Evening Star
- Relief work rushed; search for bodies continues in the debris
- What Coolidge thinks of his own life
- U.S. envoy seeks a decision on arms at Geneva talks
Relief organization and the difficulty of counting casualties dominate the storm report. A large personal interview presents Coolidge’s return to Plymouth as a way of reconnecting with ordinary life through manual work. The Geneva dispatch reports Gibson’s demand that preparatory disarmament work concentrate on its technical task. These selected passages show public administration through emergency relief, a president’s self-description and international negotiations.
Translation
Relief work rushed; search for bodies continues in the debris
The hurricane that cost the lower Florida East Coast upward of 400 lives, 4,000 or more injured and property damage of $50,000,000 or more having passed, all sections hit today centered their efforts on trying to ascertain the exact casualty lists, restoring interrupted communications and repairing the property damage. The Miami area, hardest hit of all, was going about the work of rehabilitation, caring for the injured and seeking out the dead in systematic manner. The American Red Cross and other relief agencies were on hand in full force, with troops on guard and martial law in force in many places.
What Coolidge thinks of his own life
“You mean Plymouth,” he smiled. “That is different. Plymouth gives me something that I need in my work and cannot get anywhere else. It is now 31 years since I left Plymouth to study law in Northampton. The people among whom I was reared were of the kind that make up the backbone of the Nation. For some years I have lived in much different surroundings and in a very different atmosphere. But I return there whenever I can so as to refresh my knowledge of how the ordinary run of people in this country live. I do little work on the farm now, but I did much when I was a boy. I like to dispense with the kind of service that it is necessary for me to have at the White House and wait on myself. If I find a strap is broken, I like to get out the tools that are used by shoemakers and harnessmakers, make a waxed end and repair it. I like to do a little blacksmithing around what is left of our old shop, try my hand again with the carpenter’s tools, go out and repair the fence when it is breaking down and mend the latch on the kitchen door.”
U.S. envoy seeks a decision on arms at Geneva talks
The American delegation, headed by Hugh Gibson, American Minister to Switzerland, participated in the debates. Mr. Gibson spoke, pointing out America’s sincere wish some day to participate in a genuine conference leading to a reduction in armaments. He called the attention of the other delegates to the work of the subcommittee charged with a study of the technical features of the reduction of armaments, which has been occupying itself with political and economic questions, thus leading to confusion.
Context
From the storm to organized relief
The hurricane struck Miami on September 18 and reached the Pensacola region on September 20. By the 22nd, the task in the devastated southeast had shifted to finding people, treating injuries and restoring essential connections. The presence of relief agencies and troops shows how a local disaster had become an organized emergency involving civilian and military resources.
Why communications mattered to rescue
Restoring communications was part of the relief work itself. Without contact between affected towns, rescuers could not readily establish where people were missing or which supplies were needed. The paper links the search for exact casualty lists to reconnecting the region because information was one of the practical requirements for directing help.
Plymouth was also the place he became president
Coolidge took the presidential oath at his family home in Plymouth Notch on August 3, 1923, after Warren Harding’s death. The village thus connected his childhood with the moment he assumed national office. Returning there carried both personal meaning and a powerful public association with a modest family home.
Repair work as a political self-portrait
The broken strap, fence and door latch make Coolidge’s idea of ordinary life tangible. He presents practical skill and doing without personal service as ways to remain connected to the people he governs. The small household tasks matter because they supply the contrast with the staffed and formal environment of the White House.
What disarmament preparations had to decide
Article 8 of the League Covenant called for armaments to be reduced consistently with national safety and international obligations. Governments therefore had to consider both military requirements and the security conditions under which cuts would be acceptable. Gibson wanted the technical committee to clarify its own work instead of becoming absorbed in wider political and economic disputes.
Preparation was only one stage of agreement
The Covenant envisaged plans that governments would consider and adopt. Technical discussion could prepare a basis for negotiation, but national acceptance remained another step. Gibson’s wish for a future conference that actually reduced arms reflects that gap between studying disarmament and obtaining commitments to carry it out.
Original
RUSH RELIEF WORK IN HURRICANE AREA; SEARCH FOR BODIES PRESSED IN DEBRIS
The hurricane that cost the lower
Florida East Coast upward of 400
lives, 4.000 or more injured and prop
erty damage of $50,000,000 or more
having passed, all sections hit today
centered their efforts on trying to
ascertain the exact casualty lists,
restoring interrupted communica
tions and repairing the property
damage.
The Miami area, hardest hit of all,
going about the work of re
habilitation. caring for the injured
end seeking out the dead in sys
tematic manner. The American Red
Cross and other relief agencies were
on hand in full force, with troops on
guard and martial law in force in
many places.
WHAT COOLIDGE THINKS OF THE LIFE HE LEADS
“You mean Plymouth,” he smiled. “That is different. Plymouth
gives me something that I need in my work and cannot get anywhere
else. It is now 31 years since I left Plymouth to study law in Northamp
ton. The people among whom I was reared were of the kind that make
up the backbone of the Nation. For some years I have lived in much
different surroundings and in a very different atmosphere. But I return
there whenever I can so as to refresh my knowledge of how the ordinary
run of people in this country live. I do little work on the farm now,
but I did much when I was a boy. I like to dispense with the kind
of service that it is necessary for me to have at the White House and
wait on myself. If I find a strap is broken, I like to get out the tools
that are used by shoemakers and harnessmakers, make a waxed end
and repair it. 1 like to do a little blacksmithing around what is left
of our old shop, try my hand again with the carpenter’s tools, go out
j and repair the fence when it is breaking down and mend the latch on
j the kitchen door.
U. S. ENVOY SEEKS ARMS SHOWDOWN AT GENEVA PARLEY
The American delegation, headed by
Hugh Gibson, American Minister to
Switzerland, participated in the de
bates. Mr. Gibson spoke, pointing out
America's sincere wist* some day to
participate in a genuine conference
leading to a reduction in armaments.
He called the attention of the other
delegates to the work of the subcom
mittee charged with a study of the
technical features of the reduction of
armaments, which has been occupy
ing itself with political and economic
questions, thus leading to confusion.
Source: Holding institution