The Key West Citizen Newspaper, February 16, 1953, Page 1

Key West, Florida, has ' the most equable climate in the couniry, with on average gaige of only 14° Pabrenheit City’s Revenue VOL. LXXIV. Receipts Show Twenty-Six Percent Drop Off Last Month’s Collection Rate Healthy September ‘Fax Collections €ause Drop, Report Says Here Today A 26 per cent drop in the City’s revenue ‘receipts was irdicated to- day when City Finance Director Charles Roberts released his monthly financial report. Total re- ceipts of $83,207.87 represented a drop of 12 per cent when compared with the same period in 1951, Reason for the drop, Roberts said, were the healthy tax col- lections during the month of Sep- tember, when the current tax rollg were opened. A total in- crease of $36,225.12 in tax money came into the city during Sep- tember, 1952 than in the pre- vious year resulting in a drop in the January tax payments. At.the same time, disbursements for general operations and capital expenditures show an increase of 34.27 percent vhen compared with Janyary 1952 disbursements . and an increase of 42.26 per-cent when compared with similar expendi- tures. in January, 1951. Current charges to the Cigarette ‘Tax Fund includes marl purchased for. street improvements on. ‘ eorge Street and the purchase of a new Caterpillar tractor for use in the city dumps. In addition, the emount of $25,500 was transferred ro the interest and sinking funds ia accordance with State Law. During the month under review, 2 U.S, Treasury 2% per-cent bond im tae amount of $10,000 was pur- «ceed for pension fund invest- sAcrts purposes. : “Th. city’s cash “halapee “at oof of Jahuaiy rose to $540,206.63 n-fund investment sury bonds rose to 20. eg Pine Man shuired When v Cashes “Mil Odh*n, B'z Pine Key, sui- ‘| lacevations of the ear and | e when *‘s car wert off the! ty at Little Torch Key | y right, the Sheriff's of-/ egoriod today. fhacm was ‘to ‘be discharged yea Monras General hospital to- | w after tveatment there, The ‘dent e:ne about when Odham | fled over to the side . of the } G to avoid another car. i + Mrs. Brothers of Little Torch | y carried Odbam to the hos- tal in hor station wagon. It ‘as en route to investigate this » seident that Deputy Sherfif Jeff vodhead’s car was smashed into | hy. another. Extent of the damage to Od “am’s ear was not ascertained a: ‘The Citizen went to press. Dr. Hayes Back ‘rom Dentists’ t charges in | said Seas City Commission |To Meet Tonight The City Commission will hold a regular meeting to- night in the city hall, sched- uled to get underway st 8:00 Knight Says Blasts Are Watthed By’ Conservation Biologist Dynamiting off Mud and Lower | Harbor Keys last Thursday was definitely the Gulf Oil testing boats at” work, not. commercial fishermemy~State Conservation agent Joe Knight said today. Knight said that he checked with Gulf Oil officials who said it was their vessels plying in.the area. that day. night said that H. H: Stearns, conservation “expert, who accom- panies Gulf dynamiting crews. who are checking this area for fotma- tions that indicate oil, is hired ‘by Gulf to insure that charges are not too large. _ Though . commercial. fisherm: have complained to’ Knight’ about dynamiting, the State Consefva- tion Board’ is powerless to control the waters, Knight said. Permit for dynamiting the waters off Key West and the Keys comes from the U. S. Government, Knight was told when State Re- presentative Bernie Papy carried the fishermen’s complaints to Tal- lahassee. As to the effect of the two to four months dynamiting on fish- | ing around here, Knight said: “Gulf éould kill a lot of fish in some areas, but it all depends where they blast. The Navy kills; fish when it sets off depth charges and hand grenades. Even construc- tion off Roosevelt Boulevard last THE No. 40 KEY WEST, FLORIDA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1953 IN REPLY TO RUMORS, apparently instituted by disgruntled Texans, that their city of Brownsville is in reality the southernmost in the nation, Chamber of Commerce employees»Joan Olson (left) and Harold Laubscher point to the positions of the cities on the map. Mrs. Olson has her finger on the Texas city while Laubscher indicates the point where Key. West would be—if the map were extended far enough south. Key West is almost one hundred miles south of Brownsville—and lies almost directly south of Cleveland, Ohio, 185 miles south of Cairo, Egypt. Hassle started when notice claimed title for Texas City.