Coral Gables Riviera

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CORAL GABLES RIVIERA

AN INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 16TH YEAR NO. 5 CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA, MARCH 21, 1941 PRICE FIVE CENTS

Style Show Program on Page 4

OUR Phillips Announces Candidacy For Mayor

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by Jim Moore With the announcement of the first candidate appearing in today's Riviera, open season on politics is now officially declared in Coral Gables. From now on until election day, June 10, the grand old game will be pretty much the main topic of conversation around Coral Gables. Pretty soon, candidates should be popping up just like the flowers in the Spring. Already, groups are lining up, plans are being laid and before long Gables voters will again be spectators at the local version of "the greatest show on earth". Due to the supreme court decision that grew out of the last city election, absentee ballots by mail have been outlawed and will not be cast in this election. However, authorized voters who will not be in town on election day, will still have the opportunity to cast their ballots in person between May 26 and June 6. These must be cast at the city hall before the voter leaves the city. For those persons who do not expect to be in the city during the regular registration period, April 24 to May 8, the books will be opened this Monday to allow them to register. Persons who are already registered in the city books do not have to re-register. But those who have never participated in a Coral Gables municipal balloting must qualify by registering. It would be well for voters who are in doubt about their registration to check with the city clerk and be sure that their names are on the books. We recall that during the last election, quite a few voters came to the polls believing that they had registered at the county courthouse, as there is no connection between the two registrations. Candidates for the mayor and commission posts can file their petitions any day now and have until May 18 to get them in. Each petition must be signed by 25 registered voters and contain affidavits of the circulators, attesting the fact that the signatures are genuine. After the petition is filed, the candidate has five days to accept the nomination in writing. The signatures on the petition must be in ink and contain the date signed and the address of the signer. It's been sort of a custom in Coral Gables for candidates to make their announcements official through the news columns of The Riviera, and we again extend the invitation to all would-be office holders to use this medium. As soon as the registration lists are checked The Riviera will again follow out the custom of sending a paper to every registered voter on mail days. (Continued to Page Five)

Huge Show Rarin' to Go At Kiwanis Gala Tonight

With the combined talents of Alexander Ott's Miami Biltmore Water Follies' aquatic and vaudeville stars and the charm of 35 of the fairest debutantes and young matrons of Greater Miami, the Kiwanis Club of Coral Gables tonight will launch its first annual benefit show for the Underprivileged Child fund. The show will begin at 8:30 p. m. The Underprivileged Child Committee of Kiwanis will use the entire proceeds of tonight's show to aid indigent crippled children who are in dire need of medical treatment, operations, therapy or braces. Dr. Arthur H. Weiland will be in charge of disbursement of the fund. The "Aqua Gala", as the combined show has been named, will feature acts from Ringling Brothers Circus, leading aquatic stars in the area plus musical numbers by the Ponce de Leon High School Band and Ham Olson's orchestra. Miss Mitzi Strother, recently crowned Miss Florida, and Louise Baker, the new Miss Miami, will both be present with their courts to lend beauty to the occasion. The show will open with the Ponce Band accompanying its 16-year-old drum majorette, Muriel Smith, in her dextrous "baton dance". The opening will be followed by the water ballet, a bevy of beauteous mermaids, who will do their graceful routines of aquatic precision accompanied by the Ponce Glee Club, and Miss Jean Butcher, singing star of "Girl of the Golden West," and sweetheart of Kiwanis International. Features of the aquatic end of the show include the hilarious battle on the greasy pole, "Whiskey, the diving dog," and sensational diving exhibitions. Among those divers donating their talents are Pete DesJardins, Olympic champion; Jackie Call, clown clown; Pete Zaley, (Continued to Page Five)

New Building Begun on Ponce

Construction work hit its stride this week on an $8,000 store building, located on Ponce de Leon Blvd. at Navarre Ave., which is being built by Dr. P. I. Hopkins, who arrived in Coral Gables Monday from his Illinois home to oversee building operations and take up his own residence here. The new building, which will be completed in about 90 days, will house six stores, and will be a notable addition to the business district. John Soffe, contractor, is in charge of construction on the project.

