The Key West Citizen Newspaper, June 20, 1938, Page 1

Associated Press Day Wire Service For 58 Years Devoted to the Best Interests of Key West VOLUME LIX. No. 146. Harold Demeritt;\Jr. Confesseses To $5,000 Extortion *Attempt Threatened To Kidnap 70- Year-Old Frank Olm- SBOE EOaaLaE VISITOR BRINGS WATER |\SURPRISES EVERYONE | Che Key West Ctttzen THE SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER IN THE U.S.A. KEY WEST, FLORIDA, MONDAY, JUNE 20, 1938. FROM HAVANA TWO HUNDRED WILL AR- RIVE ON STEAMER CUBA The keen rivalry between the | three leading candidates in the queen’s race reached the fever pitch Saturday night when Miss Miss La Kin Leads Queen Contest Race By One Vote Here is the position of the can- didates as they round into the last lap of the race: Miss Susan LaKin, sponsored by the Wom- stead; First Case In Monroe County Brown-haired Harold Demeritt. Jz., 16 years old, is in the county jail under $2,500 bond on the charge of attempt to extort $5,000 from Mrs. Frank Olmstead, 703 South street, and threatening to kidnap her!husband, Frank Olm- stead; blind and: 70 years old. It isibelieved to be the ‘county's first extortion plot..<! The" boy'was apprehended Sunday morning by Sheriff Karl Thompson, Federal Bureau of In- vestigation men, H. P, Turner and R. B. Miller, and local deputies. After quizzing, in which he was repeatedly caught in lies, he fin- ally broke down and confessed, stating that he conceived the plan himself and had no accomplices. Tuesday night a note, demand- ing the money, was thrown in the yard of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Olmstead, who have been here eight years and have built their South street home. Mr. and Mrs. William Watkins, neighbors, brought the note to the sheriff's forces. The note, written on a tyepwriter, with a penciled map fost where the money was to f 4 . if 34 Hit 3 F j 2g Saturday at 10:00 p. m.—Kid- napers. “Follow this route": A map outlining the Olmstead home, South street turning to the right into White street, with Rest} its dozen or more brick over- | Beach and Martello Tower mark- ed and the wording, “Leave mon- ey here in a bag”. was on the low- | markers, set aside as a Memorial | Just like any car traveling forth into an arid desert came the Davis car of Fi. Lauder- dale into Key West last week. Told upstate that in Key West water could be obtained only by paying for it and that food and house hit new unknown highs, the Da- vises packed away a huge five-gallon demijohn full of water in their back seat. Alongside ithis was placed an- other. two-gallon thermos bot- tle, also gurgling to the cap + with water. Davis encountered J, O. White, resident, in asking they had received such re- ports of the city. Not only did they find that there is plenty of the best water ienown, clear rainwater, di- rect from the skies, but that they did not have to purchase it and that they found as fd dh de hdd PLANNING FOR MEMORIAL PARK STEPS TAKEN J.0 USE “GOD'S ACRE” ON OUTSKIRTS OF OLD PORT ST. JOE PORT ST, JOE, June 20 (FNS). —Port St. Joe is still the largest community in Florida having no cemetery, burying its dead in the burial places of nearby communi- ties—Panama City, Apalachicola, or Wewahitchka—when occasion requires. But, away on the out- skirts of the city is an old “God's Acre” in which the remains of citizens of old St. Joe were buried during the glamorous _ period when that community was mak- | ing history more than 100 years ago. Steps have been taken to have the site of that old cemetery, with ground sarcophagi and its score or more of headstones and grave JULY 8 Cuban Consul Berardo Rod- riguez has been advised that on July 8 this city will be honored by a visit of 200 of Cuba’s leading men and women engaged in the educational institutions of “ sister Republic”. The visitors will be headed by Dr. J. M. Vidana, will leave Ha- vana at 10 o’clock on the'Steam- ship Cuba and arrive 3:30 in the afternoon. They will be officially received and visit San Carols In- stitute after which they will pro- ceed to Bayview Park where hon- ors will be paid to the memory of that great national hero, Jose Marti, and a floral tribute placed on his monument. After a dance at the Habana- Madrid the party will repair to La Concha Hotel for the night and the next morning there will be visits to city and county officials, and the