The Key West Citizen Newspaper, May 26, 1954, Page 1

Key West, Florida, has the most equable climate country, with an range of only 14° Fahrenheit VOL. LXXV No. 125 | Bill Neblett Win in the je The Kev THE SOUTHERNMOST i KEY WEST, FLO _ How Monroe County Vote In Second Primary UNOFFICIAL RETURNS ee LERTTETTE ~ Governor— COLLINS 6 JOHNS .______229 State Senator— FRANKLIN NEBLETT County Commissioner, District Two— BENTLEY —_._____147 FREEMAN, JR. ——_____.210 161 156 sd od » wn o J a7 198 122 168 2 133 73 122087 12440 137 246.130 «230 106 62. iss 8h 7 184 ua 173 4 M4 195 136 169 bd 154 132-8 132 245126 Collins Wins Gubernatorial Nomination By 67,000 Votes City Of Key West Is In Fine Heavily Populated Areas Go Strongly For McCarty Fri By THE ASSOCIATED , Financial Shap, to The Ci- friend and support-| Memorial Day the late governor, January Inaugural He will take office in January, barring an unprecedented and ex- tremely unlikely defeat by Repub- Jican J. Tom Watson of Tampa in the November general election, Johns, who is acting governor because he is state Senate presi- dent, will retain his Senate seat. He said he stands ready to co- operate “in apy way I can” to make Collins’ administration a success. Collins, Tallahassee lawyer and veteran legislator who spoke out for such things as greater legis- lative representation for the larg- er counties, won largely on the strength of healthy majorities in Miami and other lower east coast urban areas plus the heavily pop- ulated Tampa Bay area, 43 Johns’ Counties Johns carried 43 of the 67 coun- ties, mostly in north Florida, but too few of them packed the kind of voting power needed to cut sub- stantially into Collins’ big down- state margin. Brailey Odham, who was elimi- mated in the first primary and threw his support fo Collins—ap- Parently with great effect—said he was “very happy” at the outcome (Continued on Page Eight) DR. JOSEPH J. GROOM EYE SPECIALIST, M.D. Will Be Here For Consultation On SATURDAY, MAY 29 For Appointments CALL—DR. J. A. VALDES PHONE 2-782] won by votes in the Democratic run- Rites Named Father James J. McEnaney, S. J., St. Mary’s Star ef the Sea Catholic Chureh, will be the principal speaker at the annual Memorial Day exercis- es scheduled for Sunday at 3 Pp. m. at the Gold Star Monu- ment, Bayview Park, Bethel P. Johnsen, Pest Commander ef Arthur Sawyer Post 28, Amer- lcan Legion, announced today. All veteran groups in the city have been invited te partici- pate. The Key West High Schoo! Band will alse be in attendance at the program, Pictured In June Magazine Ed Ciesinski, of 504 Simonton St., a Key West: diver, is pictured in Os June issue.of Scenic Scouth as e captured a huge sting ray with his hands, Three photos show Ciesinski as he captures the big ray. The pic- tures were made in Nassau when Ciesinski was working on the mov- ie, “12 Mile Reef.” Ciesinski recently made under- water movies and stills for the University of Miami marine lab- oratory, These pictures were made off Key West in the ship channel. Cie- sinski was taking pictures of bot- tom growth for the laboratory. At the sea buoy, Ciesinski dove to 126 feet. He said he found only mud on the bottom there but on the way down, at about 70 feet, he said there were plenty of fish. PAA Plane Makes Emergency Stop A Pan American World Airways ‘plane landed safely at Boca Chica Naval Air Station at 8:49..a. m. today when one of its two engines failed, There. were 23 passengers and three crewmen aboard the Convair bound from Havana to a Bowen Says €n said in an interview than expected. Bowen gave as an example General Revenue Fund. It had Fund Receipts In a breakdown of the general Tevenue fund receipts, fines are estimated to be $2,000 more than at first expected, and parking meter receipts will be approximately $2,700 more than previously thought. At the end of April the city had in cash, deposited in several ac- counts, a total of $1,241,130.32. This total included money for sewer Projects. Craig pointed out that a fund to fix up Garrison Bight had hardly been touched. When queried about a possible increase in pay for the police de- partment in the new budget, Bow- en said that he had heard nothing officially about it. Possible Pay Raise Tt has been rumored that a 25 per cent increase in pay for police is forthcoming in the new budget. City Manger Victor Lang men- tioned that additions to the pre- sent budget such as city hall re- modeling, the building of a fish- ing pier, and building of a gar- (Continued on Page Eight) False Alarm Creates Early AM. Activity The Fire Department answered a false alarm at 4 a. m. Police Officer Santana said that when he answered the phone in the police station an excited voice told him that there was a fire in back of the Habana Madrid, -a night club at the foot of Duval Street. | The man on the other end of the line said that he had tried to put it out himself but it was out of rey He identified himself as “Jim.” Santana said that he thought it was “Big Jim” owner of the night club. Santana turned in the alram. Fire Stations number 1 and 3 andswered the call. The Navy also sent one unit. with 88 6221 375258 [ ii - ~ 106 207 148 (223 1s] 125 73 122, 2205 170, 3148 Conventions Publicity, Revenue Are Derived From - Carolina Aero Club was