The Key West Citizen Newspaper, September 8, 1954, Page 1

Key West, Florida, has the most equable climate in the country, with an average range of only 14° Fahrenheit For Quick Communication, Use CLASSIFIED Ads! You'll reach buyers and sellers— tenants or workers . . . Just Kev West Cilisen THE DIAL 2-5661 or 2-5662 Today SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER IN THE U.S.A. VOL. LXXV Ne. 213 Navy Unit} To Appear} KEY WEST, FLORIDA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1954 In Comics Writer Visits VX-1 To Gather Material For Story Sequence By BILL SPILLMAN Edwin Granbury, story ‘writer and dialogue man for the comic strip, “Buz Saw- yer,” is visiting a Navy unit fn Key West to obtain real- istic story material for the strip hero’s forthcoming ad- ventures. Granbury arrived at Mea- icham Field yesterday after- ‘noon via NAL, He was on his arrival velopment adron One (VX-1), vy unit = aon activities the strip denouement will be based. VX-1 is apparently in for a big splash of national publicity through the strip. Future plans call for Buz Sawyer to be attached to the squadron here. : Story Plans The story sequence is based on the Chief of Naval Operations’ in- tention of transferring the ‘“Mid- jet,” a wheelless plane that lands her on water or on a cushioned mat, to Key West for evaluation by uz and VX-1. Buz has recently ‘piloting the plane in the com- be spent the day today pictures soe “geyed = personnel in VX-1 to be us strip, He was given’ a tour WRITER GATHERS MATERIAL — Edwin Granbury, right, chats with Mrs. C. H. Hutchings, and Captain Hutchings about the comic strip for which Granbury is dialogue writer. The nationally syndi- cated strip, “Buz Sawyer,” will soon carry a sequence purporting to be based on developmental ac- tivities being carried on at the Air Development Squadron (VX-1) here. Granbury came to visit Navy activities here te get first-hand inforniation regarding procedures, personnel, etc.—Photo by Spillman. Key West Slated In Anti-Red Activity Court action against Key West Communists today was promised by Ellis S. Rubin, Miami attorney and newly appointed assistant to Attorney General Richard Ervin. Rubin, according to an Associated Press dispatch also warned of similar action against Commies in seven other Florida areas as part of a state-wide drive, Rubin said “action ‘is definitely planned” in Miami, Tampa, Jack- sonville, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Lakeland, Key West and Daytona Beach. Paul Crouch, former member of the Communist Party and an un- dercover agent for 12 years, told a conference Miami officials they are.“ dn which Buz Sawyer is now ridiz ape hurricane, ac- cording fo the strip. Also planned was a tour of the Naval Station, which included an interview with Rear Admiral George C. Towner, Commander of Navy activities here. Granbury discussed with the Admiral the local participation of the Navy in the future strip sequence. The Key West-based - squadron, ‘VX-1, follows other Navy develop- mental activities in being used in the comic strip, Patuxent’ River, Maryland, and Muroc, California, units have been used previously. Granbury, with the permission of the Navy Department, tours the Navy’s activities and obtains pic- tures and names of real people for use in the strip. The artist who draws the strip uses the pictures in the delineation of characters. Act- ual names are assigned to the characters except in cases of a derogatory nature. Created By Crane Granbury said that Roy Crane, creator of the strip, is now on va- cation, but a staff of artists and writers are on hand to keep the atrip going. § Last night, the visiting writer was entertained at a reception at the quarters of Captain and Mrs. Hutchings at the Seaplane Base. Guests at the affair included the VX-1 executive officer, Commander Raphael Semmes, his wife Juanita and his sister-in-law, Miss Bea Runyon. Granbury was to leave Key West this afternoon by commercial plane. Anthony De Note, M.D. Eye Specialist Will Be Here FOR CONSUL- TATION on Saturday, Sept. U1... For Appointment, Call DR. J. A. VALDES PHONE 2-782] TONIT and TOMORROW. Red forces in Florida. Small Celts He said the 200 or more who still pay dues are broken down into cells of three members each and hold in moving au- tomobiles instead of regular plac- es. “None of them carries a party membership card any more,” he added. ‘‘That’s too risky. The or- ganization keeps no written Tec-| ords, either, for fear they may fall into the hands of the wrong people.” Crouch said the menace is ‘“con- siderable at all times” because South Florida is only a step from “a very hot situation in Cuba and because Florida is the gateway to Latin America, also dangerous these days because of Communist activities.” Rubin said Communists who have been identified with the party and who have recently left the group should make the fact known before “they get caught in the state-wide drive.” Warning Promised “Now we know who these Com- munists in Florida really are,” Rubin said. \“‘We will give them fair warning that