For Sale —American Paradise (61 page)

130. As he huddled with his family in an automobile in the garage: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 7

130. At the Weather Bureau office, Gray's barometer was plummeting: “Facts on Tropical Hurricane Whose Centre Passed over Miami, Florida September 18, 1926: Folder DR-207, Florida Hurricane 9-18-1926: Donated Records Collection (formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

130. Gertrude Rubelli and her husband ventured out of their car: “Report of Mrs. Gertrude Rubelli employed by Dade County School Board and Red Cross Chapter”; Folder 207, Florida hurricane 9-18-1926: Donated Records Collection (formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

131. Once the winds had died down in Coral Gables: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 8

131. “Dawn came, and save for the nearness of other houses”:
New York Times
, September 22, 1926

131. As the rainy, windy dawn crept over Moore Haven: Will, Lawrence E.,
Okeechobee Hurricane: Killer Storms in the Everglades
(Belle Glade, Florida, The Glades Historical Society, 1990) p. 23

131. At the town's little railroad station, the agent on duty:
The Times
, Hammond, Indiana, 10-13-1926

131. When the hurricane's eye reached Miami, reporter Al Reck: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) pp. 21–22

132. Not far from where Reck was climbing into the taxi, Richard Gray was appalled:
Monthly Weather Review
, September 1926, p. 410

132. “Saturday was the worst day I ever want to go through”:
The Daily Herald
, Middletown, New York, September 23, 1926

133. “Never abating for an instant, the wind rose still higher”: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 9

133. Despite the water covering Miami Beach, S.K. Hicks and another attorney friend:
New York Times
, September 21, 1926

134. Al Reck's wild taxi ride became even wilder: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 22

134. In Fort Lauderdale, Peggy and Frank Pope watched in astonishment:
New York Times
, September 22, 1926

134. The winds kept increasing until they were blowing even harder:
Monthly Weather Review
, October 1926, p. 415

134. “Peering from the rain-clouded windows I could see”: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 22

135. As the storm worsened, Louis Slutsky was worried:
New York Times
, September 24, 1926

135. In Moore Haven, the dike was giving way: Will, Lawrence E.,
Okeechobee Hurricane: Killer Storms in the Everglades
(Belle Glade, Florida, The Glades Historical Society, 1990) p. 15

136. In Sebring, Atlantic Coast Line officials decided: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 32

136. It was late morning in Miami, but daylight still hadn't come:
New York Times
, September 21, 1926

136. In Coral Gables, Leo Reardon and his family were clinging to shreds of the life: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 10

137. Up the coast in Stuart, the winds had raged and the rains had poured:
South Florida Developer
, September 24, 1926

138. The stories were emblazoned with screaming headlines:
Galveston Daily News
, September 19, 1926

Chapter Eight: Spinning the Tempest

139. Leo Reardon sat down in a soggy, hurricane-battered apartment: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 11

140. The bowsprit of the
Rose Mahoney
: Florida State Archives, photo RC08696, “Scene along Bay Shore Drive after the 1926 hurricane—Miami, Florida,” available at
https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/31638

140. The storm had wrecked and destroyed the pleasure spots of Miami Beach:
Manitoba Free Press
, September 24, 1926

140. An eighteen-
foot pleasure boat rested on its keel: Florida Photographic Collection, Image #N031900, “Maxwell Arcade after hurricane of 1926, available at
https://www.floridamemory.com/solr-search/results/?q=%28n031900%20OR%20tt%3An031900%5E10%29&query=n031900

140. In downtown Miami, the seventeen-story Meyer-Kiser Building: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 17

XX. In the Glades northwest of Miami, an Atlantic Coast Line rescue train:
The Times
of Hammond, Indiana, October 13, 1926

142. “Miami Wiped Out by Terrific Gale”:
Salt Lake Tribune
, September 20, 1926

142. In Florence, South Carolina
: The Morning News Review
of Florence, South Carolina, September 19, 1926, noted resort cities laid waste

142. In Pennsylvania, subscribers to the
Clearfield Progress
read:
The Progress
of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, September 19, 1926

142. In Texas, editors at the
Galveston Daily News
:
Galveston Daily News
extra, September 19, 1926 “Many Die; Cities Razed”

