BERMUDA FIVE CENTURIES BY ROSEMARY JONES

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BERMUDA FIVE CENTURIESBY ROSEMARY JONES

• CHAPTER 15
• The New Tourism
• ADVENT OF AIR TRAVEL AND LUXURY CRUISES

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As such the First drastically World War neared
its end, Bermudas tourism industry hit a major
snag. Visitor numbers had been declining, and in
1917, Canadian Steamship Lines decided not to
renew the islands regular service, citing high
costs and the not insignificant dangers of
sailing in war-troubled waters.
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• Moreover, Bermudian, which had been kept on the
  New York-to-Bermuda route, was requisitioned in
  March that year as a British troop carrier.
  Suddenly, Bermuda had no way to export its
  agricultural goods or to bring in visitors. The
  island needed to attract another large shipping
  company.

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• In the summer of 1919, the New York arm of
• British steamship company Furness Withy
• came to the rescue, promising to refit
• Bermudian in return for a five-year, 15,000
• annual subsidy from the island government.
• The deal signed in June, marked the
• beginning of a long and mutually fruitful
• relationship between the island and Furness that
• would continue until 1966.

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• By 1920, it was decided by government
• and subsidiary Furness Bermuda Line
• officials that the answer to Bermudas tour-
• ism question lay in giving Americas ruling
• classes what they wanted an exclusive
• enclave where the mega-rich could rub
• shoulders while they wintered in Bermuda.

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• All eyes eventually fell on Tuckers Town, the
• quiet peninsula community overlooking Castle
• Harbour which had been named for Governor
• Daniel Tucker (whose early 17th Century aim to
• relocate Bermudas capital there never went
• ahead).

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• The plan envisioned a self-contained
• neighbourhood of more than 500 acres for
• Americas aristocracy, complete with golf-
• courses, tennis courts, a country club, and
• hotels and cottages for both winter and
• summer visitors.

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• Furness, led by local merchants, petitioned
• the government to buy the land and after
• lengthy negotiations, got the green light.
• The area had long been abandoned by
• most white families, but there remained a
• community of black farmers, boat-builders,
• and fishermen with two churches, a cricket
• pitch, a school and a post office.

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• During that time, the shipping company acted
• as a partner in the business of Bermuda
• tourism, providing not only luxury liners such
• as Bermuda, Monarch of Bermuda and
• Queen of Bermuda to bring thousands of
• visitors, but also investing in capital projects
• such as new hotels to modernise the islands
• infrastructure. Above all, Furness helped
  generally
• to hone Bermudas image as an upscale resort
• a Mid-Ocean Playground that would attract the
• type of American visitor who would fuel the
  islands
• economy throughout the 20th century.

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• A group of 24 angry residents petitioned the
• government to stay on their land, though
• many Bermudians, excited by the prospect
• of a post-war tourism revival, were in favour
• of the project. The black landowners
• ultimately lost their fight to keep their
  Tuckers
• Town properties. Under a special act, the
• hold-outs had their land forcibly taken in
• return they were paid market value or offered
• homes in other parishes.

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• The last objector was a woman by the name
• of Dinna Smith, who was physically evicted
• in 1923 and moved to Smiths Parish.
• Before long, the elegant homes of
• millionaires crowded Tuckers Town,
• surrounding the 18-hole golf-course of the
• exclusive Mid-Ocean Club.

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• Baseball legend Babe Ruth was photo-
• graphed playing the links, one of many stars
• who helped boost Bermudas monied image,
• including scientist Albert Einstein, actor
• Harpo Marx, composer Irving Berlin and
• child movie star Shirley Temple. Tourist
• arrivals flourished in the next few years as
• other Americans followed the lead of their
• super-rich countrymen.

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• Suddenly Bermuda was the place to be, and not
  just
• in the winter time.
• Furness, meantime began investing in the
  islands
• hotels. The company bought the St. Georges
  Hotel in
• 1921, and the Bermudiana in Hamilton three years
  later.
• But its flagship property would be the Castle
  Harbour, which,
• with a golf-course, docks, and beaches, demanded
  a
• massive labour force that resulted in the
  recruitment of
• 600 Azorean contractors.

