Coral Gables Riviera

CORAL GABLES RIVIERA

AN INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER Published every Friday by the Miami Riviera Publishing Co., 306 Coral Way, Coral Gables, Fla. Established January, 1926 Combined with the Dade County and Coconut Grove Times, 1929. ALBERT E. HARUM President and Publisher JAMES B. MOORE Managing Editor Mailing Address, P. O. Box 704 Telephone 4-1634 Member, Florida Press Association National Editorial Association SUBSCRIPTION RATES One Year by Carrier, Coral Gables and immediate vicinity $2.00 Six Months $1.25 One Year by Mail $3.00 Entered as second class matter May 21, 1926, at the Postoffice at Miami, Florida, under Act of March 3, 1879.

Your Newspaper

Much has been written and said about newspapers and the role they play in our present-day civilization. This week is National Newspaper Week and, in the space of this short period, a national effort to tell the story of journalism has been launched. The part that the newspaper plays in our life is not something that may be realized for only one week in the year. The newspaper does its job week in and week out all the year. The community must support the newspaper and look to the newspaper for support throughout the year. Primarily the local paper has a sacred duty to perform for its readers—it must perform that duty without fear or prejudice, withholding no facts pertinent to the issue nor injecting facts that hold no relationship to the issue. As a legitimate business, subject to all the profit-making efforts of any other type of business, the newspaper's job is to make business better generally. Only by executing its duty well can it do its utmost job well. Only by being itself a good newspaper can it gain esteem and be valuable to its fellow business men. But this is an all-year job!

Co-Operation---100%

Probably in no like community in the United States will Navy enlistees be feted in the manner that Coral Gables merchants have decreed. The Navy's drive to secure manpower for its rapidly growing armada certainly doesn't want for moral support in our city—nor will the personnel of the Navy fail to be broadcast near and far as a result of the splendid support evidenced on the part of bothmerchants and citizenry. The Miami recruiting station has expressed its appreciation of the co-operative spirit displayed in Coral Gables. Now it is up to us to see that there is a strong response to the Navy's appeal. If each one of us were to assume, as a personal obligation to our Government, the job of talking to a man of Navy age of our acquaintanceship and persuade him to study the advantages offered by this most important branch of our defense, we would be doing our small bit. Each member of the Navy Committee named by the American Legion—as a matter 2fact men—has promised to do just that. The inspiration supplied by these men should be worth more than thousands and thousands of verbal arguments.

The School Situation

Word of the impending construction of several temporary classrooms for the Coral Gables Elementary School fell on welcome ears in the community this week. The new classrooms, when they are installed, will do a lot to alleviate the crowded condition that has been a cause of worry to parents and school officials alike. While Coral Gables appreciates this quick action on the part of the School Board, it must be realized that this is by no means a permanent solution to the problem. As Board Member R. P. Terry states, "This will relieve the condition until we are able to find some way to construct a junior high school in Coral Gables.

Let's Make It a Success

The week of November 10 has been designated as "Fiesta Week" to celebrate the opening of the recently completed Coral Gables deep waterways system. Committees from the city and the Chamber of Commerce have been appointed to make arrangements for this event. Completion of the waterways has been heralded as one of the most progressive steps taken by this community since its founding. The dredging of a channel from the mouth of the canal into the bay opens the historic section to owners of large boats. Already interest in canal-front properties has been greatly increased and those interested in the section predict that many large homes, with docking facilities, will be built there in the near future. The opening of the waterways comes at an opportune time. During that week three marine groups, American Association of Port Authority, Atlantic Deep Waterways Association and the National Rivers and Harbors Congress will hold national conventions in Miami. Over 1,000 delegates, including such dignitaries as Secretary of the Navy Knox and Senators and Congressmen will be shown the Gables canal system. The publicity that the city stands to derive from this fiesta is tremendous. Coral Gables has an opportunity to get behind this fiesta and really make it something big. It should be a city-wide celebration, with all civic groups taking part by staging individual events during that week. With everybody taking part with the well-known Gables enthusiasm, the Waterways Fiesta can be something that will be talked about all over the United States.

