The Key West Citizen Newspaper, June 30, 1954, Page 4

Page views left: 0

You have reached the hourly page view limit. Unlock higher limit to our entire archive!

Subscribers enjoy higher page view limit, downloads, and exclusive features.

Text content (automatically generated)

Page 4 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Wednesday, June 30, 1¥54 The Key West Citizen Published daily ( ° P daily except Sunday) from The Citizen Building, corner of Only Daily Newspaper in Key West and Monroe County L. P. ARTMAN, Editor and Publisher 1921 - 1954 NORMAN D. ARTMAN Editor and Publisher Entered at Key West, Florida, as Second Class Matter TELEPHONES 2-5661 and 2-5662 Momber of The Associated Press—The Associated Press is exclusiv entitled to use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited ok or not otherwise in this paper, and also the local news pub- ~ Member Associate Dailies of Florida Subscription (by carrier), 25¢ per week; year, $12.00; by mail, $15.60 Posse iw ll aS ancchlnosl mab ard hareant Be acc meat Blas Mibarares Distt ADVERTISING RATES MADE KNOWN ON APPLICATION The Citizen is an open forum and invites discussion of public issues and subjects of local ond a cairo or general interest, but it not publish HERE’S A SURPRISE: MORE MONEY FOR KEY WEST WITHOUT UPPING TAXES Miami city commissioners, -seeking for a way out of the financial pressure in that city, are considering a pro- posal, designed to get money to repair streets in its cor- porate limits, that is not only fair and just but also would provide the necessary funds without the imposition of more taxation. : That sounds like a paradox, but it is simple after it is explained. The question involved is the seven-cent gaso- line tax in Florida. Of the money now collected in that way, three cents goes to the 67 counties in Florida, and the cities in the state do not get anything directly out of the tax. Miami city commissioners favor a law that would give cities one cent of the gasoline tax that is collected in their corporate limits. The state still would keep four cents of the remainder of the gasoline tax money and the counties still would get three cents of the remainder, but the amounts in both cases would be reduced because of the deductions given the cities in their own areas. As the law now stands, cities get nothing directly of will and are benefited only to the extent that they are parts |. of the counties that are paid three cents. Further, city commissioners have nothing whatever to do with the way the money received by the counties is expended. County commissioners have the full power to direct the spending of the money, used chiefly in the construction of roads/ Cities, such as Key West, in most of Florida counties are the source of by far the largest amount of gasoline- tax revenue, yet the cities have no voice whatever in the way the money is spent. Even the most ardént supporter of the manner in which gasoline-tax money is now allocated must admit, if he is conscientious, that the law discriminates against cities, which contribute most’of the money to the fund. Farther, the Miami proposal is as fair as fair can be. It does not ask for any of the money outside city limits in any county. Consider Morroe County, for instance. The only one-cent return Key West would get would be from gas sold in the city. The tax return for gas sold elsewhere in Monroe would go into the general fund, which is divid- ed between the state and the counties. Miami city commissioners suggest that each city designate the way in which the money derived from the proposed tax should be spent. Miami, according to its commissioners, would use the money for street building and related projects. The Citizen considers the proposed law just and timely. Additional revenue in Key West would relieve the city of imposing higher taxes on owners of real estate or increasing the, rates for occupational licenses. General taxation is now burdensome in Key West, _THE Beer, oe Se NERRIS——» Reactions Of Clients Vi MOUNTAINLABORED Value Of Commercial Rain Makers Is Disputed By FRANK CAREY AP Science Reporter making ventures have been under)the more rain which can be made way every year since 1950 in Horse WASHINGTON #—The debaie| Heaven. A spokesman for the over whether to renew a contract | group told The Associated Press: with a rain-making firm was get-| ‘‘Statistically, I presume, it ting hotter and hotter at a meeting | Would be impossible to prove the of officials in San Diego County, | success or failure of the operation Calif. at this time. However, we have Mayor Lloyd Harmond of Coron- | had four good crops in a row, and ado ‘threw in this comment: the farmers in the territory . . . “A day of prayer would be more} Seem to be satisfied.” effective and would save taxpay-| One commercial operator, Wil- efs money.” q liam J. Hartnett, president of the His honor later qualified the re-] Weather Corp. of America, St. mark to some extent, but it under- | Louis, says he believes cloud seed- scores the mixed-reactions turned | ing “has been overrated for farm up in an informal Associated Press survey of rain makers and rain making. Commercial cloud-seeding firms have been in operation since short- ly after Dr. Vincent Schaefer suc- ceeded in producing man-made snow in a laboratory experiment at Schenectady, N. Y., in 1946, Some of the firms are manned by top-flight scientists. They have been hired by local communities, farmers, organizations, public