The Key West Citizen Newspaper, July 16, 1954, Page 1

i rf 2 - ‘es were Key West, Floridc, has’ the most equable climate in the country, with an average range of only 14° Fahrenheit VOL. LXXV No. 168 9 Jailed On DWI Charges Police Department Has Busy Time With Navy Men What must be some kind |” of a record was established last night when city police |; on|* arrested nine persons charges of driving while in- |” toxicated. A tenth person, picked up for investigation was later released when a drunkomet- er test showed that he was below the borderline. Miraculously, only one of the ; sari was involved in an acci- nt, Hits Cop Car He made the mistake of collid- ing with a police car early today as it was stopped for a red light on Roosevelt Boulevard, where a bridge is undergoing repairs. Patrolman Eugene Rogel iden- tified the driver of that car as Robert H. Gaskin, 23, of the USS Batfish. Rogel, in his report, said that he was stopped for the light when Gaskin’s car, travelling at speed, so aged Damage was it. ( placed aca Gaskin, including driving w) intoxicated, driving with- OH Abies, sockets Gxivine spd ; = ike accident. ‘was scheduled to be ar- Paigned in city court today. All Navy Men All of the arrests last night in- volved ‘Naval: personnel. They took plage ‘between the hours of 12:50 a.m. and 5:45. a.m. today, ‘The box score: 92:50 a.m.: Patrolman B. Lloyd arrested a motorist on Duval Street. _. 1:20 am.:, Patrolman Edward Ramirez arrested another alleged drunk driver on Truman Avenue. 2:05 am.: Patrolman Rogel i a driver on Roosevelt Boulevard. 2:25 am.: Patrolman Ramirez nailed another motorist on Roose- velt Boulevard. 2:30 a.m.: Ramirez nabbed an- other driver on North Beach » Road. 2:35 as Patrolman Ralph Maribona arrested a motorist on Duval Street. 4:40 a.m., Patrolman Rogel ar- fested another alleged drunk driver on South Roosevelt Boule- vard. 5:35: Patrolman Rogel jailed a man on Roosevelt Boulevard. §:45: The final arrest was made on Whitehead Street by Patrol- man Maribona. Explosions Shake Plant CHESTERTOWN, Md. (#—A 30- tminute series of terrific explosions ‘at a fireworks plant shook this Kent County town today and a wit- ‘mess said it would be “a miracle if there are no casualties.” The Kent-Queen Anne’s hospital was swarmed with injured who managed to get out. Just how many of the over 300 who work at the were hurt was impossible to tell immediately. “There can’t help but be some fatalities,” said Bill Usilton, Ches- tertown newspaperman who was a witness. ‘The series of explosions broke ‘windows all over the town at dis- tances of a half mile and more away. | Smoke ‘columns rose into the air for a thousand feet. Near Center Of Town ‘The plant occupies a 20-acre site at the west edge of Chestertown about a quarter of a mile from the center of town. It is made up ‘of about 30 or 40 buildings, most of them are small and dispersed. Usilton said first reports from the scene indicated there might be ee 5 og of the larger buildings where women “(Continued on Page Seven) ANSWERS CANCER SOCIETY APPEAL—R. F. nates a pint of blood to be used as replacement for blood given to a Key Wester who is a patient at St. Francis Tumor Clinic in Miami Beach. The above picture was made as James Nunn, labora- tory technician at Monroe General Hospital, starts the five-minute process. Waiting his ti student, R. V. Grimes. Other Sonar students who volunteered to pri blood Sais meee Ashe, J. J. Mullaly and R. W. Hill. Officials of the Cancer Society said that the 60-year-old man would undergo surgery early next week and more blood will be needed. They West has a deficit of forty pints of blood at the St. Francis Blood Bank. Anyone who is willing to take a few minutes’ time and donate a pint of blood is urged to get in touch with the local Cancer Society and arrangements will be made.~=-Staff Photo by Sybil. Facts About Polio In Monroe County. Are Given In Report Age Groups, Sex Of Sufferers Told Natl Group There have been no polio cases among teenagers here this year and more females than males had the disease. Those facts were contain- ed in a report sent today to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis by Dr. C. W. Morrison, county health officer. The report details the polio sit- uation’ here so far this year. “The age groups effected,” reads the report, ‘‘reveal some interest- ing comparisions. Age Brackets “Those under age of 10 and those ranging in age brackets from 20) to 30 suffered an incidence of 13, case each, while no case occurred | among the teenagers. There were | five cases in the 30 to 40 year bracket and two cases in the group over 40.” Key West Citisen THE SCUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER Shore Patrol Arrests Mount The number of Navy men arrested by the Shore Patrol in June showed an incr: