For Sale —American Paradise (65 page)

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 Park, 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
going:
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