spon- sored by the Chamber, and will re: turn to Key West aga‘n. This year’s convention was the second time the flyers had convened in Key West. The Chamber also sent sea shell, souvenirs to the annual meeting of the BPO Does to help the local group “‘sell” the organization on the idea of a Key West convention. Presbytery Te Meet The South Florida { will meet here in October, with the First Presbyterian Church as host. Convention will bring ov- er 200 delegates from South Flo- rida. The Chamber assisted the lo- cal church with their efforts to se- cure the meeting. The Chamber also announced that a rack of city directories of various major cities will be instal- led in the office through an ar- Tangement with the Johnson Pub- lishing Company, publishers of the new Key ‘West directory. The Chamber also has available the telephone directories of 35 major cities. This service has proven very helpful to members of the Key West Chamber and to the community. Office Hours Told The Chamber of Commerce of- fice will remain ‘open on Thurs- day afternoons until after 2:00 | P. m. because of the conducted tours of the Naval Station. It has been customary in the past to close at noon on Thursdays in observ- ance of the summer half-holiday. During .the last four months a est Cilisen WEDNESDAY, MAY. 26, 1954 s State S NEW SENATOR—William R. Neblett, Key West attorney, and (NEWSPAPER IN THE USA. 5 4 2 iG full. a's BX \ 7 as 2 his wife, Doris, are all smiles on the morning after. Neblett scored a heavy win over incumbent James A. Franklin, of Ft. Myers, to become the first state senator from Monroe County in 16 years—Citizen Staff Photo, Arrington. ‘Trends’ Shows |Coach Davis Plans To Appeal Benefit From Traffic Case To Circuit Court , Lively City Court Session Ends In “Fine For Defendant By BILL SPILEMAN Judge Enrique Esquinaldo fined vis, Key West High School Immediately after the trial, Dav- is post $30 in cash to the city clerk for appeal bond. The case will be appealed to the circuit court. Police Sergeant Frank Carabal- lo testified that on the day fhe charge against Davis originated he had been ordered to go to the La Concha Hotel to prevent parking and traffic congestion during a dinner given to start off the Armed Forces Day celebration. He said that it was raining and he observed Davis’s car angle parked in front of the hotel in a yellow section. He said the car was blocking the entrance and was parked too close to the corner. Parking Ticket Given A parking ticket was immediate- ly filled out and placed on the wiadshield of the car, Caraballo related. He said that after several minutes he came back to the car and saw that the ticket was miss- ing. The ticket was found in back of the car torn up. He said that he asked Davis where the ticket was and Davis answered, “‘What ticket?” Police Lt. Joe (Buster) Cerezo ar- rived on the scene at this time and told Caraballo to take him down to pay the ticket, Caraballo re- lated. Davis was ordered to drive to the police station to pay the parking fine. Caraballo said he got in the car and Davis drove down Duval Street toward the police station. Drove Recklessly Caraballo testified that Davis drove in a reckless manner down {Duval and that he told him to take total of 6,481 visitors called at the ‘it easy. Chamber desk. This is an average of 67 tourists per day. In addition to receiving information each visi-) tor is handed an average of 3 pieces of Key West literature, The average interview requires five minutes, The Chamber invited ho- tel and motel keepers, public offi- cial and others to call on the Chamber for answers to inquiries about Key West. Parade Help A total of 66 firms contributed (Continued on Page Eight) ! The officer said that Davis was doing 35 and 40 miles per hour. Caraballo said at this point, Cerezo pulled along side with the police wagon and blew the siren. Davis stopped and wa’ ordered out of the police car by Cerezo and told to get into the front seat of the po- lice wagon, A passenger in Davis’s car was asked if he would drive the car on |} ~ to the station. Caraballo related that the man said he could not (Continued On Page Eight) THANK YOU MY FRIENDS and NEIGHBORS for your vote and confidence which ELECTED ME as your STATE SENATOR. I will try to merit your confidence by serving YOU. BILL NEBLETT. Plane Boun annaires pere Minor repairs to- the tail assem- bly delayed the flight of a Vul- tee L-13 plane enroute to Spanish Honduras at Meacham Field early Wednesday morning. The plane will be used by Taxis Aereos, a charter plane service in Tegucigalpa, Spanish Honduras, to fly mercy missions into the inter- ior and to small fields where there is no regular air service. The plane is the same type used by the U. S. Army for front line liaison work. Army Surplus Plane Ben Thomas, 28 years old chief pilot of the charter plane corpora- tion, took delivery of the Army sur- plus plane in Miami. He was ac- companied by Jim Waiters, Willys- Jeep representative in Spanish Honduras who “flies for fun.” Thomas, a former resident of Miami, has been in Honduras for four years. He said that the plane would be adapted in Honduras for use as a charter ambulance. He also said that “there is real need for a plane of this type — espe- ay. after the weekend or a