utili- ties and others. The firms gener- ally claim they’re able to produce —through seeding clouds with dry ice or silver iodide—increases in] precipitation up to 50 per cent above what might normally be ex- pected. One of them claims a more than 300 per cent increase during a job in Dallas, Tex. The AP survey shows the reac- tions of clients vary. Most are But he contends that utility com- panies, through increased water levels in reservoirs, can increase kilowatt hours without building new Resources Development.cCorp., of Denver—easily one of the world’s busiest cloud seeders—says that since 1950 he has conducted more than 150 projects in the United States and six foreign countries. Areas of operations have ranged in size from 500 to 32,000 square miles. He says expectable increases in rainfall vary with the operational season and the geographical area (in general, the colder the clouds, Dr. Irving P. Krick of the Water| by dry ice or silver iodide seed- ing). He says his firm has achieved rain increases ranging from 20 per cent in the southern United States, Mexico and Central America in the springtime to between 70 and 80 per cent in mountain snow opera- tions in the United States in the wintertime. Among a group of five of Krick’s clients contacted by The Associated Press, three indicated faith in the techniques, another said there was “convincing evidence of some ben- efits,” and the fifth said “no clear- cut evaluation was possible.” The city of Dallas, Tex. cepts Krick’s claim that he and his as- sociates increased the water in the Dallas watershed by 363 per cent in 1952-53. North. American Weather Con- sultants of Altadena, Calif. report about 30 commercial jobs since 1950, involving areas of about 4,100 square miles each. Average rain- fall increase claimed: 38% per cent. On the East Coast, Wallace Howell Associates of Cambridge, Mass., reports ‘“‘we feel we have succeeded” in. increasing rainfall on a number of jobs in the United States, Canada, Peru and Cuba. as well as everywhere else in. the country, and it surely is refreshing to find a way to get more. money without increasing any kind of taxes, Few people respect intelligence, and fewer possess it. ; The average business man has a racket, ‘whatever else he might like to call it. EIRIERS Vic INBBEIRIRIE|D) simply undecided as to whether they got their money’s worth, but | of these some still are stringing along. In other instances rain-mak- ing firms have been rehired for | several seasons. | Property owners who suffered This Rock 29. Fodder pit 32. Wed 33. Thus 86. Revolve 38. Partofac damage from excess rainfall insist upon taking the rain makers’ claims at face value. Suits totaling two million dollars have been brought against cloud seeders by some residents of New York state who claim they were hurt by too much rain. Three damage suits are pending against a prominent West- ern cloud seeder as the result of a flood in El Reno, Okla., in 1953. On the bouquet side for the rain makers, the survey turned up such remarks as this one by President A. S. Cummins of the California Oregon Power .Co., the first power company in the nation to launch an organized long-term plan of cloud seeding in hope of raising water} levels in its reservoirs: “We have had three good years. We think we’ve seen definite re- sults. We can’t prove it statistical- ly, but we’re satisfied. We expect to continue the experiment for an- other two years.” In the Sacramento area of Cal- ifornia the number of farm groups sponsoring rain-making ventures has dropped from eight to four since 1951. But all three major power companies in the area are continuing full-scale rain-making efforts. In several Wyoming counties drives are under way to raise funds for cloud-seeding projects. So far the farmers don’t appear to be so interested as in past years. Arizona farmers have spent sev- eral hundred thousand dollars on such projects in the past but can’t make up their minds whether ben- efits resulted. In New Mexico there was great enthusiasm several years ago, but no projects are under way now. Ranchers and farmers say they think rain making might work but that they see no immediate hopes. Farmers in Yakima and other counties of Washington, organized as the Horse Heaven Water Devel- opment Corp., have given a com- By Bill Gibb William Russell who wrote a let- ter to “This Rock” last week re- questing information about parra- keets, was more than pleased with results. Not only did folks give him literature peraining to the subject but he also received a beautiful parrakeet. Russell was sort of embarrassed about accepting the gift. ‘‘Heck,” he explained. “I don’t want people to think I was begging for a parra- keet.” “Go ahead and accept it,” I told him. “The man wouldn’t be giving it to you if he wasn’t a bird-lover himself. Besides, most folks get more pleasure out of giving than receiving and you would be rob- bing him of happiness by refusing his gift.” Russell asked me to thank this column’s readers who responded to his plea for information about parrakeets. Needs Employment A friend of mine, Charlie Men- doza, is seeking employment. Char- lie is the guy who contributes “For Crying Out Loud” to The Citizen occasionally. He is looking for something in the line of public relations but I think he would be willing to jump at anything that offered reason- able security. Perhaps I shouldn’t have tried to discourage Charlie with his “public relations” idea but I’ve