CHAPTER XI. "The Miami Spirit" and the Miami Mosquito- Civil and Civic Activities-The Bank That Came Back and the Bank That Romfh Built.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "CHAPTER XI. "The Miami Spirit" and the Miami Mosquito- Civil and Civic Activities-The Bank That Came Back and the Bank That Romfh Built."

Nicholas Parks
5 years ago
Views:

1 CHAPTER XI "The Mam Sprt" and the Mam Mosquto- Cvl and Cvc Actvtes-The Bank That Came Back and the Bank That Romfh Bult. There are sad to be three alled affectons of an elemental character n every noble soul-the love of home, the love of country and the love of the town they lve n. In Mam one hears much about what they call the Mam sprt, whch may be descrbed as an mpassoned sprt of cvc prde, or love of the town they lve n. It s a sprt of progressve cooperaton-a pullng together for the cty. The cvc sprt n Mam has been cultvated to the nth degree. Many Northern towns mght well take a lesson from Mam n ths respect. 114

2 Ths Mam sprt was fnely demonstrated a few years ago when the cty became vsbly tred of the old poltcal system that had controlled the affars of the cty. The rapd growth of Mam had brought problems of admnstraton beyond that of the average muncpalty, and enlghtened publc opnon demanded a modern, progressve government n keepng wth the progress of the cty. The cty elected to change to the commsson-manager form of government and adopted a new charter. The Mam sprt was largely responsble for the electon of a nonpoltcal tcket composed of the fve leadng bankers of the cty as cty commssoners. It was a clear case of puttng the cty's nterests frst. The cty was soon confronted wth another problem due to ts phenomenal growth. The buldng of school houses and the employment of addtonal teachers to care for the ncreasng populaton had exhausted the funds of the school board. There appeared no legal way by whch the school board 115

3 could borrow money, and the only alternatve was to close the publc schools. The problem was at once taken hold of by the Mam-sprted ctzens and a quas-legal way was found to secure the needed funds to keep the schools gong. The Mam schools, by the way, have been pronounced by emnent Northern educators as among the best n the Unted States. Mam, n addton to beng the home town of the straw hat, used to be known also as the home town of the mosquto. There are sad to be fortytwo knds of mosqutos and each knd s thought to have shown a fondness for Mam's pecular charms. The early nhabtants of Mam are sad to have had to wear ther gas masks and to carry a frst ad dressng kt when venturng beyond the wre nettng of ther homes. Mam s stll fghtng mosqutos. They are fghtng them n the old way when they have to, but they are also fghtng them n an organzed, scentfc way. The story of ths fght s another llustraton 116

4 of the Mam sprt and a lttle story of muncpal enterprse as well. There had beeen an epdemc of dengue fever n Mam and other southern ctes. Ths plague s attrbuted drectly to the dengue mosquto. The Commssoner of Publc Servce n Mam determned that the epdemc should not be repeated. He sought the ad of an entomologst n the Unted States Department of Agrculture and wth a small appropraton from the cty began a systematc fght aganst the "wgglers." Hs smple method was the sprayng of ol on all stagnant pools n the cty, old ran barrels, sewers, tn cans and other receptacles. The cty was dvded nto dstrcts and a man patroled every street, alley and back yard. Ths modest precautonary method produced astonshng results, as the cty has been practcally free from dengue fever cases, though many other Florda ctes have snce had another epdemc of the plague. The plan now s to wage a relentless fght aganst the mosquto throughout the breedng season. 117 The

5 cty has made an appropraton for ths purpose and publc co-operaton s beng stmulated by a campagn of educaton. There was a bank falure n Mam n On May 19 of that year the Fdelty Bank 8 Trust Company closed ts doors, holdng deposts of over two mllon dollars. The cty was n a str. The unfavorable publcty attached to a bank falure n Mam was apparent to all. The next day after the bank closed a mass meetng of the depostors of the bank was called by a self-apponted commttee of depostors. Ths was probably one of the most unque mass meetngs ever held. Over two thousand depostors attended the meetng and the falure of the bank was frankly dscussed n an open forum. A resoluton was unanmously adopted pettonng the State Comptroller to grant the offcals of the defunct bank sxty days of grace n whch to re-organze. Ths was granted. A commttee of depostors then got busy formulatng a plan to save 118