over May, according to es read at yesterday's meet- ing of the Armed Forces Dis- ciplinary Board. Lt. J. Urech, USN, area Shore Patrol Officer, said the SP arrested 119 men in June “as compared with 59 in May. Arrests of Naval personnel by civil police also showed an increase he said, with 128 nab- bed in June and 101 in May. KEY WEST'S TRAFFIC BOX SCORE To July Daté -Thirty-three polio case have been | reported here this year and none | of them have been Negroes. The last case was reported three | weeks ago yesterday. The youngest polio patient was a nine-day-old infant. The oldest | was a 49-year-old houswife, the report shows. | Of the 19 females who had the} disease, 13 of them had the paraly- tic type of polio. However, only five of the 14 male patients had a paralytic form of the disease. | Of the total of 33 cases this year, | 22 of them were Navy personnel or Navy dependents; nine were civilians; and one each was report- ed from the Army and Coast Guard. GG Inoculations Referring to the mass GG inocu- lations May 6 and 7, the report says “gamma_ globulin has ap- parently been of distinct value in! reducing the incidence of polio- | myelitis.” a1 288/ Traffic Injuries __ 3 $3 | Traffic Deaths 0 | o) Property Damage $5,135 $74,271 Accidents - It was a wet night out last night—in more ways than one, The police reported nine arrests for drunken driving. They worked like beavers. But, for every one they caught it’s a good bet that two or three escaped detection. It's not an _ encouraging thought, is it? It is against the law to drive when you are intoxicated. Drunk drivers go to jail! OFFICIAL ENDS Hills, SA, student at the Fleet Sonar School, do- jthe supervision of Coast Guard KEY WEST, FLORIDA, FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1954 be o said that Key USS Bushnell To Return On Sunday The submarine tender USS Bushnell will return to Key West Sunday at noon, it was announced today. The ship will tie up at Pier Baker on the Naval Station. It has completed a two- month tour of duty in Norfolk as tender for Submarine Squadron 6. Swimming Pool Possibility Is Discussed Lions Club Is Asked .To Help In Safety Week By BILL SPILLMAN “The City is not financially able to put in a swimming pool with the present budget,’ Paul G. Al- bury told the members of the local Lions Club last night at their regular meeting. IN THE Us. Modern Trends In Enforcing Law Described Deputy Sheriff Watson Roper Is Rotary Speaker After Watson Roper’s discussion | of ‘Modern Trends in Law Enforce- ment” at their regular luncheon meeting yesterday, Rotarians were of the opinion that crime very de- finitely doesn’t pay. |experience as an FBI agent, told the club members that it was en- couraging to see that all over the United States, law enforcement |forces were taking advantage of ' training in ‘‘criminalistics’’—the |use of modern. scientitic devices and together the picture of a crime from small bits of evidence. FBI Aids | He said FBI ‘files and labora- |tories are available to help solve; |erimes in any part of the country, |and that FBI technicians can an- alyze a blood stain and tell wheth- Jer it is human or animal. They DIAL 2-5661 oc 2-5662. PRICS FIVE CENTS «Political Argument” Held Cause Of Debacle At Local Restaurant By JIM COBB Police Lt. Gene Hernandez was back on the job | Roper, who has had many years: this morning after being cleared by the Civil Service Board at a hearing last night of charges of being drunk and disorderly and conduct unbecoming a police officer. The board cleared him of the charges after hearing testimony from City Commissioner Paul R. Roberts and Police Chief Bienvenido Perez. The officer was suspended Tuesday and Chief Perez recommended that he be dis- charged if the charges were proven. But after hearing the tes- SSS | timony, the board ruled that \Scuffle Marks there was not enough evi- = a dence presented to warrant Board 8s Hearing his suspension or discharge. Last night's Civil Service They recommended immedi- Board meeting was marked by ate reinstatement. an incident in which the broth. | The hearing was held to probe a | er of Police Chief Bienvenide complaint brought by Roberts that | Perez attacked another mem- | Hernandez was drunk and dis- | ber of the fire department and | Fderly at Chino’s Drive-In on the tried to choke him. evening of July 5. Hernandez de- The incident occurred when |Nied that he was drunk and said Lt. Pedro Perez, a fireman |that he had only one beer that attached to the No. 3 Station evening. walked up to fireman Joseph Political Discussion Farto, grabbed him by the The testimony indicated that the neck and pushed him up | pair became involved in a politi- against the wall. cal discussion in which Hernandez Both of the firemen were of | told Roberts “that he would never duty and were