The Key West Citizen Newspaper, June 25, 1954, Page 10

y Drunkometer Test Proves To Be Saver Of Life And Money By BILL SPILLMAN and MARGARET FORESMAN Suppose you have just left a cocktail party or are on your way home after having a “quick one” at a bar or a friend’s house. May- be you run through a stop sign or light or you might step a little heavily on the gas so the little Rawling Trailer Sales 1201 Simonton St. Phone 2-8562 woman won't raise a fuss about your being late. Given these conditions, plus the Presence of a police officer who stops you for the offense you have committed, you may begin to shake in your boots about be- ing booked for driving while in- toxicated. It is in the interest of solving such a question as this— were you or were you not driving a car while under the influence of intoxicating liquor—that the lo- cal police department installed the Harger Drunkometer. Ask For It Under the present system fol- lowed by the «police, if you are taken to the police station under suspicion of being drunk, you may request that the officers give you the Drunkometer test to de- "617 Duval Street RCA - ADMIRAL ZENITH - CROSLEY INSTALLATIONS Aniennas termine the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream. As most people admit, the im- bibing of alcoholic beverages does not necessarily mean that a per- son is drunk. And although the police can, in some cases, tell without much fear of contradic-| | tion, when a man is intoxicated beyond the stage of reason, they are often reluctant to make the charge without evidence. Let us suppose that you, John Doe, have been stopped by the police on your way home as 1e2n- tioned above. You know you aren’t really drunk, but the offi- cer who stopped you can certain- ly smell liquor on ‘your breath. He insists that you go to the po- lice station, an understandable procedure, since if you are really drunk, you are certainly a men- ace to life and property as long as you drive a car. You Have Choice At the station, you tell the desk sergeant that you only had two or three drinks with Joe Doakes on your way home from work, and you don’t know how on earth you overlooked that stop sign. The sergeant will then give you your choice: Since you have ad- mitted taking some drinks, you may take the Drunkometer test. If the test shows less alcohol in your blood stream than the amount required for being booked as drunk, then you will be cited only for failing to obey the traffic sign and perhaps for reckless driving, but the serious charge of “driving while under the influence” will Masts Accessories ‘EASY PAYMENTS Established Dealer OVERSEAS Radio & Appliance Co. PHONE 2-325) 617 DUVAL ST. 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Of course, if you have had more to drink than you admit, you may be in that belligerent stage in which many persons insist on be- ing given the test. Test Proves It In that case, the test will prob- ably show that you are carrying enough alcohol in your blood to be booked as drunk, and then you will answer in court for your foolishness. In cases of this kind, the results of the test are pre- sented in court and they weigh heavily against offenders. If, on the other hand, you de- cline to take the test, then the police officer may charge you according to your offense and you will answer in court the charges he has brought, but without facing the indisputable evidence of the chemical analysis. Those examples are based on the assumption that you are a person in good health who has had a couple or three drinks of liquor. If You Are Sick— Suppose, though, you are not in good health. You may be a vic- tim of a disease which can pro- duce the symptoms of drunkenness, to all outward signs. In that case, the administration of the Drunko- meter test may be a life-saver for you. In fact, patrolman Fred- erick A. Caso, KWPD Drunko- meter expert, has this to say on the subject: “The Drunkometer test has sav- ed many lives. There are about 65 pathological diseases that have the symptoms of drunkenness as far as visual appearance goes.” Formerly, if the police found a man unconscious with the smell of liquor about him, the natural assumption was that the man was a passed-out drunk, and he was likely to be tossed in a cell to sleep it off. In a recent case of this kind in a town on the Florida east coast, a man died in the cell without medical attention, because he was suffering from a disease, not from drunkenness. Test Saves Them Patrolman Jeff Brodhead says that since the introduction of the Drunkometer test here, he has on several occasions sent people to the hospital rather than to a jail cell, when the test showed that being drunk was not their trouble, Patrolman Caso and Lt. Joe (Buster) Cerezo, in explaining the test, pointed out that only quali- fied people can give it legally. Six weeks of instruction must be taken before a diploma showing compe- tence in administering the test can be earned. Local police officers who are qualified to give the test are Caso, Brodhead, Cerezo, Lieutenants Gene Hernandez and “Jimmy” James, and patrolman Armando Perez. The Harger Drunkometer is the most popular of three types of tests available to determine drunkenness. It is accepted by the Florida Police Academy and is approved by the State Board of Education. Simple to Give The mechanics of giving the test are relatively simple, al- though practice and training are required to make a true reading of the results. The test subject is given a bal- loon to blow up. The inflated balloon is then attached to a tube which leads, to a test tube contain- ing a mixture of 10 cc’s of sulph- uric acid and one cc of potassium permanganate. The air from the balloon is forced gently into tthe test tube, and if there is 1.69 per cent of alcohol in the breath, the solution turns a pinkish shade. Mf the pink hue appears, the corroborating | F Police Officers Demonstrate Test Operation CHIEF BIENVENIDO PEREZ watches as Patrolman Jeff Brodhead, seated, shows how the Har- ger Drunkometer test is concluded after the subject has blown up the balloon. (See story below.) —Citizen Staff Photo, Sybil. officer administering the test knows that you are in the bracket which can be legally considered to be drunk. He refers then to a volume tank, which measures the exact percentage of alcohol in the breath being tested, and this percentage is recorded in the re- Port of the case which he writes up. Attention to Results Lt. Cerezo brought ‘out the fact that at times the percentage read- ing appears to be too high for the physical state of the person being tested, and in case of this kind medical observation of the per- son is secured also. Police