Rising Tide. Part 14

Immediately after the morning cabinet meeting, Thomson presented the case for dynamiting the levee to Secretary of War Dwight Davis and Chief of Army Engineers General Edgar Jadwin. Jadwin resisted. He said levees upriver from the city would surely break, and predicted that the flood stage at New Orleans would not go above 22 or 23 feet "unless there were no further breaks." The city's levees could certainly hold such a stage.

Thomson persisted, citing the panic in the city and quoting Jadwin's predecessor about blowing a hole in a levee. The city had counted on that commitment. Was the War Department now going back on its word? And what was the cost of blowing the levee? It would flood only marsh.

Finally Davis said if he received a formal request to dynamite the levee from the governor of Louisiana, and the federal government was absolved of any responsibility, he would look "sympathetically" upon it. Later that afternoon Thomson met with Coolidge personally and received a more ambiguous response. But it was good enough. He called Butler. Then Thomson headed back to New Orleans.

Early the next morning, Sat.u.r.day, April 23, Hoover, Jadwin, and Red Cross acting chairman James Fieser departed for Memphis.

While newspapers and radio stations across the United States headlined Hoover's appointment and the plight of Greenville, page 1 of Thomson's Tribune Tribune recounted a censored version of his meetings with Coolidge, Davis, and Jadwin, not mentioning anything about dynamiting the levee. In St. Bernard people read between the lines. They increased to 500 the number of levee guards, enough to put an armed man every 300 yards twenty-four hours a day. They trusted no one. recounted a censored version of his meetings with Coolidge, Davis, and Jadwin, not mentioning anything about dynamiting the levee. In St. Bernard people read between the lines. They increased to 500 the number of levee guards, enough to put an armed man every 300 yards twenty-four hours a day. They trusted no one.

TWENTY THOUSAND men were working on the levees between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Earlier, the men were working on the levees between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Earlier, the Times-Picayune Times-Picayune had reported the arrival of 640,000 sandbags in the city, supposedly enough to guarantee perfect protection. In an effort to rea.s.sure, it now reported the arrival of 6 million sandbags. The news did not rea.s.sure. had reported the arrival of 640,000 sandbags in the city, supposedly enough to guarantee perfect protection. In an effort to rea.s.sure, it now reported the arrival of 6 million sandbags. The news did not rea.s.sure.

Business in New Orleans simply disappeared. The streets emptied. One national chain closed its eighteen stores in the city; its employees fled. Parents of out-of-town students at Tulane and Loyola ordered their children back home. Hotels emptied and closed off floors. Hospitals handled only life-threatening emergencies; otherwise they too were empty. The only activity was on the levee. Earlier, hundreds of people had come to the levee each day to see the river for themselves. Now thousands came.

In the Delta the waters were wreaking havoc. The a.s.sociated Press reported: "Maj. Allen said that a conservative estimate of the total drownings in the delta region was at least 200 with the possibility that the actual number would be considerably greater.... Property damage is estimated at $500,000,000."

There was still a public show of confidence. Parham Werlein, a prominent figure on the Safe River Committee, insisted his sister-in-law remove a boat tied to her backyard porch, saying, "Do you know what people would think if you you had a boat?" had a boat?"

ON S SAt.u.r.dAY, APRIL 23, an oceangoing mola.s.ses tanker rammed the levee on the west bank of the river at the Junior Plantation, forty-three miles below the city. The river began to pour through the break. In New Orleans, people only suspected sabotage. In St. Bernard and Plaquemines people were convinced of it. Levee guards tensed. A reporter and photographer traveling in a small boat down the river to examine the creva.s.se were fired upon repeatedly. They kept their heads literally down, below the gunwales, choosing to risk a collision with floating wreckage over being shot. 23, an oceangoing mola.s.ses tanker rammed the levee on the west bank of the river at the Junior Plantation, forty-three miles below the city. The river began to pour through the break. In New Orleans, people only suspected sabotage. In St. Bernard and Plaquemines people were convinced of it. Levee guards tensed. A reporter and photographer traveling in a small boat down the river to examine the creva.s.se were fired upon repeatedly. They kept their heads literally down, below the gunwales, choosing to risk a collision with floating wreckage over being shot.

Thomson returned to New Orleans Sunday morning and went straight to Butler's home on St. Charles Avenue to brief him on what had happened in Washington. Butler nodded approval, then called Dufour, whose family owned the tanker that had rammed the levee, for a report on Governor Simpson's position.

