The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 1, 1939, Page 1

Associated Press Day Wire Service For 59 Years Devoted to the Best Interests of, Key West Key West, Florida, has the most equable climate in the country; with an average range of only 14° Fahrenheit The Kry West Citizen | THE SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME LX. No. 285. KEY WEST, FLORIDA, FRIDAY , DECEMBER 1, 1939 | Believe Reuben James Wrecked; MaySalvage * BELIEVE WASHINGTON | NAVAL OFFICER WILL} DETERMINE SALVAGE | OPERATIONS | i General information is that the “Reuben James”, which went aground early yesterday morn- ing off the northern Cuban coast, is “high and dry” and may be ay loss. | Authorities at Key West Naval) Station said they had no definite ; information concerning the con- dition of the vessel but had only received “conflicting reports” on the running aground. Lieut. Comdr. Murphy of the Navy Department came here by plane yestérday and left on the U. S.'S. Roperfor the scene to determine salvage operations. The tecks where the Reuben James is aground is off. Lobos Key off the northern coast Cuba. The Reuben James proceeding through Old Bahama channel, 268 miles from Key West, when she went aground. The waters in the area are ex- tremely dangerous and __ pock- marked with reefs and_ shoals very much like those on the Florida Reef. | The Wrecking Tug Warbler and ‘the “ Tendérs ~ Gannett* atid Lapwing left yesterday for the scene and should have been at the scene at noon today but no further word has been heard from them, as to their salvage operations. | When a destroyer goes aground it has a very hard time getting off because of its light engines which are designed more for speed than anything else. The Tenders Gannett and Lapwing both have powerful engines and the Warbler has an exceptionally large amount of power. \ Commander of the Reuben} James is Lieut. Comdr. E. V. Sherman and not Lieut. Comdr. W. C. Cross reported in SWEDISH SHIP SUNK BY MINE ENGLAND LAYS NEW MINE FIELD: AWAIT BLOCKADE of was (By Aw ed. Press) LONDON, Dec. 1.~-Four thou- sand two hundred ton Swedish steamer was sunk off England today after striking a mine. | The western front continues} to be quiet with all nations await- | ing the new phase of economic warfare which’ will be enforced Monday morning. England has laid a new mine field and has warned all shipping away from the point. | STATE AUTO TAGS! ARE NOW ON SALE, State automobile tags for the} year 1940 went on sale this| morning in the office pf Tax Col- lector Frank H. Ladd, and at 12} o'clock there had been more than a dozen sold. Tag No. 1 of the $10 series was sold to the tax collector; Tag No: | 1 of the $15 series was sold to C.| L. Peterson, and Tag No. 1 of the | $20 series was sold to George L. Engel. \ MARKS ‘FIRST —TIME--PIRST POSTAL RECEIPTS |ceipts for the month ending yes- svccccccccccccescccoocce ‘DOWLING REPORT: JAYCEES TO PICK oT ANS COMPLETE Judging At Dance Saturday FOR CONSERV. ATION ‘MISS KEY WEST’! | FISHERMEN Seeoeeeneseoeoososooeseooe | Selection of “Miss Key West” | to represent this city in the con | test for “Queen of the Orange} Bowl” will take place tomorrow | night at the Jaycee Dance at! Club Cayo Hueso on Trumbo{ Island. | (Special to ‘The Citizen) A simple but fair means of | TALLAHASSEE, Dec. picking a winner in this beauty} Plans for iurther iraprovement contest has been devised by the of Florida’s salt water natural! Jaycee Orange Bowl Committee | resources through the next closed | chairman, Bob Saunders, who’ season on mullet fishing, Decem- announces that five out-of-town’ ber 1 to January 20, have been! judges will secretly and in-!completed by R. L. Dowling,! dividually ballot on girls attend-' Florida supervisor of _conserva- ENTHUSIASTIC OVER RESULTS ATTAINED IN IMPROVEMENT OF SALT WATER RESOURCES 1— ing this dance until s gueen has | tam, ‘NATURE—BEWARE OF DIRE RESULT: been selected. | Supervisor Dowling said the Local girls are urged to come; plans were completed at a meet- | out to this affair and compete for | ing with his enforcemént agents, | the much-coveted title. Winner | when he outlined their directions will be announced shortly after | for conferring with and cooper-| midnight. ; jating with producing dealers, “Misg Key West” will be given | fishermen and others affected. | an all nse trip to Miami.| “It was due to the splendid co-, where she will lineup with girls | operation between the fishing in- | from all parts of the state in the |terests and the field men of the Orange Bowl contest. department last saason that (a ireal closed season was had”, he ‘said. “The protection given the 'mullet during their spawning time already has begun to show @ many sections, where fisher- |men and dealers are making; {larger catches of larger mullet.’ i They. are. profuse..in.their.praises ‘of the results obtained”. t Supervisor Dowling said many pledges of support and promises of further cooperation are being | received in his office from Floridians who want to see. pro-| tective measures invoked in such ; a way as to improve the con servation program and fishing at! the same time. ' “I wish every citizen of Flor-; ida knew, as I know, the magni tude of our salt water resources”, | Dowling said. “Its worth as an industry ahd as a recreation is enormous”, AT DIES HEARING LADY VISITS CONGRES- SIONAL HEARING (By Associated Press) WASHINGTON, Dec. 1.—Mrs. Roosevelt appeared for the third time in the last two days at the Dies Committee hearing on un- American activities of the Na tional Youth Congress. It mark- ed the first appearance of the First Lady of the Land at a Congressional hearing. DETROIT, Dec. 1.—Strike at the Briggs plant today was lifted = ! as 16,000 persons prepared to go ! to work and the Briggs corpora | TEMPERATURES } tion prepared to add a_ million dollars more annually to work- ers’ salaries. MORE MARRIAGE LICENSES ISSUED NINE MORE ISSUED IN NO- VEMBER: TWO YES- TERDAY Lowest last highest last ! Stations— night 24 hours Abilene 39 60 Apalachicola . 57 Atlanta 49 Boston Brownsville | Buffalo Charleston Chicago a Corpus Christi Denver Detroit Dodge City Duluth Eastport - El Paso Galveston Hatteras _.. 65 58 79 a7 7 45 76 52 44 47 51 49 57 66 53 Records in the office of County Judge Raymond R. Lord show an appreciable increase in the issuance of marriage licenses in November over -the preceding - | jattack consists of a H The preliminary 64 thas revealed that 56 H ‘Glades at the same time, leaving |less motorists or | ; WILL PUT LARGER SHIP EF { | C. B. Sutton, owner of the! The new ship is Sutton Line of vessels, which Florida, and was formesly ply in the waters adjacent to New York during the summer | Proper'y be eeu Ge Ca i jand in the waters of Key West | W@8 Sold as part of the ene <i during the winter, making trips | the late magnate after his death), tri-weekly to Tortugas, arrived’ and was bought by Mr. Sutton. | here this morning. | She is powered by steam and has | Captain Sutton has a larger twin engines | and more commodious vessel to; The House Boat Nirvana, be used in the service this sea-: which has been lying at the Por- | ‘son which is at the Porter Dock, | ter Dock for several months, is to; having arrived in port this|be gotten ready for service and/| morning, and preparations are | will be used as she was last year, | being made to get’ her in service jfor the accommodation of passen- yy December 10. | gers at Fort Jefferson. WHEN HUMAN EFFORTS TAMPER Glades Fires, Drainage And Salty Water eee es S6aS0n Proves Case eee PCOCCOO HOF COHSOO DOODLE LORE OOSOOLCCLS Special To The Citizen By FRANK W. LOVERING er An Associated Press dispatch.man, were comparatively rare; with a Miami date says that ap-|and@ circumscribed. The higher | parently no one realized when’ parts of the ’Glades prairie were! 440 miles of canals were built | tillable during the Winter at pe- through the Everglades in an ef-!riods of low water. ‘ fort to reclaim those southern: ‘Then came the engineers. Va Florida waterlands for farming rious minds conceived numerous! that the project would threaten’ schemes tor “development” of the! to bring <alt to some of the drink- | ’Glades, “drainage” and “farm.! ing water of the state’s Sreat ing” led the procession. With! tourist trade. | these excuses for tampering with But that is just what it has | Nature in the Everglades the en- done, and officials are hard at! tire area has been ravished, and work on the problem of keeping | indirectly the whole of the south- water faucet output fresh with-| erp, Florida peninsula. _ out Uindding ‘the years of Jabor!* * In Four Decades and wasting the millions of! | «& , money already spent in building | Sere te bis age adh began Aye up the marshlands. Salt infil-; Wate" Bighways preliminary to| tration of drinking water has|jn0 (tedging of drainage cay caused the shutdown of seven) ave, Deen a 2 im nee Miami wells—there are 15 in the | QuHets of the vere, Gites: spring, 5 zi | As a result o! e topsy-turvey- | ervice—and has alarmed coast- | ing of Nature's program, droughts | al cities and towns as far north{ A Ritar |and freezes are said by scientists as Palm Beach although the sup- to be now more frequent than ply is described as adequate, to} », y meet current demands—but “the; De of Bote of rich season” is coming. |earth—humus—deprived of the $$300,005 Ante ‘ordinary moisture covering the Coastal cities and the national sandy or rocky formation of the! resources planning board made a/’Glades, have gone up in smoke, joint ante of $300,000 for the first | gases; only scant ashes remain, attack on the encroachment of|This much of the Everglades has, salt in the potable water. This| become a desert exactly as’ it was | survey of|when first elevated from the sea. soil conservation, fire