they’d better come in and explain their activi- ties—or face action within the next 90 days.” Rubin brought disbarment charg- es against Leo Sheiner, 44-year- old Brooklyn born lawyer who last week was disbarred by Circuit Judge Vincent C. Giblin for re- cane to answer questions of loy- concerning their knowledge of Communist activity in the Miami area were served with ‘notices to 24, Mrs. Leah Feldman, 43, Key (Continued On Page Eight) Looks Good! Lasts Long! GOOD RED CYPRES: from ‘ Strunk Lumber 120 SIMONTON, near BANK ; |} towed away still have the choice Garage Owner plains Of e & e e Diserimination The city manager and the police chief were instructed by the city commission last night ‘to confer. with local | garage. owners. to datermine | the feasibility of rotating towing business arising from accidents on city streets. They took that action after the wife of a local garage owner, Mrs, Erina Caraballo, complained that Police had refused to call her hus- band’s wrecker, even though the car owner requested it. Accident Cited She cited an accident which oc- curred recently at Virginia and Varela Streets. The owner of one of the cars, she said, asked that his car be towed to Frank’s Ser- vice Station, Eaton Street. But, Mrs. Caraballo added, the motorist was told by police that Jesus Cara- ballo, Simonton Street garage own- er, had the city contract for tow- ing. Jesus Caraballo recently under- bid his brother, Police Sgt. Frank Caraballo, on the city towing con- tract by agreeing to perform that service at no cost. However, it was brought out last night that the contract is only for cars towed away because they are illegally parked or abandoned. Motorists involved in accidents still have the perogative of selecting the garage to which they want their cars towed. Rotation Suggested Mrs. Caraballo suggested last night that the city agree to a pol- icy of rotating the towing business between the three local garages interested in the service on a monthly basis. “There is enough business in town for all of us,” said Mrs. Cara- ballo. After discussion, the matter was referred to the city manager and the police chief with instructions | to make it clear that police should | be told that the owner of cars! of which garage they shall be tak- | en to, JET SQUADRON HERE Navy Jet Fighter Squadron 171, known as the “‘Screamin’ Demons” | arrived at noon yesterday at the | Fleet All-Weather Training Unit here, to undero night intercept flight training during all-weather flight operatons, Hurricane Alert Lifted As Edna Goes Northward MIAMI (AP) — The hurri- cane alert for south Florida was lifted today as Edna, an erratic giant packing 115 mile an hour winds, swung to the northward in the Atlantic. An 11 a. m. EST advisory re- ported: “The more northward turn relieves the threat to Florida but the northeastern Bahamas will continue to have high seas and strong winds today.” The advisory placed the sea- son‘s fifth hurricane about 300 miles east of Miami near lati- tude 26.0 north, longitude 75.7 west. It was moving north northwestward at about 10 miles an hour. The hurricane was expected to continue moving in a north- erly direction. County Board Considers Plan For Airport A contract for architects’ Plans for the airport im- provements last night was submitted to the county commissioners at their regu- lar meeting. The contract was from Stewart and Skinner and Maurice H. Con- nell. It calls for payment of the architects of 10 per cent of the cost of the improvements. The county plans to lengthen and pave runways, light the field, and build a terminal building with con- trol tower. Other Action Other business included: Buying two two-way radios and one spare set for cars of the sher- iff's departments. The radio equip- ment was bought from the Moto- rola Co. for $1,807.11. Hearing an appeal from Arthur Stickel of Big Coppitt Key for re- pairs to a road. This was referred to the road committee. Okaying safety week, Sept. 20 to 26. Okaying use by the city of the county’s plans for a swimming pool. Okaying J. B. Pinder, Jr., of Is- lamorada, as a new patrolman for the sheriff's department. He will work the Upper Keys. Of Dock Lease Terms Expected Fireworks Over City Commission To Request Fluoridation Referendum Here The city. commission moved last night to ask the Monroe County Commission to place the fluoridation issue on the ballot in the November general elections before they place their endorsement on the proposal. Hines Replies To Criticism On Dock Deal Denies Chicanery, Cites Need For Simonton St. Land N. C. Hines, executive vice pre- sident of Caribbean Ferry Systems, Inc., dispatched the following let- ter to the city commission as his answer to a controversy over a lease on city-owned property at the foot of Simonton St. to his com- pany for a ferry dock.:The letter was read to the commission last night, In his letter, Hines says that his company requires the city proper- ty to take eare of future expansion plans and to ease a traffic pro- blem when the ferry operation gets The letter: “While it is very difficult