The Montgomery Advertiser
- Florida Repairing Havoc Wrought by Battering Storm
- Rescuers Working Feverishly to Aid Entombed Miners
- Mrs. Richardson Hurt in Florida Hurricane
Florida’s recovery brings reopening shops and home repairs, while searches continue for hundreds missing after the hurricane. In Michigan, rescuers clear a blocked shaft without assurance that the trapped miners are alive. Montgomery resident Minnie Reese Richardson describes being swept into a street in Miami and finding hospitals too crowded to assess her injured ankle.
Translation
Florida Repairing Havoc Wrought by Battering Storm
MIAMI, FLA., Sept. 25.—(AP)—Southeastern Florida has begun to raise itself from the ruins of last week's battering storm.
With the known death list at approximately 400, more than 1,000 persons severely injured and 20,000 homeless, work of rehabilitating the stricken area was being pushed rapidly today as stores reopened for business and residents sought to restore their homes.
Throughout the devastated area the thump of hammer and the chug of wrecking machinery echoed the efforts of working crews to clear the mass of tangled debris and to repair that which must not be replaced entirely.
Search for the bodies of persons listed as missing, numbering more than 300, continued. In Miami and vicinity, 210 are unaccounted for; while the flood waters of Lake Okeechobee are believed to conceal from 125 to 150 bodies.
Rescuers Working Feverishly to Aid Entombed Miners
Mine officials said they hoped the men could be reached tonight as they believed none had food available. Efforts to signal the imprisoned men were futile. Rescue workers said they had no assurance the miners were alive. The presence of a shift boss, Thomas Trewartha, with the imprisoned men gave mine officials some encouragement as they said he would possibly be able to keep the men encouraged and to invoke remedies which would conserve their air supply.
Encouraged by the prospect of saving them, double relays of men worked in 8-hour shifts, removing the debris which chokes the shaft and imprisons the men at the eighth level. Around the mouth of the mine awaited women and children.
An avalanche of rock and earth was apparently loosened by the vibration of machinery.
In the morgue are the bodies of the trio whose lives were crushed out when the lift, in which they were being carried to the surface, was hurled like a catapult to the bottom of the opening. Their bodies, badly mangled, were recovered when rescuers reached them through another opening.
Mrs. Richardson Hurt in Florida Hurricane
Mrs. Minnie Reese Richardson of Montgomery, who was visiting a brother in Miami at the time of the hurricane, was painfully but not dangerously injured and considerably shaken up, but is now safe, as is her brother.
In a note to a friend in Montgomery, Mrs. Richardson says that early on the morning of the hurricane, before she had finished dressing, and during a lull in the storm, she was swept into the middle of the street. She was thrown down and was being carried along by the force of the wind. When rescued she was found to be unconscious, but regained consciousness a few minutes later. She was badly bruised and one ankle was injured if not broken. She could not tell whether it was broken because at the time her letter was written she was unable to get into a hospital as the hospitals were so badly crowded with people whose injuries were greater than her own.
Mrs. Richardson, who is one of the best known women in Montgomery, says in her letter that her address for the present will be general delivery, Miami. She does not indicate where she is domiciled.
Context
Why rebuilding Miami was such a large undertaking
The recovery dispatch appeared just over a week after the hurricane struck Miami on September 18. A rapidly expanding city had put more people and buildings in its path: Dade County’s population had more than doubled since 1920, while Miami Beach was being developed on barrier islands across Biscayne Bay. This recent growth helps explain the scale of the task behind the report’s reopening shops and home repairs. Rebuilding meant restoring a young urban landscape as well as finding shelter for displaced residents. The newspaper’s casualty figures describe this early recovery stage, with searches still under way.