Dufour lived a few blocks up St. Charles and came over with disheartening news. Simpson had come to the city on Friday and talked with Klorer, Garsaud, and state engineers. The engineers had presented their reasons for dynamiting the levee. Simpson had asked piercing questions, complained that their predictions of danger to New Orleans were valid only if upriver levees held, and demanded to know what they thought the chances of that were. Their answers had been evasive. Simpson had proved evasive himself, returning to Baton Rouge without seeing the delegation of Dufour, Pool, and Mayor O'Keefe.

On Sat.u.r.day, Dufour had finally gotten the commander of the National Guard to convince Simpson to see them. The three New Orleans men had ridden the train to Baton Rouge and entered the governor's mansion late Sat.u.r.day night, just after a delegation of men from St. Bernard and Plaquemines left. Manuel Molero, who had won the trust of the governor, had complained of rumors of the plans to cut their levee. He had pleaded with Simpson not to allow it, not to sacrifice them. Simpson had listened carefully. An election was only a few months away. Flooding country people to save the city did not play well politically in rural Louisiana. Besides, there was something so foul about the idea of the government, which should be trying to protect people, destroying people's livelihoods. The idea left a bad taste in Simpson's mouth. O'Keefe, Pool, and Dufour could not convince him to agree to their plan.

Sunday morning their case weakened further when the New Orleans States New Orleans States quoted Isaac Cline, who stated that his prediction of flood height at New Orleans depended upon all levees above the city holding. He declared, "The possibility of danger to the city, with the proper precautions which are being taken, is very remote." Simpson knew Cline's history, knew that Cline would never underestimate the danger. Simpson considered Cline's statement a near guarantee that natural creva.s.ses would relieve the city. quoted Isaac Cline, who stated that his prediction of flood height at New Orleans depended upon all levees above the city holding. He declared, "The possibility of danger to the city, with the proper precautions which are being taken, is very remote." Simpson knew Cline's history, knew that Cline would never underestimate the danger. Simpson considered Cline's statement a near guarantee that natural creva.s.ses would relieve the city.

Later in the day Simpson received reports that the Arkansas River levee near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, had washed out. The Arkansas was now rolling south like an invading army, and would soon inundate hundreds of thousands of acres of northern Louisiana. Then came reports that the Gla.s.sc.o.c.k levee above Baton Rouge was already caving into the river, with the crest more than a week away. Both creva.s.ses, while terrible news for Louisiana, would help relieve New Orleans; the failures of those levees also strongly suggested more creva.s.ses would follow.

Butler, Thomson, and Dufour reviewed the situation. There was one politician in New Orleans whom Simpson trusted-Paul Maloney, a former city councilman who had lost the last mayoralty race. Butler considered him a mediocrity. But he needed him now. He called Maloney and told him what was required. Maloney immediately left for Baton Rouge, but soon reported that he could do nothing with Simpson, that Simpson clung to Cline's a.s.sessment that danger was "remote," and refused to approve dynamiting the levee.

Cline had become key. Pool knew Cline well; they shared the same tastes in art. Butler asked Pool to call him. Cline later remembered: "Pool pleaded with me to go to Governor Simpson. I told Mr. Pool that I did not consider New Orleans in danger from overflow."

Pool persisted, arguing that the panic in the city and threatened confidence in its safety was every bit as deadly as the river itself. Cline refused to help and hung up.

Pool called back. Didn't Cline worry about "the ma.s.s psychology of fear" in the city? Of course he did. But he couldn't lie. He couldn't compromise the integrity of his office. Pool argued that he had the future of the city in his hands. He could save it. And what if he was wrong? The risk to life would be tremendous. Was he so certain of his predictions as that? Cline told Pool to let him think about it and hung up again.

"I knew the levees could not carry the flood waters as far as New Orleans," Cline later explained. "However, the levees were under another branch of Government service and I could not say what the flood would do to the levees. I could only say 'If the levees hold the volume of water now in sight.'"

He called Pool back and said, "You may go to Governor Simpson and tell him that I say there is another rise in the river on the way here and that if the levee is going to be opened to relieve the situation it should be opened at once."

