The Key West Citizen Newspaper, September 28, 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 reac! ers and sellers— tenang or workers . . . Just DIALHS661 or 25662 Today ) O | Che Kev West Citisen THE SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER IN Sp THRE U.S) A. VOL. LXXV Ne. 230 Raid On Strip Joint Nets Four; Deviates Face Woe Perez Promises “Clean Town” After Crackdown Police Chief Bienvenido Perez continued his drive against vice in Key West last night in a personally con- ducted raid which resulted in the arrest of three enter- tainers and the manager of the Mardi Gras Club, Duval Street. j And at the same time, Perez announced that a full- scale drive is being launched to rid the city of scores of sex-deviates who have flock- ed to Key West in the wake of a'crackdown in progress by Miami police. ‘ “The town is full of them,” he commented. Not Wanted Here “We are going to have a clean town,” said Perez. “We don't want that kind of people in Key West.” Perez said that he has instruct- ed the entire police force to jail obvious deviates “wherever and whenever they are found.” He added that complaints have been received that perverts are eongregating in certain bars and on benches on Duval St. “They are actually whistling at sailors as they walk down the streets,” said Perez. Last night’s, raid was conducted | Two Convicted Killers Are Electrocuted At RAIFORD ® — Two convicted ‘idlers, one of them a Negro boy, were executed in Florida’s electric chair today. Asst. Supt. J. G. Godwin said Tanner Brock, Columbia County farmer, was put to death first fol- lowed by Orion Nathanial Johnson, 19, Ocala Negro schoolboy. Neither of them made any last statement or had anything to say, Godwin said. Neither did they eat any breakfast before taking the walk to the electric chair. Johnson was convicted of the shooting of Edward Porter, Mari- on County sheriff. Brock was con- victed of killing his young son in| a fit of rage after a domestic argument with his wife. Johnson’s attorney tried to block his execution with an appeal for a writ of Habeas corpus in Federal Court at Jacksonville yesterday but Judge Bryan Simpson denied it. These were the first executions in the administration of Acting Gov. Johns, An aide said Johns signel the death warrants last week only after long thought and conferences with his Baptist min- ister. Delay For North A third was to have died today— A. Elwood North, Lake Wales funeral director convieted of stran- gling Mrs. Betty Albritton after she willed him her praperty But state law saya/a'q ndemned ! person must be closé’{6 the death house for five daysbefore execu- tion and Johns said North was too late being transferrgg from Polk by Perez, in civilian clothing, and Police Lt. W. L. James. Duval St. Stops ‘They made routine:stops in all Duval St. bars and then swooped * down on the Mardi Gras shortly before midnight. ‘Their report said that when they walked into the place, they found an indecent show in progress. The lightly clad dancer, identi- fied as Grace Hanson, alias Lyndia Page, of the Southard Apartments, was jailed on a charge of “participating in a per- formance of an indecent and im- moral nature.” She was released on bond of $250. Proprietor Arrested Perez and James then arrested Arthur G. Thomas, proprietor of the club on a charge of operating a disorderly house. His bond was set at $250. ‘ Two women charged with B- drinking were also placed under arrest in the raid. f They were indentified as Doris Lind, 711 Caroline St. and Bonnie Blacke, 311 William St. Both were later freed on bond of $150 each. All will be tried in city cohrt today. Annual Concert Membership Drive; Plans Advance Plans are advancing for the offi-| cial opening of the 1954 - 55 Com- munity Concert season scheduled to get under way October 25 with the annual Kick-Off Dinner at the Woman’s Club, campaign head- quarters for the weeklong mem- bership campaign. This year, the campaign will be headed by Mrs. Bernard Frank, who is busy contacting regular| workers of past seasons and telling the Community Concert story to prospective new workers, The concerts are a highlight of} the winter season and bring to Key | West artists of national and inter-' national reputation. The membership subscription | series is six dollars for the con-| certs held in the beautiful audi- | torium on Truman Ave. The Key West Community Con.