1674-78 Carl Fisher iimmia
ecr to
e
5 lighted kiddies Iroin the 'Beaty! Bea sidec and at the ssoufh end ofethek*
was not without'incident. The Fisher hotels, would drive around I Beach climbed•a big tree to look
Immigration quota was filled, but 'the Beach, weave in and out of
Fisher'was determined and, says autos, turn corners, all at a word dgment
!waw quick Back of the usual his uground,
a crony, everyone including Presi- from the self-made mahout.
dent Harding was pressed into • Yarnell', affections switched ,he told Pancoast:
sen•Ice tofrom Carl to Rosie, for on several "If a man 74 years old, like qtr.
get Alis Miami Beach. occasions, Carl gave indications
Collins has vision and nerve_
\)\) ..Q),jil Naturally the press of the country—that he was none too happyenough to make something of this,
screamed the story—all fodder for to •
the Beach publicity mill, obey. Eventually it was feared then by gad I'm going to help,
Finally.Ali, looking top heavy in that Carl might go berserk again, "him.'•
(
his turban, arrived at the Beach. so he was shipped North to a zoo. I He loaned Collins $50,000 in re-,
IIIBut Rosie stayed on for turn for which he was given a'
It wasiccause for celebration. The
hundreds of Beach residents still d bonus of 200 acres at the Beach..
public should see, Fisher decreed, Immediately he started dredging
I how a real Hindu mahout puts an I remember the sight of Rosie and
elephant through his paces. The Yarnell carrying a eartload- of and filling and beautifying it and:
ecens was to be the sunken and as sales began, he acquired more
t I •
cheering youngsters on a sight I land on the Bayside, built botch
slippery dance floor of the old seeing trip, and launched the Beach on its
Roman pools on a Sunday after- meteoric chs to popularity as the
e noon. The place was packed. Off Typical of Fisher ing^nuity and lj
in his shack in desolate despair showmanship,too, was the way he i nation's foremost winter play-,
sat Yarnell. He only knew the solved the clearing of the ocean-•
ground.
I°ISWER TALES elephant. In Ali they had a 1 front of seaweed in the early days. Fisher's sense of humor is best
trainer! Automobiles or wagons of course typified by the story he told on
Carl, the elephant, lumbered out would bog down in the soft sand, himself. A neighborly feud was in
ARE RIFE ALL de the dance floor, All, resplen- • yet all that unsightly seaweed door In in with the residents next
dent in his white native garb, could sot ba allowed to pile up on door in Indianapolis because their
! `..minced up to him. The elephant's the shore. Again Ballard was con- chickens repeatedly trespassed on.
trunk brushed the mahout expert- tatted with this cryptic wire: Fisher's property. He said his
OVER COUNT Y mentally: This was not Yarnell, •'Sorely need a camel. Can pour chickens were pJonned and warning
,,: Cart probably figured,and prompt- spare us one?" the neighbors do likewise, he
��.lowered his trunk and boosted Resident, by this timewere be- threatened to-shoot the chicks the
,* All with a healthy shove. The ma- ginning to expect anything from, next time they came over. One't
•—" _ shout, elephant trainer, par excel- the Beach developer, so when a' night returning from work, he saw.,
'Anecdote• Favorite Con-Il'leace, slid In disgrace on his back box car arrived with a full grown the chickens running loose in his;
, i across,the slippery floor. He re- camel, there was little more than yard. Running for his gun, het
s tired to his' dressing room and arched eyebrows. "It's Fisher• had picked off several of them,
terns Developer, Ele :`'I; Carl was unceremoniously herded again," the citizenr said.
Y when his negro servant Galloway
hent,Negro,Hlndll 'to his,pen. But Carl was not yet But the camel' was pr,.ctical rushed up and cried: "Mr. Fisher,
p finished with All. Walking over hot sands was right. don't shoot dem chickens. Dey is'
Innumerable experiences in the f'"!•
The following day, the Hindu, down his alley, and with a greatI i yours. Somebody done left the pen
'figuring there must have .been basket slung on either side of his, gate open." The feud ended. •
life of Carl G.Fisher,probably the ..some mistake, approached Carl in hump,the seaweed clearing process!
most glamorous Florida has ever ,.,•his pen at the old dairy on Miami was a success. His benefactions to convicts was
seen,are responsible for a series ofBeach. This, thought Carl, was I one of the'. beautiful things in
anecdotes which have livened many too much and he bowled Ali to the Even small-town Miami knew of - -
rrotmd with a swipe of his trunk , '',Carl G. Fisher before his arrival. Fisher's character which he guard-
a social gathering and perhaps as '. .He lumbered after him and was 'Not'only was he famed.as the ed closely from public knowledge.
vividly as anything else portrayed ;'j"about to crush him with his foot, builder of the Indianapolis speed- One typical story has leaked out.
the character of the father of MI- ,i'whinb.the experienced Hindu rolled way, as a racing driver, as a bi- From a Western penitentiary came
r "put of•danger, gained his feet and•. cycle manufacturer and as a bi- a plea for assistance from a con- .
ami Beach. But'never in any of. toped to safety. Carl by this time I cycle racer. Wasn't he the man vict also named Carl C. Fisher.'