spectators at {be elected again.” Albury addressed the meeting | have the facilities to identify bombs members in relation to an article |0r fragments of explosive devices that appeared in yesterday’s Citi-| from such things as a piece of a zen concerning the offer of the| wrapper from a dynamite stick. Car Feasy OK? By Coast Guard Is Predicted Official Quashes Rumors That Ship Won't Be Approved N. C. Hines, executive vice presi- dent of the Caribbean Ferry Sys- tems, Inc., today quashed rumors that the ship his company proposes to place into Key West-Cuba ferry service early in September may not be approved for ocean-going service by the Coast Guard. The vessel, the 225-foot Landing Ship Medium “Patricia” is cur- rently undergoing conversion for car ferry service in Miami—under officials. Hines, in answer to the rumors said that plans and specifications for the conversion were ap- proved by Coast Guard headquar- ters in Washington. | “When the ship is completed, | they will approve it as long as we! have followed the plans and specifi- cations,” Hines told The Citizen today. Cuban Approval Cuban maritime officials have also indicated that they will ap- prove the vessel, Hines said. Hines is in Key West to pick up a lease for city-owned property at i the foot of Simonton Street for use| © as a terminal for the service which he said will start not later than Sept. 15. i Following approval of the. lease | E by the board of direcotrs of his company, Hines said that ground will be broken for construction of terminal facilities including a dock. | VISIT TO NAVY W. E. Wyman, office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, ; Research and Development sec-| In conclusion, the report states “The Monroe County Health Department acknowledg with deep gratitude the roles played by the American Red Cross, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, and the Florida State Board of Health. “In completing the mass inocula- tion, the experience gained in a similar procedure carried out in October, 1953, under the meticu- lous planning of the late D. R. value and made the task infinitely easier. “Grateful thanks are extended (Continued on Page Seven) tion, departs tomorrow after a week’s visit at development ac-} tivities in this area. Wyman visited at the Surface/ Anti-Submarine Development De-| tachment, Naval Ordnance Unit, Naval Air Station and the Fleet) Sonar School. |PLANES COLLIDE BOSTON —A B29 and another Plane collided in the air at the J. Dalton proved of inestimable |Logan International Airport today | provision permits working parents nd crashed to the ground. ‘Airport officials were unable to | identify the other plane immediate ly, | a ral Work will probably begin next week, he said. | Hines added that | for dock space jn Cuba are com: pleted and that “everything it ready to go.” BABY SITTER TAX CUT IS APPROVED WASHINGTON w—A House-Sen- ate Conference Committee today | approved a special tax cut for par- ents who pay child-care expenses while they work. Committee members said they saw little chance they could com- plete action on the big bill today On baby-sitters, the approved negotiations | to deduct up to $600 a year from taxable income for the expense of care for children under 12 while they work, Business and Professional Wo- men’s Club to donate $1,000 toward the construction of a pool. “Do not get me wrong. I don’t watt to fight these women, I want to fight with them to get a muni- cipal swimming pool. But I know for a fact that the city commis. sioners are wondering where they are gains ta get $35,000 that is wer. -- «ance the next year’s budget.” Tells Of Proposal Albury told of a proposal he made in a formal letter to the commissioners two months ago where he suggested the construc- tion of a pool by means of a reve- nue bond sale. . He said, “We must do here in Key West what has been done in other cities—let the pool pay for itself. The reason Key West doesn’t have any representation in na- tional water sports is because we don’t have a pool for people to practice in or a place to hold the (Continued on Page Seven) | Dynamite used in a recent wave \of explosions in churches and syn- \agogues in Miami was traced to (Continued on Page Seven) Shipping Official To Be Here Sunday An official of the Evangeline Steamship line will arrive here ; Sunday to cénduct a survey of |terminal facilities for a Key West-Havana ferry line, it «was announced today by Joe Sirugo, president of the Key West-Cuba Transit Co. Sirugo said that the official, T. S. Litchfield, traffic manager of the company, will also aid in ne- |gotiations with Cuban labor un- ions who have made prohibitive demands of fees for unloading jautomobiles in Cuba. | Sirugo plans on starting serv- ice on Dec. 16 with the 5,000-ton luxury vessel Evangeline. aa dl END OF THE