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

Key West, Florida, has the most equable climate in the country, with an average range of only 14° Fahrenheit VOL, LXXV No. 220 LOSES FOOT—Robert James Roemhild, 19-year-old -sailor, is cartied into THE the Naval Hospital this morning after he lost his left foot in a towing accident off Dry Tortugas. He was brought here by helicopter—Citizen Staff Photo, Sybil. Navy Man Loses Foot In Shipboard Mishap Helicopter Brings Injured Man To Navy Hospital For Amputation A-49-year-old*sailor lost his left fod early this ‘morning when his foot became entangled in a tow line. The accident occurred aboard AVR 87 (aircraft res- cue vessel) off Dry Tortugas, The injured man, Robert James Roenhild, 1,3 fe —E—E_EEa= Tan, was rushed to Boca Chica in a Naval Air Station rescue helicopter and then by ambulance to the Naval Hospital. At noon, the Naval Hospital re- ported Roemhild’s condition as “good.” It was necessary to am- putate his left leg about half way’ between the knee and ankle, Details Sketchy Details of how the accident oc- curred were sketchy here. The AVR, another AVR and the T-1, a midget submarine, were still at Dry Tortugas at noon. The three vessels left Key West yesterday morning for Dry Tortu- gas where they are participating in a joint Navy + Sylvania Elec- tric Corp. project. . The project involves photograph- ing a submerged submarine, the T-1 in color and at night, It was not known here whether ‘the AVR 87 was being towed or was towing another vessel. Roemhild’s foot was caught in a bight of the tow line. Doctor in Attendance ‘The injured man and a Navy doc- ‘tor, Lt. James Ellis Stark, were put ashore on Garden Key where the helicopter picked them up. Dr. Stark was along as a phy- gician on the project. The rescue helicopter was pilot- ed by Chief Aviation Machinist Mate Edward P. Brockbank. The co-pilot was Chief Aviation Ma- chinist Mate J. R. Locklair. The helicopter also carried a hospital corpsman, Audrey David. Brockbank flew co-pilot last Fri- day when a sailor aboard the USS Wilke lost his right hand in the premature exp:osion of a hand gre- | nade. Roemhild’s home is in Philadel- phia, MARILYN LEAVES NEW YORK (#—Marilyn Monroe left here by plane today for Holly- wood to end a movie-making stint that attracted thousands o f gaping New Yorkers. Huge crowds gathered to watch her perform on streets before the cameras—for the movie, “the Sey- en Year Itch.” WINDOW and DOOR BLINDS at Strunk Lumber ‘¥20 SIMONTON, near City Hall 1 ‘Cross Drive |the near future. Detours Listed Grinnell St. from Caroline to Eaton. Margaret St. from Eaton te Southard. The Citizen will publish a daily box on streets closed by sewer work. When a street is re-opened, its name will be temoved from the listing. Chest-Red Meeting Set A meeting of representa- tives and local members of the agencies to be included in the United Community Chest - Red Cross Drive has been scheduled for Wednes- day, September 22, in the county commission chambers at the courthouse at 8:00 Pp. m ‘The meeting has been planned to! acquaint the directors of the var- ious agencies with operation of the United Drive. The drive which will get under way on October 15 will again be; co-sponsored by the Jocal chapter of the American Red Cross. Directors Meet Sam Collins, campaign chairman for the local Chest, announced at | a meeting of the board of direc-| “ |tors held at the La Concha Hotel | at noon Tuesday, that campaign | headquarters would be set up in| William Plunkert, UCDS repre-} sentative from New York, stressed | that Since’ thefe would be no paid) executive director, the Key West drive depended on the cooperation of the agencies and that the suc- cess of the drive would be in di- rect ratio to their interest and work. “In other words,” he said, “no agency can afford to sit back and wait for the money to come in.” “Just because an agency has been accepted as a_ participant, (Continued on Yage Two) H. S. Student Raps Comic Book Menace Kiwanis Members Are Urged To Think Of Current Problem Miss Joan Knowles, a sen- jor at the Key West High School, urged the members of the local Kiwanis Club to give some serious think- ing to the presently existing comic book menace. Miss Knowles, Key West High School representative to National High School Institute held last July at Northwestern University, spoke Tuesday night, at the weekly meeting of the Kiwanis Club at the