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• The project took two years and on November 30,
• 1931, Governor Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas
• Astley Cubitt opened the 400-room hotel, the
  latest
• star in Bermudas expanding tourism firmament.
• Tourism was truly coming of age. With the
• horrors of the Great War behind them, western
• societies embraced the new freedom and
• affluence, which, with the advent of modernised
• transport, led to a whole new breed of traveller.

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• Throughout the 1920s and 30s, the whole
• concept of travel would evolvefrom a
• solitary pursuit to a collective mentality
• shaped by careful marketing that created
• and sold Bermuda to the world at large.

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• Along with its relaxed lifestyle and
• pretty aesthetic, Bermuda lured American
• visitors with yet another advantage alcohol.
• Prohibition a US policy banning liquor
• sale or consumption stretched from 1919
• to 1933, and like their predecessors
• throughout the centuries, Bermudian entre-
• preneurs were not about to miss a lucrative
• opportunity.

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• Rum-runners used the island as a trans-
• shipment headquarters to smuggle liquor
• into the States. But tourists were not
• complaining in the face of a dry America,
• they turned to Bermuda, where during the
• 1920s, bars, restaurants and hotels had
• become, according to a British associate of
• the Trade Development Board, one continual
• carousal.

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• On April Fools Day, 1930, a seaplane
• carrying three Americans left New York City
• on what would later be hailed as an
• epochal flight. The Stinson cabin mono-
• plane powered by a 300 horsepower Wright
• engine, would become the first airplane to
• cross the 666 miles of water between
• North America and Bermuda.

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• Its three crew, navigator Captain Lewis
• Yancey, pilot William Alexander and radio
• engineer Zeh Bouck, made history at
• 1O oclock the following morning, a
• Wednesday, when they swooped down for
• a landing on Hamilton Harbour aboard the
• Pilot Radio. It had not been the smoothest
• flight.

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• The trio had departed New York at 939 a.m.
• the previous day, expecting to reach the island
• in eight hours. But strong winds delayed them
• and they decided to land and spend the night
• at sea rather than risk missing Bermuda
• completely in the darkness. At one minute to six
• that evening, they had set the plane down 60
• miles north of the island, notifying the New York
• Times of their decision.

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• The Canadian National Steamship Lines
• Lady Somers, en route to Halifax, turned
• back to offer the plane assistance, but when
• it found the trio in no difficulty, the liner
• continued its trans-Atlantic journey as
• scheduled.

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• Early the next morning, pilot Alexander
• took off again, braving the heavy swells in
• what the Bermudian magazine would later
• describe as a great feat of airmanship.
• At 630 a.m., ebbing fuel forced the plane
• down once again, this time just four miles
• off the island. The three Americans swapped
• gasoline between the planes various tanks and
• managed to make another take off.

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• Finally, after five more minutes of
• flying, the pioneering Pilot Radio came down
• in Murrays Anchorage, off St. Georges.
• After refuelling, the plane, carrying a
• handful of local VIPs including Trade
• Development Board chairman John J.P.
• Hand, flew down the South Shore and

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• finally came to a triumphant stop on the
• Hamilton waterfront. Their maverick
• journey won the trio 1,000 each and
• headlines around the globe.

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• The race now began to bring the first
• visitors by air. There had been a short
• aviation company in Bermuda in 1919
• offering charters to fly over the island, but
• the first air arrival did not occur until 1926,
• when an American dirigible, an airship
• named Los Angeles, made a long, slow
• journey to the island, buffeted by high winds.

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• It was Charles Lindbergs trail blazing solo
• flight across the Atlantic the following year
• that ignited a new fervour for aviation the
• glamour and novelty of airplanes attracted
• rapt media coverage and public interest.
• It would be years before commercial
• airliners braved the distance from the American
• mainland, but the Bermuda government

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• realised the potential and in July 1927, the
• Trade Development Board offered 2,000
• to the first non-stop flight from America in
• the next four months. No one claimed the
• prize.

