The Key West Citizen Newspaper, October 28, 1954, Page 4

Mw Thursday, October 28, 1954 The Key West Citizen Fetahed ily Cogent Sunday) trom The Ciizen Bulding, corner of Only Daily Newspaper in Key West and Monroe County Page 4 = THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Entered at Key West, Florida, as Second Class Matter TELEPHONES 25661 and 2.5662 oS ae te OW dit er el she Aan asain Member of The Associated Press—The Associated Press is excl tatitled to use for of all news dispatches credited seo oerwise creed inthis Paper, aad ste Toa ews bas Member Associate Dailies of Florids OS Subscription (by carrier), 25¢ per week; year, $12.00; by mail, $15.60; ADVERTISING RATES MADE KNOWN ON APPLICATION The Citizen is an open forum and invites discussion of public issues of local ws sabiects or general interest, but it will not publish YOU ARE A GOOD POLITICIAN IF YOU KNOW COMPLEXITIES OF POLITICS ' Politics in Key West, in Florida, or in the nation, teems with lessons for aspirants for office, but few of them are capable of learning the lessons. We have seen men in Key West run time and time again for public of- fice, and each time be badly defeated, but when election year rolled around again, they announced their candida- cies again, only to be defeated again. Don’t think that because a man is popular it assures him election. to public office. One of the men who was defeated repeatedly was as well-liked a man as Key West ever had. To meet him was to joke with him and to give him the glad hand of fellowship, yet his popularity, in the usual walks of life, seemingly pulled votes away from him, instead of giving them to him. nature, but you had only to scratch the surface to find out why he always ran poorly — the voters thought he was too trifling to serve the public efficiently. Another lesson, which politicians find it hard to learn, is to run for the wrong office. In Key West today. is a man who would have been holding the nomination for a certain office had he run for it, but he was deter- mined to seek another office, and was defeated. That circumstance has happened far more frequent- ly in statewide or congressional district elections. J. Tom Watson, an account of whose death in Tampa was pub: | lished in The Citizen last Monday, was among those who did not profit from that lesson. He had been twice elected as attorney general by large majorities, and it was pro- bably the big vote he received that caused him to run for governor in 1948. He was defeated, and then tried to get the nomination on the’ Democratic ticket for a vacancy in Florida’s supreme court, and was defeated again. Watson went further than any other politician who has come to The Citizen’s notice. He became disgusted with the Democratic party, announced that he was an Independent, then joined the Republican party. His doing so surprised his many friends in Key West. He was staunch in his friendships. If he was your friend, he stuck to you. We know of a well-known Key Wester who re- marked, when Watson announced for governor in 1948: “I know Tom hasn’t a chance to win but I’m going to vote for him, because he’s stuck to me as a friend and I’ve got to stick to him.” 3 Watson didn’t pull his punches, didn’t sidestep. You knew where he stood, even when aware his stand was unpopular, as when he fought and won in putting into effect the anti-closed-shop law. Lex Green, another politician well known in Key West, went the.way of Watson in not sticking to the job he held. Green today, had he so decided, would have been the representative from his congressional district. But he was not satisfied to hold that office. He ran for congress- »man-at-large, and was elected. Then he tried for the governorship im 1944, and was defeated by Caldwell. Since then Green has tried to be elected to other offices, and has lost each time, Politics is complex, and wise is the man who can un- ravel the complexitier, 3, Practice SRE sotton of Yesterday's Puzzle © 40, Mountain in yf 46. Plundering }. Myself Alaska 48. Wears away, 49, Avalanches DOWN |20. Metal {21. That fellow 22, Symbol for | sodium 23. Measure of discord length 24.Genus ofthe 44. Profession: % rose French 1. Dyes 2. Kind of 3. Theref . fore 4 Gone 12. Bouquets - by 17. Require 20. Medical fluid 21. Residences 23. Fruit ofa vine 24.Lift \ 26. Ancient J chariot - 27. Sober 29. Drinks: slang 30. Grew toL 31, Shirker 32. Place to sleep 33. Nonmetallic