by Jim Moore Hon. Pat Cannon House of Representatives Washington, D. C. Dear Pat: We have before us a communication from the Post Office Department, notifying us that the coming week will be known as "Write a Letter Week." The letter also suggests that everyone in Florida should take advantage of this special week, to write to folks in the North, telling them about Florida and suggesting that they come here for the winter. Chambers of Commerce and other civic organizations are urged to get behind the plan, so that hundreds and thousands of letters will go northward during the week, influencing many to come to our state and our towns this season. JIM MOORE It's a splendid idea. There's no better way to back up an advertising and publicity campaign than personal contact. These letters will provide hundreds of such contacts. But for Coral Gables there's a fly in the ointment. You see, Pat, a lot of the publicity value from these letters will be derived from the fact that the name of Florida towns will be postmarked on the face of each letter. Unfortunately for Coral Gables, this will not be the case. Despite the fact that we are a municipality of some 8,500 inhabitants, all our letters go forth to the North postmarked "Miami." Now, we have nothing against Miami. It's a swell town, too. We've come a long way in the sixteen short years of our existence and we feel that as a residential community we're pretty hard to beat. Consequently, you can see how we feel about having a postmark of our own. Now it might seem that griping about as little a thing as a postmark is pretty silly. But consider this. A recent periodic count revealed that an average of 9,153 first-class mail pieces are handled by the local branch post office in a single day! Other classes average 2,827 daily. Add to this the fact that this count was taken in the summer and that it is greatly increased in the winter, and you'll realize that there's a lot of mail goes out from Coral Gables in a year's time. Postmaster George Merrick has been trying to get a Coral Gables cancelling machine for us, but we understand that higher-ups feel that the cost is too much. We wonder if they thought about costs when Gables people buying $23,718 in Defense Bonds during the first two months they were on sale. The reason we're writing to you, Pat, is because we heard about a similar situation that was solved with the aid of a Congressman. Several years ago, Miami Beach, also a branch office, was in the same fix. They figured, and rightly so, that they were losing a lot of valuable publicity by not having a Miami Beach cancellation on their mail. They met with the same arguments that Coral Gables is hearing now. Finally, they asked Mark Wilcox to help them—and now they have a cancelation machine of their own. We Gableites feel that maybe you can help us, Pat. We know that many times in the past we have asked your aid and have gotten it. We appreciate that you don't forget it. We feel that this cancellation machine is a small thing to ask of the Government. We feel this way particularly because our residents cheerfully gave up their efforts to obtain a new post office building because they felt defense was more important. We think that you'll agree with us that we need such a building. But at the moment we're not asking for any buildings. All we want is a machine that puts "Coral Gables" instead of "Miami" on all the mail that goes through our local post office. We don't think that's asking too much. This is our effort for "Write a Letter Week." We've written our letter and we hope that you'll find time to help us get what we're asking for, although we know you're busy. Will you give it a try? With all good wishes, JIM MOORE.

It's a Fact---

THE VENETIAN POOL WAS CREATED TO HIDE THE UGLINESS OF AN ABANDONED ROCK PIT! The world's most beautiful swimmin' hole is the brain child of Denman Fink. Concerned because a rock pit, which furnished material for Coral Gables streets, made an ugly scar on the terrain, officials of the Coral Gables Corporation asked Fink's advice. He went to work and planned the Venetian Pool, which has attracted visitors from all over the country.

The Great National Pastime

(WNU Service)