facilities of the schools ‘our | Bernice Brantley, strongly bet lane Club, 594; Miss Bernice ed by the Lions Club, made a|Brantley, sponsored by the Lions sudden spurt which carried her|Club, 593; Miss Dorothy Betan- from third place into second place }court, sponsored by Social Club jand only one vote behind Miss! Marti, 557; Miss Martha Car- {Susan LaKin, the Woman’s Club|bonell, sponsored by the Junior entry, who is still in the lead. | Chamber of Commerce, 147; Miss | In taking second place Miss|Lilia Acevedo, sponsored by the Brantley passed Miss Dorothy|Cuban Club, 43; and Miss Ada Betancourt, sponsored by Social|Rodriguez, sponsored by San Club Marti, who has been con-|Carlos Institute, 38. |sistently battling Miss LaKin for; In the balloting Saturday night the lead since the race started.’ Miss Brantley received 190 votes, At one time Miss Betancourt|Miss Betancourt, 136 votes, Miss wrested the pole position from/LaKin, 131 votes, Miss Acevedo, Miss LaKin but was unable to2 votes, and Miss Rodriguez, 2 |hold her advantage. | votes. This week the candidates en-i/{ A special floor show is being ar- ter the home stretch with the bigi,ranged for the Cabaret Dance, Cabaret Dance at the Habana+ijand as a special attraction all jMadrid on Wednesday night, éandidates for the queenship will June 22, marking the finish. Un-| wear model gowns furnished by less something unforseen hap-/local merchants. |pens between now and then it} The admission price Wednes- appears that the three leading |day night will be 50 cents per candidates will be well bunched | person, and each ticket will be at the end, and a_photo-finish good for two votes in the queen's quite possible. {Tace. Miami Firm Awarded Contract will be inspected. | These visits will be followed by a tour of Key West, after which the visitors will depart 3 o’clock for Miami, proceeding by auto- | mobile for Palm Beach, Daytona | and St. Augustine. This will be the beginning of a tour of the country between Key West and New York, including a visit to the | White House in Washington. | Consul Rodriguez said this morning that the visit to this! country is one of good-will on the | part of the visitors who represent ; the people of Cuba in whose} ms hearts ever dwells a warm place Treasury’s procurement division for Key West. | jediag. FIESTA WILL | The Miami firm was the low- BE BROADCAST | WASHINGTON, D. C., June 20. —The Touby Painting Company, (669 N, West 8th Street, Miami, | will be awarded the job of reno- vating the Key West Marine Hospital. it was learned at the ‘est of three contractors who sub- mitted bids for the work, speci- STORY TO BE TOLD BY ig fat pr cg division engineers | Sai lay a contract award will RUTH BRYAN ROHDE WED- 24 Soday ¢ NESDAY NIGHT | three-day fiesta celebrating the! e formal opening of the new $30,-| NEWS eeecce |000,000 Overseas Highway on | BIRDS ATTACK COUPLE July 2-4, will be told over a na-' Elizabeth, N. J—Angered when tionwide NBC hook-up by Mrs. | three of their brood fell from the Ruth Bryan Rohde Wednesday !nest and were killed, a pair of night at 6:45 p. m. on a 15 minute |fighting bluejays kept Mr. and sustaining program originating in/ se New York City. 6 | Mrs. Morris Schanker, whose res- The story of Key West's gala Park which will attract curious or Mrs, Ruth Bryan Rohde, for- | idence adjoined the tree in which fying a price of $10,827. While! this price is not much below the | |limit of cost allotted for the job, | To Renovate Marine Hospital Special Washington Correspondent of The Citizen Second iow bidder was the | Valley Renovators and Painters jof Lockland, Ohio, who bid $11,- |183; and the third and last bid- {der was the Beers Construction | Company of Atlanta, Georgia, with $13,937. Investigation of the Miami firm caused procurement division engineers to conclude it is’ re- sponsible professionally and fi- nancially, entitled under law to the contract award. In general, the work will consist of painting the interior and the exterior of the building, repairing all.dam- age caused by termites, and mak- ing other miscellaneous repairs. This project was included in the 1938 emergency construction program after an inspection made |last October. | NOTES Poecccccccccccescceseoces TO RESTORE LOST STAR Pittsfield, Mass.