Evening Star
- Hurricane kills 75 in Miami, devastating $100,000,000 in property
- U.S. World Court reservations win powers’ approval
- Prompt approval of Mount Vernon Boulevard is seen
With ordinary communications cut, the paper builds its account of Miami’s devastation from delayed travelers and makeshift radio messages; the casualty and property figures remain early reports. Elsewhere it describes conditional acceptance of American World Court reservations and an anticipated appropriation for a road to Mount Vernon. The selected passages distinguish urgent reports, committee action and projected legislation, each with a different degree of certainty.
Translation
Hurricane kills 75 in Miami, devastating $100,000,000 in property
Seventy-five known dead in Miami and property loss that probably will run into the hundreds of millions was the toll of the storm that lashed the East Coast on Friday and swept across the lower half of the State Saturday.
All lines of direct communication with the storm-stricken portion of the State are down and no direct word has been received since about noon Saturday, when passengers on trains from West Palm Beach brought stories of terrific destruction there and further south.
Trains from the stricken area are delayed hours and only brief wireless communications with Miami through a makeshift arrangement late last night told of the destruction wrought to the largest city in South Florida.
U.S. World Court reservations win powers’ approval
GENEVA, September 18.—All rights enjoyed by nations holding seats in the Council of the League of Nations in connection with requests for advisory opinions from the World Court of Justice will be extended to the United States, if that country decides to adhere to the court.
Such was the decision tonight of the committee of fourteen of the World Court delegate conference, which reached an agreement to accept all the American reservations as interpretative of the protocol.
This agreement will be submitted in the middle of next week to the plenary conference, and if the committee’s decision is ratified the United States will be informed that the nations signatory to the World Court do not know whether requests for advisory opinions require a unanimous or a majority vote of the League Council.
Prompt approval of Mount Vernon Boulevard is seen
The most magnificent stretch of highway in the world, through a section replete with historic landmarks, giving Washington the first of its monumental entrances, is expected to be authorized by Congress promptly after it meets in December, with an appropriation of about a million dollars to begin work on the project next spring. To complete the work will cost from $5,000,000 to $7,000,000.
This is the projected Mount Vernon Boulevard to connect the City of Washington with the home and tomb of Washington, which has been under consideration by Congress for the last 40 years, advocated by each successive President, heads of all the great patriotic organizations and by all who have far-sightedly worked for the development and beautification of the National Capital.
Context
How the hurricane isolated the places most in need of help
The storm damaged communication and transport at the same time that it created an urgent need to know where help was required. Train passengers and improvised radio links became substitutes for ordinary reporting channels. The article’s fragmented picture is therefore part of the disaster itself: the infrastructure needed to count losses and organize a response was also among the things the storm had disrupted.
A Florida disaster that had not finished moving
The hurricane crossed southern Florida after striking Miami on September 18, then moved over the Gulf before making another landfall near Alabama on September 20. The September 19 report catches it between those stages. Miami’s devastation was consequently not the end of the regional emergency. A storm already described through enormous urban losses still threatened other coastal communities along its continuing path.
Why joining an international court required reservations
The United States sought to participate in the Permanent Court of International Justice while protecting its freedom of action. The Senate’s reservations specified conditions for that participation, including how the Court could consider questions affecting American interests. Other governments were trying to admit the United States without giving it powers that disrupted the Court’s existing relationship with the League. The negotiations were therefore about the terms of cooperation, not simply approval or rejection of international justice.
Why an advisory opinion raised a question of veto power
An advisory opinion answers a legal question submitted to the Court, rather than deciding a normal case brought by opposing states. The contested American reservation concerned requests touching interests the United States had or claimed. If one Council member could block such a request, equal treatment might give Washington a comparable veto; if a majority sufficed, the position would be different. That procedural uncertainty explains the otherwise puzzling qualification at the end of the report.
A highway designed as a national monument
The proposed road linked the national capital to George Washington’s home and tomb. Its promoters described scenery, historic sites and a monumental approach as part of its purpose. This was transport planning joined to public commemoration: travelling the road would also mean moving through a landscape arranged around the first president’s memory. The paper’s superlatives express that ambition to make an entrance to the capital, not merely add road capacity.
When the planned boulevard finally opened
The later memorial highway took longer than the article’s anticipated authorization in December and start the following spring. Congress authorized it in May 1928, construction began in September 1929, and it opened to traffic in January 1932 for Washington’s bicentennial year. Its commemorative purpose endured while the schedule changed. The 1926 report captures the advocacy stage of a project that would become a lasting part of the capital’s landscape.
Original
HURRICANE KILLS 75 IN MIAMI, DEVASTATING $100,000,000 PROPERTY
Seventy-five known dead in Miami and property loss that
probably will run into the hundreds of millions was the toll of the
storm that lashed the East Coast on Friday and swept across the
lower half of the State Saturday.
All lines of direct communication with the storm-stricken por
tion of the State are down and no direct word has been received
aince about noon Saturday when passengers on trains from West
Palm Beach brought stories of terrific destruction there and fur
ther south.
Trains from the stricken area are delayed hours and only brief
wireless communications with Miami through a makeshift ar
rangement late last night told of the destruction wrought to the
largest city in South Florida.
U. S. WORLD COURT RESERVATIONS WIN POWERS’APPROVAL
GENEVA, September 18. All
rights enjoyed by nations holding
seats In the Council of the League
of Nations in connection with re
quests for advisory opinions from
the World Court of Justice will be
extended to the United States, If that
country decides to adhere to the
court.
Such was the decision tonight of
the committee of fourteen of the
World Court delegate conference
which reached an agreement to ac
cept all the American reservations
as interpretative of the protocol.
This agreement will be submitted
in the middle of next week to the
plenary conference and if the com
mittee’s decision is ratified the
United States will be informed that
the nations signatory to the World
Court do not know w r hether requests
for advisory opinions require a unan
imous or a majority vote of the
League Council.
PROMPT APPROVAL. OF MOUNT VERNON BOULEVARD IS SEEN
The rtjost magnificent stretch of
highway in the world, through a sec-1
tion replete with historic landmarks,
giving Washington the first of its
monumental entrances, is expected to
be authorized bv Congress promptly
after it meets in December with an
appropriation of about a million dol
lars to begin work on the project next
Spring. To complete the work will
cost from $5,000,000 to $7,000,000.
This is the projected Mount Vernon
Boulevard to connect the City of
Washington with the home and tomb
of Washington, which has been under
consideration by Congress for the last j
40 years, advocated by each successive j
President, heads of all the great pa- j
triotic organizations and by all who
have far-sightedly worked for the de- j
telopment and beautification of the!
National Capital.
Source: Holding institution