For Sale —American Paradise (58 page)

69. The
Miami Herald
said that the Trailblazers:
Miami Herald
, April 19, 1923

69. . . . had attracted cameramen from Warner-Pathé News and Fox Movietone News:
Fort Myers Press
, April 24, 1923

69. Back on the Gulf Coast, the fracas about whether to create a county:
Tampa Times
, reprinted in the
Fort Myers Press
, April 23, 1923

69. On April 21, a state House of Representatives subcommittee:
Fort Myers Press
, April 25, 1923

69. Legislator S. Watt Lawler Jr. telegraphed Collier opponents:
Fort Myers Press
, April 26, 1923

69. On Friday, April 27, the
Press
was practically foaming:
Fort Myers Press
, April 27, 1923

70. The fight dragged on into May, when two giants of American industry: Albion, Michele Wehrwein,
The Florida Life of Thomas Edison
(Gainesville, Florida, University Press of Florida, 2008) p. 111

70. “I do not blame the people of Fort Myers and the rest of Lee County”:
Fort Myers Press
, July 7, 1923

71. Menninger went to West Palm Beach:
Stuart News
, January 9, 1964; Winslow, Walker,
The Menninger Story
(Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1956) pp. 160–161;
The Stuart News
, February 21, 1995; Thurlow, Sandy,
Stuart on the St. Lucie: A Pictorial History
(Stuart, Florida, Southeastern Printing Company, 2001) p. 30; Author's interview with Virginia Menninger, Jensen Beach, Florida, November 27, 2013

72. On September 27, 1923, Ashley and another convict:
Miami Herald
, September 29, 1923

72. . . . the state's prison system was engulfed in scandal:
The Evening Independent
, June 4, 1923

72. “Automobiles were stolen, burglaries committed”: Stuart, Hix C.,
The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades
(Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) p. 34

73. Beginning in November 1922 and continuing into the winter months of 1923–24:
Moberly Monitor Index
, November 21, 1922;
Fort Wayne News Sentinel
, November 25, 1922;
Waukesha Daily Freeman
, January 1, 1923

73. often were regarded as “addicts to the potent loco-weed.”: Roberts, Kenneth L.,
Florida
(New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 52–54

73. Still, construction statistics for four Florida cities in early 1923: Sessa, Frank, “Miami on the Eve of the Boom 1923,”
Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida
, no. 11, 1951, pp. 24–25

74. In late January and early February 1923, sophisticated and skilled jewel thieves:
Miami Daily Metropolis
, February 2, 1923;
Miami Daily Metropolis
, February 3, 1923

75. But on April 23, a jury decided that Phelps was not guilty:
Miami Daily Metropolis
, April 24, 1923

75. The
Chicago Daily News
reported that booze purchases:
Chicago Daily News
, reprinted in the
Cumberland Evening Times
, July 10, 1923

75. “Any Prohibition enforcement agent that didn't have lead”: Sessa, Frank, “Miami on the Eve of the Boom, 1923,”
Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida
, no. 11, 1951, pp. 13–14

75. Crime or no crime, President Harding:
Miami Daily Metropolis
, March 15, 1923

76. Edwin Menninger—who moved from West Palm Beach to Stuart in August 1923:
Stuart News
, January 1, 1964

77. At the base of picturesque Chimney Rock: Sessa, Frank, “Miami on the Eve of the Boom, 1923,”
Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida
, no. 11, 1951, pp. 20–21

77. Palm Beach County Sheriff Robert Baker and his deputies:
Palm Beach Post
, January 10, 1924

78. But John Ashley, in the interview with Hix Stuart: Stuart, Hix C.,
The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades
(Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) pp. 52–53

78. Newspapers reported that the gunfire started:
Nevada State Journal
of Reno, January 10, 1924;
The Lima
(Ohio)
News
, January 10, 1924;
Appleton
(Wisconsin)
Post-Crescent
, January 10, 1924;
Lincoln
(Nebraska)
Star
, January 10, 1924;
The Daily Star
of Oneonta, New York, January 10, 1924;
Lincoln
(Nebraska)
State Journal
, January 11, 1924

79. “This place of mine is the most beautiful”:
Nevada State Journal
of Reno, February 22, 1924

79. “. . . boiling and raging like lava”:
Hamilton
(Ohio)
Evening Journal
, February 23, 1924

80. “Brisbane's enthusiasm for real estate knew no bounds”: Carlson, Oliver,
Brisbane: A Candid Biography
(New York, Stackpole Sons, 1937) p. 180, p. 273

80. In March, for example, readers of
The New Republic:
Sisto Benedicte, “Miami's Land Gambling Fever,”
Tequesta: The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida
, vol. 59, 1999, p. 56

80. A visitor in March 1924 sent a postcard to friends: Postcard, postmarked March 4, 1924, describing concert at Royal Palm Park, Miami; from the collection of Rob Jones, New Port Richey, Florida, photocopied November 14, 2013

81. “Even swampland several miles west of Miami: George, Paul, “Brokers, Binders and Builders,”
Florida Historical Quarterly
, vol. 65, no. 1, July 1986, p. 30