Invited to Visit by Students Group Inspects Ponce de Leon

By HELEN REYNOLDS A group of Gableites did a little job of inspecting (by invitation) Friday, at Ponce de Leon High school and came away filled with admiration, sprinkled a little with amazement. Admiration at seeing a well run high school in action. Amazement that it could function at all needing so much. It was the student council's idea from the first to have a home room inspection by a group of picked judges. The faculty had nothing to do with it. In fact Mr. Harry Rath, principal of the school said, "If the faculty should have suggested the students come back at night and scrub and wax desk tops, arrange flowers wash picture faces, etc., it would have met with an apathetic lift of the eyebrows and a noncommittal shrug of the shoulders. No, it was the student council's idea and the letter of invitation to Judge was signed by its president Miss Helene Zimmerman. At 9:30 a. m. senior Eddie Dell met the group and conducted the tour, composed of Mrs. William Cox, prominent Coral Gables club woman, Mrs. C. E. Granfield, of the P.T.A.; (Continued to Page Five)

Bulletin:

Word has just been received that workmen (15 carpenters) have started repairs and remodeling the band portable and other portable buildings at Ponce. Appropriations for the work having been voted on by the school board.

Chest Workers Get Free Ride On Fire Truck

Climaxed by a ride on a fire truck through the streets of Miami, a testimonial luncheon was given Wednesday to Community Chest officers of the Greater Miami area. The luncheon, which was given jointly by the Wometco and the fire department to 200 popular Community Chest contributors, was attended by Wallace A. Bell, Chest major for Coral Gables, and his captains, W. E. Winegar, George B. Hurst, Robert E. Wynne, Louie Lanford and Sam McCormick. Winegar's Legion Chest team, which raised 137 per cent of its quota, received special mention for the mark in overshooting all expectations, as did the team headed by Hurst, which raised 113 per cent of its quota. The fire truck ride, which was a special award for distinguished service to the Community Chest, immediately followed the luncheon, which took place at the Columbus Hotel.

Mrs. Bennett Taken by Death

Mrs. Adaline M. Bennett, 91, passed away yesterday at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. E. Blaine Moore, 4206 Alhambra Circle, after a brief illness. She was the widow of the late James A. Bennett of Greensburg, Pa. and came to Coral Gables seven years ago. She was a member of the Church of the Little Flower. She is survived by her daughter, Mrs. Moore; four grandchildren, James B. Moore, John Edward Moore, E. Blaine Moore, Jr. and Mrs. Charles Elliot Thomson, all of Coral Gables; and a sister, Mrs. Ella Wenger of Columbus. Funeral services will be conducted at 9:15 o'clock Saturday morning at the Church of the Little Flower with Father Thomas Comber officiating at the requiem high mass. Following the services the body will be interred at Graceland Memorial Park.

Heavy Attendance Indicated For Kiwanis Benefit at Biltmore Pool 10 LEAVE FOR CAMP MARCH 26

As more calls for men to fill the swelling rolls of Camp Blanding came into Draft Board Seven this week, ten more trainees are scheduled to leave here Wednesday morning to go to camp. As the pace of induction increased, Gene Hunter, draft board secretary, announced that another ten men or more would probably be leaving for Camp Blanding on or about April 10. Recalling the statement of Major T. Byrd Sparkman, high draft official who visited the Gables draft board last week, saying that more men would be required from Board Seven's rolls than originally anticipated, board officials pointed to the fourteen who left in the last induction early this week, only to be followed by the ten who leave Wednesday, as a sign of acceleration in induction from the Gables board. With three volunteers among them, these are the ten selectees who will assemble here March 26 to entrain for Blanding: Claude Patterson Cox, Coral Gables; Albert Elijah Phillips, 253 S. W. 2nd St., Miami; Sam Clark Cuttler, 902 Capri St., Coral Gables; Richard Emery Clements, 1542 Michigan Ave., Miami Beach; Terry Monroe Hendricks, RFD #1, Box 1761, Miami; John Lewis Navarre, 7510 S. W. 6th St., Miami; Hugh Dent Stuart, Homestead; Henry Willis Sapp, South Miami; Richard William Fuchs, Homestead, and Albert Willard George, 1222 Ferdinand St., Coral Gables.

BIG FLAGLER RACE MONDAY

The big championship final of West Flagler Kennel club's four dog $2,000 sweepstakes will be staged Monday night. Semi-final races are booked this evening and Saturday with four dogs from each heat qualifying for the final box. My Topper and Fern Nature, a brother and sister of World Champion Rural Rube, swept through the early rounds in decisive fashion and are expected to go to the post co-favorites for the championship race. On several occasions this year, My Topper has come within 2-8th of a second of the world 5-16th mile record, while he recently shattered the record of 18 wins set up by Rural Rube at the Flagler oval last year. My Topper now holds 16 triumphs for the season, a record which greyhounds will be shooting at for a long time to come. The layoff given Fern Nature during the middle part of the campaign seems to have done the big female speedster a world of good and she's now racing better than ever. Fern (Continued to Page Five)

Braves Marksmen, Raids Casa Loma

While some of America's crack-shot policemen slept upstairs, the fast-moving bandit who staged three holdups in Coral Gables three weeks ago returned to hold up the Casa Loma Hotel Sunday morning. He and his stocky companion held a gun on Hamilton Reilly, the Casa Loma night clerk, and took $236 from the hotel till. The speedy duo had previously made another quick visit to a Miami Beach hotel to stage another stick-up there.

