Coral Gables Riviera-Times

Friday, September 12, 1947, page 4 (of 12)

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CORAL GABLES Riviera Times

Published every Friday morning by the Riviera Publishing Company, 300 Avenue Aragon, Coral Gables 34, Fla. Established January 1926; combined with the Dade County & Coconut Grove Times, 1929. MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION and Florida Press Association. Albert E. Harum, Editor and Publisher; Harry G. F. Reynolds, Business Manager; James B Moore, Managing Editor; Helen Reynolds, Society Editor; Edward W. Wright, Circulation Manager. NATIONAL EDITORIAL 1947 ASSOCIATION Active Member SUBSCRIPTION RATES - Six months, $2.00; one year, $3.50; by mail, six months, $2.00; local, $3.00 one year, out-of-town, $3.75. Entered as Second Class Matter May 21, 1926, at the Post Office at Miami, Fla., under the Act of March 3, 1897. Mail Address Box 704 - Phone 4-1634 4-1635 The Coral Gables Riviera is liable for errors in advertising only to the extent of the space in which the advertisement appears.

Pointing the Way

The Community Chest withdrew financial aid from the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center, effective Sept. 1. From now on the Memorial becomes an all-Gables enterprise-dedicated to the well being of our children, and supported by our purses, alone. There are many who felt that withdrawal of Chest funds spelled doom for the Center -which itself has been memorialized as a model venture in national publications. There were times when the Board of Directors eyed the sinking bank balance with dismay. The city came through handsomely with a pledge of $5,000 a year for 10 years, and things brightened. But satisfied with no half-dreams, the directors promptly earmarked this for use toward completion of the Center's buildings and facilities, and started from scratch worrying where operating funds were to be found. The Elks Club pointed the way by pledging $100 a month to be used in defraying costs of operations. It's a way that could well be followed by every service and fraternal organization in Coral Gables. Assurance of regular monthly cash grants from service and fraternal groups, in whatever amounts their membership afforded, would also be a guarantee of continued operation of the history-making Youth Center. Each of these clubs is already engaged in specific undertakings to ease the lot of underprivileged youngsters. One contributes to the Cardiac Home, another finances eye examinations and glasses for the needy; a third sponsors purchase of mechanical aids for the crippled; still another makes possible hospitalization for polio convalescents, and so on. There's no need for proof of bigness of heart. There's every reason to believe those hearts could be stretched a little further, and include a cause close to all the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center.

IN OUR MAIL

Editor, Riviera-Times: I would appreciate it greatly if you would kindly made my name in your newspaper, as I would like a pen friend, preferably male. I am 15 years of age. LOIS LYMAN, 206 N. Oakhurst Dr., Beverly Hills, California.

Poet's Corner

THERE'S A LOVELY GARDEN There's a lovely garden Filled with bright sunlight, Washed by summer rain Ah! here is heart's delight! Young fruit upon the orange tree Or a shadow on the lawn, Here in this emerald garden Spill the flowers of dawn. There's a lovely garden Filled with earthly peace- Here my love shall linger Here my quest will cease. ALMA JENNESS, Coral Gables.