holi- y.” The company operates four planes in their charter service. The men expect to leave Key West as soon as the repairs are made. It will take them approxi- mately 8 hours flying time to reach Tegucigalpa, with a refuel- ing stop in British Honduras. the air without refueling. The S PRICE FIVE CENTS te Race Local att prney Unseats Veteran; Freeman Wins Commission Post By DENIS SNEIGR For the first time in 16 years, a Key Wester will be in the state senate. Bill Neblett’s resounding victory in yesterday’s sec- ond primary unseated the veteran James A. Franklin and returns a Monroe County man to Tallahassee ‘in the upper house. It was Neblett’s first try for any political office. “Tt am an amateur,” he said today. “Not any more, you're not,” this reporter told him. “Not after the whopping ‘\lead you piled up yester- day.” But in a more serious vein, Neb- lett had this to say in connection “T greatly appreciate the vote of conficence given me, especially in Monroe County. Especially do I want to thank my friends and the volunteer workers who got the peo- ple to the polls. It always has been my feeling that if enough people go to the polls, you really see the will of the people.” Bentley Is Out The election also saw another change for Monroe County. Incumbent Frank Bentley was upset by young William A. Free- man, Jr., in the run for county commissioner in the second dis- trict. Bentley was at the county court house last night as the returns came in to the office of Sam Pin- der, supervisor of registration. “You can’t win ’em all,” Bent- ley grinned as* Freeman’s lead piled up. Freeman ts Grateful Today, Freeman had this states ment on his win: aa, Mag, * “I want to thank ‘the Voters from the ‘bottom of my heart. Being elected to the county commission is an honor that comes to very few persons of my age. (Freeman is 25). I particularly want to ex- press my appreciation for the nice turnout of voters yesterday.” Unlike most of the state, Acting Governor Charley E. Johns carried Monroe County, racking up 2,840 votes to Le Roy Collins’ 2,472. In, (Continued on Page Eight) General Electric Layoffs Foreed By Budget Cut General Electric reported today that they are laying off 17 people. Station Supervisor, R. P. Haviland said the layoffs were in general | line with reduced defense budgets throughout the country. He also stated that dismissal naturally re- presents a reduction of GE work in this area. General Electric has offices and shops on Craig dock at the Naval, Station annex. The local facilities work in connection with develop- mental test of ASW equipment. Haviland said that most of the people effected have succeeded in finding new permanent employ- ment. Air Station at Lakehurst. N. J.. at 5:35 a.m. May 17.—Citizen Staff Photo, Arrington. x hL_—S Unofficial Tally For State Race Unofficial returns from the four counties comprising the 24th Senatorial District gave Neblett, 8,395 votes and Frank- lin, 7,443. In Monroe County it was Neb- lett, 3,409 and Franklin, 1,794; in Lee County: Neblett, 3,177 and Franklin, 3,570; in. Hendry County: Neblett, 733, Franklin, 923; in Collier County, Neblett, 1,076 and Franklin, 1,359. Disaster Toll May Hit 100 USS Bennington ~-Makes. Port After Explosions, Fite QUONSET, R.I. (@ — About 100 men died and 220° were injured early today in two explosions and a fire aboard the aireraft carrier Bennington as she cruised along the eastern coastline. Several hours after the Navy had announced that 79 were killed and 220 injured, the ship’s skipper, Capt. William F. Raborn Jr., told newsmen that “about 100” were killed. The craft came into this port shortly after noon today, her decks lined with tired crewmen, their faces blackened by smoke. Ens. Robert Grant of Brooklyn, N.Y., his own ankles bleeding, told newsmen “‘all I can say is, God T’'m lutky to be alive.” He was di- recting the evacuation of the cas- ualties as he spoke. Explosion Described Grant estimated the first of two explosions occurred about 6:15 a.m. today. He said: “I was in the forward hangar bay when I heard general quarters alarm sounded. I listened for a moment and suddenly it dawned on me that there was no report that this was a drill.” The disaster probably was one of the worst in Naval peacetime history, There were 178 men miss- ing or killed in 1952 in a mid-Atlan- tie collision between the destroyer Hobson and the carrier Wasp. A Shift of helicopters carried many of the seriously injured ashore to the. Newport Naval Hos- pital across the bay from here as the 32,000-ton Essex. class carrier moved toward port. _ There was no immediate explana- tion of the explosions but one re- Port said high octane gas was in- 4| volved. Grant said the fire evidently was caused by two explosions, one be- fore the general quarters alarm was sounded and one afterward. Sees Men Vanish Grant said: “Five guys went to the hatch and I saw them pulling on it. Suddenly a terrific explo- sion shook the ship and blew the (Continued On Page Yight) CITY COMMISSION TO MEET AT 5 P.M. A special meeting of the city commissioners has been called by the city manager to contigue dis- cussion of the Poinciana Housing Negotiation. The meeting will be held at 5 p. m. today. ALL BUILDING TRADES FLOCK TO Strunk Lumber 120 Simonton St., near Coca Cola