-! cert Association is a part of Com-| munity Concerts, Inc. of New York, and is affiliated with Columbia Ar. tists Management, Inc. FOR SALE! FOR SALE! 1 °50 Ford Custom, 2-Dr., very clean, full price $295 $50 Down—$32.55 for 12 Mos. MONROE MOTORS Driver’s License Deadline Saturday Thursday at S p.m. is the deadline for buying a 1955 driver's license, “Atter that time,” said Coun- ty Judge Raymond R. Lord, “you either pay a penalty or take a driver's examination. The examination takes about a day ef your time,” he added. Judge Lord estimated there are about 2,000 persons who have not bought new licenses. Year Of Stress. Results From McCarty Death - TALLAHASSEE (# — Florida | marked jue end of one of the most | tempestuous years in its political history today. A year ago today Gov. Dan Mc- Carty died of heart trouble com- plicated by pneumonia and Charley Johns became acting governor by virtue of his position as president of the state Senate. ! McCarty’s death, shortly before 10 p. m. the night of Sept. 28, left a confused constitutional question which took the Florida Supreme Court to straighten out. The question was whether Johns had the right to serve out the fuil unexpired McCarty term—or fail- | ing that, whether he had the right to run as a candidate for the last two years of the term. Court Decision The court decided Johns was not entitled to the full term but could run for the last two years. The/ ruling brought about a hard fought had Democratic opposition froin | Raiford County jail for this to be effective. Johns reset the death warrant date for next week. Had the three died on one day it would not have been the first time. Four have been executed at least once before and there was a triple execution a few years ago for a killing at Starke. Dr. Mark E. Adams, officiating at his first electrocution, pro nounced Brock dead at 8:40 and Johnson at 8:57—some six minutes after the switch was thrown in each case. New Man At Switch The switch was operated for the first time by the prison’s new first assistant engineer but his name is never made known. Supt. L. F. Chapman meanwhile set Monday for the electrocution of North; George Bailey and James Henderson, Leon County Negroes convicted of killing D. V. Pert, Tallahassee filling station operator during an apparent robbery at- tempt in 1953. Pert was slain with a shotgun bast. His body was found in his station two miles east of Talla- hassee. Bailey claimed he had nothing to do with the killing and asked the State Pardon Board for clem- ency but this was denied. ‘The order in which the three will go to the chair will not be de termined until Monday morning, prison officials said. ground as before. Orion Nathaniel] Johnson Twice before a date was set for the electrocution of Johnson who | was 16 when he shot and stabbed death Sheriff Porter in 1951. Johnson’s attorney, Ernest Jack- son of Jacksonville, appealed the conviction to the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts and asked the State Pardon Board for clemency. But he only succeeded in putting off the date of execution. Three times the Florida Supreme Court declined to halt the death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. And the Pardon Board wouldn’t commute the sentence. Tanner Brock Acting Gov. Johns signed the death warrant for Brock, Colum- bia County farmer, Wednesday. He had signed a death warrant in April but Circuit Judge Hal W. Adams ordered a stay of execu-| tion until the prisoner's sanity could be determined. Adams acted upon a motion of | Brock’s attorney who presented af- fidavits from two psychiatrists that the man was insane. Brock was charged with attempt- ing to drown his 5-year-old son, Tommy, then taking him into the woods and bashing his head against | a tree after a violent quarrel with his wife on Dec. 9, 1952. Spurned Suitor Kills Two In Widow’s Home MINERAL POINT, Wis. (P—A spurned suitor shot and killed two men last night at the home of a widow who had rejected him sev- eral hours earlier. He also wounded another woman before putting the barrel of a .22 caliber semi-auto- maite rifle in his mouth and pull- ing the trigger. He was in critical condition. Iowa County Sheriff Ray Reese campaign for the final two years of | said Roy Antoine, 55, a laborer, | McCarty’s term in which Johns! stood outside a window at the home | of Mrs. Ruth Hughes and fatal'y Brailey Odham and LeRoy Collins. | shot Elmer Thomas, 42, Chicago. | Collins, a close friend of the late | Another bullet struck and killed | governor, won. |Reuben Benson, 