preven-; Northerners unfamiliar with ;tion, wild life preservation and the ’Glades territory may look} | water resources. with wonder upon reports of investigation | fires burning the ’Glades_irre- | the delicate | deemably—“they’re nothjng but underground water balance has |a vast swamp. How can a swamp been disturbed. Sea water has’ burn?” Facetiously these unin- | backed into the canals, and this | formed men and women may' re-| jhas seeped into the fresh water! mark that the Glades need iri | wells. The water fell in the} gation and not drainage. Care-{ t hunters are} ithe topsoil dry as. tinder. ‘This | blamed for the fires. But that| jtopsoil caught fire months back,|is wrong. Dr. John K. Small of | smouldered for days. The top-|the New York Botanical Gardens | | Soil fire problem is not new. It|has said in a brochure on the {has been going on for years since t rape of the Everglades that | drainage of the Everglades be-|“crazy drainage» schemes, not jcame a large-scale fact. Winter | hunters or motorists, are respon- | vegetable crops, cane crops, cat- | sible for the fires”. He adds, | os INJURED SEAMAN BROUGHT 70 CITY Hans Mollistad, an injured sea- man, was brought into port this morning by the Coast Guard and month. In October there were seven issued and in November there were 16. Two licenses were issued yes- terday afternoon. One was to Emil Joseph Sabala and Myrtle Catheline Sanchez, and the other to George O. Thompson and Rosabelie M. Bethel. Th first marriage ceremony ‘Was performed by Judge Lord in the residence of the bride at the corner of Dey and. Simonton streets, ‘The second was performed in a the office of Judge Lord, permis. | p\ahoma City sion being given for © the mar- | phoenix riage by the mother of the bride | who is but 16 years old. [St tome, : |Salt Lake ‘San Francisco 52 /Sit, Ste. Marie 37 CQ Seattle 46 Havana Helena Huron Jacksonville Kansas City - KEY WEST Little Rock Los Angeles Louisville Miami ie Mpls.-St. Paul | Nashville New Orleans _ New York 80 51 . Key, West Post Office an: nounced this morning that the re- | terday showed a considerable| _ Friday, Satutday. Sunday — year. Postal. receipts for the month }, A |tle raising and the dairy indus-|“Nature’s building of ages has} |try have been constantly men-/ been destroyed in a few decades”. jaced, till it is conservatively esti Fearful ‘Glades Fires jmated that around forty million| Everglades fires are a beauti- ,dollars’ worth of potential farm! ful if a terrifying spectacle. To jland has been destroyed, }@ great extent uncontrollable, \ The drinking water trouble is| these fires are burning to rob jibe newest and latest phase. | Florida forever of portions of Nature In Control jthe fertile covering of the earth’s Florida hurricanes, California |Surface which is one of the state’s earthquakes, Western dust- |chief natural gifts. Great plumes storms, East country floods—j0f smoke, cream-eolored in the these all repeat and emphasize |Sunlight, purple at sunset and aft- the tragic; unacceptable fact that|¢? dark flashing with red and | Nature and come out first best. Take Everglades fires and Ever- jSlades drainage. Time: was» when j* the. naturel outlets to.the ‘Glades. ! ! ACTIVELY PUSH WHITE WAY JAYCEES AND LIONS BUSY CONTACTING MERCHANTS | AND CITIZENS; MANY OTH- ERS HELP White Way lighting, commit- tee consisting of members.of Key West Junior Chamber of \Com- merce and the Lions Club is meeting with much success in\its drive to finance the project. In conference’ with both city and county officials this week, the committee announces that a plan has been worked out to light the system either three or four months of the coming season at a cost of approximately $500. Collections and donations are underway at present. Jaycee committee consists of Charles. Li. Roberts, chairman and Isadore Weintraub. Lions committee is Geraid Saunders, chairman, Gonzalo Bezanilla and ! Charles H. Ketchum, Sr. Quite a number of citizens have- volunteered to assist the committee and among these are sevreal to the residents of the city who come here each winter, who heartily approve the plan and will lend their efforts toward its | placed in the Marine Hospital for | “FIT treatment. The young man, little more than a boy, was an able seaman on the Norwegian Steamship Summinate. SOIIGGAS TSS, ‘LOUIE THE SLEUTW’ GETS ON THE JOB Lindberg, salesman with a tobacco company, who had parked his car on Duval be- tween Fleming and Eaton streets, reported a theft of about $17 of cigarettes and tobacco Monday night. The case has been reported to the volice but Mr. Lind- berg thas unofficially given his consent to “Louie the cigatetie cases in the vacant lot mext to the La Concha and unofficially blames the theft on a gang of little col- ‘KEY WEST MIDGET Will Disposed Of $8,687 LEFT GOOD ESTATE eo eevee Probate of the will of the late | Abraham L. Sawyer, who died in | Miami on April 30, 1939, reveals ‘the fact that holdings of “Little | Abie”, as he was called) here, ; | amounts to $8,687.92. Of the above amount there is $1,200 in real | estate and mortgages, the balance in cash. |. The entire amount is left to heits of his brothers and sisters, | | deceased, except the sum of $1, 000, which was bequeathed to the €oconut Grove Methodist church | for operation of an orphange in ‘memory of his mother. | Sawyer was a native of Key : West and prominent in church (circles of this city. Moving to | Miami about 10 vears ago he was | frequently heard of and visitors to that citv returned with the information that he was doing well and gaining popularity as the “Midget from Key West”. At his death it was believed , that he was in good circumstances ‘but few people realized. that he died: possessed of the holdings as revealed by the probate of his will. RODGERS PLANS | FINANCING AID FOR MERCHANT CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR | PROPOSES STATE LENDING | INSTITUTE FOR MERCHANT SMALL LOANS In his proposal for a State Lending Institution provide |small loans to merchants, James H. Rodgers, candidate for gover- nor, hits at the high rate of in- terest now legally charged in this state, running as high as 42 per ‘cent, plus carrying charges and | service fees, and points out that such borrowing is keeping thou- |sands of persons in economic | slavery-that is largely respon- |sible for present conditions. | “We all know,” says Mr. | Rodgers, “many cases of men and to subjected to this un-American |condition of humility and suffer- \ing if there had been, at the time of the disastrous business col- lapse in the late 20's, some place here hitherto perfectly solvent people could have borrowed, at a reasonable rate of interest, on the collateral of their fine char- jacters, a few hundred dollars to jtide them through a few months of ‘stormy weather’. The same jneed is present today, to help 'thousands of deserving and honest Floridians to keep on be- jing good, solvent, taxpaying, community-building citizens. “There is no more crying need, jtinuing and growing indi, and its perpetuation of a state of depression, than there is f i throughout the state wi morally. citi- : ing their f ‘This situation should | women, now on some form of re- | ‘lief, who would not have been! greater insurance against con- | PRICE FIVE CENTS ‘REPORT SCANDINAVIA | IS OFFERING PEACE | PROPOSAL; WOULD | FORM NEW GOVT. (By Associated Pr.an) | LONDON, Dec. 1. -— Russian lenighit was thrown against little ‘Finland in an effort { control of the government but late this afternoon the Finnish | government had not resigned te surrendered the country. to secure Russia made three raids over Helsinki dropping bombs today. Earlier reports which told of mass killings greatly overesti- mated the dead. There are only 75 dead thus far. Thousands of persons are being evacuated from Helsinki. There is some talk of an armis- \tice being signed but thus far |none has been given. A Finnish |delegation working through Scan- |dinavian diplomatic channels is |reported to have a petition on its way. | Soviets’ Navy Active ' Russian navy continues to bombard the Finnish coast néar the mouth of the Gulf of Finland. Finland is making a determined stand, Thus far it has repulsed Severalattemipts “of “Russia “tw ‘make a landing in the country. ‘Finland claims also to have taken /300 Russian prisoners. Just over the Russian border ithere is a government with a ‘socialistic head which is gather- ing its followers to take over the |Finnish government. Russia will undoubtedly extend its socialis- tic government to Finland by | working through this provisional |government. Their propaganda jis to “drive out Finnish over- lords”. . Russian troops are attempting to land through the Karinian Isthmus but thus far have been repulsed. Roosevelt Displeased Roosevelt is greatly displeased with Russia’s action and may recall the American ambassador from Moscow. Thousand of Swedes and Nor- | wegians are going over the Fin- nish border to enlist in the Fin- |nish army. - CRIMINAL COURT IN LIGHT SESSION scat AMANDO FERNANDEZ OR- DERED TO PAY ALIMONY: INSTALLMENT DUE Brief session of Criminal Court . was held this morning at 9:30 o'clock, at, which Judge William V. Albury presided. j County Solicitor Cleare in- formed the court that he had several cases under investiga- |tion, but had not concluded them las yet. He would probably be prepared to make returns in the matters before the end of the | week. |. The judge announced that un- jless $25 was deposited by tomor-_ ‘or (TOW in the court for the support of the wife of Amando Fernan- dez, he would issue an order for this arrest. Fernandez is at present, it is alleged, sick in Mi- ami. There being no further busi- have |ness to come before the court, a recess was taken until tomorrow morning at 9:30 o'clock.