La Concha hotel. Miss Knowles told of how the group of 160 teenage high school representatives from all over the | country unanimously passed a res- olution against obscene literature of all types. Specific Objections She said in her talk that she was not against the true comic books of the Walt Disney type. She speci- \fied serious objections to comic books subjects on horror, love and | crime. “Remember,” she said, “this is your community and it is also your children’s home.” In the routine business conduct- ed at the meeting, a resolution was passed to go ahead with plans to celebrate the Kiwanis National Kids’ Day on Saturday, Septem- ber 25. King Everette Sweeting fined Bill Freeman, Jr. ten cents for | wearing a tie to the meeting. His ; charge was trying to embarass the king by being dressed up at the meeting. One member advanced | the suggestion that since Freeman | had become a politician he wanted | to get fined so he could keep his | name in the limelight. | Reporter Fined The Citizen reporter was also | fined 10c for stating in last week’s | Citizen that Joe Boza had been! elected to fill the unexpired term | |of Jim Stapies as club secreary. | The statement was in error. Bo-| za had actually been elected to fill | a spot on the board of directors | and not the position of secretary. | The nominations committee pre- sented the following slate: presi- dent, Rev. John Armfield; first vice president, William Neblett; second vice president, Joe Boz: treasurer, William V. Albury; rectors, Gleason Snow, Gene An- hier, Colonel Holbrook, Dr. H. C. Campbell, Newt Ketchings, Ever- | |School Project ‘Children Yet |the children. SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER KEY WEST, FLORIDA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1} 6, 1954 IN THE Che Key West Cilisen U.S.A. peach buyers and/ \ Gacnts or workers , PRICE FIVE CENTS Huge Crowd Sees “City Of Key West” Christened 4 Gov’t Allocates $250,090 For The Federal government has allocated $250,090 to remodel the high school, MH was an- nounced today by Horace O’- Bryant, superintendent of pub- lic instruction, The reconstruction program, expected to begin. in January, will mean a 20 per cent in- crease in student capacity, bet- ter office space, a clinic room, guidance offi attendance of- fices, and more lavatorifs, O'- Bryant said. O‘Bryant estimated the re- modelling would require eight months and that he expected the contract would be award ed early in January. Willian H. Merriam of Core! Gables is the architect. Miami Judge Won't Release * «Judge Beckham To Hold Hearing On Abandoned Tots Mrs. Eva Warner Gibson, juvenile judge, is not going to get two abandoned child- ren from Miami as easily as she thought, it was learned today. Judge Walter Beckham, of the Dade County juvenile court, said he would hold a hearing before de- ciding whether to release the chil- dren to Monroe County. Mrs. Gibson said yesterday the children would be returned here and placed in a Monroe County welfare home. Left In Miami The children — two-year-old Ste- ven Allen Swan and five-year-old Walter E. Baughman — were aban- doned in a Miami church yard where they were discovered last | Friday. | The mother had been working as a waitress in Marathon before she took the children to Miami and left | them. The father, Henry Swan, 33, a Navy veteran, is in the Naval Hospital here for treatment of in- juries he received Avril 15 when struck by a hit-run driver. Yesterday, Mrs. Corinne Fox of Marathon, president of American Legion Post No. 154 Auxiliary, went to Miami to pick up the cil- dren. « Trip In Vain She said today that Judge Beck- ham told her he would not release “He said he would hold a hear- ing,”’ Mrs. Fox added. She said the Legion post has Swan’s power of attorney and has been caring for the family at Ma- rathon for the past four months since Swan was injured. So that’s the way the matter stood today. The Dade County juvenile court has custody of the children; Swan was in the hospital expecting an- other operation; and no one knew | where the mother was. ette Sweeting, Joe Bringman, R. C. Regan and William Warner. NEW USE FOR ‘OLD SOUR’—Mrs. Wilhelmina Harvey is shown Wednesday as she dashes a bottle of precious “Old Sour” against the bow of the “City of Key West” as high point in christening ceremonies in Miami Wednesday. operations Oct. 2. Ship is scheduled to start NAL, County Bear Can’t Agree On Fee By