Dollars and Sense

By ROMEYN W. SMITH Investment Consultant Probably there is part of the investment problem which is so little comprehended—simple and commonplace as it sounds—as income or yield. The glaring misconception of the whole problem of investment management lies in the erroneous belief that money should earn a given rate each month and every year. This common error regarding "a steady income" caused the greatest losses during 1929-32. Those who sought income during a period of falling prices paid for what income they got, many times over, in loss of principal. Do not strive for a fixed percentage of income yearly. Strive for an average percentage over a period of years. By doing so you will find, as the years go by, that you still have your principal, plus a surprisingly large average income from it. Suppose we give examples of the methods used by three investors. We shall call them Mr. A, Mr. B and Mr. C, and shall assume that each had an equal amount of capital—$100,000 in May, 1929. Mr. A invests only in bonds. He is a fairly good buyer, but takes a loss occasionally. He aims at a 5 per cent yearly return. In May, 1929, his $100,000 was invested in bonds. By May, 1932, his bonds were worth $40,000. His income was $2,000.00. Today his bonds, after allowing for casualties, probably are worth $80,000.00 His income is $4,000.00. Mr. B invests only in stocks. He clings to the "long pull" theory, i. e., that a group of stocks should be held all the time, up hill and down, through good times and bad. He aims at 4 per cent to 5 per cent as a rate of return each year. By September, 1929, his $100,000 had a market value of $120,000; but by June, 1932, the value was about $20,000. Today his stocks would be worth around $50,000, giving an income of about $2,000.00. Mr. C. is what we call an investment manager. He buys both stocks and bonds in varying proportions. Depending upon conditions, he may have his account all in long-term bonds, or all in common stocks. Or he may have half in cash, or all in short-term bonds or other cash equivalents. In May, 1929, he was invested in common stocks. At that time, however, he became alarmed because of soaring interest rates and other adverse investment factors. He sold his capital at the rate of $5,000.00 a year. the shortest term U. S. Government bonds and other "cash equivalent" securities, the income from which was around 1 per cent. Mr. C drew himself $6,000.00 a year from his account. He disregards the earnings of his capital and draws $500.00 per month whether he earns it or not. He operates on what might be called the "pay yourself dividends" plan. While his money was earning only 1 per cent he had to deplete his capital at the rate of$5,000.00 a year. This is just what he did for 31⁄2 years. He missed the rise which Mr. B enjoyed from May to September, 1929. He also missed the decline to July, 1932, and the rise between July and December, 1932. When Mr. C reinvested in common stocks in December, 1932, he had $83,000. Today his stocks would be worth over $100,000 and he is still drawing his $6,000 per year. Note that Mr. C was no wizard. He sold his stocks five months too soon in 1929 and he bought stocks back five months after the market hit bottom in 1932. He missed altogether ten months of rising prices. But he also missed thirty-two months of a generally declining market. He still has his original principle and income. While Mr. C was no wizard, neither was he a fool. He had learned the lesson which we mentioned in our second article. You remember about tides, waves and ripples. Had he attempted to dodge in and out of that 1929-1932 market he would have lost most of his money just as surely as they did who tried it. If you doubt the existence of Messrs. A, B and C, talk to the next ten investors whom you meet and you should find Messrs. A and B represented by at least 80 per cent of them. The country is full of A's and B's who "invest for income." And they keep on losing their principal. The eventual end is obvious.

Turning a New Leaf Book Briefs

"FLORIDAYS," by Don Blanding (Dodd, Mead & Co.). Required reading for outlanders who want really to know what Florida is like, as well as for those of us who have lived here among the live oaks, pelicans and palmettos, without truly having seen the place, is this slender volume of poetry. Don Blanding has done the impossible in putting into words the fantastic, and sometimes grotesque beauty of tropical Florida—and catching in those words the breathless thrill of seeing, first hand, a twisted cypress against the sky, of feeling the sultry silence of the Everglades. And he has caught, too, on a pin of sympathetic if analytical observation, the tawdry Florida of smoky night clubs, of signboard barricaded highways and tourist towns. Just where the sensuous appeal of printed cadences begins and that of the striking illustrations reader to determine for himself, but of this there is no doubt: each is the complement of the other, and together they achieve a picture of Florida the like of which has never before been put to paper. This we'll guarantee: that you'll see cypress hung with Spanish moss, palmetto clumps, swamp lilies, and all the other exotic draperies of Florida anew, for having seen them in silhouette through the author-artist's eyes on the pages of "Floridays." Not all in serious vein are the poems, for Mr. Blanding finds time to tickle your funnybone with verse on the coquettish foibles of bait piled fish; the slow-traveling trial trailer, the turtle; and to poke fun at the feverish pursuit of game fish by "Yankee folk." "Floridays" is a book we'll want to keep to refresh us when we yearn to know the Florida we haven't the time—or the wit—to observe for our-self.

In Our Mail

Editor, The Riviera: I am one of the merchants who attended the meeting of the Merchant's Bureau last Friday at the Country Club. I was very much impressed with the sincerity of the business people attending and the enthusiasm with which they discussed Christmas plans and the parking problem. I was, however, very disappointed to see only 20 business places represented at the meeting. The Merchant's Bureau members work hard for the benefit of all business folks in the Gables. It joins in black and white end, is a matter for each should think that the least the rest could do would be to take a few moments out of each week to come to these meetings. There are no dues to pay and bureau members are not required to belong to the Chamber of Commerce. I hope there will be a big turnout this week. ONE WHO ATTENDS.

Tomato Postscript

Coral Gables Riviera, Coral Gables, Florida When I addressed my innocent little inquiry to you regarding tomato and tomahto, little did I dream the question would land on your front page. Well, anyway, I'm glad you had some fun with it. We are having fun, too. The consensus of opinion of editors all over the country is that everyone using "tomahto" is just a stuck-up nogood—expressed with all the pungency for which editors are noted. Yours very truly, WARD WHEELOCK COMPANY Dorothy Greig.