MALONEY CARRIED THIS MESSAGE to Simpson. Simpson had been relying on Cline but could no longer. And, only a few hours earlier, he had received a confidential memo circulated by hand because, the memo stated, it was "too confidential and alarming to telephone or telegraph." It reported that the Mississippi River Commission expected the water from Mounds Landing to "flow back into the river at Vicksburg. It will swing against the Louisiana levees opposite Vicksburg, and a break is antic.i.p.ated somewhere in Louisiana between Vicksburg and Natchez.... [This] probably would send part of the water down the Atchafalaya Outlet and thereby relieve the situation at New Orleans." But if this expected break did not occur, the commission was "genuinely alarmed about the fate of New Orleans." to Simpson. Simpson had been relying on Cline but could no longer. And, only a few hours earlier, he had received a confidential memo circulated by hand because, the memo stated, it was "too confidential and alarming to telephone or telegraph." It reported that the Mississippi River Commission expected the water from Mounds Landing to "flow back into the river at Vicksburg. It will swing against the Louisiana levees opposite Vicksburg, and a break is antic.i.p.ated somewhere in Louisiana between Vicksburg and Natchez.... [This] probably would send part of the water down the Atchafalaya Outlet and thereby relieve the situation at New Orleans." But if this expected break did not occur, the commission was "genuinely alarmed about the fate of New Orleans."

Maloney asked Simpson how he could take any any risk with the city of New Orleans. Nearly half a million people there were at the river's mercy. risk with the city of New Orleans. Nearly half a million people there were at the river's mercy.

It was Sunday night. The day had seemed endless. Although Simpson had yet to agree, Butler had just sent Thomson and Garsaud to Vicksburg to meet the members of the Mississippi River Commission there and ask formal permission to dynamite the levee.

Meanwhile, Butler, Hecht, and Dufour were waiting for news in the solarium of Butler's home. It was modest compared to Hecht's home on Audubon Place, and smaller than Dufour's a few blocks away. Hecht and Dufour, both sharp and inquisitive men, traded quips. They were often together, each the other's closest friend. Butler sat, humorless, not partic.i.p.ating.

Finally, near midnight, Maloney called from the governor's mansion to say Simpson would agree to the dynamiting of the levee, under certain conditions. He would require in writing: first, a definitive statement signed by engineers that the dynamiting of the levee was absolutely necessary, and there could be no equivocating language about "if the levees hold"; second, legal opinions that he had the authority to order the levee dynamited; third, written promises from the city of New Orleans to compensate victims for all losses.

Butler immediately agreed to all conditions. Simpson, who did not get on the phone, said he would be in the city late the next day, Monday. Butler got busy. With Hecht and Dufour he called upon other men, men of the city's establishment. The city, they believed, depended upon them.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

THE MOMENT OF DECISION, the moment before which contemplation had been possible, had come earlier, when Butler had allowed the process to go forward. Since then Butler and those with him had been in continuous motion, and, in motion, Butler had never reconsidered. Now he and the others began pushing to the inevitable conclusion, using all their powers. They had the power of panic. They had the power of money. They had the power of caste. They had the power of the times, when it was believed that men with money not only knew better than others but acted better.

Rumors spread about the plan for dynamiting. It barely kept pace with the fear. On Monday, April 25, the Red Cross asked every nurse to register. A sand boil erupted at the Oak Street levee uptown. At Dumaine Street in the French Quarter, the river began seeping through the levee. The same day, the first break on a Red River levee occurred, further suggesting that New Orleans would be relieved by breaks upriver. In St. Bernard more guards were added.

In New Orleans, for three hours Monday morning Dufour sat in his office with Esmond Phelps, J. Blanc Monroe and his partner Monte Lemann, and two other prominent attorneys; together they drafted a legal opinion to compel the governor to dynamite the levee. They also wrote a separate opinion for Percy Saint, attorney general of Louisiana, to give to Simpson.

Klorer was busy preparing a formal statement of engineers to give Simpson, to be signed by himself, Garsaud, Colonel William Wooten, an Army engineer, and George Schoenberger, chief of the three-man board of state engineers. One of the three state engineers protested that dynamiting the levee would be a "hysterical" and "simply ridiculous" act, and complained that New Orleans was in no danger and that the state engineers were caving in to pressure. He was kept from Simpson, and no newspaper ever quoted him.

In Vicksburg, Thomson and Garsaud met with the Mississippi River Commission onboard the commission's boat, said they represented "all the interests" of the city, and formally requested approval to cut the levee. Colonel Potter asked them to go into the back cabin. Then in private he somberly told his fellow commission members he would "prefer to wait" to see whether the expected creva.s.ses relieved the city, but to refuse permission now that the request had been made would truly panic the city. They had to approve "for the psychological effect."

