Coral Gables Riviera

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A Hand for Andy

City Commissioner Andy Healy is a busy man. Not only must he look after the affairs of the city but he has a law practice that requires constant attention and a family to support. Yet, he has willingly taken on the added responsibility of heading the Red Cross drive in Coral Gables. The folks he has asked to help him on his committee are busy persons too, yet they cheerfully give unstintingly of their time for this cause. We can make their task easier for them by joining promptly this year. We know everyone wants to help, so let's join today and ease the task of Andy and his committee.

CORAL GABLES RIVIERA

AN INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER Published every Friday by the Miami Riviera Publishing Co., 206 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 Represented in the National Advertising Field by the American Press Association, New York City SUBSCRIPTION RATES One Year by Carrier, Coral Gables and Six Months | $1.25 One Year | $2.00 Entered as second class matter May 21, 1926, at the Postoffice at Miami, Florida, under Act of March 3, 1879.

Divine Goodness

We in Coral Gables are fortunate to have the opportunity to offer thanks for the state of our own nation, our city, our state and our nation twice instead of once. Today more than in any previous year we can kneel and thank God that we are not the target of the guns of tyranny and dictatorship; that we in America still enjoy an unabridged voice in our government; that our children may grow up in peace and security. Mr. Webster describes Thanksgiving as a "public celebration of a Divine goodness". Mr. Webster outreached our rhetoric. We certainly have enjoyed a Divine goodness and it is fitting and proper that we should offer devout thanks for this beneficence. Let us pause in this thanks offering to think of the suffering across the water perhaps to do more than just think about it. There are many agencies which will be glad to convey more concrete offerings to the hungry and needy in the warring countries fighting our battle against the dictators.

On Guard

Editors and publishers throughout the State of Florida have just completed a three day convention. The delegates to this convention, taken as a unit, comprise probably the greatest single influence on the mass population of this great state. Again taken as a unit, these editors and publishers by their keen perception, pronounced energy and optimism, hold definite and bold the promise of greater journalism for the future of our state. These members of the Fourth Estate who gathered last weekend in Ocala displayed a keen interest in new developments, in new business, in new laws. But all through their discussions there was evident a jealous and vigilant preservation of the sanctity of the editorial columns of their various newspapers. Readers of newspapers have only a small conception of the huge avalanche of propaganda, some cloaked in veils of legitimacy and others as blatant as a flagop'e boasting red, which decends upon the editorial sanctum. The editor's most important duty,true, is to get out an interesting and well-written newspaper - but is is his duty, too, to keep inviolate his columns; to guard against this onslaught of disguised and undisguised propaganda. We are confident that Clayton Coddrington, newly elected president of the Florida Press Association, will keep the editors of Florida sparking with enthusiasm and 'on guard" at the top of each page of their newspapers.

Added Significance

The old admonition 'Shop Early and Mail Early" takes on new significance this year with so many young men away from home, serving in the armed services in camps and at sea. Constant shifting of army personnel will tax the postal facilities to capacity this season, so that early mailing will not only lessen the burden on postal employees but will insure the fact that Christmas presents will reach their destination on time. The importance of complete addresses on packages, especially those going to boys in the army, navy and marines, cannot be overemphasized. Packages should be wrapped securely and contain the return address of the sender. Valuable gifts can be safeguarded by insuring the packages while money and jewelry should be sent registered mail. The air mail service is a great time saver. Postmaster Merrick informs us that Christmas Day deliveries will be made on special delivery packages only. It is also evident this year that the early shopper will get the better values. Prices are rising daily and many articles, once sold, cannot be replaced at any price. Then too, many of the articles coming on the market to replace exhausted stocks will be of inferior quality because defense requirements and import curtailments will necessitate the use of substitutes in many instances. For example, the old stand-by gift, silk stockings, may be a rareity as Christmas gets nearer and present stocks are exhausted. Those coming on the market now all have rayon tops and toes. Wise shoppers will do well to heed these