DENIS SNEIGR National Airlines and the county commissioners met again this morning but still could not agree on how much NAL should pay for using Meacham Field. Today’s meeting was a continua- tion of the hassle which began Jan. 1, 1954 when the county slapped a charge of 50 cents on the airlines for each passenger taking off or landing. NAL refused to pay the charge and dropped two of its three daily flights to Key West. The two flights were re-schedul- ed last April but NAL has not paid the county any money for use of the field since Jan. 1. At Meeting At today’s meeting were the five commissioners; Paul Sawyer legal adviser to the commissioners; County Clerk Ear: Adams; W. A. Burton, administrative assistant to George Baker, NAL president; Al- exander Hardy, NAL vice presi- dent from Washington, D. C.; J. Lancelot Lester, NAL attorney in Key West; and Harold Wilde, coun- ty airport consultant. Extensive improvement plans for Phone Service Disrupted Today Service to an estimated 300 Key. West telephone subscrib- ers in the Flagler Ave. —Fifth St. area were without service today after an unidentified truck cut the line to that sec- tion. Don Nichols, manager of the local office Southern Beli Telephone Company said that service would be restored this afternoon, The mishap occurred, Nichols said, when the truck passed too close to a pole and snagged the cable which goes under- ground at that point. NOTICE City of Key West MASTER ELECTRIC EXAMINATIONS will be held at the old City Hall, Greene Street, on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, at 8:30 A.M. : (sd) Howard A. Oikle, City Electrical Inspector. the field are in the works. The improvements include paved and extended runways and a terminal building. The new facilities are expected to be ready for use in June, 1955. Hardy told the commissioners that NAL will pay the county $350 a month from last Jan. 1 until the new facilities are ready for use. Airlines’ Offer If the new facilities are ready by next June, this would mean that NAL would pay the county $5,950. | When NAL begins using ‘+2 new facilities, Hardy said, NAL will | pay the county $600 per month. “This is 100 per cent more than NAL previously paid per month here,” Hardy said, “and 200 per cent more than NAL pays for like services in the other 32 cities the line serves.” The county commissioners said they wanted $297 per month for January, February and March of this year, and $375 for April when the two canceled flights were re- scheduled, plus $600 per month from April on. Later Rate The rate,. the commissioners said, would continue at $600 mon- thly after the new facilities at the field were in use. The commissioner’s proposal would mean that NAL pay the county $9,066 for use of the field from Jan. 1, 1954 to June 1, 1955, when the new facilities presum- ably will be ready to use. Hardy balked at this deal. Gerald Saunders, chairman of the board of county commission- ers, then said NAL owed Monroe County $5,144 for use of the field from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31. |tain a motion to present the bill |to Hardy with the stipulation that |it be paid by Oct. 1 or that the county would take stens to bar NAL from Meacham Field. The motion passed unanimously. | Bill Presented | Saunders handed the bill to Har- dy. | "<7 will now entertain a motion | te, adjourn,” Saunders said. That motion, too, passed unani- mously. Hardy and Burton returned to Miami on NAL’s 2:50 p. m. flight today. | The commissoners then almost immediately re-convened to consi- ( (Continued on Page Two) vey. The triple ceremony — the trim vessel — was held sand spectators. The crowd included scores of Key West and Miami of- ficials, along with represen- tatives of the Cuban govern- ment, The christening went off without a hitch. After addresses by offi- cials of the Caribbean Ferry Sys- tem, Inc., and other official guests, operators of the ship will furnish the first sea link between Key West and Cuba in many years, Mrs. Harvey stepped forward and swung the first bottle, the cham- pagne festooned with colorful rib- bons, against the ship. Didn't Break He added that he would enter-| It clanked against the side of | the ship—but it didn’t break. ‘The smiling first lady tried and this time the bottle The second bottle, “‘Old Sour,” was smashed without a hitch and Mrs, Harvey followed through with the rum. That was the signal for the ship’s whistle to salute