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• Nine months after Pilot Radios
• expedition, floatplane successfully
• completed the journey without a hitch.
• On Wednesday, January 7, 1931, the
• Bellanca seaplane Tradewind, piloted by
• Beryl Hart and navigated by Lieutenant
• William S. MacLaren, flew from Norfolk,

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• Virginia to Bermuda in about seven hours.
• It marked the first leg of a journey
• calculated to demonstrate the commercial
• possibilities of trans-Atlantic flight between
• America and Europe, with Bermuda and
• the Azores as intermediate refuelling
• points, according to The Bermudian.

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Bermuda

• Unfortunately, Hart and MacLaren never
• Lived to see that dream become reality.
• After a celebration in Bermuda, they
• departed for the Azores and were never
• seen again.

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• Such early pioneers paved the way for
• the coming travel revolution. Anticipating
• the new era on the horizon, Bermudas
• Assembly voted in 1934 to subsidise a
• seaplane base at Darrells Island a prelude
• to a deal signed by Pan American Airways
• and Imperial Airways that year to establish

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• a New York-Bermuda passenger and mail
• service. Finally, on June 12, 1937, the first
• Empire-class flying boat, Imperials Cavalier
• left the Great Sound (where it had been
• assembled) for Port Washington, Long
• Island. Almost simultaneously, Pan Ams
• Clipper touched down at Darrells Island

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• after completing the same flight in the
• opposite direction. Bermuda found itself
• in the vanguard of trans-Atlantic air travel.
• Tourist air arrivals began in earnest
• over the next few years as both airlines
• launched regular services to the island
• aboard luxurious passenger flying-boats.

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• Not only was the new mode of transport
• quick and easy five hours as opposed to
• 40 during a three-day steam from New York
• but it also gave Bermudians a spectacular
• aerial view of the island few had seen
• before. Around the reefs swirl whorls of
• blue water in all the shades from turquoise, jade
• and emerald to aquamarine, cobalt and Prussian
• blue.

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• wrote the Bermudian editor Ronald Williams
• on the Cavaliers inaugural flight. So
• breathtaking is the sight that like every
• other man on board the flying boat I am
• desperately aware that adequate description
• is beyond me.

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• Tragically, the Cavalier went down in
• the Gulf Stream in 1939 during its 290th
• scheduled trip to Bermuda, killing three of
• it 13 passengers and crew. But the clock
• could not be turned back. American
• travellers for the most part had faith in the
• safety of the seaplanes and visitor numbers
• began their predicted upswing by 1937, the
• island welcomed more than 82,000 tourists

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• a year aboard planes and cruise ships,
• compared to just 13,000 in 1920.
• Bermuda was well on its way into the age
• of aviation.

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• It was Halloween, 1931, when a ceremony
• outside Number One Shed in Hamilton set in
• motion a short-lived, but beloved addition
• To Bermudas landscape that became
• dubbed Old Rattle and Shake. Some 150
• Invited guests gathered on Front Street to
• take part in the inaugural run of the
• Bermuda Railway to Somerset. The dignitaries

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• including the governor and his wife,
• British Royal Naval officials, the American
• consul, the police chief and the bishop of
• Bermuda climbed aboard four coaches
• and waited excitedly. Crowds of spectators
• lined the sidewalk and leaned over shop
• balconies as Lady Cubitt entered the trains

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• motor compartment and pressed the
• engines electric starter. The train, which
• would be described by one journalist as
• an iron serpent in the Garden of Eden,
• rolled into action.

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• The fanfare had been a long time
• coming. As far back as 1899, the railway
• idea had been proposed, but it was not
• until the 1920s that plans began to take
• shape. The privately-financed Bermuda
• Railway built the line from Somerset to
• St. Georges, through Hamilton, amid a slew
• of problems, controversies and delays.

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• When the 22-mile line opened on October
• 31, it was already three years late, but
• Bermudians embraced it as a huge step
• forward on an island where motor cars
• were banned and transportation between
• parishes had, until then, been restricted to
• boats, carriage or bicycle along primitive
• roads.

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• The train by contrast, offered
• all-weather comfort, travelling the length
• of Bermuda via 33 bridges which linked the
• islands and crossed the coastal inlets.
• Once aboard, passengers got a whole view
• of Bermuda. Service was racially segre-
• gated. The trains first-class coaches offered
• wicker chairs, while benches were provided for

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• cheaper seats. Locals could now easily
• commute to work in Hamilton, and tourists
• could load on their bicycles ready to use
• once they reached their destination.
• Unfortunately, the railway glory days
• were soon to be over. Bermudas climate
• corroded the trains iron parts and the cost

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• of importing diesel fuel was exorbitant.
• Wartime use by the military also left the
• line and rolling stock in poor shape.
• Engineers also discovered the railway
• needed extensive, and expensive, repairs
• totalling an estimated 1 million.
• Eventually, the Bermuda government
• stepped in and bought the railway, which had

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• never made a profit, for a mere 115,000.
• They operated the line at a loss for a while
• time before finally selling the whole
• operation to British Guyana. The long
• delayed advent of the automobiles to
• Bermuda after the Second World War also
• helped put the nail in the railways coffin
• and just after 17 years in operation, Old
• Rattle and Shake was no more.

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• The impact of changes brought about
• Surging post-war tourism, modern modes
• of transport, new hotels and new fangled
• technology during these years was keenly
• felt by everyday Bermudians. Many feared
• the quickening speed of modern life and
• resented the steady invasion of foreigners.

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• Even those who realized change was
• inevitable worried the new pressures on the
• island could quickly erase the quaint
• character that had made Bermuda unique.
• If she continues her progressive pace
• the pleasant slogan stamped on outgoing
• mail come to the Isles of Rest -- may

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• soon become a quaint joke, commented
• Hudson Strode in his book, The Story of
• Bermuda published in 1932. The Bermudi-
• ans themselves are more or less dazed by
• the rapid development in their little country.
• Those few not in trade and those not
• owning houses to rent to Americans are

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• justified in resenting tourists, for the Islands
• stand perilously in danger of becoming
• merely the rich Americans playground and
• the trippers delight. American gold is
• tempting and progress insidious.

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• And progress continued. On December
• 21, 1931, the Bermuda Telephone Company
• opened its new automatic telephone
• exchange. A series of conversations took
• place between Washington DC and Bermuda
• to commemorate the milestone with the
• governor sending greetings to the under

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• secretary of state, and the American consul
• in Bermuda exchanging pleasantries with
• the British ambassador in Washington. The
• dial telephone would replace the central
• system between 1932-1933.

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• Another project that garnered public
• interest and debate was the so-called
• Watlington Waterworks project in which
• Hamilton Mayor Sir Harry Watlington tapped
• into a natural lens in a Devonshire hillside
• in a bid to alleviate the islands perennial
• water shortage. Pipelines were laid in

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• Hamilton and construction began on a
• purification plant with a reservoir capacity
• of 240,000 gallons, allowing residents and
• businesses to purchase water during times
• of drought when their own water tanks ran
• dry. It became the islands first public water
• system.

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• Bermudas improving facilities and
• increasing attraction to tourists insulated
• the island from the Depression when most
• parts of America and Europe were suffering
• from the economic and social castastrophe.
• The islands allure as an unspoiled
• Fairyland stayed intact throughout the
• 1930s a testament to the painstaking branding
• of Bermuda as an elite escape.

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• Yet just as all signs pointed to unstoppable
• success for the islands tourist trade, a
• dark cloud was just around the corner.
• The Second World War would wreak havoc
• on Bermudas tourism aspirations and
• bring both personal triumph and tradegy to
• island families and their relatives. But it
• would also change Bermuda as never before,
• hurling the island from the idyllic isolation it
  had
• embraced for centuries, and into the modern
• world.

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