department members here feel that the ‘‘Drunkometer” has more than paid for itself dur- ing the nearly three years it has been in use in Key West. The device cost the city about $385. The average fine for druok driv- test. He had what he considered aM average amount of drinks of ing in city court is $45 and $5‘ court costs, besides the manda- tory loss of driver's license which goes with the : conviction. Besides the ill persons, there- fore, who have been brought to medical’ atttention when they were found to be suffering from some cause other than drunken- ness, many lives have no doubt been saved because of the accidents which have been avoided by tak- ing drunk drivers off the streets. Spillman Checks In gathering background mater- ial for this article, Bill Spillman made a personal check on the ac- curacy of the Drunkometer Bill Collectors Report Light Take On Phenix City Rounds Marathon Fair Program Is Completed Plans are now completed for the four days and nights of events at Marathon’s Community Fair which opens Friday afternoon, July 2, and continues through Monday, July 5. The schedule for the fair is packed with events and at- tractions including a gala street parade with blaring brass bands, fireworks, boat races, big stage revues, exhibits, contests, style shows and a childrens field day. The 75-piece Sonar School Navy Band will head the big street pro- cession Friday afternoon by some twenty gorgeous floats, drill units, imported cars, baton twillers and other brass bands including the Douglass High School band of Key West. The parade is scheduled to start at 4:30 p. m, One of the most amazing per- formers in the big stage revue is lithe and petite Miss Carol. This slip of a miss is one of the most accomplished acrobatic dancers of her time and was personally train- ed by Ben Hassan of the world famed acrobatic troup featured with Ringling Bros. She can leap into the air from a standing po- sition and execute a complete back somerasult with a full twist. Other featured performers are The Sensational Georgians, roli boli marvels; Bob Ketrow, the in- ebriated equilibrist; Natacha, beautiful feminine exponent of blues; The Floradettes, three girls in precision dancing perfection; Teresa Rosa Murray, famous ac- cordion virtuoso; The Great John- son and Co., thrilling high perch artists and others. Performances will be presented every afternoon and evening in the big exhibition tent along with style shows and amateur events, Boat races will be run Saturday after- noon and Sunday afternoon and there is dancing Friday and Sat- urday evenings, Fireworks will be presented Sunday night. The child- Ten’s field events are scheduled for Monday. The big midway of rides, shows and attractions will be in full swing every afternoon and night of the four-day affair. The popularity contest is com- ing down the stretch with fourteen girls bunched so closely it is dif- ficult to tell at this time who is in the lead. One tiny species of beetle lives on a diet of cayenne pepper. By REX THOMAS PHENIX CITY, Ala, ) — Bill collectors for a big Georgia furni- ture store took in only $2 from their usual rounds in Phenix City the day after racket-busting A. L. Patterson was slain. The long-simmering cauldron of vice had boiled over into gangster- like violence at last in a compla- cent community where gambling, liquor and Prostitution were the most flourishing industries. Its people, stunned into reality and afraid of the future, were holding onto their money “until we find out what we're going to do.” A feeling of desperation was evi- dent throughout the once carefree city of 23,000 where soldiers from nearby Ft. Benning, Ga., came each night to lounge in the girlie bars and gamble away their pay. Georgia authorities couldn’t reg- ulate the vice dens and Alabama didn’t control them, except at in- tervals when the lid came down and then gradually lifted again. Phenix City is closed again now, tighter than ever. And Gov. Gor- don Persons has vowed to keep it that way — at least until he leaves office next J: ry. One immediate effect, the gov- ernor hopes, may be to <‘starve out” the killer who gunned Patter- son to death last Friday night be- fore he could take office as at- torney general and begin the vice cleanup he had promised. The gamblers and the vice lords have been hit hard by the clamp- down, enforced by National Guardsmen, and the “off limits” signs posted around the city for soldiers from Ft. Benning. One gambler alone complained that the loss of business was cost- ing him $1,000 a day. Prostitutes fled across the Chat- tahoochee River into Columbus, Ga., but authorities there ordered them out. As far away as Mont- gomery, 85 miles to the west, the city commission ordered a vice shakedown to keep the girls on the move. But there is a far more ominous cloud hovering over this Chatta- hoochee River town. Its entire economy may fall apart. Alton V. Foster, the Chamber of Commerce manager who ical test. But he ad are so drunk that you are sure you’re sober, you should think twice before you submit to so ac- curate a judge as the Harger Drunkometer. ing the depression and ‘stayed in receivership 15 years. In 1952, ‘Phenix City’s munici- pal income was $649,679, and one way or another, gambling and its kindred vices accounted for nearly one-half of the total tax receipts, White and Colors $1.25 up SPORT SHIRTS . from ‘2% WALKING SHORTS . from #3" For a holiday weekend, for summer vacation, and for all- year wear... you'll find Lewinsky’s has what you need in nationally known, high quality men’s wear... Whether you shop for a com- plete wardrobe or for a handkerchief, you'll find it here. Page 10 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Friday, June 25, 16 —sae Operation Has Saved Girl’s Life MINNEAPOLIS (9 — Pamela Schmidt, well and happy once more, tonight was more interested in her fifth birthday, coming July 9, than in the fact she was the subject of a heart shown on millions of the nation’s televi- sion screens. “She's playing just like any oth- er little girl,” said her mother, Mrs. Ronald Schmidt, last night. “But we can hardly believe that | |last year about tals time she was given only six months to a year to live, After a checkup the doc- For A Quick Loan $25 TO $300 et 4 Printing... Embossing Engraving ... Rubber Stamps tors are making shortly after the first of the month, they expect all restrictions on her activities will be lifted. “That's why Pamela is so happy because she can ride her tricycle again for her birthday.” Servicemen’s Special $1.00 Day PRINCE GEORGE HOTEL 101] FIFTH STREET Miami Beach, Fla. 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