element 34. Rubs out 36. Cauterizes 39. Gr \tis 40. Barren 42. Invite 43. Finial © 45. As far as 47. Man's ‘ont ‘Apparently, that was an astounding phase of human | & bi Well, there may be an old say- ing about ‘lightning never striking the same place twice’ but just as sure as the dickens, it looks like our confused airport situation can mess up our tourist season two year in a row! Last year the better hotels on the Island suffered because NAL curtailed its flights to one per day after refusing to pay a landing fee assessed by Monroe County. The fight is still going on and will pro- bably blow wide open about the middle of this season. The situation between the Navy and county officials is even worse. In this case, it would appear that the Navy seeks to block certain improvements which as.far as I can determine, have been openly planned for a couple of years. Why? / No Collusion I do not believe that the Navy and NAL have joined forces to fight Monroe County. The U. S. Navy is too big an outfit to soil its skirts in any such petty affair. If Admiral Towner says that ex- tension of the east - west runway would endanger flight operations out of Boca Chica, he is saying it in the best interest of the Ser- vice and with due regard to the lives of both civilian and military flight personnel. However, it seems a shame that instead of studying the situation in a serious manner — combining the talent of Navy and civilian advisors to seek a solu- tion — we have to get down into). a ‘dog-eat-dog’ fight. Key West needs Meacham Air- port. And Meacham Airport needs improvements. The $130,000 offered by the CAA is our only chance to get these improvements which will result in greater safety for incom- ing and outgoing airline passeng- Of Ours By Bill Gibb | ers — both Service and Civilian. This being the case, it would seem that for the best interest of the Na- vy as well as Key West, a work- able solution to the problem should be arrived at as quickly as possi- ble. : On The Fence Man oh man! I just reread this column for today and if ever I) saw a guy straddling the fence — that’s me! Truthfully, though, I can’t see how to change it. Insofar as the fight between NAL and Monroe County is concerned, both parties have | tended too much toward a ‘dog, in the manger’ attitude. | With regard to the: Navy and} Monroe County’s argument, 1) might feel that the Navy is, wrong but such feeling can’t be allowed | to over - ride the common sense | fact that our military leaders us-} sually have justification for their | demands upon a civilian populace, | especially in the U. S. We must remember this — ex-| tension of the east - west runway | might have been OK a couple ‘of years ago. Few of us know what goes on at Boca Chica and since] that time, development might be} at a stage where such an exten- sion would be dangerous today. None of which detracts from the fact that instead of barking at each other, the Navy and County offi- cials should cooperate and save this $130,000 needed so badly for Meacham Airport improvements. Surreys Add Color To KW The fringed strreys which re cently appeared on the streets of| Key West have created a lot of favorable comment and add color to the streets of Key West. ‘This Rock” would like to’ compliment Charlie Wardlow for his determin- ed, two-year struggle to secure this | new attraction for tourists. NEW YORK (®—The forecasting game nears its seasonal climax. Every week sports oracles tell you how next Saturday’s football will turn out, and every Monday they explain how the upsets that crossed them up were really as unusual as the weather you know where. And this week every political pundit is proclaiming just how next Tuesday’s election will go in this, that and the other place, and if you read it all you'll be too tired to go to the polls. But warming up in front of the ’ stands is still another team of fore- casters—the nation’s econo:nists, in industry or government, in colleges or just out on their own as con- sultants. Already they are issuing guesses as to what will happen to business if the Republicans retain Congress and what will happen if the Demo- crats capture it. (If the Republi- | Margarine This Rock | Ups Canada’s Smuggling Woe MONTREAL, (®—The shadowy figure in the background com-| pleted his order, then said as an afterthought: “Throw in 25 pounds | of margarine while you’re down| there.”” This picture of a Montreal buyer ordering