The Riviera GOBBLER

by Jim Moore For the first time in our life we saw Doc Kitchens and Jimmy Fussell, Orange Bowl Committee men, at a loss for words the other day. The two gentlemen were out speaking at a civic club luncheon in the Gables, and had just finished painting a glorious picture of the Orange Bowl Festival this year, and urging Coral Gables to support it for all its worth. To accompany their talks, they had placed with every listener a beautiful three-color brochure about the festival, which was being scanned with interest. When they had finished their talks and the applause had subsided, City Manager A. B. Curry arose, and assuring the assemblage that there was nothing personal in the remarks he was about to make, called attention to a part of the folder which we quote: "Cities that have cooperated with the Orange Bowl Festival by sending bands, floats or drill teams to Miami each year, to prove their wholehearted support of this winter festival are: Hollywood, Clearwater, Melbourne, Lakeland, Tampa, Palatka, Redlands, Osceola, Sarasota, Orlando, Stuart, Lake Worth, Homestead, Fort Pierce, St. Petersburg, South Miami, Hialeah, Palmetto, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Meyers, New Smyrna, Vero Beach and Miami Beach." Now every one in the room remembered how the city and the Chamber of Commerce had dumped several hundred dollars into the building of a float last year and how the Ponce de Leon baroque cavallettes had marched until they were ready to drop. A hush fell over the room as everyone scanned the brochures. Nope, it wasn't there. Coral Gables couldn't be found anywhere on the list. Doc and Jimmie made a gallant attempt to big heartedly include Coral Gables as a part of Miami, but that line of chatter just doesn't go out here, and as they talked they could see that they were not getting anywhere. So, they finally apologized and promised to see that Ernie Seiler included the city in his next batch of pamphlets. Now we don't want to go hopping too hard on the Orange Bowl Committeemen because we think they're doing a swell job for the whole state and we can see how the omission of Coral Gables could easily have been an oversight and not an intentional slight. But it does bring up a point. Coral Gables has always had to struggle to maintain its identity. Too often it is referred to as a part of Miami. Even this is understandable to a certain extent, but the thing that hurts us to the most is to have attractions in Coral Gables referred to as being in Miami. You don't have to look far to find numerous instances of this practice. Take the University of Miami for instance. Out at the school, officials are always very careful to include the words "Coral Gables, Fla." after each mention of the university, which is as it should be. After all, the taxpayers of this city help support the school to the tune of $25,000 a year. But too often the impression is given in newspapers, post cards, etc., that the school is in Miami. Of course the name has a great deal to do with it and about the only help for the situation we can see would be to follow U.C.L.A. and have the official name of the school be "The University of Miami at Coral Gables". It's a thought worth thinking about. Then take Fairchild Tropical Gardens. We'll bet that there are hundreds of you readers who think that the world famed gardens are in Coconut Grove instead of within the Coral Gable's city limits. Yet last year the City of Coral Gables appropriated $1,500 towards the upkeep of the gardens. We in Coral Gables are proud of the wonderful work that is being done at the gardens. It can mean world-wide publicity for this community and easy to realize more value than that the $1,500 donated by the taxpayers. But it can never be worth one cent to the Gables if people continue to think of it as being in the Grove. A good starter to remedy this situation would be for the Garden itself to put the name "Coral Gables" on its letterheads instead of "Coconut Grove". All of which resolves itself back to the fact that every Gables resident should, whenever possible, do what he can to bring out the fact that we are a SEPARATE city, with our own city government, police, etc. It'll be appreciated by the publicity department, which dwells continually on that fact. We hate to keep harping on the subject, but this also gives us a wide open opportunity to again bring out that nothing would help this condition any more than a CORAL GABLES POSTMARK. Make a note of that Mr. Ambrose O'Connell. We can recall lots of instances when Coral Gables has been called on to help out in area projects, only to discover that when the laurels are passed around, she has to squeeze her head in with Miami. We have no objection to Miami, generally, but the point is that we have a town of our own out here, so let's let people know about it.

