New Toulouse

Dear Madam

The shipping news and Mr Mondieu’s snappy article make interesting reading, but I feel too much is being made out of this. New Toulouse has weathered many storms and our fine city has escaped largely unscathed. 

Perhaps we could focus on events in the city, such as the half-price drinks at the Green-eyed Fairy, rather than those hundreds of miles away. The storm may yet change direction or blow itself out. Even if the worst were to happen, I have full confidence that the levees will hold the water back. I am concerned to note that some citizens are piling up sandbags and feel that publications such as yours should quell, rather than incite, panic.

There will be no sandbags at the Green-eyed Fairy, situated snugly behind the levee in Rue du Bayou. Instead a warm welcome awaits. Drinks are half price during the inclement weather.

Yours, etc

Francesca Alva.

Radio reports indicate that New Toulouse’s own Calamares, inbound from Guatemala with a cargo of coffee, bananas, and citrus, is leaking and in danger of sinking after encountering a storm in the Gulf of Mexico. Newly built by Workman, Clark and Co., of Belfast, and under the command of our very own Alcide LeBlanc, the Calamares is one of the newest, best-equipped refrigerator ships in the world. Captain LeBlanc’s parents are vacationing in the north and could not be located for comment.

The Tattler has compiled the following reports related to this treacherous storm:

• Oct. 2: Reefer Limon reports a tropical storm 100 nautical miles north of Grenada, wind speed estimated at 35 knots.
• Oct. 3: Weather station Kingstown reports a severe storm passing west of St. Vincent Island, wind estimated at 50 knots.
• Oct. 4: Steamer Argentine reports a tropical storm 240 miles north of Caracas, Venezuela.
• Oct. 5: Weather station Port-au-Prince reports a hurricane passing directly south, at some distance, moving northwest. Landfall on US Gulf Coast expected October 10 or 11.
• Oct. 6: Weather station Kingston (Jamaica) reports a major hurricane passing directly south, track estimated to be northwest, range estimated at 150 miles, winds in excess of 100 knots.
• Oct. 7: Weather station Havana reports a major hurricane passing 200 nautical miles west, storm track is north-northwest, landfall is expected between Galveston and Mobile on October 11.
• Oct. 8: Measured winds indicate that the storm is 300 nautical miles south of New Toulouse, landfall expected on Louisiana coast in 48–72 hours.
• Oct. 8: Reefer Venus, position unknown, reports heavy seas and hurricane-force winds.
• Oct. 8: Steamer Calamares reports storm damage, taking on water, sinking imminent, 100 miles southwest of New Toulouse. Cargo of coffee and bananas flooded, running north before storm to attempt grounding before swelling cargo ruptures hull.

Dressed in a nice suit and a dapper hat, with an attractive woman at his elbow, entrepreneur Blake Palmer is almost unrecognizable compared to the barefoot man who used to lumber around in dirty overalls, making me nervous as he drank God-knows-what and cleaned his shotguns in the apartment directly above mine in the old Tarantula Arms boarding house. But despite his change of attire—and change of fortune—Mr. Palmer is, at heart, still the same man.

At the time of our first interview, Mr. Palmer owned three businesses. We met in one of them, a club called the Havana Rose, where a sultry woman in a fancy dress was singing her heart out on the stage. At the time of our second interview, the club was no more, and his other businesses had moved locations, with a third in the works. As of press time, that’s changed again—and not all of that can be attributed to the slow writing pace of a certain Tattler reporter. Mr. Palmer is a man with ambition, dreams, and an almost manic energy. New ventures open and move and close and reopen almost overnight, and the reasons for this are tough to get a handle on. After agreeing to meet me for a drink to talk about his many and varied business ventures, Mr. Palmer spent nearly half an hour deflecting my questions with winks, changes of subject, and exaggerated declarations of ignorance. Eventually, I lit a cigarette and started at the beginning.

When Mr. Palmer lived upstairs in the Tarantula Arms, there was a run-in one night with the police—it seems he was bootlegging out of his apartment. The particulars are somewhat muffled by the fact that I got under my bed as soon as I heard the cocking of a shotgun, but the officer left alone, smiling, swaying slightly down the steps, and hiding what looked like a mason jar behind his back as he waved me off and assured me, “Everyshinsss fine.”

After Mrs. Varnish unceremoniously evicted her remaining tenants so the building could be torn down, Mr. Palmer opened a useful and well-stocked general store and filling station on Carricre Street. He could frequently be seen tooling around town in his pickup (sober, we hope), delivering groceries to customers. Then suddenly one day, the shop was boarded up and Mr. Palmer had left town.

