Evening star., 1926-09-21

into the streets with our bathing
suits on. Then the wind, which had
blown from the northeast. suddenly
struck up from the southeast and
seemed to suck the ocean out. People
who had ventured down towards the
water were forced to crawl on their
stomachs to get back to something
solid. Walking was impossible.
There wasn't a tree standing In
Miami Beach. There was confusion
everywhere and nobody knew any.
thing. That southeast wind blew
until about pm. and then the
people took stock.
THE roof was off our hotel and
every window was out. Everything
from Collins avenue east to the ocean
and straight up to First street was
laid fiat. Drinking water was not to
be had, so we found cocoanuts, broke
them open and drank the milk. There
wasn't the sign of an automobile in
tact anywhere.
About mile out in the ocean a
barge with so men was anchored.
That barge went down; how many
lost their lives l do not know. But
three men, l.. w. Darrow, Allen Nc
Connell and a third whose name is
unknown took q small boat, made
six trips out to that craft as she was
sinking and rescued Is men. The
crew clung to the rigging all Of
Friday night and early Saturday
morning.
There wasn't boat left in the
harbor and the beach was Uttered
with equipment that had been in
them. In addition to this debris there
were hundreds of fish. The first in
dication of the loss of life we had
came just before we ventured out
into the street. We saw a man run
ming up and down yelling, For God s
sake, get a doctor'
Concrete Blown About.
1.-The entire east side of the Bis
cayne Collins Hotel was blown away
and many beautiful homes were
leveIed. These residences had heavy
tiling on their roofs and we could
see it flung through the air like
sheets of paper. Heavy slabs Of con-
crete were carried for blocks, how,
1 do not know Big chunks of con-
crete from the streets and sidewalks
disappeared entirely.
Every one, no matter who he was
was deputiZed to work. | saw one
| millionaire driving a truck, and he
was happy because he could do some
thing. The municipal authorities took
the situation in hand in wonderful
stvle. They rationed the food, pro
hibiting any one to buy more than 81
| worth a day. They gave orders,
heard. to shoot any one out after
| o'clock at night and shoot to Kill
where looters We're at work.
The county cauSeWay, running
| four miles across the bay to Miami
was condemned, and the Venetian
causeway, opened last May, was JUS
barely passable. A steel pier, under
construction and running for about
three blocks out into the ocean from
| the beach, was a mass of wreckage.
About $50 feet Of 1t at the shore enc
was blown away and the piline
farther out was bent and twisted tt
a degree that new piles will be neces
sary
LAS we crept across the causeway
we saw the bay Uttered with automo
| bileS, which must have contained some
| persons.
THE existence Of the canals ir
Miami Beach contributed largely to
| the damage. They were swollen by
the heavy rains and the ocean, broke
their banks and reached places thai
| the ocean couldn't.
Boats Swept Far Inland.
when we got into Miami we saw
an oil barge sitting in the middle O
Biscayne drive, which is about tive
blocks from the ocean. Farther III
the street was a five-masted schooner
and in addition there were any mum
Der of smaller boats, all piled up or
| dry land as much as four blocks in
land One launch had parked right
in front Of a drug store. The boats
| either were sunk on the spot in the
harbor or washed far up into the
| town.
'"The Meyer Kaiser Building, ir
Miami, 19 stories high, was from sin
to eight feet out of plumb, and the tor
stories all had been blown away. The
wonderful botanical garden in Palm
| Park is no more and there isn't ar