Potter then called Thomson and Garsaud back and handed them a wire to send to Simpson, with a copy to Butler: "In order to avoid the loss of life and property incidental to...an accidental break along the levee line, the Commission believes that it is advisable to create a break in the levee at a predetermined point or points in the State of Louisiana selected by the Governor of the State, or by his authorized agents."

Garsaud returned to New Orleans. Thomson remained in Vicksburg to see Hoover and Jadwin, who were coming downriver and would arrive the next day.

AT SEVEN O'CLOCK that evening Governor Simpson, Butler, Hecht, Dufour, Maloney, and Garsaud met in Butler's office at the Ca.n.a.l Bank. No representative of the city government was present. Butler laid before Simpson the doc.u.ments-the legal and engineering opinions that the action was necessary, the wire from the river commission, a pledge to reimburse victims-he had requested. that evening Governor Simpson, Butler, Hecht, Dufour, Maloney, and Garsaud met in Butler's office at the Ca.n.a.l Bank. No representative of the city government was present. Butler laid before Simpson the doc.u.ments-the legal and engineering opinions that the action was necessary, the wire from the river commission, a pledge to reimburse victims-he had requested.

Then they walked out of Butler's office into the bank's boardroom. There Mayor O'Keefe and fifty of the wealthiest men in the city waited, crowding the long mahogany table and crammed in chairs lining the wall. It was fitting that they met there rather than in City Hall. Simpson called the meeting to order, but there was no pretense about who was in charge. It was Butler.

Simpson was grimly formal, surrounded by men who controlled New Orleans and who were demonstrating that they controlled the rest of the state as well. He began to read aloud each doc.u.ment in its entirety. It took him almost an hour to read them, his voice punctuated by an occasional cough, the silence of his audience broken by the sound of a chair shifting or a match being struck or a man leaning backward. It was as if it mattered to say all the words, as if it would make these men understand. But they already understood.

Butler had invited two men to this meeting to represent St. Bernard and Plaquemines. He had not invited Molero, or Meraux, or Perez. Instead, the two men were John Dymond, Jr., and Simon Leopold, men of wealth and position. Their lands lay in the two parishes, but they were not truly of them. Indeed, Dymond belonged to the Boston Club. When Simpson finished, Dymond spoke up. If the levee needed to be cut, he argued, it should be cut above New Orleans. There the cut would relieve the most pressure, and there men were expending immense energies to save the levees. To destroy those levees required no dynamite; if they simply ceased trying to save them, the river would take care of the rest. The water would flow harmlessly into Lake Pontchartrain. Wasn't that morally better than sacrificing St. Bernard and Plaquemines, especially if the sacrifice turned out to be unnecessary?

But all the weight of the room, all the money and power in the room, pressed against Dymond. And he was one of them, only protesting for form. He well knew that the land upriver was far more developed, and a flood there would cause far more expensive damage. The city was not prepared to promise reimburs.e.m.e.nt for such an amount. The decision had already been made. Dymond asked at least for a written guarantee that damages would be paid.

"We can certainly do that," Butler said. "Write it, and we will all sign it."

Dymond and Leopold left the room. The fifty men remaining in the boardroom waited uncomfortably. Some sat at the table, silent. Others stood in groups of three or four, a.s.suring each other that they were doing the right thing.

Twenty minutes later Dymond and Leopold returned with a resolution, and read it aloud. It stipulated three things. First, signatories "pledge ourselves to the people of the parishes of Plaquemines and St. Bernard to use our good offices in seeing that they are reimbursed by proper governmental agencies, the losses which they may sustain as a result of this emergency work." Second, it proposed a five-member commission to decide all reparations issues. The governor would appoint two members; the New Orleans City Council would appoint two; and the Lake Borgne Levee Board would appoint one. Third, it created a fund of $150,000 to care for the refugees.

Butler agreed quickly. The victims would get only one of five votes on the board to determine damages; the city would get two. The fund of $150,000 guaranteed less than $20 to each refugee for the destruction of his or her home, property, and livelihood. After the river went through, there would be nothing left.

The governor signed first, followed by the mayor and the president of the Orleans Levee Board; then Butler, president of the Ca.n.a.l Bank; Hecht, president of the Hibernia Bank; then the presidents of the other banks. Fifty-seven men signed their names to the pledge. Only six-the governor, the mayor, two councilmen, and two levee board members-were public officials. None of the officials belonged to the Boston Club. They did not have the power.