6 the bank and more especally the deposts. A campagn was launched to get the depostors to agree to wthdraw ther deposts only n small nstallments coverng a perod of three years. These wavers were sgned by about eghty-fve per cent. of the depostors. On the strength of ths backng of the old depostors, the depostors commttee, wth the ad of other nfluental ctzens of the cty, were able to nterest mportant bankng nterests to take over the nsttuton and pay one hundred cents on the dollar. Ths s sad to be the only bank that ever came back. The conventonal thng s for a communty to accept a bank falure as somethng nevtable, but Mam-especally the Mam sprts unconventonal. Perhaps the Mam sprt-certanly the cvc sprt-had somethng to do wth another Mam bank. In 1922 the Frst Natonal Bank, of whch E. C. Romfh s generally called the "daddy," bult Mam's frst steel skyscrapper. The busy corner 119

7 where ths ten-story bank buldng stands was a barren lot twenty-fve years ago. But n Mam the largest skyscrapper of one season s not lkely to hold that dstncton the next season. The frst unt of a fourteen-story buldng s now beng constructed by the Bank of Bay Bascayne. Mam s lterally alve wth cvc clubs and organzatons and each organzaton s alve wth the Mam sprt. They have a fne Rotary Club, Kwans, Exchange and Cvtan Clubs, and there s a Communty Councl of Cvc Clubs whch seeks to co-ordnate all club actvtes. The Mam Realty Board s an organzaton that s tryng to put the "real" n the real estate busness n Mam. The Mam sprt as reflected by the progressve tendences of these cvc clubs and as evdenced by an ultra-progressve ctzenshp wll undoubtedly prove a strong factor n the soluton of the cty's unsolved cvc problems. 120