—Citizen Staff, Photo, Flying Over The Everglades. |USO Building Shows River Of Grass Beauty. Rod & Gun Club Climaxes Town Of Everglades BY SUSAN MCAVOY A little more than one hour away by air is an entirely different world from the Keys. The Everglades National Park and the little town of Everglades seem completely remote from Key West in appearance and atmos- phere Saturday at 2 p.m. I-was at busy Faraldo’s Flying Service, Mea- chan Field, Saturday at 3:07 p. m. we land- ed on the air ‘strip at Everglades, and were taken on a tour of the town of 625 souls by Alvin Gerish, airport manager and affable guide. Everglades has. tall, indigenous Royal Palm trees which line the unpaved streets. It has the deep, navigable Barron River, which winds in from Chokoloskee Bay and provides anchorage for pri-! vate yachts, commercial fishing boats, and tenders, | precaution to spare the fish popu- |Wiekers Field Is year killed millions of baby craw- fish out there. These things can't be helped.” Knight may accompany the Gulf expeditions to observe their methods. For the present, he is assured that Gulf crews use every The Barron River was named, | of course, after pioneer developer of Everglades, Barron Collier, whose name still dominates the little community and the county which bears his name. { We landed at the 2500 ft. air strip at Everglades after flying over the | “River of Grass” as the Ever-! glades is known in Majorie Stone- | man Douglas’ famous book. lation off the Keys. Chicazo Clinic Dr, John B. Hayes has just re- | turned from the mid-winter Chi- | cago dental clinic, one of the out- | standing gatherings of dentists in} be nation. Dr. Hayes and seven other den- “ists from Florida observed de. monstrations and heard lectures | an the new developments in den- | aristry in techniques and equip- ment in the past year Autos Are Rifled §+ Thieves Here The automobiles of three win- ver visitors were rifled Saturday ight by sneak thieves who broke i Target Of Thieves, Keeping to the West Coast and | the rather muddy colored water | I looked east to the golden fields | of saw grass. The entire coast is | Thieves who entered a conces- ‘Sunday To The | ° 2 1e ‘Maine Victims | Scores Gather In City Cemetery To | .Honor Memory Of Havana Heroes Scores of Key Westers and win- ter visitors gathered yesterday af- ternoon at the USS Maine Plot in the city cemetery to pay solemn | tribute to the memory of 200 vic- tims of the sinking of that vessel | in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. Under sunny skies, with the massed flags of Key West veterans’ and patriotic groups, the throng} heard Chaplain Ray C, Tindall of the Naval Base eulogize the mem- ory of the dead herces who pe- rished in the mysterious sinking of the battleship which precipitated the Spanish American War. Tindall pointed out the historic date as a “tragic day in Ameri- can history.” “These men died serving their | country nobly and well and their r fer vouse which will launch the newly | memory stands as a pi those who leve America,’ dall said. The Key West High School band Tin Is:Completed. Of Equipment, Furnishings Taking Place The USO Club Operating com- mittee -unanimously commended ; M.-E. Bennett Construction com- Pany for its work on the clubhouse at Jackson Square, at the monthly meeting held last Friday. Bennett and his sub-contractors | have been performing the renova- | tions in such a way that a full schedule of activities has gone on during the work. Offices of USO club officials, the lounge, snack | bar, kitchen and locker room have already been completed, Building | Committee chairman Dave King | reported. | The large recreation hall lacks only the completion. of flooring. A i machine was going full tilt today buzzing off the old finish and laying bare the clean surface underneath. : Construction part of the contract is now completed. Installation of new equipment and furnishing of the snack bar by USO Building Services will take place as soon } 3 goods" on order arrive. Elaborate plans for the open senovated USO building are being j made by the program committee, jhieaded by Mrs. Juanita Kovash. indented by a series of rivers. | furnished a musical backdrop fer| Circuit Court Judge’ Aquilino Lo- sion stand at the Wickers Field | Best known to fishermen of the | the affair which was presided over | Pez, Jr., Mis. Mary Lee Graham Stadium over the weekend re- ceived nothing for their efforts, it was reported by police today. Officer Fernando Stirrup said | heaves will start running soon. At Lostman’s River we flew | over the National Park nor ai | that as he-was checking the sta-|Station manned by Everglades | dium yesterday, he found the front | pioneer, Barney Parker. Farther | gate ajar and investigation re-| on up was a little circular island, of Arthur Sawyer Post 28, Ameri- can Legion. Judson Stephens, Sawyer Post Chaplain, offered a stirring prayer to the memory of the Maine vic- Keys is Shark River, where the | by Vance C. Stirrup, Commander} 40d Capt. Harold Payson are ‘= this committee with Miss Doro- thy Rath; program chairman. | Treasurer Joe’ Pinder reported | National USO ‘udget reductions will not have any“immediate ef- vealed that a lock on the door; Chokoloskee with its scattered |tims followed by a brief address/ fect on Key West activities. The Che Key West Citize SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER IN THE U.S.A. The Associated Press Teletype Features and Photo Services, For 73 Years Devoted to the Best Interests of Key West Good Times In Monroe County Shown By Large Bank Deposits In 1952 Savings Here Exceed Those Dastardly Plot Against City Is Revealed Here Chamber Of Commerce Denies Texan’s Claim That Key West Doesn’t Rate Southernmost Title BY JIM COBB Chicanery is afoot in the form of an attempt, apparently on the Part of an unidentified Texan, to separate Key West from its right- ful title of Southernmost City in the United States, Western Union employees Paul Moore and Dick Stedman uncover- belief that Key West has been claiming the title under false pre- tenses when they discovered the following typewritten notice nailed to the side of the small shack maintained by that company on the beach at the foot of Whitehead | ¥2, 3953, ‘ “Tain’t so,” said © Cham! of Commerce president Earl Adams this morning, “that is just a typi- cal Texas tall tale. Unless Browns- ville has been moved south, Key West is the southernmost.” Adams denied ig ad that the notice was an 1 Chamber release. “As a matter of fact,” he continued, “the very spot where it was posted, happens to be southernmost spot in the nation.” Chamber officials shuddered to- day when they considered the damage to Key West’s national re- putation since hundreds of tourists daily flock to the spot where the fraudulent notice was posted. Tehy fear that many vill be led to be- lieve that Key West is resting on false laurels. Chamber of Commerce manager Harold Laubscher provided a pos- sible clue to the possible identity of the persons who might have committed the act when he report- ed that a couple of Texans strolled into his office one day last week and blandly asserted that “Key West is not the southernmost city.” They chose Brownsville as the logical claimant for the honor and Laubscher, ever the diplomat, | went along with their story. “We've got to humor these Tex- ." he pointed out. A cheek with Sam Goldsmith at the Weather Bureau revealed that Brownsville lies at longitude 25- degrees, 54-minutes and seven sec- (Continued On Page Two) Man Is Arrested After Accident | ans, leading to the concession stand | houses on stilts, and its numerous had been broken to gain entrance. | piers reaching out into the water. A check by Manuel Acevedo,| The Ten Thousand Islands came owner of the concession stand, re-| into view next lvoking from the vealed that pothing was taken, ir as though ‘they had been however. shaped by cookie cutters. Final- Police theorize that the thieves iy the town of Everglades appear-} were surprised in their effort to'ed. We looked or the landing make off with a quantity of mer- ; strip. 1 thought the Tamiami trail-; chandise there. a long sand colored road was it by Mrs. Vanessa Saunders, Presi- | dent of VFW Auxiliary Unit 3911. | After Tindail’s address, floral offerings to the memory of the ; Maine victims were presented by | }the Key West Chapter, Gold Star | Mothers; the Disabled American War Veterans Post 33; the San; B. H. MeCalla Camp No. 5, Spanish War Vet- erans; VFW Post 3911 and their Carlos Institute smaller contributions to the United! Albert B. Crombie, 2-B Arthur Defense fund which collect for |Sawyer Road, was arrested oh USO and other agencies was held/three separate charge: Saturday for lower budgeting by | night, following an accident which the national. |cent a local woman to the hos- Chairman of the Operating Com-_, pital, police said today mittee Edwin Trevor and Execu- An automobile driven by Crom: tive Secretary of the club, Richard bie smashed into the rear of vans -were named delegates to/|car operated Sy George F. “Jeff” annual Southern Area meeting of the YMCA to be held | Monroe County Deputy Sheriff. In Most Other Parts Of U.S. , (Special to the Citizen) Savings were at