for us to realize that any questions have been raised with respect. to the terms and conditions embraced in our contract with the City of Key West for the use of the Simonton Street property, here are the facts simply stated in sequence regard- ing our negotiations for docking facilities in Key West and Mara- thon. “On May 12th this year, we wrote the City of Key West, the Gulf Oil Company and Mr. Joseph Sirugo a letter asking each one to advise us as soon as possible what the price and terms would be for the use of their facilities which each would make available for docking facilities from Key West to Cuba. In response to these let- ters, a committee appointed by the board of directors, consisting of Senator Robert R. Reynolds, Pre- sident, Mr. Blaine Willenborg, Treasurer, Mr. J. H. Church, Sec- retary and myself, made a visit to Key West and inspected each property and conferred with both the City and Mr. Sirugo, return- ing to Miami where the committee conferred with Mr. J. E. Preston, District Manager of the Gulf Oil Company, Offer Toid “We were offered the Simonton Street property with 88 feet of Gulf Oil frontage by Mr. Sirugo; the terms were not acceptable. “We thereupon contacted Gulf Oil for the rest of their property. They could not negotiate because of negotiations with Sirugo for a (Continued On Page Eight) NOTICE! . Sealed bids will be received by the undersigned Guardian on one 1948 Buick CP 34825873 07247919 1203714. Owner Lewis Ware at his office in the County Sheriff's Office, Key West, Florida, up until 12 P.M. noon, September 10th, 1954. Guardian reserves the right to ject any and all bids. Automobile may be seen at Sweeting’s Garage and Service Station, opposite the City Hall DARIO Q. GARCIA, As Guardian of the Estate of Lewis Ware, Mentally Incompetent. on Greene Street. While three members of the com- mission were very definite in their approval of the proposal, they de- cided to ask that local residents be allowed to vote on the question. The state health department has asked that the city and county commissioners endorse fluoridation before it gets underway here. “Then they can’t say that we are trying to ram it down their throats,” said Dr. Delio Cobo, who has been outspoken in advocating controlled fluoridation of the water supply. Adverse Publicity Cobo added that adverse news- paper publicity has “put fear into the public” concerning fluoridation. Dr. Cobo and commissioner Jack Delaney both said that their chil- dren are being treated with flu- oride with no harmful effects, Co- bo also pointed out that a couple of years ago several hundred chil- dren were treated at Truman School, with none of the dire re- sults predicted from some quarters. Mayor C. B. Harvey also asked ‘that the Florida Keys Aqueduct Commission be consulted on the Question. He said that he was per- sonally in favor of fluo “Te willing:to wake tou word at the medical and dental authori- ties,” ‘said the Mayor. Cobo Questioned During the discussion, a mém- ber of the audience asked Dr. Co- bo if he didn’t think that those wanting their children to have the benefit of fluoride should get it from their dentist. “Certainly not,” replied Dr. Co- bo, “fluoridation of the water is the best means. Oral application is expensive and not everybody can afford it.” Dr. Cobo pointed out that fluori- dation of the water supply would cost just seven cents per year for each person. ° Cuban Tourist ee Official Talks ee To Commission Louis Felipe Colina, a represen- tative of the Cuban Tourist Com- mission at Veradero Beach, Cuba, appeared before the city commis- sion last night to tender an offi- cial invitation to visit his city when the Key West - Cuba ferry goes into operation. In a brief address before the commission, Colina said: “We hope that the start of ferry service will be of benefit, not onty to Cuba, but to Key West. Your city has been well-known to Cubans for genera- tions — we cannot forget that the the first work for Cuban indepen- dence was done here. We consider all Key Westers to be Cubans,” Co- lina said. Colina is en-route to Miami to. confer with officials of the ferry company. He said that plans are underway for a celebration to mark the first voyage of the ship, the City of Key West, Oct. 2. The vessel is scheduled to dock at Car- denas, Cuba, for the first three months and then will put into Ver- adero Beach, Cuba’s top resort cen- ter. Colina said that at the present, there are 400 hotel rooms avail- able in Veradero—including the famed International Hotel — along with shops and other tourist attrac- tions. Future plans call for the addition of 4,000 rooms, he added. Dock Lease Fail To Go Off By JIM COBB The city commission voted last night to confer with officials of the Caribbean Ferry System, of Miami, te determine the future of a lease on city-owned property at the foot of Simonton Street after N. C. Hines, executive vice president of the firm, made a surprise offer to return it to the city if they are dissatisfied with the terms of the pact, The commission took that action a f t e r a one-hour