The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1943-02-11
You Wouldn't Know Miami Beach, Mr. Tourist
as Soldiers Drill in Streets, Study in Night Clubs
(First of a Series)
BY PAUL HARRISON

disc the land OF sun ana
. Fun.
They've posted the streets
with notices that it's now a Re-
stricted Military Zone. The
speed limit is Is miles an hour,
but the cadence of existence has
quickened to double-time.
Only about a year ago, lyric
promoters still were describing
its spot as Languid Playground
of Dreamy Enchantment, but
life now begins on Miami Beach
at the unearthly hour of 5:45
a. m.
Civilian residents and the few
visitors here are startled from
sleep by the shrilling of SER
geants' whistles Roll OUT"
and many thousands of men
hit the bare floors of more than
260 hotels. Doors slam, windows
bang "C'mon, hurry it up"
and into the dark streets
stream officer trainees and re-
cruits of the Army Air Forces
Technical Training Command.
Up and down the boulevards,
they form lines, call rolls, and
tramp away to breakfast.
COMMANDO LINKS
So it goes all day. Motor con-
voys roll along the boulevards,
and columns of briskly march
ing men move almost contin-
uously to and from classes,
drills and mess.
Twice day the beach is fill
ed for a good half mile by
bronzed men who exercise ac-
cording to stentorian orders
from a string of loud-speakers.
Detachments of recruits learn
close order drill in parking
areas and vacant lots. Part of a
golf course is devoted to Com
m.ando training, and soldiers pa
rade, deploy and charge over
other links and parks. The Air
4. Force band practises twice daily.
Normally Miami Beach is sup
posed to have about $4,000 per-
manent residents, but these are
not much in evidence. l talked
with one businessman whose
wife is planning trip to Kan
sas City for a vacation and a
rest. He said: Were not kick
ing, because without the Army
this town would have been
bankrupt by now. But it's no
winter resort any more; it's a
last resort.
DOORMEN SENTRIES
I'VE can't drive car here, or
get near a bar, or find room to
dance. We can't get into a movie
or even find a seat in bus.
And unless we keep army
hours, going TO bed at 10 and
getting up at 6, we can't sleep.
My wife says the Army has
made its bedlam, but she isn't
going to lie awake in it,"
From coral Hobbies to azure
penthouses, practically all of the
largest hotels on Miami Beach
have been taken oVer--by-the
Army. Sentries have replaced
doormen, and they're still turn
ing away occasional visitors who
want to inquire about rates. In
side, the Hobbies are startlingly
barran of furnishings, and the
gilt and crystal and vari-color-
ed tile look cold and garish. In
stead of sleek and obsequious
assistant managers, uniformed
clerks now work behind the
desks, sorting mail and labor
iously tipping reports.
Hotels still open to the public
are mostly small, out-of-the-way
places which didn't fit into the
Air Force plans for its training
establishment.
SURF CLUB MESSHALL
The Army also has leased 1900
apartment units. Much of the
apartment and hotel space not
controlled outright by the gov
eminent is rented privately by
groups of bachelor officers, or
by officers and their families.
The elegant Roney-Plaza, al
though left under private man
agement, is virtually an officers
club. A civilian applying for
room there feels as out-of-place
as spinster trying to book pas
sage on a liner converted to
military transport.
The need for large messhall
and classroom space has led TO
the taking over of several auto
mobile showrooms, the Terrace
(largest of restaurants), and the
famous Surf Club, formerly a
swanky gambling spot.
Recruits from the Basic Train
ing Center take their 10 tests IN
a church. And at the huge Maui
titus Hotel, church services are
held in the former cocktail bar.
Incidentally, future tourists new
er again will stay at the Maui
titus here or at the big Miami