The Causeway Tragedy
I SHALL never forget the date of the opening of the Collins bridge to Miami Beach, for that was my wedding day; it was June 12, 1913. The Collins' bridge was a wooden structure, and about two years ago was replaced by the Venetian Way. It spanned the distance three miles across Biscayne Bay from Miami to Miami Beach, and its completion really marked the beginning of development at the Beach. Carl Fisher generally is credited with being the pioneer at Miami Beach, but others were well in advance of him. The first genuine pledge of faith in that district was made by J. J. Collins when he built the bridge across the bay which cost about a quarter of a million dollars. It was a toll bridge and paid for itself in a few years, the annual tolls being about $40,000. Later the County Causeway was constructed. It was built of steel, concrete and asphalt, and was free to the use of the public. The causeway had been in use some ten years at the time of the storm. It cost a million dollars, and about a year ago a bond issue was voted to widen the bridges and otherwise increase the structure's capacity. At nearly all times of the day and night this thoroughfare was crowded. It was three miles long and during the hours of the heaviest traffic there were several hundred cars upon it. How many cars were stranded on this structure the night of the storm must be listed among things that are not known. The probability is there were many―maybe fifty, a hundred, two hundred and the number of passengers several hundred. The causeway was submerged by the storm and those motor cars that were drowned out on the structure undoubtedly were blown away and their occupants lost. This constitutes one of the uncertain factors of the Great Hurricane. It is possible that whole were lost, for it was a custom for family parties to visit the beach after the man had returned home at the conclusion of the day's work. The causeway was badly damaged and was closed to traffic until October 9. There were many curious objects of interest left on the causeway by the turbulent waters. It was strange to see steel street car rails bent double. When one conceives that the tempest was strong enough to tear up the tracks and bend the rails as if they were wisps of paper it is to be wondered that any human being exposed to such a gale should survive it.