Of the fifty-one other signatories, thirty-five were members of the Boston Club. Of the sixteen who were not, most-like Edgar Stern, president of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange and son-in-law of Julius Rosenwald, who built Sears into one of the world's largest businesses-were Jews, who could not belong. The five attorneys who signed the legal opinion given to the governor and who lived in New Orleans were even more select. Three of the five reigned over Carnival as Comus; the fourth reigned as Rex; the fifth, Monte Lemann, was Jewish and could not partic.i.p.ate in Carnival.

Butler handed Simpson a previously prepared telegram addressed to the Honorable Dwight F. Davis, Secretary of War, with copies to Colonel Charles L. Potter, President of the Mississippi River Commission, and General Edgar Jadwin, Chief of Engineers, United States Army. It read: "I have before me copy of a resolution adopted by the Mississippi River Commission at a meeting of the Commission held at Vicksburg, Mississippi, today, recommending that a break be created in the levee at some predetermined point selected by me.... I concur in the views and recommendations of the Commission...[and] hereby request and solicit the cooperation and a.s.sistance of the Mississippi River Commission, the Chief of Engineers, and the Secretary of War in the accomplishment of this imperative.... Your immediate approval and cooperation are requested. Time is a vital element."

Late that evening, April 25, Simpson sent the wire.

TUESDAY MORNING, April 26, the morning after 51 respectable men of New Orleans had pressured the governor to agree to dynamite the St. Bernard levee, another meeting was held at Braithwaite, a small gritty village in the lee of the levee near the St. Bernard-Plaquemines line. The village had a pulp mill, a post office, a seafood canning plant, a general store, and a baseball field and stands. Almost 600 men packed the stands. Most were trappers. A few months earlier, they were prepared to kill each other. Now they had a common enemy.

One man rose and demanded: "Where do they get the authority to drown us out, to deprive us of our homes and our living? We had enough of it in 1922. We won't stand for it. We should die fighting for our rights." Another yelled, "Let's sleep on our shotguns."

Then Meraux stood. He wore knee-high laced boots, olive-drab riding breeches, a khaki shirt, and a Colt six-shooter. Standing there a physical giant, hands on his hips, elbows out, looking impregnable and impa.s.sable, he waited for silence. When it came, he spoke calmly. He told them that he sympathized with them and respected their willingness to fight, but warned, "The levees will be broken even if they have to use force of arms to do it." He read a statement from the commander of the Louisiana National Guard: "'If it is necessary to cut the levee at Poydras, the cut will be made by a corps of engineers backed by the whole state militia, or even United States soldiers, and we will brook no interference whatsoever from the citizens of these parishes.'" Manuel Molero, representing the Lake Borgne Levee Board, had tried to convince the governor and the Mississippi River Commission to block the dynamiting. He had failed. Fighting would stop nothing, only add dead men to the loss of property. But they could d.a.m.n well make sure New Orleans paid But they could d.a.m.n well make sure New Orleans paid.

Meraux did not say that Blanc Monroe, with whom he had had many business dealings, would be handling the claims for New Orleans.

He did say that he knew those people, and all their talk of the moral obligation of New Orleans wasn't worth a pile of pigs.h.i.t. This guarantee of $150,000 was was pigs.h.i.t. Now what they all needed to do was name a committee "to see that we get proper compensation for our property." pigs.h.i.t. Now what they all needed to do was name a committee "to see that we get proper compensation for our property."

Then Perez spoke. "New Orleans is not giving us a square deal," he said. "They have been plotting this action for the past few weeks without giving us due consideration and getting in touch with the proper officials here." The preceding night, the New Orleans bankers had met and picked two men they they wanted to speak for St. Bernard and Plaquemines, Dymond and Leopold. "They didn't want our committee there! They didn't even want the railroad interests there!...This agreement has been signed by members of the a.s.sociation of Commerce and by New Orleans business and bank representatives.... Our levees will be broken by the militia against our will. We have the right to full compensation!" wanted to speak for St. Bernard and Plaquemines, Dymond and Leopold. "They didn't want our committee there! They didn't even want the railroad interests there!...This agreement has been signed by members of the a.s.sociation of Commerce and by New Orleans business and bank representatives.... Our levees will be broken by the militia against our will. We have the right to full compensation!"