—Mrs. Minnie |Lament, whose father, Patrick | Norton, caught a star which had been ripped from the flag of the {17th Connecticut Infantry by {gunfire during the Battle of Getts. burg, has offered to return the Key West, Florida, has the most equable climate in the country; with an average range of only 14° Fahrenheit PRICE FIVE CENTS ‘To'Participate ‘Inflighway Celebration Parade CAMERA CLUB TO ASSEMBLE THIS EVENING ING PICTURES FOR EXHIBI- TION This evening 7:30 o'clock af the ‘courthouse, the members of} the Camera Club will hold a spe- cial meeting for the purpose of choosing pictures to be shown in the Club’s exhibition on July 2. At the meeting the members will be expected to bring both pic- tures and negatives of their fav-} orite shots so that the committee | in charge of picture-enlarging and arranging may work out a schedule of work for each com- mittee member. As the members of the jury chosen to select the pictures to be shown must have time in which to sort and judge the many prints submitted, it is ne- cessary that all members who wish to exhibit their work be in attendance. Any member who cannot at- tend the meeting should make arrangements to have his work submitted by someone who will be there, it is stated. By means of having all pictures a uniform size the task of choos- An announcement as to the number and size of prizes to be offered will be made if all de- tails in this connection can be ar- ranged satisfactorily. All members who are on com- mittees pertaining to the show are especially urged to be pres- ent as there are many things to be arranged in order to make the show a great succéss. { The fact that the’ exhibition opens on the opennig day of the three-day celebration period af-; | fords the Camera Club a rare op- | |portunity to be of service to the| city inasmuch as the subjects will | |show the many points of interest | jin Key West to the best advant- lage. CLEANUP OF CITY WELL UNDERWAY | | eeccee Celebration Representative ‘To Be Headed By Roose- velt’s Representative, Accompanied By” Cone And Andrews Official jmade today by Warren ‘smith, | general manager of the Ovorseas Highway Celebration, that the parade set for Saturday. July 2. will start at the-La Concha hotel headquarters fer the celebration committee, and- will» proceed. to Bayview Park via Duval and Di- vision streets. EDWIN WARLEY JAMES a Mri: dime; diekiol Gea ee ee eee Bureau of Public Roads, who will | U, §, Bureau of Public Roads and be President Roosevelt’s personal | representative and the principal | personal representative of Presi- speaker at the formal opening of | announcement was the $30,000,000 Overseas ap pid at Key West July 2-4. Mr. James is America’s outstanding authori on highway construction, is well- known as the author of a number of technical works on bridge and road building, and is agen | engineer to Colombia, Panama other South American gover ments. He is a graduate of Hi vard and the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, and has been | decorated by France, Belgium and Italy for notable highway work in those countries. COMMERCE. DEPT.. PRAISES RADIO TELEPHONE UNT RESPONSE FROM MARINERS ON WORK OF KEY WEST DEPOT’S SERVICE MOST GRATIFYING |dent Roosevelt, will head the pa- rade, accompanied by United j States Senator C. O. Andrews, | Governor Fred P. Cone, and the | various Cuban and other officials | Present. All clubs, civic organizations, jmerchants and individuals are earnestly invited to participate in the parade, individually or in a body. They are especially invit- ed to enter floats in the parade in order that the city of Kev West may make a gallant showing be- fore the thousands of visitors who will be here for the occasion. | Contingents from the gunboat USS Charleston, the Cuban gun- boats, the U. S. Coast Guard ves- sels which have been assigned jhere ‘for the: ‘celebration, and | Coast Artillery units will partici- | pate in the patade. It is up to the citizens of Key West to make an equal showing in the parade with | that of visiting delegations. (By Capital News) WASHINGTON, D. C, June 20. —Praise for the work of the Key West lighthouse depot’s radio; telephone unit came today from | the commerce department. In an official announcement, the department said: “Since the inauguration of radio telephone broadcasts of information of use er half of the note, F.B.I. head Ts who came down Siturday.. The local “forces “had planned out the course to be