81. “The people who have made real fortunes”: Shelby, Gertrude Mathews, “Florida Frenzy,”
Harper's Monthly Magazine
, January 1926, p. 180

81. By other accounts, he was in San Francisco:
Ocala
(Florida)
Star-Banner
, November 7, 1954

81. On the afternoon of Friday, September 12:
Miami Daily News
, September 13, 1924;
Miami Daily News
, September 16, 1924

82. Ashley and Mobley had made many trips to West End: Stuart, Hix C.,
The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades
(Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) pp. 47–50

82. On October 14, a tropical storm formed in the western Caribbean:
Monthly Weather Review
, December 1924, p. 589

82. The drenching downpour made life miserable in the Everglades for John Ashley, Handford Mobley:
Decatur
(Illinois)
Sunday Review
, November 2, 1924;
Ocala
(Florida)
Star-Banner
, November 7, 1924;
The Evening Independent
of St. Petersburg, November 3, 1924;
The Evening Independent
of St. Petersburg, September 28, 1925;
The Ledger
of Lakeland, Florida, October 12, 1975

84. “There they are – three of them”:
Miami Herald
, November 9, 1924

85. Decades later, author Ada Coats Williams: Sonne, Warren J., “The Ashley Gang: What Really Happened,”
Indian River Magazine
, October 2007.

Chapter Five: The Stars Shine Brightest in Florida

86. By the winter of 1924–25, Gilda Gray:
Miami Daily News
, December 20, 1924;
Miami Herald
, December 22, 1924

86. “How She Shivers, How She Shimmers”:
Miami Daily News
, January 3, 1925

87. The terms of Gray's contract:
Fitchburg Sentinel
, reprinted in
Lowell Courier-Citizen
, January 9, 1925

87. Burdines Department Store hired her:
Miami Herald
, January 2, 1925

87. Nationally syndicated sportswriter and author Ring Lardner:
Free Press
of Winnipeg, Ontario, March 14, 1925;
The Davenport Democrat and Leader
of Davenport, Iowa, March 15, 1925

87. . . . Babe Ruth was telling reporters he was broke:
Kingston Daily Freeman
, March 11, 1925

87. He was seen playing basketball:
Fitchburg Sentinel
, January 9, 1925

87. “In Florida he would hang around a greyhound derby”:
Syracuse Herald,
April 10, 1925

88. Ring Lardner noticed another distraction:
Lincoln Sunday Star
, April 26, 1925

88. The
Helena Daily Independent
reported that Joe Tinker:
Helena Daily Independent
, March 24, 1925

88. . . . manager John McGraw told Lardner that the stability of the Florida market:
Lincoln Sunday Star
, April 26, 1925

88. Merrick reportedly paid the Great Commoner $100,000: Nolan, David,
Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida
(New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984) p. 177

88. “They're here trying to see which can sell”:
The Bee
, Danville, Virginia, January 15, 1925

89. Florida was a “durable asset”:
Miami Herald
, January 16, 1925

89. “You can tell the biggest lie you can think of”: Nolan, David,
Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida
(New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984) p. 179

89. “. . . he had become “a crimp for real estate speculators”: Nolan, David,
Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida
(New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984) p. 177

90. A judge from Nebraska who'd visited Bryan:
Miami Herald
, January 21, 1925

90. On January 6, Bryan attended the inauguration:
Miami Herald
, January 7, 1925

90. “. . . an endless serpent whose joints, composed entirely of automobiles”: Roberts, Kenneth L.,
Florida
(New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 8–13

91. British author T. H. Weigall was among the hordes: Weigall, T.H.,
Boom in Florida
(London, John Lane The Bodley Head Limited, 1931) pp. 27–28

91. The palms, they say, of Florida: Rainbolt, Victor,
The Town that Climate Built: The Story of the Rise of a City in the American Tropics
(Miami, Parker Art Printing Association, 1925) p. 76

91. Over-
Night Millionaires of Florida:
St. Petersburg Times
, February 17, 1925

92. “Their minds were so inflamed: Roberts, Kenneth L.,
Florida
(New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 28–31

92. A new development called Miami Shores sold $2.5 million: “Brokers, Binders and Builders,” by Paul George;
Florida Historical Quarterly
, vol. 65, no. 1, July 1986, p. 35

92. . . . his salesmen raked in an astonishing $21 million: Roberts, Kenneth L.,
Florida
(New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926), p. 42

92. . . . Merrick was being financially cautious: Roberts, Kenneth L.,
Florida
(New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) p. 86

92. Carl Fisher was tightening financial requirements: “Brokers, Binders and Builders,” by Paul George;
Florida Historical Quarterly
, vol. 65, no. 1, July 1986, p. 41

92. The hospital for returning World War I veterans: Tindall, George B., “Bubble in the Sun,”
American Heritage
, vol. 16, no. 5, August 1965

92. “. . . every atom of beauty that human ingenuity can add”: Promotional brochure,
Boca Raton Mizner Development Corporation
, from the collections of the Boca Raton Historical Society and Museums, Boca Raton, Florida (Philadelphia, J.H. Cross Company, 1925) p. 21