53, of Mineral | KEY WEST, FLORIDA, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1954 ‘ACL Says ‘No’ To Rumors Of Keys Railway Persistent Rumors Are Squelched By Railroad President Two persistent rumors | were knocked in the head | today. Both rumors involved the Atlantic Coast Line railroad 1 |— that the line was to build | jan extension to Key West | and that the line was bui!d- |ing a plush resort hotel on | the Keys. The Citizen checked with the railroad and received a reply from |C. McD. Davis, president of ACL, that the line would neither build nor was it contemplating construc- | tion of either project. | The text of the letters follows: ACL Questioned 1 “Atlantic Coast Line Railway “71 Broadway “New York, N. Y. “Dear Sir: i “Two persistent rumors have been circulating here recently. | Both rumors involve the ACL. 1) will appreciate it if you will con-| firm or deny these stories: | “1. That the ACL is contemplat- | ing or will build a railroad exten- sion along the Florida Keys “2. That the ACL or other! companies connected with ACL is | |planning or will build a resort on| one of the Florida Keys. This re- |sort, according to the _ stories, would include a hotel and golf course, “The Key West Citizen.” Reply Received “The Key West Citizen, “Key West, Florida. “Your letter 20th addressed to | our New York office has just reach- ed me. “The -answer-to your question 1 is no, and the answer to your question No, 2 is no, “Very truly yours, “C. McD. Davis.” Passenger Train Takes 53 To Death In River | BOMBAY, India (®—An express | Passenger train plunged into the} licy waters of a floodea river 50| miles east of Hyderabad early to-| |day and at least 53 persons were, killed or given up for lost. Officials said it was one of the! worst disasters in the history of | India’s railroads. | Eighteen bodies were recovered | by this morning. Hope was aban-| doned for 8 railwaymen and 27 In- jdian troops listed as missing. Thirty passengers were hospital- jized with injuries. About 600 passengers were! asleep or dozing aboard the eight- car Hvderabad-to-Kazipet express just after midnight when a bridge jnear the little station of Aler, | weakened by a flood, collapsed | | beneath the weight of the train. Man Convicted On Prostitution Rap A local cab driver was fined $100 | and his license was suspended for ;90 days when he was convicted in |city court of a charge of soliciting | for prostitution, The man, Oliver Kemp, alleged- jly approached a woman in the 116 ;Club, Greene St. and asked her to enter a life of prostitution When the woman complained to Police, Kemp was jailed. | Egyptian Post Is Fired On | As acting governor, Johns sus- pended a number of McCarty a men around him who would be} loyal to his administration. The | suspensions drew violent protests. | At the end of his first year 'n pices Johns appears in good phys!- | shape. First reports from + check-up he has just had made at a New Orleans clinic indicate doc- tors found him in sound condition. Point as he ran outside. The sheriff -| said Antoine then fired two more | pointees, saying he had to have shots which struck Mrs. Patsy Walton, 48-year-old widow of near- by Linden, in the head as she tried to stop him . SHE WAS FLUSTERED DETROIT ®—Mrs. Anna Zemme got a suspended sentence Monday on her explanation she got “flus- He will serve in the 1955 state| tered” before her car—on her first Senate after he hands over the| try alone at the wheel—ran into one chief executive's position to Collins |diven by Allan F. Finnk. Asked ‘in January. His Pemaines of the how so, she said that Finnk was USED CAR LOT Goer. Greene and Simonton Sts. ggg pot cee Senate by then, however, will have the driving instructor who, after Passed to President-designate Tur-| giving her 12 lessons, declared her ner Davis of Madison. la “perfect drive.” CAIRO, Egypt «—Guidance | | Minister Maj. Salah Salem said! today an Israeli transport ship fired on an Egyptian coastal post |south of Suez and a number of Egyptians were injured. The incident was “the most se- |rious Israeli aggression” since the jend of the 1948 Palestine war, Salem said. | Salem said an armed Egyptian | ship captured the Israeli transport and towed it to Suez, where of- ficials are conducting an investiga- Israeli flag, was called the Abaghali. It was sailing to Mus- sua, in Eritrea. tion. He said the ship, flying the} PRICE FIVE CENTS Quick Manslaughter Case Is ‘Off Again, On Again’ BACK TO JAIL—Edward Peter Quick, 23-year-old sailor, stands glumly at left as he is booked in- to the county jail. A few minutes earlier, a manslaughter charge against Quick had been dismiss- ed, but the charge immediately was re-filed. Jailer Gerald Labrada is at center. Deputy Sheriff Watson Roper, Jr., stands at right.