a high level in Monroe County dur- ing the past year, exceeding the “nest-egg” gains record- ed in most other parts ef the country. The findings, a barometer of good times, are based on a report just released by the Federal Reserve System, showing bank deposits in every county in the United States as of the end of the last fiscal year. Hope Crash Victims Finding Of Fourth Life Raft Empty Ends Hope Of Finding Survivors 46 persons aboard was found empty today “apparently ending all hope for survivors.” Three other liferafts--all empty-- were found bobbing on the choppy waters yesterday by an armada of planes and ships that combed the wate: The Coast Guard said the fourth raft was recovered “accounting for all of the rafts and apparently end- ing any hope for survivors.” The raft had never been inflated. Only a remote possibility was held by the Coast Guard that any survivors would be found aboard the fourth raft. The Coast Guard said even if survivors had managed to get on bod i at that the rough waters have probably washed them overboard. The ill-fated four-engined plane, flying in 100-mile-per-hour winds, was en route from Tampa, Fla., to New Orleans when it crashed last Saturday afternoon less than five minutes from possible safety. MIAMI —The following Flori- dans were passengers aboard the National Airlines plane which crashed in the Gulf of Mexico Sat- urday on a flight from Tampa to New Orleans: Crew members: Capt. Ernest A. Springer, 46, Coral Gables; Co- pilot C. T. Stettner, 38, Miam! Engineer Edward B. Campion, 38, Miami Springs; Stewardess Betty Paucom, 2), Miami; and Steward- ess Lillian Blameuser, 28, Miami Springs. Passengers: Second Lt. Richard H. Shaddick dr. 22, Coral Gables Mrs. Earl Loomis, Miami i | Mrs. Alfred C. Bergman, 61, St. | Petersburg former wife of the late ilall discussing the trend, states: ‘For the individual and for society as a whole, savings of the present size and wide distribution. . .sym- bolize a further extension of both protection and potential purchas- ing power.” Bar Owner’s Trial request of Imburgia's attorney. Defense Dept. Bid year was rejected in full today the House Appropriations Commit- tee. The committee said the de partment should use available funds to finance the programs for which the new money had Most of the new money i, Pilot Ed Gibson, however, spot- NOTICE }ted the little strip wn the edge of | town and of the water. | Au Masons are invited It looked so smail from the air to be — Rite Temple this ‘hat I demurred about landing evening. commencing at €:30 there. Before I could make my the rear windows on them but all they got for their efforts were two irs of binoculars, police said to- ice were called to the Santa Gara Motel, 621 Truman Avenue | February 19-21. |_ Police reported that the Brod-| se ‘| Present at the meeting besides head vehicle was parked headed | the above mentioned members|ezst on Roosevelt Blvd. when! | were Capt. Ralph Spaulding U. S. | Crombie’s car struck it. They said | a ie Dr. John B. Hayes %277, 7c 00% Corian ka | BUILDING in (Continued On Page Two} that skid marks, 37 feet in length @ investigate the robbery where @ey found automobiles owned by @, D. Rhodes, Indianapolis, India- “ge Anthony Rao, New Britain, @ennecticut and Oscar E. Douglas, Milwaukee, Wisconsin with windows through had apparently 1 Soriano found twe sepewdrivers on the seat of one of (Continued On Page Two) ms a Ape wishes emphatic, however, Ed Ropes se an — was flying im over te field and grees will be conferred on a “¢ landed on the bard surtace class*of 8. a Alvin Gerish, Everglades air- The second section which will port manager greeted us and fill- be simplified ‘mn full dramatic ei the tank with gas | form will get underway at 8 He drove us into town in} o'clock. his car and showsd us the charm; % J MONTGOMERY. w.x, ing community. Gerish said be! Gerald Adams. Sec‘y. accked his way south from New) —— (Continued On Page Two) Announces ... the Changing of His Present Location to 516 Fleming Street ‘Honor Society |Meets Tonight held at the Fleming St. Methodist [were observed at the scene. | Brodhead’s wife was rushed to the Monroe General Hospital where it was feared that she was suffer- jing from a broken neck. However, | X-rays revealed oo serious injury ind she was later released. Police officer Robert Garrison ing an accident and driving while Beautiful Coral Reef | Estate EXTRA LARGE AND FILLED |SEVERAL WATERFRONT LOTS | i | Chorch tonight at 7:30 p.m. The imtosicated. He will appear CHARLEY TOPPING & SONS ipvited. public is Wewtipal court day. i