tried the same deal here in Key West. The town is small for a free-lancer, especially one with a large family. (I’m speaking of free-lancing for local consumption — not national publications.) Oddly enough, until you’ve ex- perienced conditions, publie rela- tions work looks like a ‘sure-fire’ mercial cloud seeder a new con- tract lasting until Jun 1958. Rain- A bet. It is eas; enough to go out on the street and pick five, twen- Of Ours ty, even fifty dollars worth of work. But just about the time you think things are rolling along smoothly, the fountain dries up. There is also a frustrating con- dition for the beginner who hasn’t gained enough prestige to demand a retainer and who may work days on a problem only to have his client decide not to go through with the “story.” I’m sure that work: is available here in Key West which Mendoza could perform admirably. Per- haps work which would give him the opportunity of combining his talent for writing with his intimate knowledge of Key West. How about it? Can any of you readers suggest something? Highway Patrol Received a very nice letter from “Red” Kerce, Department of Pub- lie Safety, Tallahassee. He thank- ed The Citizen and this column for running the safety drivers’ tests recently. Says Red, “I appreciate what you’re doing down there for us folks. I have been with the patrol for a couple of years and, might say in passing, that Mr. L. P. Artman, many years ago, used one of my first offerings — a little syndicated paragraph column call- ed “Backwoods Philosophy.” “This Rock” is always glad to aid our State Troopers in any way possible. They do a magnificent job and, like school teachers and nurses, often fail to be given pro- per recognition. Key West and Monroe County by such men as Cpl. ‘Slim’ Walker, Trooper George Bennett — and in the past, Troopers Frank Cline and Jim Wilder. I wish I knew the names of the other highway Patrolmen who are assigned to ? those velvet skip-rope Manhattan night clubs “Everybody crowded around to talk to him as if he were import- ant,” she recalled. “I didn’t know who he was, but I certainly did dislike him.” The feeling was so strong that two years later, when Laraine saw Leo boarding, a plane on which she Leo sat down and did most talking. 4 “¥ looked’ over at him after a while,” said Laraine, “and sudden- ly thought to myself, ‘This is the man I’m going to marry.’ He didn’t know it—but I did.” an after that they were mar- Tied. As a girl Laraine hated baseball so much that she would umpire a game at school to keep from having to play it. But today she watches some 77 baseball games a year. “It's making a nervous wreck of me,” she — wisi feel like an average fan. and los: affects our livés. It’s our future. up “When we lose a game, I’m much more than Leo. He re bring game home with im “If the Giants win, we take in a movie. We never go out after he loses a game. But it’s not because he feels miserable. “He says, ‘People always ask you how you lost—they never ask you how you won. But if you've lost a game, there is no point in losing it over and over again.”” Laraine, who recently completed a leading role in “The High And The Mighty,” has adjusted her film Career so as not to let it conflict with the job of being Mrs. Du- Tocher. Shé makey a picture a year, acts in four television dramas, serves as a panelist on the TV program “T’'ve Got a Secret.” But she goes to spring training with Leo, attends every home game here, and when the team takes to the road flies out to their California home to be with their children, Chris and Michele. “Before I married Leo I wanted to win an academy award,” she said. “‘Now all I want is for us to win the pennant. My work is sec- ondary.” Laraine has done a wonderful Public relations job for her hus- band’s ball club. She is popular with the players and their wives. The sports writers like her, and the wives of the sports writers like her, too, for her pleasant, honest, friendly manner. In the jealous world of baseball her task hasn’t been easy. Laraine has won out by being simply what she is—a good wife who backs her husband all the way. t “People who meet Leo for ‘the first time are always surprised to find out he isn’t a roughneck,” she said, “‘Why, Leo dresses beauti- fully, and he is always gracious and charming. “That may sound like I’m in love with him. But I don’t always agree with his baseball strategy. The thing about Leo is that he can talk you out of a game. He could be a success at anything he went Laraine is credited by the sports writers with putting much of the present polish on her rhinestone-in- the-rough. She herself feels the many stories of his truculence are exaggerated sports world myths. PEOPLE’S FORUM — ers, but the editor reserves are considered libelous or of the views of its read- tight te delete any items which unwarranted. The writers should be paper only. Signat writer must accompany requested otherwise. letters and will be published uni PARRAKEET PROBLEM SOLVE Editor, The Citizen: jess, a | This is a letter of thanks. .