Why a lull could be dangerous
Richardson’s letter places her ordeal during a lull in the hurricane. Such intervals were especially dangerous for residents unfamiliar with tropical storms. The Miami Weather Bureau’s history describes the eye passing over the city for about 35 minutes, followed by winds from the opposite direction with renewed force. Forecaster Richard Gray is said to have warned people venturing outside that the storm had not ended. This explains the peril surrounding an apparent pause, without establishing precisely where Richardson was in the storm’s passage. Her own account also reveals another consequence: crowded hospitals could leave an injured survivor uncertain whether an ankle was broken.
The route that eventually reached the miners
The Ironwood report describes the early stage of the Pabst mine rescue, when rescuers had recovered three bodies but could not yet establish contact with the men underground. Its emphasis on removing debris from a blocked shaft shows the immediate obstacle: reaching the men required a usable route through the workings. The subsequent outcome, commemorated by Ironwood’s Miners Memorial Heritage Park, was the rescue of the 43 trapped miners after 129 hours. Rescuers reached them from the neighboring H shaft. That later success gives the waiting families’ vigil a resolution, while the article itself records the much earlier moment when survival and the time needed to reach the men remained uncertain.
Original
Florida Repairing Havoc Wrought by Battering Storm
MIAMI, FLA.. Sept. 25.—(AP)—
Southeastern Florida has begun to
raise itself from the rulnt of last
week's battering storm.
With the known death list as .ap
proximately 400, more than a thous
and persons' severely Injured and a
score of thousands homeless, work of
rehabilitating the stricken area was
being pushed rapidly today as stores
reopened for business and residents
sought to restore their homes.
Throughout the devastated area the
thump of hammer and the chug of
wrecking machinery echoed the efforts
of working crews to clear the mass of
tangled .debris and to repair that
which must not be replaced entirely.
Search for the bodies of persbns
listed as missing numbering more than
300, continued. In Miami and vicinity,
210 are unaccounted for; wltlle the
flood waters of Lake Okeechobee are
believed to conceal from 125 to 150
bodies.
Rescuers Working Feverishly to Aid Entombed Miners
Mine officials said they hoped the
men could be rshhhed tonight as they
believed none had food available.. Ef
forts to signal the Imprisoned men
were futile. 'Rescue workers said they
had no assurance the miners were
alive. The presence of a shift boss,
Thomas Trewartha, with the Impris
oned men gave mine officials some en
couragement as they said he would
possibly be able to keep the men en
couraged and to invoke remedies which
would conserve their air supply.
Encouraged Uy the prospect of sav
ing them, double r#ays of men Worked
In eight hour shifts’, removing the
debris which chokes the shaft and Im
prisons the men at the eighth level.
Around the mouth .of mine awaited
women and children.
An avalanche of rock and earth was
apparently loosened by the, vibration
of machinery.
In the morgue are the bodies. Of the
trio whose lives were crushed out
when the lift, In which they, were
being carried to the surface, was
hurled like a catapult to the bottom
of the opening. Their bodies, badly
mangled, were recovered when res
cuers reached them through another
opening.
Mrs. Richardson Hurt in Florida Hurricane
Mrs. Minnie Reese Richardson of
Montgomery, who was visiting a
brother In Miami at the time, of the
hurrlcahe, was painfully but not dan
gerously Injured and considerably
shaken up, hut Is now safe, as Is her
brother.
In a note to a friend In Montgom
ery, Mrs. Richardson says that early
on the morning of the burrlcanp, bet
fore she had finished dressing, and
during a lull In the storm, s)ie was
swept Into the middle of the street.
She was thrown down and was being
carried along by the force of the
wind. When rescued she was found to
be unconscious, but regained con
sciousness a few minutes later? She
was badly bruised and one ankle was
injured If not broken. She could not
tell whether It was broken because at
the time her letter was written she
was unable to get into a hospital as
the hospitals were so bindly crowded
with people whose Injuries were
gAater than her own.
Mrs. Richardson, who la one of the
best known women la Montgomery,
'says In her letter that-her address
tor the present will be genera) deliv
ery. Miami. She does not indicate
where she Is domiciled.
Source: Holding institution