OUR TOWN Not the First Time

By Jim Moore - While it's easy to appreciate the predicament in which school authorities find themselves this fall following a record of enrollment of students, it is difficult to understand a statement by Dr. I. T. Pearson, supervisor of instruction, which appeared recently in a Miami newspaper. He was quoted as saying that if Coral Gables parents didn't care to go along with what the authorities were trying to do to alleviate the overcrowding in class rooms "they could go to the devil". In the first place, no matter what the gentleman's feelings in the matter might have been, it hardly seems appropriate for an educator in charge of guiding our children JIM MOORE to use such terminology. But be that as it may, it also seems to me that the school authorities should be thankful that Coral Gables parents take enough interest in their children's welfare to speak their minds when situations arise that are not to their liking. After all, it is not the fault of the parents of Coral Gables that the Coral Gables Elementary School is overcrowded and that all of the school facilities are taxed beyond capacity. Actually, the situation in which the schools find themselves today goes right back to the school authorities. Evidently, it was the lack of long range planning and vision, as far back as 10 and 15 years ago, that is responsible for this condition today. Some school authorities blame the war for the increase in the number of pupils, pointing out that war workers and service-men who were here during the war years either stayed or returned in great numbers to become permanent residents. This is true to a certain extent, but aside from that a definite trend had established itself even before the war, indicating that centrally located schools were "drying up", as Jimmie Henderson put it, and that schools in outlying districts and smaller communities were becoming crowded. The same type of trend was evident in metropolitan areas in other sections of the country. Coral Gables citizens have always supported their schools and have evidenced great interest in them. Some of the most active and aggressive P. T. A. work has been done in Coral Gables while other civic organizations have gotten behind various school projects from time to time. Furthermore, this is probably the only community in the city in the State that appropriates $20,000 a year from municipal coffers for institutions of learning and youth building. I refer to the grants to the University of Miami and the Youth Center. To this you can add the fact that the city sold the property for the new high school to the school board at a price far below the market value of the land. And yet this is not the first time that school authorities have told Gableites to "go to the devil" in one form or another. The community was constantly rebuffed in its efforts to have a single school board district. It was not consulted about a principal to replace one that had retired. The residents had to shout long and loudly before something was done about insanitary conditions at the Elementary school. Those are a few instances. There are more. So being told to "go to the devil" is nothing new to us. But Dr. Pearson may as well reconcile himself to this fact. Every time it appears that Coral Gables school children are not getting the best possible from the school system-he is going to hear from the people of Coral Gables.

Why Go On, Men?

AW, WHAT'S THE USE! ALL THE FUN'S GONE OUTA LIFE NOW! WORLD DISORDERS WOMEN'S NEW CLOTHING STYLES

FROM RIVIERA NOTEBOOK IT'S TIME TO BE ANXIOUS AGAIN

By Mary Helm Clarke "Principal property owners in Dade County are anxious to levy a tax and build a school," reported Thurston Chase, Superintendent of Florida Schools. That was in 1870. Dade County, at that time, encompassed the Palm Beach area and extended to the Keys. In all that part of Florida there were only 27 children, not counting the Indians, but these 27 were entitled to a free education. The property owners were not only willing but ANXIOUS to levy a tax so they might get schools. Apparently their anxiety brought results, for 16 years later there were four schools in the County. The first one was given to Palm Beach; the second one was established at Coconut Grove for its 14 children; the third one served homesteaders at Little River, and the fourth served a community of about 200 people called Miami. It wasn't until 1902 that the 10 children of a rural community called Guavonia had a teacher and a schoolhouse. The school was a small log cabin on the property called Coral Gables Plantation, and was the home of Rev. and Mrs. Solomon G. Merrick and their children. Superintendent of the first group of schools in Dade County was Judge Allen E. Heyser, and under his jurisdiction things began to hum. The Riviera Notebook calls your attention to the second of these schools, the one at Coconut Grove. By 1916 the small frame building was overflowing with its 24 students, so the Board of Education authorized a new building and assigned Albert I. Isaac to act as its Superintendent. The fall term opened with 112 pupils! That was only the beginning of a decade and a half of anxiety. In one year (1925-26) the enrollment doubled-from 720 to 1,425. This was too much growth for any one school to absorb, and since many of the students were coming from the new municipality, Coral Gables, the County Board of Education planned a super de luxe High School. It would have nine buildings, costing in the neighborhood of $400,000.00, and would face the proposed $15,000,000.00 University of Miami. When three of the buildings had been completed, with accommodations for 350 students, the higher grades were moved from Coconut Grove into the new Ponce de Leon High School. Albert I. Isaac was transferred with them as Principal. The next Fall, with accommodations for 350, the enrollment was 500! And so it goes. Wings are extended on existing buildings. Portables are jammed in athletic fields. And still enrollment exceeds accommodations in Dade County. From 27 to 50,000 in three-quarters of a century is a fine record, Mr. Wilson, but it's time to be anxious again. Anxious to levy more taxes, if necessary, and build more schools!

Mrs. Fred Jones Joins Staff At Daniels'

Joining the staff at Daniels on the 15th of this month is Mrs. Fred Jones who will have charge of the sports goods, an added department in one of Coral Gables fastest growing women's stores. As the former Eugenia Nelson of New York, Mrs. Jones comes to Daniels with a wealth of experience in the women's apparel field. A graduate of the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, Mrs. Jones taught dress designing at the school's Paris branch for a year, and also at the New York school and did commercial designing until her marriage. In the department Mrs. Jones will have complete charge, do the buying, and will assist patrons in selecting the proper colors and materials. Mrs. Jones is a Coral Gables resident, residing with her husband, an airlines pilot, at 2509 North Greenway Drive. She holds the women's golf championship at the Country Club of Coral Gables.

SUPERB CANAL HOMESITE

NOTHING LIKE IT ON THE WHOLE CORAL GABLES WATERWAY Splendid setting for magnificent home, with natural location for swimming pool and rambling rock gardens. Street frontage 250' ... Canal frontage 168'. EXCLUSIVE WITH LESLIE H. COOMBES REALTOR 2312 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Phone 4-2586

Enjoy a WEEK-END VACATION

at the Beautiful CORONADO HOTEL On the Ocean at 88th Street MIAMI BEACH Phone 6-2761 • Restricted Clientele • Large Private Beach • Solaria • Beautiful Cocktail Lounge • Outdoor Dining Terrace

Says Here

We've got a new candidate for the "meanest man" title this week. He's the guy who puts slugs in the Kiwanis Club gum machines. The machines, located throughout the Gables, are used by the club to bolster its crippled child fund. When the report came in from the first month's operation, it revealed that the club had netted $30.90-that 14 meanies had put slugs in the machine and that one machine had been stolen! We hope the slug-artists choke on the gum they purloined. A woman came into the El Bolero the other evening carrying one of those tiny Chihauhau dogs. The "lady", as she esconced herself on a bar stool, complained bitterly in loud tones, that the "sitter" she hires to sit with the pooch did not show up that evening and she was forced to drag it along with her. A dog sitter-imagine! Congratulations to Mrs. Duon Miller on her prowess in hooking and boating a 63-pound Wahoo. The big fish measured 6 ft., 2 in. . . . The Jaycee Bulletin reports seeing City Commissioner Dave Hendrick purchasing an armload of comic books the other evening in preparation for a quiet night at home . . . The Don Dutchers, who returned recently from New York, report seeing former Gableite Ted Myers in the big town. They say he's fine and strictly a New Yorker now. They also got to see "Finian's Rainbow" and "Brigadoon" . . . We were puzzled while driving down Route 25 from South Bay to see Chick O'Dornski's truck parked on the edge of the Everglades. Now we learn that Chick has become quite a frog hunter, and is spending a lot of time capturing the succulent amphibians. The Lee Mahans are back from the north complaining about the hot weather they encountered up there, and Earl DeNoon pens us a note stating, "Just returned after being up in the "cool" north (hottest days on record) . . . Looks like the penny blanket-eers aren't doing too well this summer . . . Pete White blew into town on Monday from North Carolina. He jeeped down in less than two days-and if you've ever ridden an Army jeep for any distance, you'll agree that it's tough going . . . Frank Race is busy greeting friends after a summer in Michigan at Moral Re-armament conferences . . . We were talking to Pat Cannon, Tuesday, about the proposed Miami-Dade merger. Pat was trying to sell us on the idea, but even after his ardent plea we still rang up "No Sale" . . . Have you gotten your tickets for the Youth Center Follies yet? That's one event you won't want to miss, believe us. Al Healy is plumping for faster table service at the Elks Club. The other Thursday at 11:45 p. m. she ordered a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich. Friday and the sandwich arrived at the same time and the wife of Exalted Ruler Andy Healy had to pluck out the meat and give it to non-fasting friends . . . which recalls the banquet at which a friend reminded Jim Moore it was Friday. Jim glared at the - luscious roast chicken on his plate, sloshed some gravy over it and muttered, "Swim, darn you, swim!" Are you a member of the M for M Club? Don't fret-you'll be tapped the moment a charter member desides you're eligible . . . Ed Nugent used to be a chronic Northern traveler, but the air cooling system he had installed in his home this summer has changed all that. "You can cut my throat if you ever catch me north of the St. Mary's River again," he declared . . . two golfers sat at the Country Club bar sipping Collinses last Saturday while the third member of the threesome toted up scores, figured and re-figured. "Heck, I wish I were as good a golfer as I am a bookkeeper," he growled as he paid off his losses to his partners. Ed Henderson attended a Denver, Colorado Rotary meeting recently and received a gift as being the visitor from the most distant club . . . Here's a late flash on the Blanket Derby (a fast-paced form from Clyde Higgins. Writing from Camp Curry, California, Clyde states, "Slept under 5 (five-count 'em) blankets last night here. Can anyone beat that in the European blanket derby?" . . . From Balsam, N. C. comes a story from the distaff side of the Cesarano family. Says Bunty, "It will always remain a mystery to me how Pat ever found his way home from Tokyo harbor at the end of the war, when I think of his little jaunt of last week-end. We were taking a trip to Blowing Rock from Waynesville-a well-beaten track if I ever saw one. We sailed along beautifully to within a few miles of Blowing Rock, then did a complete about face onto one of those fancy turns leading to the Blue Ridge Parkway-and wound up on top of Mount Mitchell back at Asheville! Some navigating for a sailor, wasn't it?" Harry Morganthaler sends cheers via air mail from the Carolinas anent the Elks decision to give $100 per month to the Youth Center for operating expenses . . . "That gesture from the Elks is wonderful," he writes. "That is 10 per cent of what we got from the Community Chest last year."

Gables Anglers To Try Luck In Chesapeake Bay

George B. Caster and Lee Gebhart, confirmed Florida anglers, today were carrying coals to Newcastle-Delaware, that is. The northern coastal city was to be one of the ports o' call for the Gables business executives who deserted teeming tropical waters 'this week to try their skill against striped bass and blues in Chesapeake Bay. Caster, president of the Coral Gables Federal Savings and Loan Association, and Gebhart, head of Florida Products, were to make Tilman Island headquarters during the seven-day Walton expedition. The former plans to continue on to New York City to visit friends before returning to Coral Gables.

NOTICE

On Monday, September 22, 1947 and Tuesday, September 23, 1947, commencing at 7 P.M. in Room 101, City Hall, Coral Gables, Florida an examination will be given for Journeyman and Master Plumbers. Any person interested in taking the examination must make application to the undersigned prior to the time of examination. THE CITY OF CORAL GABLES J. H. Dunne, Plumbing Inspector

EXAMINATION FOR CONTRACTORS

Examination for all contractors except Plumbing and Electrical will be held in the Coral Gables City Hall, Room 101 commencing at 7 o'clock P.M. on Friday, September 26, 1947. Gilbert B. Campbell, Building Inspector

NOTICE

On Saturday, September 27, 1947 at 9 A.M. in Room 101, City Hall, Coral Gables, Florida an examination will be given for Journeyman and Master Electricians. Any person interested in taking the examination must make application prior to September 25, 1947. THE CITY OF CORAL GABLES Mark L. Albury, Electrical Inspector

Idle Funds

... are non-productive. An insured savings account in the Coral Gables Federal will earn you 2 1/2% PER ANNUM Our Current Dividend Rate ACCOUNTS MAY BE OPENED AND HANDLED BY MAIL CORAL GABLES FEDERAL Savings & Loan Association GEORGE B. CASTER, President 2501 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Telephone 4-7627 Member Federal Home Loan Bank Member Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation

YOU CAN BANK ON THIS

INSURANCE POLICY WE MAKE LIFE INSURANCE LOANS Cash surrender value of insurance policies, under certain conditions, makes sensible security for a bank loan. We'll gladly explain this type of borrowing. Just come to the bank with your policies. Member Florida National Group Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Member Federal Reserve System Florida National Bank at Coral Gables 1806 PONCE DE LEON BOULEVARD