followed. Saturday contacted | historically-minded _ toi *Prniceton | which will be featured during the vestigators, } centennial celebration of the adoption of Florida's first State Constitution, December 7, 8, 9 and 10, next. urists and|™Merly representative from this they had their nest, virtual pris- | district in the United States Con- \ gress, and minister to Denmark} is especially interested in the de- jxelopment of Key West and Flor- pida; and her broadcast, whieh star to Governor W. L. Cross in . attacking them viciously | order that it might be restored to the flag which now reposes in the | Hall of Flags at the State Capitol | at Hartford. oners, | whenever they entered or left the ‘house. | West Depot of the Lighthouse {Service in both the English Spanish languages, there bbeen a gratifying response |SIXTY-TWO TRUCKLOADS OF TRASH AND DEBRIS REMOV- ED IN PAST TWO DAYS and has from | to mariners, made from the Key} |mariners, including a mamber of | night ‘they rode the route at the south end ‘of White street, and stopped scores of cars to ask ques- tions. Between 10:00 and 11:00 o'clock Demeritt came along, rid- ing on a bicycle. He was prompt- ly stopped and questioned. Yes- terday morning, Demeritt was picked up for grilling. The local sheriff's forces knew well all those whom It is planned to landscape the old burying ground without dis- turbing the old graves of those who died when Old St. Joe, the Miami of Florida of that day, lured the families of the wealthy {planters of southwest Georgia, southeast Alabama and northwest \Florida to enjoy the cooling ‘breezes and bathing beaches of | St. Joseph’s Bay during the sum- }mers, to occupy its five “palatial” thotels, patronize its race track— said to be one of the best equip- ped south of the Mason and Dixon } Line, and to have a general good jtime away from the oppressive will be heard throughout the na-, DOG TRAVELS 600 MILES ; tion, will constitute an extremely; Houston, Tex.—Footsore, lean valuable contribution to the pub- and weary, Snowball, a spitz dog licity which the Overseas High-| which had strayed away while its way and the celebration which master visited in Odessa, crawled will attend its official opening has into the yard of its home. The | received. Arrangements for sentation of this nationwide to Houston. broadcast were completed today —— by Miss Ileen Williams and War-| YOUNG SNIPERS ARRESTED ren Smith, general manager of| Evansville, Ind—Three youths the celebration. The broadcast arrested, admited that they shot will feature the highlights of the at several persons with a high- celebration and will describe the | powered rifle, “just to see them elaborate preparations made by | jump.” Luckily, their the Cuban, Mexican and United were not seriously hurt. the victims OFFICERS ARRIVE ON BOARD PLANE ! Lieutenant R. P. McConnell, of the naval reserve aviation base | at Opa-Locka, Fla., arrived in the city Friday by plane, accom- panied by Lieutenant Charles Ewan. They made the trip from the field to Key West in one hour and ten minutes. These officers came expressly dog's footpads wer worn pink by | pre- | the 600-mile journey from Odessa | With the removal of 61 truck- loads of trash and debris in the last two days, Key West, it is shown, has taken on a new ap- pearance and should have all the marks of the cleanest city in the South when the cleanup cam- paign, conducted by Adrian O’Sweeney, is concluded in the next two weeks. When approached by The Citi- zen this morning, O’Sweeney was, reluctant to state the results ob-/ tained, but did say that within another week the citizens would | masters of Cuban vessels which operate partly in United States waters.” “These radio telephone broad. casts, put out on a regular sched ule each day, provide information regarding emergency changes in the aids to navigation, and also include weather information and storm warnings. The bi-lingual broadcasts have been found to greatly increase the effectiveness of the broadcasts in this parti cular area.” VISITORS ENJOY heat of the plantation area of the j valleys of the Flint, Apalachicola jand Chattahoochee rivers. TARGET PRACTICE "HERE TOMORROW Captain William L. Johnson, } U.S.A, adjutant 13th Coast Artil-| lery at Key West barracks, an- nounced that sub-calibre firing j with the 37 MM gun at Fort Tay-/| jlor tomorrow morning and on) aed