Dollars and Sense

By ROMEYN W. SMITH Investment Consultant The subject of inflation is so important today that is worth a brief review, even at the risk of repetition. From an investment viewpoint, inflation is a process which destroys or reduces an investment fund by reducing its purchasing power. If the process is carried through only partially, an investment fund may be merely so seriously crippled. If it is carried through to its completion a fund may be wiped out entirely. Inflation produces a rise in prices and this in turn makes money less valuable. If prices rise so that the owner of an investment fund has to pay twice as much for goods and services which he wishes to buy, his fund is worth half as much as it would have been had the rise in prices not taken place. He is in precisely the same position as if the price level had not changed and he had lost half his fund. Inflation may be of two sorts: (1) that brought about by credit expansion unaccompanied by any change in the gold value of the currency; (2) that based upon depreciation in the gold value of the currency. Of these two types of inflation the last is by far the more dangerous. Since the close of the first World War there have been numerous examples of currency depreciation. French investors who did not see the inflation in time to take advantageous means of protecting themselves against it suffered a loss approximately 80 percent between 1919 and 1926. In the post-war currency depreciation German and Austrian investors who did not succeed in protecting themselves in time suffered the loss of their entire funds. Some years ago we heard a story of the experience of a German investor during the inflation period worth repeating. It is typical of the consequences of failing to recognize the dangers inherent in a situation such as that which is developing today in this country. Just before the outbreak of World War I, a German business man decided to retire. He was of a very conservative temperament and after consultation with his bankers decided to place his funds entirely in high-grade bonds. His assets, which amounted to about four million marks, consequently were invested in this form of security. When the inflation set in he at first perceived no marked effect on his position and, as he always had thought bonds the safest thing to own, he left his investment fund unchanged. As the German mark declined in value his income became progressively lower, and finally worthless. He was forced to sell his house in Berlin in order to obtain living expenses and shortly afterward was entered in the municipal almshouse as a town charge. So this man, who had accumulated a substantial fortune by hard work, spent his declining years as the proprietor of a small and not very profitable country inn. The German, Austrian and French investors who were ruined by inflation did not realize what was happening to them until it was to late. During the early stages of the decline in the gold value of their currencies they paid little attention to what was going on. Financial comment on the seriousness of the situation no doubt seemed overdrawn to them, because prices did not at first advance seriously. Inflation's characteristic slowness in taking hold lulled them into a sense of security which caused their ruin. From our discussions of the subject of inflation the following conclusions may be drawn: (1) Inflation is a very dangerous disease, particularly because of its slowness. (2) The investor who neglects the danger and continues to operate his fund according to principles based upon experience in a normal period is certain to suffer serious loss. (3) There is grave danger of an inflationary rise in prices in this country. (4) Means of protection are available to the investor which will greatly reduce the risk of loss from inflation. (5) Results to be obtained by the comparatively simple methods suggested might be improved substantially by skillful investment management.

Turning a New Leaf

"Good Old Summer Days" by Richmond Barrett; D. Appleton-Century Co.,Publishers. Disappointment awaits the one who opens this book expecting the famous watering places of the United States in the hope of scandalous new anecdotes about the fashionable coterie that brought fame and fortune to Newport, Bar Harbor, Saratoga, and their ilk. Studded the book is with names that formed the Four Hundred of yesterday, and the Blue Book of today, but the author does not forget his purpose of tracing the rise, and, in some cases, the desertion by high society, of the five most famous summer resorts of the 19th century. There's anecdote galore, of course-but little of it is new, and all of it is used judiciously to underline and emphasize the mannery of the day, the personality of the resort under Mr. Barrett's kindly eye. One could hardly make clear the fantastic "rustic" life of Newport in the 1870's without mention of the bob-tailed Mrs. Astor, who called the tunes (whispered in her ear by her court jester, the ubiquitous M. Ward McAlister) to which all high society danced, liked it or no. These were the days when the Astors, the Vanderbilts, the Oelrichs and the Whitneys really lived in cottages at the Rhode Island seaside-but that per haps was their only concession to informality. One gets an amusing picture of the stuffiness and artificiality of Newport in Mr Barrett's account of Ward McAllister's famed picnics, conducted with all the informality of a coronation, and all the flourish of a gigantic stage production. Picnics they were, insofar as they were held out of doors, but there the resemblance to the meaning of the word today, ended. Guests-just a chosen few of the "right" people, were told to bring certain dishes-"filet de boeuf pique," if you please, or perhaps "dindonneau poult with quenelle de volaille". Fortified by such chef's delights (eaten from china plates with real sterling) and iced champagne, the group would spend the afternoon dancing on the special dance floor constructed for the occasion or strolling about, admiring flowers that had been brought to enhance the scene. An army of servants was on hand to cater to the wants of the "picnic-ers". Far more than any editorializing does the mere description of the picnic scene tell of the beginnings of the stuffiness, pretentiousness and snobbery that have characterized Newport since it became the Mecca of "Society". And it makes understandable the vast marble palaces that were to replace the cottages that earlier served the "royal" colonists.

Book Briefs

In similar fashion, the author traces the personality of Saratoga, dependant first upon its health-giving springs, then upon its race tracks and gambling houses, and, in the present day, dependant still for its place in the sun, upon all three. In direct contrast to Newport, Saratoga was "wide open", with a welcome for any who had money to spend-and lose. High society mingled with famous courtesans of the day, with gamblers, and with hewers and it they didn't like the company, they did enjoy the spa and its attractions. So they stayed, and are still a part of the jostle of all Americans down the shaded streets of the historic town, during the August meeting. Long branch, which started as a toney water-side resort, and descended to the status of politicians' rendezvous; Narrangansett Pier, which blossomed very briefly, the glitter of Newport; and Bar Harbor, each get their share of Mr. Barrett's attention and turn up, as a result, as personalities that, if blatant or stuffy, or perhaps bawdy, are, at any rate, the only reflections of the people who passed by-leaving their imprints indelibly in the character of the resorts today.