142. According to the headlines in the
Chester Times
:
Chester
(Pennsylvania)
Times
, September 19, 1926 1,000 Dead

142. In Fort Lauderdale—one of the cities supposedly wiped off the map:
Fort Lauderdale Daily News
, September 19, 1926

XX.
The
New York Times
was more reserved:
New York Times
, September 19, 1926

142. By late Sunday afternoon, American Red Cross officials in Florida and Washington, DC, were trying to get a handle: Box 732, Folder 207, Donated Records Collection, formerly Records Group 200, Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, Florida hurricane 9-18-1926, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

143. When the sun came up over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, September 20: Barnes, Jay,
Florida's Hurricane History
(Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1998) pp. 123–124

143. “1,000 Perish in Florida Twister”:
Charleston Gazette
, September 20, 1926

143. “Hurricane Levels Florida Coast Cities”:
Salt Lake Tribune
, September 20, 1926

143. The
New York Times
dropped the restraint it had used:
New York Times
, September
20, 1926

143. A headline in the
Chester
Times
, said the storm had left:
Chester
(Pennsylvania)
Times
, September 19, 1926

143. For the record, the official death toll has been calculated: Barnes, Jay,
Florida's Hurricane History
(Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1998) p.126

144. “The city is waking to the horrors of the disaster”: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 32

144. And one newspaper whose responsibility was to report the facts:
Miami Herald
, September 20, 1926

144. Reardon drove to the causeway to see how Miami Beach had fared: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) pp. 33–38

144. In Washington, DC, President Calvin Coolidge had heard enough about the hurricane: Memo from John Barton Payne to All Chapter Chairmen, September 20, 1926; Box 732, Folder 207, Florida hurricane 9-18-1926: Donated Records Collection, formerly Records Group 200, Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

145. By late Monday afternoon, Al Reck, the determined reporter who'd braved the worst of the storm:
The Athens
(Ohio)
Messenger
, September 20, 1926

145. “All buildings erected by Fuller Co. came through hurricane:
Wall Street Journal
, September 23, 1926

146. As night fell on South Florida on Monday, September 20: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 5

146. More than a thousand miles to the north of South Florida's hurricane-
induced misery:
Washington Post
, September 21, 1926

146. Late in the day of Tuesday, September 21, some of the same buses: Reardon, Leo,
The Florida Hurricane & Disaster 1926
(Coral Gables, Florida; Arva Parks & Company, 1986) p. 72

147. Saul German, a former Bronx resident:
New York Times
, September 22, 1926

148. As the storm refugees' tales of woe were being published in newspapers: Telegram from Sidney Morse to American Red Cross Headquarters, Washington D.C., September 19, 1926; Telegram, Henry T. Reed to American Red Cross Headquarters, Washington, D.C., September 19, 1926; Box 732, Folder 207, Florida Hurricane 9-18-1926: Donated Records Collection, formerly Records Group 200, Records of the American National Red Cross, 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

148. In Stuart, Edwin Menninger was mixing optimism and realism:
South Florida Developer
, September 24, 1926

148. “I don't believe the papers can describe all that happened here”:
The Sheboygan
(Wisconsin)
Press
, September 22, 1926

148. “Hurricane terrible,” William Diesbach hastily scrawled to his friend:
Hamilton
(Ohio)
Evening Journal
, September 22, 1926

148. Helen Sweezy's letter to her parents in Middletown, New York:
Daily Herald
of Middletown, New York, September 23, 1926

149. On September 20, the
Miami Herald
reported that the storm:
Miami Herald
, September 20, 1926

149. On Wednesday, September 22, the
Wall Street Journal
published an editorial:
The Wall Street Journal
, September 22, 1926

149. Nonetheless, on September 22, Warfield issued a public statement:
New York Times
, September 23, 1926

150. Perhaps taking his cue from Warfield's public statements, Miami mayor Edward C. Romf: Buchannan, James E.
Miami: A Chronological & Documentary History 1513–1977
(Dobbs Ferry, New York, Oceana Publications, Inc., 1978) p. 98

151. Meanwhile, out in Moore Haven, rescue workers and survivors crazed with grief:
The Portsmouth
(Ohio)
Daily Times
, September 25, 1926;
New Smyrna
(Florida)
Daily News
, September 24, 1926

151. At the end of the week,
Time
magazine's issue of September 27:
Time
magazine, September 27, 1926

151. “God permitted the hurricane to strike Florida”:
Living Church
, reprinted in the
New York Times
, September 25, 1926

152. “It is true Florida is the playground of the wealthy”: American Red Cross News Release, September 29, 1926; Box 732, Folder DR-207.72, Florida hurricane 9-18-1926; Donated Records Collection, formerly Records Group 200, Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, Florida hurricane 9-18-1926, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland