The Key West Citizen Newspaper, July 15, 1954, Page 4

Page 4 THE KEY west EITIZEN Thursday, July 15, 1954 The Key West Citizen in Key West and Monroe County .P. ARTMAN, Editor and Pv Fone — - 1921-1 IRMAN D, ARTMAN . cenmnnnnnnennnnnnnn Editor and Publisher Entered at Key West, Florida, as Second Class Matter TELE 2.5661 and 2-562 Member of The Associated Pri The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to use for ri of all news dispatches credited to it a mot potherwise credited in this paper, and also the local news pub- el ere. Member Associate Dailies of Florids THE CRY OF “LAND GRAB” ABOUT OVERSEAS PROPERTY IS A FALLACY John Kilgore, correspondent for The Miami Herald in Tallahassee, blew off his top in stigmatizing as a “land grab” property in the Overseas Road and Toll Bridge Dis- trict that belongs to the people of Monroe County. Could Kilgore be rightly aceused of engineering a “land grab” in trying to get back property that belongs to him? Yet he knifed Monroe County for doing that very thing. It was plain to see that Kilgore was not familiar with the details that pertain to the land in question. He spoke of them-as “state lands.” How can they be state lands when they were bought from the Florida East Coast Rail- way by the Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District? Where did the district get the money to buy the lands? From the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. And how did the district come to be in a position to get that money? BY THE TAXPAYERS OF MONROE COUNTY VOT- ING TO PLEDGE THEIR REAL ESTATE, INCLUDING THEIR HOMES, TO GUARANTEE THAT THE RFC’s LOAN OF $3,600,000 WOULD BE PAID, INCLUDING THE INTEREST ON THE LOAN. Not one penny of state money was involved in that | transaction, but reading Kilgore’s story would lead you to think that the purchase of the lands was a statewide undertaking. And, reading the Herald’s editorial, you would think, if you didn’t know otherwise, that at least Dade County has a say-so in the disposition of the lands in question. What would the Herald say if the people of Monroe County asserted that the parks and parkways in Dade County belonged to the state and should, there- fore, be turned over to the state to be operated. Kilgore and the Herald base their contention on an agreement made in 1946 between a majority of the Over- seas Bridge Commission and the State Road Department that the lands be turned over to the department when the bonds on the district were retired. That so-called agreement was a direct violation of a clause or provision in the Reconstruction Finance Cor- poration’s bond indenture. The late William R. Porter, who was head of the First National Bank of Key West, as well as the chairman of the Overseas Bridge Commis- sion, pointed out to the other members of the commission that they were violating the RFC’s provision in the bond indenture, and added: “Gentlemen, disregarding that provision is equival- ent to attempting to give away the birthright of the peo- ple of Monroe County.” Representative Bernie C. Papy was present at the meeting, and he pleaded long and earnestly with the com- missioners not to sign the agreement. But they signed it. Why did they sign it? They alone can answer that ques- tion satisfactorily. So what did Papy say after the signing? He told the commissioners he would have a law passed at the next session of the legislature (1947), providing that the lands in question REVERT to the people of Monroe County when the bonds were liquidated. The Citizen asks John Kilgore and the Herald can the term “land grab” be applied truthfully to property that reverts to its lawful owners? : Who drew up that Papy bill? None other than At- torney General Richard Ervin at the time he was attorney for the State Road Department. The Herald and Kilgore keep on harping that it was a “local” bill. It was NOT a local bill. It was a general bill. (See Chapter 24251, Laws of Florida, 1947.) OTT {0} zzle ERE 34, Planet Froken Crossword ACROSS STAT IE cca RIEIOMSIPlY) iy iC (Alt IL RRP] t [AINTORES IUIET CIR] RI INIOIRIA! wily [SD IR] AIT MOF Ir | ICE IREBHIE [OINIGMBAIOIE MBAIBIUIT| ANON ITIAILIC) [SIETTIARe IL LETT IATH) Solution of Yesterday’s Puzzle 2. Encourage 3. Note the speed 36. Invite 37, Bark 38. Temples 1c Playing cara 44, 45. Edible "Lead 49. -eray mineral 51. Compact 9. Great lake 10. Part ofa to publish 5. Steep 6. Vender 7. Foreigner 8. Small cube 17. Regale 19. God of war 22. Cutting part ofasaw 23. Incline 24. Donkey 25. Poorly 26. Feminine * name 29. Vat 30. Period of 33. Trials 34. Mathemat!