IN OUR MAIL BAG

Editor, The Riviera: I noticed in your paper recently a letter from a reader complaining about the fact that there was no place in Coral Gables where one could pay phone bills. To that letter I would like to add a loud "BRAVO". The Florida Power and Light Company not only maintains an office here but lists several other places where bills can be paid in the Gables. It seems to me that the phone company could place at least one station out here. I'm sure some local concern would be glad to handle the collections and put up a bond. This certainly should suit the telephone company. Our local Chamber of Commerce could find a project in this that would be of great value to the people that live here. R. T. L.

IT'S ONE'S ON You

COLOR BLIND-Charley Leydon, the demon salesman for the Legion Book rushed into the office yesterday morning bursting with news. "There must be some French dignitary in town," he said, "for the tri-color is flying from the city hall flag pole." We rushed out for a look and then told Charley to have his eyes examined. There flapping in the breeze was the same, old City of Coral Gables flag of orange, green and white.

SLANGUAGE-We were talking the other day to Poet Don Blanding, who has traveled wide and far over the face of the earth. Mr. Blanding also has traveled across the broad expanse of our own country sampling here and there of the various dialects and drawls. Speaking of dialects and drawls and accents and the like, Mr. Blanding has tried them all: Southern, Boston, Western, Down Eastern, Cockney, limey and whatnot. He has made some interesting observations in this collection. Most generally understood English dialect is mid-Western. There are many who actually cannot understand our Southern drawl and a Georgia gal wouldn't be intelligible at all. Bostonian floors most people from other sections of the country, leaving them puzzled but uninformed. The Down Easter wouldn't have much luck ordering a dinner in a Hollywood beanery. But our Western slanguage-that's the ticket! So Don Blanding addresses his audiences in this dialect with much success. He's a good speaker.

EDITORIAL SHAME-We've kidded for many years about the proverbial moth in the other fellow's pocketbook and so have you but now we've fallen prey to our own joshing. After a three day absence from the editorial sanctum we sat down in front of our typewriter boiling over with energy and a desire to catch up with things. We started typing. A large moth flew from within the typewriter causing a complete demoralization and effecting a full shutdown of editorial production.

MUCH ADO-We have a letter from a reader who signs himself with the initial N (probably stands for Nothing) who complains about the article we had in last week's Riviera relative to the "Dress Up for Christmas" campaign. Seems our story related how the intersection of Coral Way and Ponce de Leon Boulevard would be lighted so that it would take the form of a large cross when seen from the air. What's troubling Mr. (or Mrs.) N is that he or she has no prospect of either owning or renting an airship to view this achievement. N's timidity is evidenced by the fact that he would like to secure permission from Mayor Joe Whitley to stand in the center of that intersection and view the glowers without the peril of being knocked down by automobiles. You don't need permission, Mr. (or Mrs.) N, you need a blessing.

CHANCE HAPPENING-We learned only this week that A. W. Barrett, member of the public relations committee of the local Legion post and active turner of the wheels that make Coral Gables whir, is a colonel on the Governor's staff. Imagine our surprise, then, when we saw the Colonel, ever ready and willing to do his bit be it big or small, assuming the modest duties of ticket seller at the Legion's recent barbecue.

THE WINNAH!-Wells Bruen, former Riviera newsman who has deserted the fourth estate to become assistant manager of the Olympia Theatre, phoned breathlessly the other day to inform us of a "big story" concerning a Gables resident. When he had calmed down, we discovered that Helen T. Shafer, 315 Avenue Navaree, had been awarded $5.00 for being able to, of all things, name the most pictures in which Gene Davis had appeared. Miss Shafer listed 35, to nose out 50 other entrants.

ONE OPINION-We are glad that this is the last year the double Thanksgiving will be celebrated, but almost too late we've discovered a way to segregate the two. Leroy Boone, refuses to call the earlier feast day by the time-old name. Instead, he labels it "Franksgiving".

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH-These theatre managers and their promotion schemes are really getting in our hair. We were busy batting out this column when Tom Manning of the Coral phoned with what he claimed was an altruistic suggestion. "Why don't you," he queried, "put the words 'Nothing But the Truth', right under the heading of the column so that people will know that all the items are true?" We informed him that most of our readers trusted us and knew they were true stories, and we were explaining further when the light dawned. Despite protestations of innocence we finally wiggled it out of him that he was merely trying to get in a plug for the Bob Hope picture that opens at his cinema palace today.