a supply of the lower- priced butter substitute, banned in; Quebec province, was painted Tues- day by the Royal Canadian Mount- ed Police as they told of the big- scale operations of smugglers of cigarettes and other merchandise from ‘the United States. Smuggling of margarine from the United States, they said, merely was a sideline for the men who in 15 months brought 2% bil- lion cigarettes into the country without paying federal or provin- cial tax. Of Canada’s 10 provinces, only Quebec and little Prince Edward Island in the Maritimes ban the sale and use of margarine as a threat to their dairy industries. It is much simpler to bring margar- ine into Quebec from Ontario than to smuggle it across the guarded international border. In recent weeks, more than 60 persons have been arrested as RCMP and Quebec provincial po- lice cracked down on a smuggling ring which they say cost federal and provincial treasuries millions of dollars in revenue. More arrests are expected. Compared with smuggling of cigarettes and other merchandise such as American refrigerators, said an RCMP official who declined use of his name, the illegal im- portation of margarine is “peanuts.” In 15 months, the RCMP has proof of only 20 tons of margarine being smuggled into Quebec from tthe United States, NAVY MAN RETIRES AFTER 20 YEARS Ralph E. Cockrum, aviation ord- Business =| Mirror By Sam Dawson | be encouraged through knowing it | still has a friend in court. If the | Democrats win, they say, business will be comforted by the thought that the tendency might be to- ward inflation—and a mild dose al- ways makes business look better, whether it is or not.) If this “heads you win, tails you win” sort of reasoning confuses you, remember that forecasting is | a ticklish business at best and the business soothsayer just does the| best he can, knowing full well that | the public can cross him up with| its buying whims, or the Russians! can do it by changing the thermo- | stat on their cold war. Socn the economists will be} swarming all over the printed page telling you how business will be in the coming year. A few have already jrmped the gun with tentative forecasts for business in 1955. | Most of them, encouraged by) | Howard Transferred inanceman first class, is leaving the Navy after 20 years of service, the Navy announced today. He is opening a promotional ad-! vertising and printing in shop Pensacola. Ledr. Ralph A. Howard has been transferred to Destroyer Flotilla Four at Norfolk, the Navy an- nounced today.-He was Assistant Project Coordinator with the Sur- face Anti-Submarine Deevlopment Detachment here and lived at 55} Maine Road. Citizen Ads Bring Results| this fall, are guessing that 1955’s business activity should exceed | 1954’s by anywhere from 5 to 10 per cent. | Since, so far this year, industrial | output has trailed 1953’s record | by about that same rate, the pre- dictions seem to promise that 1955 will be nearly as good as 1953. But there. are professional look- ing-aheaders from other camps who see only stagnation in the fu- ture, with a growing population finding new jobs increasingly hard to come by. The trouble with some of these forecasts, on both sides of the fence, is that you wonder if maybe NEW YORK #—“I have a mor- bid interest in money,” *| George Axelrod, a young man who wrote in 60 hours a Broadway he says will earn him a dollars. For: the actual time he spent at the typewriter in out “The Seven Year Itch”—now be- ing filmed as a vehicle for Mari- lyn Monroe—this comes to $16,666.- 66 an hour. Axelrod, who is 32, wears a crew cut, and looks like a fugitive Princeton freshman, thinks this is a fair fate of pay for a writer— if he got to keep the money. . But, of course, he doesn't. To- day it may take more time to figure out the income tax on a hit play than it does to write it, “You work for years and starve,” said George wryly, “and - The Citizen welcomes ers, byt the editor reserves are considered libelous or Solr cae conten te learn letters and il be Editor, The Citizen: then when you hit tite take it all away. bis loot they such as a guarantee score will improve. Or “Art is a byproduct of writing for money. Shakespeare wrote be- cause he needed dough. You al- PEOPLE’S FORUM MORE EMPHASIS ON BOWLING It seems to me that your columnists and sports de- partment are neglecting one of the greatest things that has happened in this fair city; and that’s the establish- ment of the American Bowling Congress in Key West. ; I have been in Key West for 32 months and have read the different letters to the editor, editorials and col- civilian, But believe me when they get together on a bowling alley its just like one big happy family. Yes, I am a chief in the Navy and let me tell you I have never met a finer bunch of guys in my whole life than I have met since bowling has been established in Key West. Both Navy and civilians bowl with and against each other and sportsmanship is at its highest on the al- leys. It’s one of the greatest ways I know of to-get your different organizations together to meet each other and discuss the different problems while they await their turn to get up on the alleys and throw a strike ball and get a 7-10 split. So to sum it all up I believe a column ‘on bowl- ing should be an every-day ® LET'S CLEAR UP SOME NONSENSE Editor, The Citizen: So much downright nonSense and mis-information has been publicly expressed lately concerning fluori- dation that it’s high time some of it be corrected. First of all, let it be understood, once and for all if possible, the fluoridation of public water. sup~ plies as recommended by health authorities is endorsed by every national organization that could possibly have any. bearing on the matter. A partial list of these organiza- tions follows: The American Dental Association, The American Medical Association, The United States Public Health Service, State and Territorial Dental Health Di- rectors, State and Territorial Heal- th Officers, The American Associa- tion of Public Health Dentists, The National Research Council, the In- ter- Association Committee which, besides the ADA and AMA includes the American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association the American Public Welfare Asso- ciation to say nothing of the coun- ter-parts of the foregoing in Cana- da and Great Britian. The national organizations that do not endorse fluoridation are The National Committee Against Fluor- idation, The Massachussetts Wom- en’s Political Club and the Chris- tian Science Church. Aside from the Christian Science | Chureh, who ever heard of these organizations? Their membership is largely composed of food faddists, drug- less healers and a good part of their professional leadership is made up of fringe members of the professions such as Dr. C. T. Betts of Toledo, Ohio and Dr. Royal Lee of Milwaukee. According to the Toledo Blade, Dr. Betts was licensed to prac- graduate from a dental school but was licensed because he had been in practice for some years prior to the passage of the licensure law. An American Medical Associa- tion investigation found that Dr. Betts “has for many years been they aren’t made just now with y half an eye on how they might in- ans win, they say, business will! the signs of a pickup in the making | fluence the voters. i I and | to item in The Citizen. “PORKY” LEWIS to find that Dr. Lee also sells flu- oride tablets. In a letter to the editor on Octo- ber 19, Mr. Guy Carleton takes your Mr. Cobb to task for saying that “the tide of public opinion is turning in favor of fluoridation. Mr. Cobb couldn’t be more right for in 1934, 3,570,021 persons were drinking water with a natural Flu- and Philadelphia have voted ‘to fluoridate their water. act acta eo doubt that the Public opinion is ing in favor of fluoridation? ae The question of whether a refer- endum is truly desirable has also highly sicentific subject sufficient- ly enough to enable every person vote intelligently. If, therefore, the city commis- sion is unwilling to assume the res- Ponsibility of making a decision on Placed on civic and professional groups to provide for an adequate public information program through which all citizens will be scienti- tically and accurately informed. The possibility that a referendum may miss-fire and be mis-used was shown in the city of San tice dentistry in 1902. He did not} i ways write better when you're hun- “It’s much harder to write an- Ey ae ‘al i ie ge 8 t : I i i ri aft i Bs i 4 ii i rt i ih ! = ; : Fe 3 : i i i i i aif ae ; i ad firs that Axelrod wrote Year Itch” in 1952.4 15 four-hour sessions out,” he said. Today George gets movie script, double if he furnishes: the umns about the continued squabble between Navy and his In Days Gone By \ Abandonment of Roosevelt Boule- Last night county commissioners Tesolution, Licenses Rule i 4 zi ak or tee