Editor, The Riviera: I was away during the heavy discussion on the water system, so, though I followed it through The Riviera, I didn't have a chance to say my say. What was the idea, incidentally, of bringing the questions up when a good part of the voters were away for the summer, I think the city missed its chance by holding the vote in the summer. As one of the absentees, I'd like to say, too late, of course, to do any good, that I certainly would have voted for the city to take over the water system—if only so they could dig it up and start all over again with pipes sunk deep enough so that the water would be cool and drinkable right from the tap! S. T. R.

This One's on You

JUMPER—If the army ever needs an instructor to teach parachutists how to land, they might well call on City Commissioner Wallace A. Bell. We learned yesterday that Mr. Bell, when a boy, was known throughout his neighborhood as a champion jumper. He began by jumping off of porches and progressed until he was able to jump off a barn roof and land on the solid ground without injury. He even organized a "Jumper's Club" and taught his playmates to take big leaps, too. TRAGEDY—We walked into Tom Manning's office in the Coral Theatre a few days ago and found him practically beside himself with grief. It seems that Tom had spent several days training a stray chameleon to sit on his desk and practically eat out of his hand. He had just grown attached to the color-changing lizard when "Doc" Doddard, the assistant manager, closed the door on its head. Manning insists that Doddard furnish him with another pet. INTERROGATION—Doe Kitchens entertained a couple of the RAF cadets on his boat the other day, with his four and a half year old daughter Martha Jean acting as hostess. They dropped anchor off an island in the bay and went ashore for a bit of exploration. Because of the rough terrain, one of the cadets carried young Miss Kitchens. As they entered a thicket, Martha Jean eyed her escort and sagely queried, "Are you a married man?" PAPOYA—We were talking to E. J. Hess, head of the Papoya Company the other day, and he told us a strange tale about how he sold Frank Holley on putting Glow, the Papoya drink, in the Holley store fountains. It seems that Frank didn't like Papoya, or anything connected with it. So, when Mr. Hess told him about the new drink which had not been named up to that point, Frank said "No!" with an exclamation point. So Mr. Hess, whose youthful manner belies his 71 years, went back to his plant and prepared some signs reading "Glow, the Glorious Drink". Then he went back and suggested that Frank try this new drink. "Is it papoya?" Frank asked. "It's a good drink," replied Mr. Hess. "Try one." Frank tried one, liked it, and didn't learn until a week or so later that Glow was a papaya drink. Frank still likes Glow. CRASH—Orchids to Miss Virginia Young and Edward Cree, both of Coral Gables, who, to avoid hitting a pair of youngsters on bicycles "hit" each other head-on up a couple of fenders on both cars as the result. It seems Miss Young, in her car, and Mr. Cree in his, Miami bound, arrived simultaneously at the intersection of Douglas Road and Coral Way the other day. Just as the tail end of the caution light was above to shiver to green, and the motioning had slowed into second to make the flying leap, two young boys on b'kes decided to go across on that fading yellow light. Result was the two motor cars turned sharply, one to the right, the other to the left, and smartly met. Result, neither would prefer charges against the other and both deserve credit for sharp thinking and perhaps avoiding a fatal crash. Oh, yes, the bicyclists went blithely on their way not knowing they were the cause of the bent up fenders. HALVES—Dick Wanklyn, assistant manager at the Grove Theatre, tells this one on himself: "I was in the ticket booth Saturday evening; when the cashier was out to supper, when a man in a loud checked shirt stepped up, laid down a 50-cent piece and said: 'Give me two halves.' Now halves in a neighborhood theatre, especially on Saturday (thriller night) means just one thing, a child's ticket. "I punched out two children's tickets and proceeded to give him the change when he spoke up in a most surprised voice, 'I want two quarters for this half.'" LAZYBONES—Anxious to make sure that the cream arrived in time for our morning coffee, we inquired of the new milkman the other day what time he delivered the milk to our doorstep "Well, you see, your house is pretty far along the route," he murmured apologetically, "so I don't usually get there before five o'clock." We had to assure him several times that he might, oh, very rarely, meet us coming home, but would never, never, see us setting out at that hour, before he was convinced he need not change his schedule to suit our convenience. ONE ON US—Vera MacNamara, damyankee friend of The Riviera, was much amused by the classified advertisement in which the paper offered for sale its time clock. "See you're selling your time clock," she writes. "What are you going to do—buy a whip?" ANOTHER "R"—A Coral Gables family, whose youngster entered school this fall, recently discovered there's another "R" besides the readin', ritin, and 'rithmetic usually associated with school days. Their son had been attending school for a week when the fond parents, anxious to know how he was getting on, quizzed him on school activities. "Well, what have you been learning all this time in school?" they asked. And quite unconcernedly came the answer: "Oh, we've been learning to rest."