s edition of the Tampa Morning Tribune: Tampa Morning Tribune, September 19, 1928
213. “Cyclone or hurricane damage is essentially surface damage”: Wall Street Journal, September 19, 1928
213. Miami Daily News readers got a jarring look at San Felipe’s work: Miami Daily News, September 20, 1928
214. Cecelia Copeland, a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times: St. Petersburg Times, September 21, 1928
214. Howard Selby, the Red Cross chairman for Palm Beach County, sent a telegram to Peter Knight: Palm Beach Post, September 21, 1928
214. The two high-ranking state officials stopped there: Stuart Daily News, September 21, 1928
215. In Tampa, Peter Knight tried to deflect harsh criticism: St. Petersburg Times, September 21, 1928
215. “Conditions Lake Okeechobee region simply terrible”: “Bulletin/The West Indies-Florida Hurricane,” September 21, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
216. “It boils down to this”: “Report of Paul Hoxie, Commander of the Legion Post St. Petersburg,” September 24, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
216. Around midnight, a weary and stunned Martin invited reporters: Palm Beach Post, September 22, 1928
216. The editorial followed the same formula as earlier ones: Wall Street Journal, September 22, 1928
217. “Just a few hours ago I saw the bodies of thirty-two colored men”: South Florida Developer, September 28, 1928
217. “There is a political reason for the apparently senseless”: Wall Street Journal, September 24, 1928
218. An editorial in the Grand Rapids Herald: Grand Rapids Herald, September 28, 1928
218. J.B. Ellis, chairman of the Lincoln County chapter of the American Red Cross: Letter, J.B. Ellis to W.M. Baxter, September 29, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Par
k, Maryland
218. Newspaper headlines such as one that appeared in the Montreal Gazette: Tampa Sunday Tribune, September 30, 1928
218. Red Cross officials and Palm Beach County leaders decided to confront: Palm Beach Post, September 29, 1928
218. On Monday, October 1, the Journal ’s editorial page insisted the newspaper: Wall Street Journal, October 1, 1929
219. More than six hundred black victims of the storm: Kleinberg, Eliot, Black Cloud: The Great Florida Hurricane of 1928 (New York, Carroll & Graf, Publishers, 2003) p. 130
219. The worst incident happened on September 23, when Knowlton Crosby: “A True Copy in the Matter of the Inquest on the Body of Cootie Simpson,” November 19, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
220. A few days after Simpson’s death, an organization called the Negro Workers Relief Committee: Indianapolis Recorder, October 6, 1928
220. Bethune visited the hurricane area: Statement of Mary McLeod Bethune following her visit to storm-stricken are of Florida, October 8, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
220. Du Bois wrote a letter to the Negro Workers Relief Committee: Du Bois, W.E. B., 1868–1963; letter from W.E.B. Du Bois to Negro Workers Relief Committee, October 4, 1928; W.E.B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312); Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries
220. In mid-October 1928, the Red Cross compiled statistics: “Relief Progress in Two Hurricane Areas,” The Red Cross Courier, October 15, 1928, p. 23; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
220. The death toll was still being calculated seventy-five years later: National Weather Service Memorial Web Page for the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane
Chapter Twelve: Dreamland After All
221. A few weeks before his March 4, 1929 inauguration: Miami Herald, February 17, 1929
221. In the spring of 1927, he had coordinated the effort of local, state and federal agencies: “Herbert Hoover Timeline,” Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum website, available at http://www.hoover.archives.gov/info/HooverTimeLine.html
221. Preventing another flooding tragedy around Lake Okeechobee: The (New York) World, reprinted in Miami Daily News, February 17, 1929
221. . . . there were grim reminders: Miami Daily News, February 17, 1929
222. Crowds awaited him in other towns: The New York Times, February 17, 1929; The (New York) World, reprinted in Miami Daily News, February 17, 1929
222. A sixty-six-mile levee, 175 feet thick at its base and 34 feet high: Miami Daily News, August 11, 1935
222. “Facts and figures give indisputable evidence”: Miami Daily News, February 17, 1929
222. And the city would have preferred that some winter visitors had stayed away: New Yorker magazine, March 2, 1929
222. The company insuring the Palm Island mansion had canceled the policy: South Florida Developer, September 21, 1928; Miami Daily News, September 13, 1928
222. On March 7, 1929, gangland violence from New York and Chicago: Reading Eagle, March 6, 1929; Miami Daily News, March 7, 1929; Burlington (NC) Daily Times, March 3, 1929; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, March 12, 1929