the newly christened vessel. Then, more than 300 invited guests filed aboard the ship for a cocktail party held in the ship’s air-conditioned dining room, spon- sored by the Miami Chamber of Commerce. Chief speaker at the dedication was former Senator Robert H. Reynolds of North Carolina, presi- dent of the ferry company. Service Hailed Reynolds hailed the start of ferry service — se’ for Oct. 2— as “the opening of a new gateway to Central and South America.” “We hope that a great number of the half million Americans who travel to Europe each year, can be funneled through Key West to the islands to the south of us,” Reyn- olds added. Alex Balfe, a company official and master of ceremonies at the christening, then introduced Rob- ert Morgan, president of the Mi- ami Chamber of Commerce. Miami’s Congratulations “We in Miami are sincere in the hope that this is just the begin ning of a real success story,” said Morgan. “We in Dade County owe a lot to Monroe County.” N. G. Hines, executive vice- president of the ferry company, |pointed out that the Key West- | (Continued on Page Two) At a regular business ling and happy community. | Increasing interest in | | Among the many items of busi- |ness discussed the school bus sit- | uation was decided as the one need- ing the most urgent attention at the present time. | “It is disgraceful,” said one wo- |man, “the way the children are {packed into the bus. We counted nearly a hundred. They were jam- med so tightly they couldn't breathe. I was told that they have taken over a hundred children in one load.” Neo Room “I would gladly send my chil- dren by bus if they could find room,” another woman declared. “When it was impossible for them |to get on the bus I tried letting them ride their bikes to school. One of them was nearly run down Key West’s First Lady Bats 3 For 4 In Miami Ceremony By JIM COBB A new era in Key West’s transportation history got underway in Miami Wednesday when the “City of Key West” was officially christened by Mrs. Wilhelmina Har bottles of “Old Sour,” cham- pagne and Cuban rum were smashed across the bow of at the Dade Drydock Co. on Miami's Biscayne Boulevard before an estimated one thou- | Phine Beaks Power Line At Boca Chica Jet Training Plane Is Damaged, Fliers Unhurt In Landing, A Lockheed TV-2, a two- seater jet training plane, struck a power line during a low approach for landing at Boca Chica Field at 7:30 p. m. yesterday, temporarily plunging the field into dark- ness. The nose wheel was damaged, but the landing was made without injury ‘to either pilot. The aircraft, low on gas, circled the field several times while em- ergency lights were played on its undersufface to determine the ex- tent of damage to the landing gear _ Bmergency Lighting With power and communications temporafily disrupted when the plane struck the wires, the Naval Air Station quickly shifted to em- ergency power to light the field. The instructor, Lieutenant Ralph C. Knight of Fleet All - Weather Training Unit, and his student pi- lot, Ensign Edward K. Zabrowski landed the aircraft with the fied prepared for an emergency. When the plan’s landing gear ap- peared to ground observers, to be down the landing was made with some damage to the nose of the | aircraft but no injury to either pi- lot. Eight other airborne aircraft {from both Fleet All Weather |Training Unit and Fighter Squa- jdron 171 landed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miami as the Naval Air Station here temporari- lly closed to effect permanent re- | pairs to the power system, VISITING GENERAL NEW YORK (#—Maj. Gen. Mo- hamed Ibrahim, Egyptian Army chief of staff, arrived here by air today for a three-week tour of U.S. Army installations, Overcrowding Of Buses For School Children Is Problem meeting last Monday night the Sigsbee Park Community Council laid the ground | work that will transform the housing area into a thriv- the Council’s activities was shown by the largest attendance at any meeting thus far. ;by a truck at the intersection of |Sigsbee Road and Roosevelt Blvd. Now I try to take them in myself but the traffic problem at the school itself is awful.” A committee was appointed by the Council to meet with local bus line officials in an attempt to iron out the difficulties. | Bus transportation from Sigsbee (Continued op Page Two) ANNOUNCING ... WARDLOW'S SERVICE STATION (Formerly Hargis) Charlie Wardlow, Owner « 531 FLEMING PHONE 2.9243