- cal ratio A 41. Those things 42. Brave man 43. Continent 46. Dismounted 47. Vex 48. Poems 50. Small fish 51. Our mutual uncle This Rock Of Ou By Bill Gibb We're a badly confused little town. Until we straighten out our collective thinking, there isn’t much hope of Key West or Monroe County progressing the way we would like. We go around with a chip on| our shoulder, rejecting the con- structive criticism of outside agencies—always seeking to jus- tify what we know deep down in our hearts is wrong. . We're not ignorant — we're stupid! If the Navy—the lifeblood of Key West—says the housing sit- uation needs to be improved, then brother!, the housing situation needs to be improved! Instead of crying that the town is being slandered, we need to go to work and show our critics that we're doing everything possible to bet- ter conditions. The same thing holds true for criticism from our neighboring towns. Miami, for instance... Miami has every right to com- plain about our undesirable con- ditions. By the same token, it’s our duty as well as our right to seek to improve Miami by call- ing attention to unfavorable sit- uations. Sometimes I wonder if any of} § us ever stop to remember that this is the United States of Anier- ica. We're all one people. In- dividual towns are nothing more |; than segments of the whole. Like the human body, however, if one segment gets sick, it is likely to affect the entire structure. Key West has many, many good points. It also has quite a few bad ones. When we learn to a cept criticism in the proper spirit we'll be on the road toward elim- inating the bad features which| | none of us really like. “There's A Bus Leaving .. .” T’m quite aware of the fact that in writing this column, I’m almost sure to have people tell me: “If you don’t like present conditions, there’s a bus leaving. . .” Tut! tut! so there is, so there is. I suggest that we load a few ‘die-| © hard’ Conchs on the bus and give them an opportunity to learn that there are other towns and people and that a mass exodus] © from Key West wouldn’t hurt the folks who moved in the slightest. Which reminds me of another little bit of downright ignorance on the part of us Key Westers! My right to say, “This Rock of| © Ours,” has been questioned sev- eral times. “You're not a Conch. You're not a Key Wester,” I’m told. Technically, I guess such state- ments are true. I was born in Texas and I’ve wandered around BEAR TAKES FARMER’S | MIND OFF HIS COW WEST HOLLAND, Vt. #—Far- mer Bernie Wheeler was arguing with a stubborn cow in his pas- ture Tuesday when a powerful blow on the back knocked him sprawling. “That was no cow’s tail,” he muttered. And it wasn’t. A huge black bear stood there with her paw raised protecting two cubs. Wheeler said he ran. Subscribe To The Citizen! ‘ rs quite a bit. Nevertheless, the) little bit of family that I have is here on The Rock so this is| “home” to me, whether the Conch | like it or ot. | Contrast the Texas idea of friendliness with the Conch idea. | Let a man put his foot down on! the soil of Texas and he’s a Tex- an until he dies. Let-the same man take up residence in Key West and fifty years from today, he will still be classified as a “stranger.” Woe is me... Maybe something can be done about the situation. For awhile, I had hopes that outside blood would solve our problems of in- sularity. Instead, the outsiders have settled down in their own rut of indifference! T still maintain that this Rock | of ours could be turned into a} little Garden of Eden if we'd just | ‘Aid For Kansas ° DWI Charge Is Denied LOS ANGELES # — Harold Bel- frey denies he was intoxicated when the car he was driving hit one in which Vice President Nixon was riding — but he paid his fine nevertheless. Belfrey, 35, said it was the dis- covery of the identity of Nixon, the Secret Service men and all the ex- citement that upset him so that he failed a sobriety test. Municipal Judge Ben Joenig found him guilty of drunk driving yesterday and fined him $158. No one was hurt in the June 13 accident which occurred shortly after the Vice President arrived in Los Angeles for a speech, EUREKA, Calif. — Mayor George Jacobs sent the following | teiegram yesterday to Mayor Wil- liam Rarden of Fort Scott, Kan.: “Understand your thermometer sizzled up to 120 degrees. Why don’t you and your fellow citizens close up shop and come out to the cool redwood region of Hum- boldt County where the gentle breezes of the Pacific wafted us a salubrious 58 today. Hottest day “Flight Nurse” Is Thrilling Tale Of Courage Striking with the shocking im. pact of today’s headlines, Republic Studio has produced a thrillin: story of those fearless angels 0: mercy—the courageous women oi war who their heroic deeds above the clouds, on the battlefields and behind the bomb- seared lines. The motion picture is “Flight Nurse,” which opened at the Monroe Theatre Friday. It’s an expertly planned film attrac- tion with heartthrobs in every reel and a generously integrated allot- ment of the high type of humor which emerges under the stress of tense and dangerous living condi- tions. Starring Joan Leslie and Forrest Tucker in a setting everybody’s been reading about, ‘Flight Nurse” contains all the dramatic ingredients, including a timely plot which brings the audience right up to the current Korean armistice and the joyful return of the POW’s. Key West In Days Gone By July 15, 1934 fell on a Sun- day. No paper. duly 15, 1944 One Key Wester spent about an hour in the city jail before paying his bill and another almost became involved in appeal of a Municipal Court fine of $10 before he paid a $4 Scavenger bill after Judge W. P. Archer had found both guilty of failing to obtain and pay for scavenger service. Lieut. W. A. Grisson, chaplain, at