the anecdotes is there the slightest 1,4U berserk. His eyes rolled, his I who paid $75,000 for three foreign-, His time was about up and he
suggestion of meanness or peal, :'trunk waved and his ears flapped i make automobiles to study them wished to spend his declining years
nes,—always they portrayed the +.,'la anger. The first thing in his and try to improve the American- with honor. His case was stated
sterling character of a man apart, !-path was a, small house. He made types? Wasn't he the man clearly. Promptly Fisher sent the�'
once met,never forgotten and once Crashed through it. One of the who used to drop bicycles off al i man a check for 11.000 and told
known, loved forever. 1...: .men-suddenly thought of Yarnell,' high building and offer a brand' him to come to Miami Beach,
The story of Carl and Rosie, t,•e!: the Florida negro, working in a new one to the man who brought, =where he would be given work.
elephant, Is perhaps one of.'fbe nearby field. A car whisked out in the wrecked cycle? He was the; He came, borrowed more money
gems.- 0.•;'v of the maddened elephant's path fabulously rich man who sold the' from Fisher to buy a tract of land
Soon after Fisher had Miami '.'and sped to Yarnell. . Prestolite company for $8,000,000, I arid started a truck garden. He
Beach well on the road to success, e4":;"Carl actin' up?" asked his for-' cash. made a success of It, repaid all his
' but sorely in need of national pub-'! mer keeper in amazement. "Oat But few people even today know :, debts and then when he was be-
hefty:to center attention on the ;;'can't be." - the story behind the Prestolite' ginning to amass a tidy nest egg
•resort, his friend Ed Ballard,•ell•= +- When Yarnell arrived at the- sale. for'his declining years, he was
cus owner, sent him an elephant. -
scene,Carl was measuring another Fisher had found the man who' kicked by a mule and died.
It was christened Carl. as arrival I. 'house for destruction. patented the Prestolite system.1
was•marked with the usual fan- r. "Carl!" the negro barked, "what The man wanted to sell for $10,- Famed for his charities, Fisher
fare and temporarily assigned as 1 yo' all doin'. Git
right for yo' 000. Fisher reasoned that while. was the man who saved St.Francis
s
keeper was a Florida negro named I pen. - coal oil lamps were fine for wag- hospital. Shortly after James Al-
Yarnell. Yarnell took a great -. The eyes stopped rolline, the ons and buggies, the faster speed' lison, for whom the hospital was
pride In his work for probably _trunk stopped waving and the ears' of automobiles would demand a t 'named. died, it was reported the
there was not another negro southl'
of Washington whose sole dugs I:,stopped flapping. Docilely Carl stronger light. He saw possib000. institution was to be sold and
was to look after an elephant.,H 'looked at Yarnell, turned and ties in Prestolite but wag $5,000 i would be turned into an hotel. A
p lumbered away—to the pen, short of the purchase price. He[ friend of the nuns who now con-
watered it; he fed it; lie talked t 3", Ali, the trainer who knew all canvassed most of his friends with- i duct the hospital went to Fisher
It and in time Carl, the elephant i'there was to know about elephants out success. Finally Jim Allison, to urge him to continue the hos-
and Yarnell, the negro, came t .,I was returned in disgrace to Born- long-time friend, said: "Carl, I pital and forget the hotel irea.
be fast friends. bay. Yarnell, sans turban, became have some money saved and I'm Fisher listened quietly as the hos-
. But worry ate Into Fisher's mind official elephant keeper at Miami willing to take a flier. rll put up pita!' spokesman told his story.
After all,what did a Florida negr .I Beach. • that$5,000," It was this investment, i At the end he said:
know about elephants? The beasa, +,
-And he made the most of It. He' 'in Fisher's judgment w h Ic h; "Quit worrying. I've taken care
might even now be suffering from 'and Carl were bosom friends,when brought him half of the.$8,000,000 1 of that. Take a look at the deed.
improper care. Hindus were the; Ed Ballard sent a companion for cash sale. t I provided it could never be used
folks who really knew elephants.. ;Carl. It was Rosie, another ale- '1 for anything but a hospital."
They were raised with thein.'The phanL Yarnell met it at the train. Fisher might have devoted his i
fact that the nearest available His- i He cooed, to it- He fed it He dynamic energies to develop-
du was in India meant nothing toin Miami instead of Miami! �� /�
Fisher. He set the machinery In petted hadt conquered led away. The R JC
negro another ale- Beach, if had not been for. `
motion and eventually a Hindu was; phanL - I the Collins bridge. John S.Collins
found in Bombay. 'He knew ale- The trio was a sight on the land his son-in-law,Thomas J.Pan-
phants like 'a book, so Fisher) 'Beach. Fisher had a great cart 1 coast, had the bridge to the Beach'
cabled: "Hire him." built with a long pole to which I well under construction when they:
The Hindu's name Is lost In thethe elephants were hitched. There ran out of funds. Someone sug-
. mists of the short history of the !were no reins and none was need- gested talking with Fisher who
Beach but Flaher's cronies refer tot }ed. The ebony Yarnell, perched then owned a house in Brickell•
. him as All. . ` h;ch en the cart, filled with de- ave. They wanted 575,000 to cam-.
Ali's entry'to the United.States •�^'� he bride. With Paneoa,t.