The Military
THE duty following the hurricane was composed of thirty-eight officers and four hundred and twenty-five enlisted men, National Guard of Florida, employed in the area east of Lake Okeechobee under Colonel Vivian B. Collins, 124th Infantry; and 22 officers and 182 enlisted men in the area west of Lake Okeechobee under Colonel Sumter L. Lowry, Jr., 116th Field Artillery. After the first four days these forces were gradually reduced as the civil authorities indicated they were in position to maintain order without military aid. No formal declaration of martial law was made in any storm area. The troops were simply present to aid the civil authorities and acted under their instructions. This information was given the writer by Adjutant-General J. Clifford R. Foster, and should settle the question as to whether there was any declaration of martial law. Immediately after the storm the American Legion tendered its services to the chief of police in Miami and assisted in picketing the town. The Chief of Police enforced a curfew order for a few days requiring all persons to be off the streets by 6 o'clock in the evening. This was done in the interest of safety because there were many shop windows which had been broken by the storm, leaving goods exposed and there were many homes similarly exposed. The order was intended to aid the police in protecting property and also to serve the populace as well in view of the fact that the streets were not lighted and were full of obstructions, and for these reasons the order was regarded as being well considered and highly proper.
On September 26 Colonel Collins addressed a letter to Mayor Romfh asking when it would be possible for the number of troops on duty to be reduced, and received a reply the next day from the Mayor, thanking the commanding officers and the troops for their co-operation during a trying period, and stating that as the crisis had been passed the regular police force would be able to handle the situation. Accordingly the soldiers were withdrawn, and Miami settled down to life very much as it was prior to the hurricane.
The situation in the Moore Haven district required the presence of troops there for several weeks. They were finally withdrawn November 2.