hearing before a large gal- lery into the ramifications of the lease signed July 28 giv- ing the ferry comany use of the property for 25 years. Some commissioners had held that the ferry company had “put one over on them” by negotiating for the city property and then in building their terminal on adjacent land leased from the Gulf Oil Cor- poration. Porter Tells Action City Attorney J. Y. Porter also appeared at the meeting and made a frank statement of his part in the negotiations. An expected clash between he and the commis- sioners, failed to materialize. Por- ter had been under fire from some commissioners for representing both sides in the negotiations. Commissioner Louis Carbonell, most vehement on the situation, “asharp-denunciation of the manner in which the ferry com- pany conducted the negotiations. “I want to make it clear that I don’t blame our city attorney for this situation,” said Carbonell. “I blame Mr. N. C. Hines for breaking his word with us. “That man told me the dock would be put on Simonton Street. I honestly don’t believe the com- mission would have voted to give the ferry company that lease if we had known they were not going to build the dock on Simonton Street.” Intention Questioned Carbonell said that the fact that the ferry company signed a lease on July 29, the day after the city lease was signed, indicated that they intended all along to build the dock on the Gulf property. He then moved that the city “go into court and fight to the bitter end to break the lease.” He pointed out that the county receives $10,000 annually for ren- tal on their parking lots at Mea- cham Airport. The ferry company proposes to use the city property for parking until they make use of it for future expansion. That information was contained in a letter from Hines who said that he was unable to attend last night’s session because of illness, Review Asked Hines pleaded that, “for the sake | j of fairness,” the city review the negotiations. “Then, if there still exists any doubt whatsoever on the part of the city commisson, as to the good faith of Caribbean Ferry System, Inc.,. in all negotiations, above re- ferred to, I would personally be willing to recommend to my board of directors that the lease on the Simonton Street property be can- celled at the option of the city com- mission,” Hines’ letter said. Carbonell then changed his mo- tion to ask that the city commission j; meet immediately with the ferry company officials to discuss the situation. City Manager Victor Lang was instructed to arrange for the meet- ing. Motion Seconded Commissioner Delio Cobo offered a second to Carbonell’s motion, saying that when he voted for the lease, it was with the understand- ing that the port facilities would be suilt on the city property, Commissioner Delaney said: “I think we entered into this lease too hastily, but if we hadn't signed it, the public would have cut our throats.” City Attorney Porter then took the: floor to give his side of the controversy, He prefaced his remarks with the jocular comment that “T have some idea of how the Christians felt when they were led into the arena.” Porter said that his part in the negotiations began when he was in- structed to draw up a lease assign- ment in which Joe Sirugo, former holder of the lease, gave it back to the city. Concessions Made When talks between the city and Caribbean Ferry Systems got under way, he said that he was told to draw up a supplementary agree- ment covering additional concess- ions asked by the ferry companys They were: ° aera 1, The term of the lease would be increased from 20 to 25 years. 2. The company would have the wie ge of building rl ae ity or the adjacent owned 9 the Gulf Oil Co, 3. Am-option allowing the com- pany y the property immed- iately. le Gity commission agreed to firsttwo conditions,” Porter “and I drew up the final lease and it was read in full and approved at a commission meeting July 26.” Changes Told “On July 28 when officials gath. ered to sign the lease, I was asked by the Mayor if it was the same as the original document, and | said yes — with the exception of the two changes that were author. ized,” Porter continued, Porter added that on August 3, he was contacted by Joseph R, Church, secretary of the ferry company, and a naval architect, The three of them, Porter said, went to the Simonton Street property and surveyed it. ferry officials tentatively to place the dock at that site. Porter was then asked range a meeting of local tors preparatory to bids and plans were forw: him for the administration ing. b “The first I knew that the dock was being built on the Duval Street property was when I glanc- ed at the plans and noted that fact,” said Porter. Porter’s Standing He then went on to outline his relationship with the ferry com- pany. “On August 9, I received a phone call asking me to serve as local counsel for the company,” Porter said. He added that when the ques- tion of compensation arose, he (Continued on Page Eight) — We Can Take A Few More ct the Ist thru 4th Grades 728 Where IN PERSON—GRAND OLE OPRY SHOW