8 ...:.:---:-.: : : :-: ::---: : -I:::-:::--: -: -:..:l:... -:- ::-:::-::-:: ;~~-r~;~:~r~~, ~.~~ : :-:_. --:-: ---sl:l:_,:: -:---:- -.. : a _----_ -'-' ::-:: :-: : :- : -: -: -:-:-:::-:::-: --:--:-:-:': : : -:::-.:-- :_:-;:;::--:--:.._-:, : :~ : -::_ :-l::-::: '. :: ''... :..:--:-:----:----:. -::s::l::-:: : :--: :- : ' -: :':':-:,-jj:: :: : --:_-_l : :. -: :_ :-:. - :-: '-:':'--''''''''':':'':' '''''-':': ::--- :' : ----:.-:-:.:... : -;'::-::jj... :.-:-:--'''-': ---:--.-::l 'j-:l-: :..: :.:., -'-:. :.:. - -:--:':',''''---:- -.:...-: _:. :--:-:--: : ~ : : -':':':'-':':'-':':--':-:-:-:': -:-: :--'--:-':': :.:...:......_ : -:.:..: _ '~- :-:,:_ :.---: s~ :... ::---:::-:- : :-:::-:- :-: - : :..:. :::-::: : :. :- - :--: : :.:_.:.::: :: -:-: :.. : :: --:- : :: -:-':l--:-: '"-"'-"':"''":' ;; --: :-:-:-: n- :-l:::-::-:-:--:: --: :-~:-- -:::-: -:'-: ':- -: -:-:'' ::- : : : : : : -:~:: :: :- : :-l : :':- -: jj-`: l-:-::: : -.: :.._ -: -- ::.: - :-: _::(:_:::;::: :' ::j-::j-j:.:.._ : :.:' -: -- -j-:j : -:.:':. --;::: ::;';:-:-;; :..._ --:-: -: ~~.. ~.- -:::l :--:lj:::---::-:-_... -:-_l:rs-:--l:ll l: : :-:.:, ::j :-:I :- : -: : - -:' : _..: -:-:::-~:l-:-;:::l :-_.. :-:-:-::... 1:::.:.: --'...---::-._..:...:-:, - : : ;.:-:: :.:.:::2':. : :: : ---'--j -:---: :-- : : : : :-jj --::-::-----:------: :~l ':--::-:-:''''''' -; : -~'F:.. -(-- : :-:--:.:-:-:-: : : : '''''''' '~r:.-~ttf"e ~~': _:-:::': : ~-; :''::-' :: ': --- -: -: ' r-;:.~ :,:,:E:- : : : n:_' :'.: lllj:j--- ::-:( -: :j l:--:- : -_-_ :-: : :: ::--: -:--_ :::-:-:: :(( :-:-: : ~;:l~: :-:l :j-'~~8m :_ ':.- --F; : : -:----:--_--:-c- --:::-..:.:.. : :':':':': :;:::'::":: -': - --:--:--: :.::; :----: ':ll:'l'-l8:lll~:1: : ::: :_-l ---':sx:;s : ': :-j~ : ''l:--: : :: -::.. ~""~~ :-:-: ---: ::--:::-::-T -:: :':':': :':':':':-:':-:' -: :I: :..:- -- : : -:.:.:...:. :_ ~--.- -: ''-:'-: Ill _-:- :; :"' -::.a- :...:.:. -:-:-::: :-_ '''''''''''''''''-'l~-b- -..._'-'-'-"'' -'-''-'' - :' -. l'll''; ':' : : :_: :-:: : :; --: :Llf'':: - --,,_,_:,:,,,_,_,,,, _-:-:----:--:::-I -: :::- -l:.xll:: :~::~' -::c:;:;.' - :--: '-' ::-:l'l~ -: ~'j :.. :-:-:-: :--. -:_ :.-:-l,1: :-:::--:c:-c:: -c: _ :.:. --: -: I U Q m W : 5: U Z g~e 3~ m jj~j.rjj -::-::B:b6:-. :I - -~ l:-:c-::':-.:_ :%': :l-l:- - :_:-l_- : :-a-lbj. -:jrl'':':~:~ ~:-:~)b : : :,:'ad: : :---_ :H:_: ::(: ~;::8::'':: :l": :-: j:-_ -_ ~:l-::l l _:c:::c::- :::l: -:-: -:.:.:.:.:; ::,: _ : :'-n',;.':~..~'~'l';~:-:-.: :--~ - ::-:':-::-- :: :--::~-r: :_;:j :::- :::1 :::-::r : : :_:_::; -:--:-:-:-:-:-:-: --: l"'l': ' -.-..l: ::l : :_ :-:_:_: :_:_::_: _::_:_ -~jlls:~:l:: : j ":-:,:8:: jjj:--:--:- : --: -:-::-:-:l::l'-' ---'-:-::-:: :_:l~-:::-l -_ :.-.-:-: '-: -:------::c:: :--::: ::ol :-: : : -:-: -... :..._..-::: : :.::: :.:.:: :-:::;l-:.:'s-a:l--l:l-l: :---:-_...:.... :j:r j :::(:::l::: : : :-:I ' '':; :.:::I: : :_: :'::_::-:l::l:,:: :j.:..-- : - : : : l:: : ::, : :...:.....:.:. :_::;::: ::: :-:-:-:-:_:_: : ::,::_::: : : : -: : : :-:-: :_-:~~._ r :-:_::: :::_ ::-::c::~::- :' :I: : : : :' ~ :' ': : : :' : : ': : : 3 Z ;:

9 .I U w 0 0n O 0nI/ z

B. Uiu^e^Jou Major Professor

B. Uiu^e^Jou Major Professor LIBERTY METRO TOWN: A SCHEMATIC DESIGN PROPOSAL FOR A NEW CONCEPT IN TOWN DESIGN IN THE KANSAS CITY REGION by BEUROOZ SHAMS B. Arch., Kansas State Unversty, 972 AN URBAN DESIGN PROJECT submtted n partal