The Indianapolis times., 1935-09-04
FEAR 500 DEAD
IN HURRICANE;
TOLL MOUNTING
Fatality List May Pass 700,
Officials Warn as
Rescue Starts.
Continued From Page Onel

veteran employed on the Meta
comba project. Brought TO Jackson
Memorial Hospital here. Mr. Gas
kin. bruised and lacerated. told Of
seeing the hurricane lift a hospital
50 feet into the air and deposited it
in a heap three blocks away. He
believed the death toll in some Of
the camps would be exceedingly
high.
II was impossible for the present
to estimate the number Of injured.
but officials feared the figure would
run into the hundreds.
Many communities of the keys.
particularly Islamorado and Lower
MetacOmba, had not been heard
from. but on the basis Of accounts
by survivors. officials feared the
death toll is possibly great"
At Tavernier, on Key Largo. near
est the mainland. the Red Cross es-
timated at least 100 killed.
First eyewitness reports from the
low-lying chain Of land dots ex-
tending from the mainland to Key
West all told Of scenes Of the
greatest horror.
Ten were known dead On Plan
tation Key and it was believed that
10 TO 20 others had been killed at
scattered points.
No Signs of Life
Mrs. Carson Bradford Jr. was
one Of the first outsiders to reach
the devastated area. Flying over
the key in an airplane, she said
that nowhere in all that land was
there a sign that a man or woman
or child lived
Between Metacombe and Grassy
Keys, where hundreds, not includ-
ing 66O war veterans employed by
the FERA on a road-building prof.
ect, live, she found not one sign Of
life Hotels, homes. docks all had
disappeared. she said.
At dawn today. a score or more
of small boats laden with doctors,
nurses, medical supplies. food and
water put out from Miami, Key
West, and small mainland points
for the keys They joined other
boats that departed last night Air
planes. with additional doctors
standing by. waiting to take off. Two
companies of the Florida National
Guard. in trucks laden with army
tents and kitchens. pounded across
ruined highways through the night,
bound for the scene of devastation.
Members of the American Legion
Joined the rescue parties. Twenty
doctors and Is nurses had been dis
patched to the scene by dawn and
more were being modified.
The keys are all of coral forma-
tiOn and have no permanent water
supply except that caught in els
terms. First reports told of an acute
water shortage which. coupled with
a shortage of food and medical sup
plies, made the suffering of sur
vivors the more narrowing. Many
of the boats that left Miami and
Key West were laden with water
and food.
Emergency Hospitals Set Up
The hurricane that wrought this
havoc had isolated all West Coast
Florida communities south of
Tampa, including the cities of
Sarasota and Ft. Myers. No esti-
nate of its destruction in that area
can be obtained until communica-
tiOns are restored. The storm passed
west of Clearwater and Tampa this
morning and was raging up the
coast toward Cedar Keys.
The bridge over Snake Greek
which separates Metacombe Key
from Key Largo. which connects
with the mainland. was restored
early today and ambulances and
trucks Immediately began trans
porting injured persons to hastily
established emergency hospitals at
Homestead, % miles below Miami.
The one hospital there was imme-
diately overcrowded and the high
school and church we're made into
emergency wards and temporary
shelters for the homeless.
Every report filtering in from the
devastated area over scant COM
municatiOn facilities told the same
story of horror. On Plantation
Key reScuerS found three war vet
erans with their wives and four
children dead. On Key Largo they
found bodies of men and women
and children entangled in the roots
of up-turned trees where they had
been hurled by the wind.
On MetacOmbe Key. at Camp No.
l of the war veterans employed by
FERA. it was said that not one
plank remained attached to another.
Houses on Key Largo had been
lifted high in the air. according to
survivors. and dropped to earth as
much as 10) yards away. Young
boys and girls were found huddled
beneath blankets. Negroes were
huddled together against overturned
trees, still shaking from fear.
FERA Train Missing
Separate rescue parties were as
signed TO all the major keys from
which no reports have been received
since the hurricane roared north
ward out of the Florida strait Mon
day night. They numbered about
20. the largest being Cape Sable. In
addition there are more than 1G0
tiny iSletS where are fishermen S
Shacks and tiny hamletS. Officials
directing the rescue and relief bat
taliOnS feared many would show
their own toll of dead and injured.
Particular concern Of the reScuers
was a relief train dispatched to the
keys Monday TO evacuate the FERA
war veterans. The train was be-
lieved TO have picked up some vet
eranS before the hurricane struck.
and its fate and the fate OF its pas
sengerS was unknown. Mrs Brad
ford reported that during her flight
over the keys she had looked for
the train. but saw only something
that may have been half a car"
Troops Rush TO Rescue
In Tallahassee. Gov. Dave Sholtz
modified two companies of the Ma
tional Guard and gathered all the