223. In his “Today” column of March 1, 1929, Arthur Brisbane: The Ogden Standard-Examiner, March 1, 1929
224. Had the Ashley Gang still been around: Burlington (N.C.) Daily Times, March 7, 1929
224. On March 19, the Stuart Daily News—now owned by Menninger: Stuart Daily News, March 19, 1929
224. Nor could the town pay its electric bill: South Florida Developer, October 4, 1929
224. Things were no better for the county government.: Martin County Chapter American Red Cross Report for April 1929, by Leora G. Field, Executive Secretary; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
224. That sense of humor didn’t desert him: Seebohm, Caroline, Boca Rococo: How Addison Mizner Invented Florida’s Gold Coast (New York, Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2001) p. 175
225. In April 1929, the Mizner brothers, T. Coleman du Pont, Jesse Livermore, and other former directors: New York Times, April 5, 1929
225. Walter Fuller, who’d sold millions of dollars’ worth of real estate in St. Petersburg: Fuller, Walter P. This Was Florida’s Boom (St. Petersburg, Florida, Times Publishing Co., 1954) p. 64
225. Even Coral Gables was drowning in red ink: George, Paul, “Brokers, Binders and Builders,” Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 1, July 1986, p. 49
225. “Though what we owe in bonds could only be properly estimated by a county-to-county”: South Florida Developer, August 31, 1928
225. On April 6, citrus growers discovered Mediterranean fruit flies in groves near Orlando: South Florida Developer, August 2, 1929; author’s interview with Robert Alicea, University of South Florida, Tampa, November 12, 2013
225. The state’s citrus industry was nearly destroyed: Interview with Robert Alicea, University of South Florida, Tampa, November 12, 2013
226. But the market showed signs of shakiness in March: “The Crash of 1929,” produced for “The American Experience” by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, written by Ronald H. Blumer, originally broadcast 1990 on Public Broadcasting System
226. On March 27, the Stuart Daily News published an editorial comparing the Wall Street edginess: Stuart Daily News, March 27, 1929
227. “The plumber, the iceman, the butcher, the baker”: Marx, Groucho, Groucho and Me (Boston, Da Capo Press, 1995) pp. 188–199
227. On September 3, 1929, the Dow Jones Average climbed to its highest point in history: Ruggiero, Adriane, American Voices from the Great Depression (Tarrytown, New York, Benchmark Books, 2005) p. 1; “The Crash of 1929,” produced for “The American Experience” by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, written by Ronald H. Blumer, originally broadcast 1990 on Public Broadcasting System.
227. That came on September 5, only days after the market’s historic peak: New York Times, September 6, 1929
227. George Morse, executive manager of the Florida Motor Lines: South Florida Developer, September 13, 1929
228. “The trouble with this particular hurricane”: Schenectady Union Star, reprinted in South Florida Developer, October 18, 1929
228. Stuart’s streetlights were turned back on: South Florida Developer, October 4, 1929
228. “So many dirty things appear in the paper from time to time”: South Florida Developer, September 20, 1929
228. The prediction was based on numbers tabulated at inspection stations: South Florida Developer, November 1, 1929
229. “There came a Wednesday, October 23, when the market was a little shaky.”: “The Crash of 1929,” produced for “The American Experience” by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, written by Ronald H. Blumer, originally broadcast 1990 on Public Broadcasting System
229. “Some of the people I know lost millions.”: Marx, Groucho, Groucho and Me (Boston, Da Capo Press, 1995) pp. 188–199
229. “I believe that 1929 will go down in Florida history as our worst year.: South Florida Developer, January 3, 1930
230. In its issue of January 1930, National Geographic: La Gorce, John Oliver, “Florida: The Fountain of Youth,” National Geographic magazine, January 1930, p. 4
230. “They once tasted excitement”: Stuart Daily News, July 30, 1930
230. Menninger kept the South Florida Developer goin
g: Stuart Daily News, January 9, 1964
230. When cash became almost impossible to come by: The Stuart News, February 21, 1995
231. “Visit Florida,” the state’s official Department of Tourism website: Morgan-Schleuning, “Florida’s Tourism Industry Welcomed More Than 97 Million Visitors in 2014,” posted March 3, 2015, “Visit Florida” website, available online at http://www.visitfloridamediablog.com/home/category/corporate-press-releases
232. “. . . run out the clock in Florida” “The Simpsons,” Season four, Episode 67, “New Kid on the Block,” air date November 12, 1992
232. In the wake of the subprime mortgage debacle: Author’s telephone interview with Karen Procell in Orlando, Florida, December 6, 2010