- First of all, a big,. beautiful orchid to The Citizen and “This Rock” for publishing my letter last Wednesday, thus resulting in the chain of events listed below: A dozen red roses to Olney Roberts for the copy of “The Parrakeet Owner’s Handbook” he so generously gave you to pass on to me. Want Mr. Roberts to know that it contains just the information I sought in my letter, especially the part on the care of parrakeets during sick- ness. An unlimited amount, of roses or flowers William Meyers admires for his donation of a parrakeet and his Permission to ‘allow me to select the bird of my choice. Our ice-blue parrakeet is now a welcomed member of the family and we hope to enjoy its stay for many years to come. have been fortunate to be served | Key: A bouquet of American Beauties to the lady who passed on valuable information to my wife in a telephone conversation the same night my letter was printed. Al- though I haven’t had time to talk with the gentleman whose name and address this lady furnished my wife, I shall at the first opportunity. And many thanks to all others who directly or indi- rectly aided in obtaining information I sought about par- rakeets. May'I also thank all those who displayed inter- est in this problem in the hopes of obtaining information themselves. I shall be glad to pass on any information I have received on the care of parrakeets. Again I thank you for passing my problem on to your readers. The results have been most gratifying and cer- tainly far beyond my expectations or my intentions in writing the letter. WILLIAM RUSSELL. Bee Fumigation Is Too Effective GLANDALE, Calif. wm — Marshal A. W. Hunt offered this report today on an explosive bee fumigation conducted by a citizen: John L. Harris, seeking to erad- icate bees in his chimney, climbed McCloskey Is Sent To Capital ‘|For Further Duty caped injury. Fire department in- vestigators estimated damage at $1,000. local duty — mostly onthe Upper Ss. Cpl. Howard Gillett must not be , either. He is Safety Ed- ucation Officer for SE Florida and without his help, many local safe- ty projects would fade out of the picture. Lakehurst, N. J. he was com Gen. Smith To Head Pacific Air Force By ELTON C. FAY WASHINGTON (®—A Pacific Air Force is being formed to take com- mand over all United States Air Force installations and personnel in the vast ocean area from Hawaii to the boundaries of the Far East theater of operations. | Commanding the Pacific Air Force, which is to become opera- tive next month, will be Maj. Gen, Story Smith, now director of Public relations for the Air Force. This will be the first single com- mand for air forces in the Pacifie since World War III. During the war, combat and transport opera- tions" in the central Pacific were under control of the 7th Air Force, The over-all military command of the Pacific, under the unified setup, is held by Adm. Felix Stump, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet and director of com- bined Army-Navy-Air Forces. The Army commander for the Pacific is Maj. Gen. Clark L. Ruffner. Until now, there had been no Air Force command. It is planned that all U.S Air Force bases in Hawaii, central and southwestern Pacific islands and the Philippines will come under Smith’s command. Planes and per- sonnel operating in that area and westward on missions or assign- ments to Southeast Asia also come under him. A B50 medium bomb wing will arrive at Guam next month to take station there under the rotational duty program. Medium bomb- ber wings from the "Far East Air Force also operate in and out of Clark Field in the Philippines, where a jet fighter-bomber wing is permanently ‘based. Later, interceptor outfits pre- sumably will be assigned to the larger bases in thé Pacific com- mand area; and in the future any withdrawal of American air power from bases in Korea and Japan as a result of broad changes in strategic and international policy would mean that it would take up Positions in the Pacific Air Force ‘command zone. The immediate major function of the Pacific Air. Command will be to supply and maintain Military Air Transport Service units, oper- ate airsea rescue outfits. and. air evacuation (hospital) planes... The Pacific commander also ‘will work with Stump and Ruffner in © preparing and keeping up-to-date Pacific wan ns iftegrated into the over- itegi¢ platis of the Joine Chiefs of Staff at’;Washington. Two Branches Of °° . Civil Service Set Examinati t Examinations The United States Civil Service Commission has announced exani- inations for City Planner, paying $4,205 to $10,800 a year, and For- eign Language Information Speci- alist, paying $4,205 to $7,040 a year, for positions in Washington, D. C., and nearby area. To qualify for City Planner, ap- Plicants must have had appropri- ate college education, or experience in city or regional planning. For Foreign Language Information Specialist, applicants must have had responsible professional for- eign language experience in writ- ing, editing, or radio production, which has shown a sound knowl- edge of current international af- fairs, Further information and applica- tion forms. may be obtained from the Commission’s Examiner in Charge, Charles E. Thompson, located at United States Post Of- fice, Key West, Fla., or from the U. S. Civil Service Commission, must be filed with the Commis- sion’s office in Washington, and for Foreign Language Specialist positions, with the Board of U. S. Civil Service Examiners, United States Information Agency, 1778 Pennsylvania Ave., N. W., Wi D. C. Applica- Commander R. H. Rice, Acting Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station recently awarded safe- driving certificates to six Naval Air Station airmen. 1 A. L. Hall, L. H. Harmon and R. » Montgomery were awarded certif- © icates that acknowledged one year of accident-free driving. R. T. Harris, R. T. Piedot and W. L.

Other pages from this issue: