by jacquelyn horkan, editor
But down the entire street there was whiskey and beer, and
nothing else... This was Last Chance Street - last chance for a drink or a girl before
Cuba.
Charles Johnson Post, The Little War of Private
Post
With the onset of the
Spanish-American War in April 24, 1898, the people of Tampa never expected the kind of
invasion of their city that would follow.
That summer, the city would play host to 34,000 soldiers as they
prepared to embark for Cuba. At first, the young servicemen were welcomed by the patriotic
folk of Tampa, but the hospitality was quickly withdrawn as the soldiers remade the town
for their pleasure. New York-born infantryman Charles Johnson Post remembered searching
for a glass of milk to soothe a stomach upset and finding nothing but saloons and
whorehouses.
There was the gunfight between some of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough
Riders and the ladies at one the houses of ill repute. There was also the infamous
"Charge of the Yellow Rice Brigade," when another group of Rough Riders herded
their horses through a local restaurant. And then there was the owner of one joint who
gleefully let his customers shoot up his establishment every night - as long as they paid
dearly for the privilege and their whiskey.
On July 17, Spain surrendered and by the end of August most of
the troops were gone from Tampa. Last Chance Street was paved over and family housing
replaced the dens of iniquity. The city had survived the war and the invasion and settled
into peacetime.
July/August 1998 -- Florida Business Insight, 501
N. Adams St., Tallahassee, Fla. 32302
(850)224-7173, insight@aif.com |