He says he went down to South Florida to take advantage of “opportunities” and did odd jobs like driving boats.

When I asked why he came back, he gave me a grin and said, “Let’s just say heavy storms were rolling in and the work became too dangerous.”

I reminded him that he rolled back into New Toulouse just in time for a major storm with devastating flooding, and he shook his head, telling me the storms in Florida weren’t raining water.

“Bullets,” he whispered. “But don’t quote me on that.”

The grocery store is back, in a different location but with what appears to be similar quality and service. Business is good, he acknowledged, before slyly telling me that business at the grocery store could dry up tomorrow and he’d still be in good shape. He got up from the table and gestured to the door, offering to take me to the “nucleus of the operation.”

The Still House Saloon is exactly what it sounds like. The still towers over the space, where Mr. Palmer says he offers “barbecue ribs, cornbread, moonshine, and poker.” When I asked if he had a permit, or if there would be any trouble for printing this in the paper, he shrugged. “Trouble from who? Wouldn’t worry about the police.” Remembering the Tarantula Arms, I nodded.

“So this is how you pay for everything?” I asked.

“I’ll just say that copper and corn have made me a very happy man.”

After that, he got vague again, refusing to give me a straight answer about his clients or his employees—”I can’t tell you offhand how many are on my payroll, but I have several close partners,” was the most he would give me, clearing his throat and looking pointedly in the direction of the hospital.

I haven’t seen Mr. Palmer since, but on my way to the Tattler to turn in my photos and have a possibly terrifying conversation with my boss, I saw a new restaurant sign downstairs at the Red Drum. Being curious (and prone to procrastination), I took a detour to the land office to see who had registered the space.

As I suspected, the name on the ledger read “Palmer, Blake.”

Blake Palmer owns the Old Town General Store, the Still House Saloon, and Begue’s Restaurant.

---

Jane Moreaux keeps half an eye on New Toulouse.

A ship bound for New Toulouse was lost in a terrible storm. Below is the report from the Court of Inquiry.

Shipwreck report
Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas
July 19

Finding and Order of a Naval Court held at the American Consulate at Charlotte Amalie, Danish Virgin Islands, on the 18th day of July, to investigate the circumstances attending the loss of the American barque, “MIELLE,” of Galveston, on the Island of St. Thomas, on the 10th day of July, and to inquire into the conduct of the master, officers, and crew of the said ship.

The “Mielle” was an iron sailing vessel, barque rigged, of 954 tons register, official No. 14.386, built at Port Glasgow in 1876, and owned by Messrs. Chadwick & Theobald.

From the evidence given before this Court it appears that she sailed from Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast on or about the 1st day of June, bound for the port of New Toulouse, with a cargo of livestock and a crew of 18 hands and 4 cowboys all told.

That they experienced variable weather during the passage, nothing unusual occurring until on or about the 8th day of July, when they encountered strong winds and heavy seas, which continued until and after the ship ran aground.

It appears that the course was altered from W.N.W. to S.W. in an attempt to seek shelter in the lee of St. Thomas Island, but the evidence is conflicting as to the exact time she was steered S.W. The latter course was steered until about noon, when the ship did run aground and went to pieces on the north shore of St. Thomas. From the evidence before the Court it appears that beyond the trimming of sails no precautionary measures were taken with the object of preventing the ship from driving on shore. After breaking the ship against the shore the crew did take refuge in the wreck, and emerged on the 11th day of July, and made their way by walking to the Port of Charlotte Amalie. The fate of the cargo is unknown, none was recovered, but reports indicate that an unknown number did survive and were salvaged by the local populace.

The Court, having regard to the circumstances above stated, and to the whole of the evidence produced before it, finds as follows:

That the master, Mr. Terrence Romero, did find himself overtaken by a storm of exceptional size, and was taking on water due to the exceptionally heavy rainfall and the height of the waves. Mr. Romero was unable to predict the course of the storm, nor any reasonable guess as to the best quarter to run before it, and did make every reasonable effort to save his crew. Mr. Romero was not in default for driving his ship ashore, visibility during the storm being so poor as to prevent any sighting of the land or aids to navigation.

That the master, mate and crew did make every effort to preserve life and property, and that all of the crew and passengers did survive the incident, and all of the cargo was lost.

The Court, in pursuance of the powers vested in it by Section 483 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, therefore orders:

That the casualty of the ship “Mielle” and the cargo on board was due to the storm itself, and not worsened by the actions of the master.

That a copy of the report, or a statement of the case, upon which the investigation was ordered having been furnished the master, Mr. Terrence Romero, that he retain his Master’s certificate without default.
We exonerate him from all blame.

(signed)

E. COLE, Judge.