morning, Jee 21 and 24./ practice will begin and end Men Turner and Miller left yes- between 10 o'clock in the mornnig terday afternoon going back to and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Miami. The danger area will be 5000 The procedure, local sheriff's yards south of Fort Taylor, and forces stated, will be first to hale | shipping in this area is requested the boy before a peace justice. to proceed with caution. GARDEN HOSE AND LAWN SPRINKLERS—TURN States governments for participa- | tion in the greatest celebration ever held in Florida. PINDER FUNERAL HERE YESTERDAY Funeral, services for. R. Curtis Pinder were held 4 o'clock yester- day afternoon from the chapel of the Lopez Funeral Home. Mr. Pinder died Friday in Homestead and the body arrived Saturday afternoon. Services were conducted by the Congregation of Brethren, Rev. Jewett, of Gospel Hall, officiat- ing. Pallbearers were: William Ed- wards, Waddell Pinder, Millard Gibson, Thomas Sweeting. Pepe Montecino, Hartley Roberts. “T've got a big one,” Guy Ander- | during os | for the purpose of completing ar- CATCHES SHARK. DIES | rangements and atending to other San Diego, Calif. — Declaring | details of proposed visits of planes | the Overseas Highway son, 45, began reeling in his fish- | Celebration. Having finished ing line. Before he could gaff his | their business they remained but catch, however, he fell dead of a/@ short time and left for Miami heart attack. Companions brought | Where after a short stay they will in a 150-pound shark. {leave for the airport. FIESTA CONCESSIONS Beer, soft drinks, popcorn and other concessions at the various Celebration events July 2-4, will be awarded to the highest bidders. KEY WEST MERCHANTS WILL BE GIVEN PREFERENCE OVER OUTSIDE BIDDERS Please apply in person Wednesday afternoon, June 22 La Concha Hotel have something to look at and/ talk about. “Naturally”, O’Sweeney said,} WEEK-END STAY “we ran inte weaker? npopacioan, little about ‘bg. help F have received this past week and| City Commiaiéner Walter Pe- ithe a ‘in the next! terson, of }ten days. befess unsant- | c ABfiven. city tary conditions xisting than there ™anagér: Ens, publisher, has been heretofore”. jof the Fort Pierce News-Tribune, Additional labor may be put to and Mrs. Ens, were week-end work, O’Sweeney stated, within | Visitors in Key West. a few days so that the last four| They —_— Saturday ao days prior to the opening cele- | NOON, and atte a pleasant visi bration can be devoted specially ‘overnight, left yesterday over the to the flushing of the streets. highway on the return to their) homes. } TRADES HIS WIFE } SIDNEY. O-—-Ed Cotterman; and Mr. and Mrs. John Brown of | this city were sent to jail because | Brown traded his wife to Cotter-} man for a motorcycle, all — t afraid to work. Report 11:00 a. m. Tuesday. cor- ; and Greene streets. SEE O’SWEENEY the transaction, | Major James D. MacMullen has | been appointed grand marshall of the parade, and Major Will Al- bury will serve as his chief aide, Efforts are being made to dec- orate Duval street for the three days of the gala fiesta. Due to lack of funds in the committee's treasury, the merchants are asked to decorate their individugl places as the committee does, not haye the $500-$600 necessary, for, this: purpose availaple. fo... t Numerotis demands, have beer made upon ‘the meager funds. col- lected by the committee ..which were not originally,, anticipated. In orter to assure that the, city’s, whiteway would be, turned on during the celebration, the com- mittee was forced to pay a back bill of $50 due to the electric com- pany for electricity furnished for this purpose. Failure to take care of this obligation darkened the city’s streets Saturday night. RETURN FROM LIGHT STATBON William W. Demeritt, Jr, and Henry Renedo, who were spend- ing a vacation at Sand Key light- house, where they fished and studied for about 10 days, return- ed to the city Thursday and pre- pared to leave for Jacksonville. These young doctors of dentis- try were graguated this month from Southern Dental College at Atlanta, Ga, and will on June 20 | go before the Florids State Board of Dental Examiners, at Jackson- ville, to take the examination for practicing the profession. Key Weat’s Finest —-NO COVER CHARGE— TO PAGE TWO AD NOW-—SOUTH FLORIDA CONTRACTING AND ENGINEERING COMPANY. PHONE 598