LINE—An unidentified monkey was accidentally electrocuted yesterday afternoon as it attempted to cross Duval Street via a 220-volt wire from a pole near 119 Duval. The City Electric System was notified by a passer-by and the dead simian was removed by lineman Damaso Santana. Reports that one of the officials of the company had been the victim of the accident was branded as “comp! letely untrue” and the company had “no comment” when queried as to what steps were planned to prevent similar tragedies in the future, a hearing into the case of a suspended police lieutenant. No charges have been made public as a result of the alter- cation. Opinions On Raft Voyage Differ Widely Radio Operator Calls Expedition “Stupid” Venture SAN FRANCISCO w—The raft Lehi’s quickly ended drifting expe- dition toward Hawaii today was labeled both ‘“‘stupid, ill-begotten” and “a floating marine survival laboratory.” Radio operator Don Smith made the criticism in a copyrighted story in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. ' He said he wanted no more. Dr. Arthur Fearon, philosophy orofessor at the University of San Francisco and sponser of the Lehi, had issued his praise to newsmen |a couple of hours earlier. He said the other four crew members were anxious to try the trip agwin —as soon as the raft can be re- Paired. First it would have to be; found. It was abandoned some 60 miles. off the central California (Continued on Page Seven) ‘Community Chest Directors Are Named For Year Thirty-two people were on hand | last night at the county court- jhouse to elect new diretcors for the community chest board. C. Towner, Joe Pinder, and Judge quilino Lopez, Jr. as follows: Civilian directors — Father Joh rmfield, M. E. Bennett, R. E. vans, Judge Lopez, Father J. Maring, S. J., William R. Neblett, Joe Pinder, Paul J. Sher, Edwin | Trevor and J. J. Trevor. | Civil Service directors — Fran- s Delaney and Mary Sinclair. Navy directors elected to serve on this vital board were Admiral Towner, Captain W. R. Laughon and Cdr. R. H. Rice. The new directors immediately after being elected scheduled a meeting to elect officers in the library of Judge Lopez located at E, | ci will be held next Tuesday night at 8 o'clock, The election, by secret ballot, | was conducted by Admiral George {| Those elected as directors were | ! 423 Caroline Street. The meeting | Only two members of the Civil Service Board were present at last night’s hearing. They were Mrs. Isabel Fleming and Mrs. Sybil Dexter. Both voted to re- instate Hernandez. The third member of the board, Robert Val- dez, is out of town on vatation. City Attorney J. Y. Porter, opened the hearing —held before more than 50 spectators—with an unsuccessful plea for a one week postponement of the hearing be- cause the “city’s key witness was out of the city. Postponement Denied However, Hernandez’ attorney, William V. Albury, argued successe fully that the case be heard im- mediately. Albury stated that the officer’s livelihood was being im- paired and that serious charges had been leveled against his in- tegrity. Albury said further that “when the police chief brought the charg- es he should have been prepared to prove them.” “If the police chief had the facts when he brought the charges, he should have them now,” Albury stated. Porter explained to the board that he has no power to subpoena witnesses but asked that the case be postponed until the witness re- turned to the city. Board’s Duty “This board has a double duty— to protect this police officer and the city,” said Porter. The board, however, decided to proceed with the hearing and Por- ter asked for a five minute recess to confer with his principal wit- ness, Commissioner Roberts. Roberts was sworn in by Porter and he said that on the night the incident was supposed to have oc- curred he completed a business call and went to the restaurant for a sandwich. After the waitress took his order, Roberts said that he spotted Her- nandez nearby. Roberts testified that the officer was drunk and that he walked un- steadily when he approached the car. Comments Exchanged Roberts said that he told Her- nandez: “Gene, you've really got a load on.” “Yes, Blondie, I really have a load on but I don’t give a damn because you'll never be elected again,’ Roberts quoted Hernandez as saying. Roberts said that he replied: “If that’s the way you feel about it, OK.” He said that Hernandez then walked off “mumbling to him- self.” The commissioner said that he then reported the incident to the police chief. Roberts stated under cross-ex- amination that he did not actual- ly see Hernandez drinking and that he was not in uniform. Chief Investigated Chief Perez testified that when |he received the complaint from Roberts, he and Lt. W. L. James went to the restaurant in search (Continued on Page Seven)