The ma.s.s meeting named a committee to go to New Orleans. Perez was on it, and Meraux had his real estate partner and three of his political puppets named. Molero could not understand English well enough to contend directly with New Orleans bankers and lawyers and was not on it, but his bootlegging partner was.

The men at Braithwaite also sent two wires. One went to the secretary of war: "The citizens and taxpayers of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, in ma.s.s meeting a.s.sembled, hereby protest to the United States War Department against the granting of any permit for the cutting of the levee below New Orleans and that the necessary relief to the problem of the city of New Orleans be secured by allowing the weak points in the levee above the city of New Orleans, where great and expensive efforts are being made to prevent these breaks, to be washed out with the natural consequences following at these points."

The second wire went to Butler-not to the mayor or the governor-"vigorously protest[ing] against the action taken towards cutting the levee...without informing [us] of such steps and against utterly insufficient provision for compensation in full for personal and property damages."

BUTLER READ THE WIRE with concern and informed O'Keefe, who dispatched 350 men-thugs used by ward leaders, not police-armed with rifles and riot guns to guard the New Orleans levee. The possibility of preemptive sabotage was real. with concern and informed O'Keefe, who dispatched 350 men-thugs used by ward leaders, not police-armed with rifles and riot guns to guard the New Orleans levee. The possibility of preemptive sabotage was real.

Butler also had a more formal concern. The governor so far had only asked the federal government's approval. He had issued no order to blow the levee. If St. Bernard and Plaquemines complained loudly enough, he might refuse. The committee named at the ma.s.s meeting had to be placated.

That afternoon, April 26, Perez and the others from St. Bernard and Plaquemines sat down with Simpson in the boardroom of the Marine Bank. Pool, the bank's president; Butler; Hecht; Dufour; and three others also attended. As they talked, pieces of the Gla.s.sc.o.c.k levee above Baton Rouge were caving into the Mississippi River. If it gave way, the Mississippi's waters would pour west and south over the land, reaching the Gulf through the Atchafalaya basin. This would relieve New Orleans.

The St. Bernard representatives knew nothing of the Gla.s.sc.o.c.k situation. They demanded a legally binding pledge of reparations and scoffed at the $150,000 fund. It insulted every citizen of the two parishes and mocked the credibility of the promise of full compensation. Butler suggested the delegation from New Orleans withdraw to consider the request.

Butler and the other bankers gathered in Pool's office. Together they epitomized the establishment of the city, and of both the Old and New South. The Old South supposedly meant honor. The New South meant money. Butler straddled the two worlds, the world of earth and honor and myth, and the world of money and reality. Hecht belonged only to the latter.

They spent an hour developing a new proposal, one far more honorable. When they returned to the boardroom, Butler spoke. He could offer no legal guarantee beyond that of the preceding night. There was no procedural vehicle to do so given the emergency. But, he emphasized sternly and formally, "The relief to be afforded is a moral obligation undertaken by each and every person at the meeting held on Monday night, as evidenced by their signed obligation to that effect."

The pledge had been signed by the governor, the mayor, the presidents of the New Orleans Board of Trade, the New Orleans Stock Exchange, the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, the a.s.sociation of Commerce, and each of the city's banks. They had made this pledge not only to the citizens of the lower parishes, but to the United States government. He had given his word, personally, as well.

But he agreed that the $150,000 was grossly inadequate. New Orleans banks would provide instead a fund of $2 million, to be loaned by New Orleans banks to those in need prior to settlement of any claims. The loans would be repaid by deducting them from the reparation settlements. The city would pay the interest.

Perez and the others knew Butler, knew his reputation, knew his standing. He had never been accused, as Hecht had, of sharp practices. Perhaps they would not have accepted the word of anyone else present, but they accepted his.

They had one other demand. They refused to accept as an arbiter of reparations the commission agreed to the preceding night. This commission was to have only one member from the two lower parishes, and two from New Orleans. They would accept only a nine-member commission; the governor would appoint two members, the city would appoint three, and four would come from the lower parishes. Butler instantly agreed.

At 3:30 P.M. P.M., Tuesday, April 26, the representatives of St. Bernard and Plaquemines reluctantly accepted the arrangements. Perez said: "What else can we do? There seems to be nothing else to do but get the people out of the affected area to refugee camps...[and] submit peacefully to the sacrifice."

But the deed was not yet done.