Country Club Improvement Spurs Bid for Long Lease

Explaining that a change was necessary to obtain a construction loan, representatives of the Country Club of Coral Gables petitioned the city commission at Tuesday's meeting for a revision of the lease under which the Country Club has been operating for the past several years. Hollis Rinehart, spokesman for the Country Club, said that while the year-to-year lease on which the club has been running was entirely satisfactory to the club officers, a proposed program of improvements would require a long-term loan, which could be obtained only if the club held a written lease. "We're planning on improvements in the patio of the clubhouse," Rinehart said, "which would greatly increase the revenue of the club; but we need a loan of about $2500 to do the work. A loan of this kind can be made only if we have a lease for a term which extends at least six months beyond the term of the contract. Since our payments would be $80 a month for three years, we'd like to get a lease from the city for a five-year term." The city of Coral Gables, which owns the Country Club, now leases the club to the operators on a year-to-year basis. The terms of the lease call for a rental of $1 per year, plus the upkeep of buildings and grounds, maintenance of the $15,000 fire and $10,000 tornado insurance and other obligations. Rinehart stressed the fact that under the terms of the proposed loan, the city would incur no liability of any kind. The commission, stating that it was in sympathy with the Country Club expansion plan, took the proposal under advisement for study, and promised an answer within a few days. At the same meeting, the commission turned over to City Manager A. B. Curry, City Clerk George Shaw and City Attorney Morton Adams the pending water contract with the City of Miami for study and recommendation. Dr. Lloyd Shanklin of Homestead petitioned the commission for a contract to make a color motion picture of Coral Gables, and was referred to Mary Moore, publicity director. T. Grant Walker, former city worker who claims that he was discharged without cause seven months ago from his parkways department job, was promised an investigation into his case within the next ten days.

Play Held Over

"The Desert's Edge," current production of the Fifteen, will be held over for a second week beginning Tuesday, March 25th, at the playhouse in the Douglas Entrance.

Buy Home in Gables

Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Robinson this week took up residence in the home at 1208 Obispo Ave. which they purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Nelson H. Green. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, who formerly lived in Birmingham, Ala., plan to become permanent Coral Gables residents. The sale of the home was handled by John M. Kennedy of the Keyes offices.

To Honor Salzedo

The University of Miami has issued invitations to the subscribers of the University of Miami symphony orchestra to a reception in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Salzedo on Sunday afternoon, March 23rd, from five to seven in the Lounge of the Administration Building.

PA-POYA CO. MOVES

After five years in their old headquarters at De Soto Road and Alhambra Circle, the Pa-Poya Co., veteran manufacturers of papaya products, this week announced the purchase of the old City Ice plant at 300 Aragon Ave. As workmen started remodeling operations, E. J. Hess, vice-president in charge of production for Pa-Poya, declared that the move to Aragon Ave. was the first step in a general expansion of the company. "We have a tremendous job to do on our new building here," he said, "and I figure that our alterations to ready the building for Pa-Poya's manufacturing needs will cost us as much as the purchase price of the building itself." Most of the work undertaken this week was of a negative nature: tearing out old ice equipment, removing wall partitions, clearing floor space for new machinery, etc. Hess plans a display room on the Aragon Ave. side of the building which will be completely walled on the street side in glass. A second-floor suite of rooms will be the executive offices of the firm. All other space will be given over to manufacture and storage for the company's products, which are sold all over the country. Active manufacturing will be resumed in the new headquarters in about two weeks, Hess estimated.

KALTENBORN AIRS WOES OF AIRWAYS

The fact that laundrymen protest when the radio comedian derides over the air the fact that his shirts always come back from the laundry minus buttons and that fim fans kick when a women's news commentator reports their favorite star as looking tired leads to petty censorship of radio programs. This is one aspect of radio censorship: unwillingness of advertiser-supported broadcasting (Continued to Page Five)

Dies in Water At Tahiti Beach

Mrs. Eva Johnston Coe, 75, was the victim of a heart attack Monday morning while swimming at Tahiti Beach. Mrs. Coe was a resident of New York City, and had been visiting at 4500 Ingraham Highway for two weeks. Spectators said that Mrs. Coe was floating quietly when she gasped suddenly and threw her head back beneath the water. In spite of a hurried rescue and an immediate attempt at revival by Dr. S. L. Jeffrey, Mrs. Coe did not regain consciousness. Dr. Jeffrey said death had been due to a heart attack. Surviving are two sons, Colles J. Coe of New York City and Henry E. Coe of Syosset, N. Y.; two daughters, Mrs. Emory C. Stowell and Miss Rosalie Coe, both of New York City. The Philbrick Funeral Home has sent the body to New York for burial.