NAS, Boca Chica, is being de- tached from duty at that activity and will be relieved by Chaplain Robert Lowell Stone, reporting from the Chaplain’s School at Wil- liam and Mary College, Williams- burg, Va. Carl Schuitz, brother of Robert S. Schultz, was an arrival in Key West yesterday from Atlanta, Ga., to visit his mother, Mrs. W. M. Schultz, and other relatives, at 309 Whitehead st. WANTS TO TRAVEL TOKYO (#—Mitsuo Harada, head of the Japan Astronautical Society, has accepted a. 25-cent down pay- ment for passage to the moon. It remove the chip from our shoul-|we’ve had this year the tempera-| came from a member of the space- ler and accept criticism with a|ture barely got up to 73. Come on|travel society who said he was constructive attitude. | out and cool off.” “tired of earth.” As It Is and As It Should Be —by Agricola. PEOPLE’S FORUM The Citizen welcomes of the views of its reed- ers, but the editer reserves the right to delete any items which are considered libelous er unwarranted. The writers should be fair and confine the letters te 200 words and write on one side of the paper only. Signature of the writer must accompany the letters and will be published unless requested otherwise, GRATEFUL FOR HONOR Editor, The Citizen: I would like to take this means to thank all of the organizations and individuals who were responsible, by their letters, for the great honor which was bestowed upon me at the American Legion on July 8, 1954. I am indeed grateful to those who thought me worthy of the nomination of the Outstanding Citizen Award. More grate- ful than words can express. I would also like to express my gratitude to the judges and to the American Legion for thinking me worthy of such a great honor. Again to all — thank you! JEFF H. KNIGHT, Jr. July 14, 1954. LATE FOR REAPPRAISAL Editor, The Citizen: In the light of the apparent French Indo China sell- out to the Communists, and in the greater light of Church- ill’s anxious visit to Washington after the Geneva let- down, Senator Knowland’s recent announcement that it’s time for that “reappraisal of our foreign policy” men- tioned by Dulles last year is a little late. Even before the end of Worlé War II Stalin is re- Ported to have said, “The Soviet Union wants peace as much as the democracies. But the Soviet Union does not fear war as much as the democracies. That is the great strength of the Soviet Union.” , Stalin was right. Dead right. And how Stalin and his successor have exploited such Soviet strength is told in the ‘history of American fear to cross the Yalu River, American fear to take direct action in Indo China, and now Britain’s fear of the H-bomb which is driving her to ever increasing willingness to appease anybody who waves a red flag. The situation between the Soviet Union and what’s left of the free world should now be plain to everyone. The free world is afraid and the Soviets are chuckling with glee over it. And so long as we remain afraid, their “cold war” conquest of us will go on. Gradually, slowly, inexorably they are paralyzing us with their most effective weapon. Our fear of total war. ‘ Well? What are we going to do about it? Hide under the bed and hope for the best. FREDERICK H. GREEN, 645. United Street, July 12, 1954 Key West, Florida. ETIQUETTE COURSE NEEDED Editor, The Citizen: There is one course lacking in our high school eur- riculum. It is etiquette, better known as good manners. There was one great rush of our high school pupils addressing and mailing graduation announcements. Some of the girls who “quituated” instead of being graduated were as anxious to address and mail wedding invitations. How many of these sweet young things took the time or the trouble to send a “Thank you” note to the people who acknowledged their invitations by sending gifts? Many recipients of invitations underwent a sacrifice to get gifts for these thankless youngsters. Of course, children should be taught manners long before entering school. Most of the training here in our city seems to be simply requiring a child to say “Ma’am?” instead of “What?” The word “what” is a perfectly good English word. Why are children considered rude in using it? To me, the two little words, “Thank You” which denote ap- preciation are far more important than the insistence of some parents and teachers in teaching “Yes, ma’am,” “no, ma’am,” and when asked a question to say “Ma’am?” Think this over, parents and teachers. By the way, “Better late than never,” you thought- less brides, grooms and graduates. Send out your notes of appreciation. If mammy, pappy and teacher failed to teach you the rules of etiquette, then show the friends, relatives and the many, many casual acquaintances to whom you sent those ‘dunners” that you’ve learned a thing or two since you got out on your own resources. Yes, ma’am! MLR. R. the year’s work of a Tokyo taxider WHALE OF A JOB mist, a stuffed 30-foot whale weighs Toe It sehr whale cf! ing almost a ton, to a berth in & a for a year, who wants | whalin; here. c = ers |w aling museum here. Fifteen strong men carried off | Turkey has 116 daily newspapers. 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