IN W WASHINGTON, Memphis, and elsewhere much of the story had leaked out. By now the flood filled the front pages of virtually every newspaper in America, from the Morning Oregonian Morning Oregonian in Portland, Oregon, to the in Portland, Oregon, to the Press Herald Press Herald of Portland, Maine, from the of Portland, Maine, from the Deseret News Deseret News in Salt Lake City to the in Salt Lake City to the Richmond Richmond (Virginia) (Virginia) Times-Dispatch Times-Dispatch, from the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times to the to the Boston Globe Boston Globe.

Radio stations outside New Orleans were broadcasting bits and pieces of the truth. Inside the city rumors circulated through the business community, then spread beyond into the city at large. The levee had been dynamited already. The levee had burst. The New Orleans levees were caving in. The trappers had shot Butler The levee had been dynamited already. The levee had burst. The New Orleans levees were caving in. The trappers had shot Butler. The entire city trembled with uncertainty and fear. But the New Orleans newspapers and radio stations stayed silent, giving out no information.

BUTLER, SIMPSON, HECHT, and the other New Orleans men rea.s.sembled in the boardroom of the Ca.n.a.l Bank. Shortly after 4 P.M. P.M., a wire from the secretary of war reached Simpson there, stating that the approval of General Jadwin, chief of engineers was needed. Butler immediately wired Thomson at the Carroll Hotel in Vicksburg: "Everything is set here to act on receipt of General Jadwin's approval. Tension is terrific. City badly upset for lack of news while incomplete reports coming in by radio. Governor Simpson urges General Jadwin communicate his approval earliest possible minute. Address Governor care of myself, Ca.n.a.l Bank Directors' Room."

Two and a half hours after sending Thomson the wire, Butler, Hecht, the governor, the mayor, and a dozen other men still waited in the boardroom for news. They were all exhausted. At six-thirty Butler suggested they break for dinner and return in an hour.

In Vicksburg, Thomson was not simply waiting. He knew Jadwin and Hoover were aboard the Mississippi River Commission steamer Control Control, so he chartered a speedboat, and, accompanied by Colonel Potter, head of the river commission, Louisiana Senator Joe Ransdell, Representative James O'Connor of New Orleans, and Louisiana Representative Riley Wilson, ranking member of the House Flood Control Committee, he headed upriver to meet them. Ten miles above Vicksburg, they found them. Thomson and the others climbed aboard.

Hoover, taller and better-looking than he appeared in photographs, with a sharp tongue and a penetrating mind, was in charge. He welcomed the party to a set of deck chairs laid out along the stern. But as soon as Thomson began to explain his mission, Hoover grimaced, muttered a curse, and rose. It was too dirty for him. "I have nothing to do with this," he said, walking away. "That's General Jadwin's responsibility."

Thomson made his presentation. Jadwin said he would "not object." That was all Thomson needed. The instant the steamer docked, he sent word all was settled. Then a press report quoted Coolidge denying he had authority to cut the levee. Thomson, Hoover, and Jadwin knew of it. The news was kept from Simpson. No one made any effort to contact Coolidge for clarification; they feared the answer.

At seven-thirty, when the men in the Ca.n.a.l boardroom returned from dinner, they were greeted with Thomson's wire. Still, Simpson refused to issue an order. The room hissed with contained hostility. It was clear Simpson did not want to do this thing. Butler called Vicksburg, tracked Thomson down at his hotel, and told him that the governor demanded an explicit statement directly from Jadwin. They needed it immediately. The city had never been so tense.

An hour and a half later Thomson called back. Jadwin was standing beside him, he said, and was sending a wire addressed to the governor at his official residence in Baton Rouge. But Jadwin refused to get on the phone, explaining, "I wish to confine my responsibility strictly to the terms as written."

Thomson read to Butler and Simpson, "The Mississippi River Commission and Chief of Engineers interpose no objection to a creation of a temporary break in the Mississippi River levee near the site of the old Poydras creva.s.se...for this emergency only." The two Louisiana congressmen got on the phone and confirmed the accuracy of Thomson's reading. Jadwin, though standing beside them, still refused to speak.

Butler, Hecht, O'Keefe, and the others in the room looked coldly at Simpson. He hesitated, but he no longer had any justification to refuse to issue the order-other than his own judgment. How much of this, he perhaps wondered, was over interest rates on city bonds, and how much over real concern for the city. But he would interpose no objection himself. He signed the order that had already been prepared.

It was 9:45 P.M. P.M., Tuesday. The levee would be dynamited at noon Friday.