Election Ice Broken with Today'sNews

First Candidate W. Keith Phillips The political ice of the campaign for the June 10 election was broken today when Commissioner W. Keith Phillips told The Riviera that he would be a candidate for the office of mayor. Phillips, who has served two years of his present four year term on the commission, does not need to stand for reelection to the commission post. Phillips, who has been a city commissioner since 1936, has been president of five Greater Miami civic organizations in his 27 years in Coral Gables. He was born in Mississippi just before the turn of the century, and has lived all over the south in the years that followed. He quit school when he was nine, but he educated himself and attended night classes and went through law school at night, passing his bar exams at the end of his law course. When Phillips reached the age of 17, he became a telegraph operator, and was transferred from place to place until he was 24. At this time, he was claims agent for Western Union. This was the point at which he began attending law classes. At this period he met his future wife in Paris, Ky., and they were married. After finish-ish high school, married her. From claims agent in Atlanta, Phillips was promoted to superintendent, and finally was transferred to Miami in that position. But here he developed a desire to leave, to go into business for himself. Twenty-seven years with Western Union ended with a breakaway in 1936, when he became district manager of a life insurance company. Quartered in Miami's DuPont building, Phillips alternates his time between insurance business and civic and governmental matters in Coral Gables. Among his civic interests are the Orange Bowl Festival, of which he was chairman this year, and the Florida Association of Workers for the Blind, of which he is president. Phillips was president of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce three years, is chairman of the board of stewards of the Coral Gables Methodist Church, and was a board member of the Dade County Council of Boy Scouts. He has always been on the executive board of the Orange Bowl committee. He has also been active in many other civic groups. For six years Phillips has owned a home at 1240 Castile Ave. He has four children: Marion, 22; Keith, Jr., a sophomore at the University of Miami; Betty, a senior at Ponce de Leon High School and Douglas, who attends the Gables Elementary School.

Homestead Deadline Near

While at least 200 persons who are entitled to homestead exemptions for the tax year of 1940 still failed to claim their rights, the deadline for filing homestead exemptions drew near this week. All those who are entitled to the saving of up to $70 made possible via the exemption must have their reports in the Tax Assessor's office before April 1, or it will be too late to grant them the tax exemption to which they are entitled, warned Gerald A. Bowen, assessor, this week. About 1400 have filed their claims so far this year, Bowen said, with some 400 new home owners swelling the list.

Bitter to Play U. S. Premiere

"Arrabal", first movement of the "Sinfonia Argentina" by Juan Jose Castro, contemporary Argentine composer, will receive its first performance in the United States, March 24 in a concert by the University of Miami symphony orchestra, John Bitter conducting, in Miami. It will be featured on a program dedicated to the Latin American republics. Bitter, who became interested in Latin American music while associate conductor of the All-American Youth Orchestra last summer, expects to make this concert an annual event.

University of Miami Gets Part of Estate

The University of Miami at Coral Gables will receive half the residue of the estate of the late Mrs. Louise J. Tremaine, who died March 17, according to the terms of the will which was filed Monday in probate court.

Two Big Feature Handicap Stakes Coming Soon at Tropical Park

The Tropical Park Spring meeting rolls along into the Ides of March with no dwindling in mutuels play or attendance figures, and with the best races of the 34-day meeting still ahead. Two stake events—the Pan American and the Orange Blossom—have already been decided, although the most important handicaps, the Royal Palm and the $10,000 Tropical, still remain on the slate of coming attractions. The $3000 added Royal Palm Handicap will feature the coming week of sport at the Gables course. Of the fifty early nominations, 32 are eligibles for the closing day Tropical Handicap, using the week-end purse as a trial for the richer pickings on April 10. The Royal Palm Handicap will be run over a mile and seventy yards route, slightly less than the mile and one sixteenth of the Tropical, and will bring out some of the best routers remaining in the Miami sector. Such horses as Pass Out, Detroit, Bull, Gino Rex, Togee, Shot Put, Red Dock, Oversight, Robert T, Road Snip and Skip Bistle, are among the probable starters in Saturday's stake, a representative cross section of the 2000 racers remaining at Tropical and Hialeah Parks. The day by day attraction for the coming six afternoon will also give all types of horses ample opportunity to share in Tropical Park's record purs distribution.