—Citizen Staff Photo, Pinder. Roberts Talks To Deputies About Slaying Accused Father Is En Route To Miami For Trial MIAMI (#—James daughter, Judith Ann, 7, as they rode today Roberts, charged with murder in connection with his daughter's death, is being brought back to Miami by Deputies Earl Venno and William McCrory to stand trial | in the case. They are traveling slowly by car, with Roberts man. acled and expected to spend the next four nights in jails along the way. Judith Ann was kidnaped from her grandparents’ home in Miami July 7. Her body was found in a mangrove thicket beside Biscayne Bay several hours later. “ Milt Sosin, Miami Daily News reporter following the Roberts car in another automobile, said the deputies and the Baltimore attor ney and former labor official talked frankly of Judith Ann’s untimely, violent death. Treat Him Fine “These fellows are treating me fine,” Sosin quoted Roberts as say- ing after a night in the Petersburg, Va., jail. “They speak right from ; the shoulder, They're not two- faced.” He added: “They tell me right to my face \they think I'm guilty. I respect | Venno and McCrory for their atti- tude. They tell me point blank that \I did it. “I didn’t.” In Miami, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Rosenberg, Judith An: gra parents, speculat hat Judith / that went wrong | “They coutdn’t have gotten muc money out of me, Pat porte ost | d was $15,000. It had to pve {planned as a harmless kidnaping.” | Five-Day Trip Five minutes after a preliminary hearing at which he waived extra- dition, Roberts was escorted to an automobile by deputies Earl Venno ” Rosenbe: Murphy, |and William McCrory for the drive time to Miami. The deputies said they planned to drive in “easy stages” and probably wouldn’t reach Miami for five days. Meanwhile, Mrs. Roberts ex pressed confidence in her hus- band’s innocence and pledged that |she will “stand by him.” Roberts told Circuit Judge J. sign extradition papers and that he was “going down on my own.” T. Roberts | and two Miami sheriff's deputies | discussed the slaying of Roberts’ | southward through Virginia | Manslau ghter Case Goes To Criminal Court For Action An information changing manslaughter has been filed against Ed- svard Peter (uick, 23-yea old sailor, Allan B. Cleare, Jr., county solicitor, said today. A manslaughter charge against Quick was dismissed yeserdaty but was immediately re-filed. hearing. A Criminal Court jury will hear the case next if Quick pleads not guilty, Cleare said he had made a “very, very thorough investigation of the case,” had studied the transcribed testimony of the hearing be- fore Justice of the Peace Roy Hamlin, and had heard testimony un- der oath from Watson Roper, Jr. deputy sheriff, and George Bennett, highway patrolman. | | | car he was driving overturned and killed a woman. ‘In my opinion,” said Cleare, ‘‘a jury should pass upon the innocence or guilt of this defendant.” Cleare pointed out that 14 persons crashes in the county this year. have been killed in auto stop. ‘There is only one way to stop reckless driving while intoxicated,’” he continued, “and that is by vigorous prose- cution when, in my opinion, the facts justify prosecution. Let a jury! decide on the evidence.” “Coof Ball” Sale To Juveniles False Alarm Is Received Today Rapped In L.A. The lives of eight firemen were | endangered when a false alarm LOS ANGELES (?—A juvenile; W@S Phoned into the main fire joffice says some California doc-| station about 1:45 a.m. today, |tors are making huge profits from| The incident vrompted Fire the sale of benzedrine pills—some- | ,. é 2 times called “goof balls” — (aR Charles Cremata to issue a eens | Statement that anyone apprehend- The testimony was given yester day before the U.S. Senate sub {committee on juvenile delinquency |by Police Sgt. Joe Hampton, a | face stiff prosecution. “We'll throw the book at tnem,” Cremata promised. Filing of the information means that there will not be another| The manslaughter charge was placed against Quick after the | “Innocent people are the victims,” he said, “and it has got to| and driving 1 ed sending in a false alarm will | jdied during a kidnaping attempt ¢ supervisor of the Los Angeles police juvenile division and presi dent of the Southern California Juvenile Officers Assn. “The California dangerous drug act allows doctors to se!l drugs to . “Some doctors buy in 10,000 lots at thousand and sell them to sters at the rate of 50 for Today's false alarm came from a man who said that “a large house was ablaze at First St. }and Fogarty Ave.” In addition, | a call was placed for an ambulance {and police. \Divers Seek ‘Bodies Of Ferry | Sailor Freed, Re-Jailed In Fast Action By DENIS SNEIGR A manslaughter charge against a 23-year-old sailor was dismissed yesterday but j the charge was immediately filed again. | The sailor, Peter Edward Quick, today was back in the county jail in lieu of | $5,000 bond after enjoying about one second of free- jdom. | Yesterday’s session before | Justice of the Peace Roy | Hamlin began at 4:40 p. m. | By 5 p. m., Quick was once again in his cell. Objections Made The re-arrest of Quick was mark- ed by arm waving and shouted ob- jections on the part of Quick’s at- torneys, William V. Albury and En- rique Esquinaldo, Jr. But the arrest stuck. Deputy Sheriff Watson Roper, Jr., had a warrant issued bv Har- ry Dongo, clerk of Criminal Court. As soon as Hamlin dismissed the manslaughter charge, Roper told Quick he was again under arrest \on a manslaughter charge. | Albury and Esquina\do interpos {ed objections and also-sid x Citi- | tures, zen photographer not to take pic Taken To Jail Roper took Quick to the cuunty | jail immediately and read the war- | Fant to him, | Albury and Esquinaldo arrived at the jail after the warrant had |been read. Roper handed the warrant to the lawyers who read it. The attorneys again warned against taking photos of Quick and told Roper they would sue him if a | Picture of Quick appeared in the Paper. “So sue me,” Roper told them | The charge against Quick grew out of an auto crash about 5 a.m. jon June 23 on Cudjoe Key. The car Quick was driving overturned eight times and rolled 500 feet, killing Debbie Martell, 25, a Miami Beach model. The hearing before gan Aug. 24 and on tha continued until yesterday Quick’s attorneys asked for a continuance because, they saii jthey had just taken the case and jhad not had time to prepare it Short Session At yesterday’s short session, Al bury moved for dismissal, Sayin, ;the state had not produced sufti- 'cient evidence to justify binding jover Quick for trial ‘in Criminal | Court. 3 He added that culpable negli- |gence had not been shown. Hamlin said there was no crim- ‘inal intent involved, that the speed- jometer of the death car was brok- jen before the crash, and that the | State had failed to prove culpable | negligence. At the Aug. 24 session, a wit- ness testified that “the car was going too fast’ and that an- other passenger in the car had told Quick te slow down. The witness, M Richardson, of M jot the five persons | Prior to the fatal crash; deta events leading up to the wrec 5 His Time’s Cheap BALTIMORE ki charged with breaking a | 2» — Ernest Par-} nese divers t Wreck Victims | |Party left a Stock Island taver: HAKODATE, Japan (#~—Japa- the first of hundreds of bodies in| the sunken hull of the ferry Toya Maru which capsized Sunday in a jtyphoon with the loss of 1,172 lives. Three divers recovered the bo- ies of 20 Japanese from the wreckage on the floor of Hakodate House of Correction would bej harbor. They located the bodies of about right. The Negro defendant| shout 40 of the 60 Americans wh | jhad an extended criminal record. perished. | street display window w and making off with $18.7 h of merchandise, told police he was satisfied to do $18.70 worth of ’ for the crime. | Judge Michael J. Manley yester-| gi ;day decided that five years in the! She told the court that whi Richard Sinclair, another sailor, began removing } was driving. Miss Martell, the woman who was killed, was in the center of the front seat. Quick was on the outside. Miss Richardson and Mis: Barbara Fields, of Miami Beach, were in the rear seat. She said the car stopped near (Continued on Page Two) |KEY LARGO ROBBERY | Burglars broke into the Bill Connor real estate office on Key of clothing, the sheriff's depart- ment reported today. a & | VETERAN ACTOR DIES NEW YORK, #—Bert Lytell, 69, Howard Murray he was willing to|Largo and took about $550 worth | prominent stage actor and star cf oe films, died today in Roose- velt Hospital. IT’S FUN TO SHO} Siealidlinmbes 120 SIMONTON, near Fish Docks