The Coral Gables Times

Coral Gables TIMES

THE CORAL GABLES TIMES Thursday, April 20, 1961 4 Coral Gables TIMES Established Jan. 15, 1926 Published Weekly at 308 Aragon, Coral Gables, Fla. | Second Class Postage Paid at Miami, Fla. ROLFE NEILL | Editor & Publisher JOHN T. WATTERS | President Robert M. Slane | Advertising Manager John Mullin | Circulation Manager Mrs. Irene Stoeber | Classified Manager Miss Helen Reynolds | Society Editor Mrs. Eleanor Newsholme | Office Manager Subscription: $3.00 year by mail anywhere

Something Should Be Done For All Us Bookworms

City Hall couldn't have picked a better time to discover gold. We're talking about the estimated half million dollars in tax revenues which will be freed this summer as the last IOU's of the Depression are paid off. There are many meritorious projects in need of the money. There is none, as far as The Times knows, more deserving than the Library. And when we say "the Library" we're really talking of a new library. For that's what Coral Gables needs, a new Library. The present facility, born in 1927 through the generosity of the Woman's Club and operated since 1954 by the city, is too crowded and sits way down a cow path when it should be on the main line. If you doubt the need, drop by the Ponce de Leon building some evening and see high school students ranged around the floor of the reference room. Books intended for one section are stored in another for lack of space. Certain volumes you ask for are missing because we only have half the number of books a city of 35,000 should have. It is a No. 1 problem of the new City Commission and we believe most of its members recognize this. Several men stated their interest prior to the election and now they sit as Commissioners. You, as an individual citizen, can help the effort by speaking to commissioners about the need. In approaching the matter of a new Library, several points stand out. Next week we shall discuss them.

Move Over, Daddio

Should there be any in our audience who in addition to knitting their brows over the state of the world are concerned about our youth, let us reassure you. Know who the best Latin scholars in Florida are? Coral Gables High kids. Or who the math whizzes are (again best in state)? Coral Gables kids. The best high school debaters in Florida? You guessed it. And lest you think youth knows only of the academic let us tell you of the ingenious campus carnival staged by Hurricane students at the University last week. There were about two dozen different & fetching ways to make money. Free enterprise was in its finest hour. A fool and his money were soon parted; as a father who took three children, we can tell you so.

The Life of a Fireman

The closest thing to a smoke eater's heaven is to be found on South Dixie Highway in the Gables. We refer to the city's new fire station, which was christened recently. It's undoubtedly accurate to say that it's the poshest fire station in these United States. And don't think the men who man it aren't proud of it. They showed off the building with all the pride of a lady in her new home. There was something there for everybody, although plainly the thing that most impressed the wives with whom we toured was the announcement that firemen not only cook their own breakfast but wash their own dishes. Plenty of politicians were mixed in among the curious and the well wishers. A pair of them we spotted are politicus emeritus just now but have a proprietary interest in the realization of another civic achievement. We refer to former Mayor Keith Phillips and Former City Manager Dutch Willard. Like we said, there was something there for everybody, including plenty of opportunity for the kids to ring the bell on the hook and ladder. The only thing that was missing, and we are sure it was an oversight, was a checker board.

Why We Need a New Library

Remember The Times

25 YEARS AGO MRS. PHILLIP WEBB was announced general chairman of the annual rummage sale for the PTA of the Coral Gables Elementary School... The national council meeting of the General Federation of Women's clubs, the largest women's organization in the world, was formerly opened at the Biltmore with approximately 800 members attending... The Miami Chamber of Commerce accepted 250 lots just west of Coral Gables from George E. Merrick, Inc. The site is for proposed industrial development... 10 YEARS AGO Approximately 2,000 automobile owners were warned that they face arrest after May 1 if they do not have a current Coral Gables inspection sticker on their cars... A street paving project, costing $32,615, was approved by the city commission... The dismissal of 33 instructors at the University of Miami brought a vigorous protest from the student body. A drop in the Fall enrollment was the cause of the dismissal... Coral Gables was ranked fourth in state building. In the first three months of 1951 they had a $4,824,260 construction total... Albert Rosenburg, the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Rosenburg of 1519 Trevino Ave. was awarded an Atomic Energy Commission fellowship in relation to his pre-doctoral studies in bio-physics... Little Jacqueline Quartermass, an eight-year-old British girl who lost her daddy during WW II, became "adopted" through the efforts of Mrs. Henry D. Booth III, of 508 Majorca Ave. Mrs. Booth will contribute financially to the child's support in England... 1 YEAR AGO Coral Gables City Attorney Ted Semple won round two against an adversary. Semple had a Metro parking ticket that he was given canceled. Semple contends that Metro has no jurisdiction in Coral Gables concerning on or off street parking violations... Coco Plum Plaza, a 35 year-old land mark, was renamed Cartagena Plaza as a show of the friendship that exists between Coral Gables and the Columbian City... The biggest Bargain Day ever was sponsored by the Retail Merchants Division of the Chamber of Commerce. Ladies hose went on sale at 39 cents and men's suits could be had for $20...

What YOU Think

Editor: I found the recent campaign and election very uninteresting. No candidate took a flat-footed stand in anything important. Every one favored Coral Gables, the USA and Providence. All had nice families. Although less than half of the registered voters took the trouble to vote, it would seem that the majority of those who did vote were not particularly opposed to high-rise buildings and, since this is a democracy, let's get going and put high-risers anywhere and everywhere a quick, big profit is possible. To heck with beauty, peace, and homey surroundings! Change the "City Beautiful" to the "City Bountiful." Robert H. Throne 2524 Le Jeune Rd. Editor: The lack of interest on the part of the citizens in local elections as recently demonstrated nullifies any merit in the majority of complaints coming to the City Commission. After all the uproar on high-rise buildings, zoning, rentals, aircraft noise, etc., one would expect a better showing of interest at the polls than little more than one third of the potential turn out. Such has the appearance of a vote of no confidence in the candidates. Apparently what is needed is a poll tax with reverse English. At $5 a head on non-voters a return of close to $100,000 would have been realized on April 11. H. J. Knerr 645 Altara

Everybody's Business

By Rolfe Neill Personal Prejudice Things that irritated me this week: People who talk to you while wearing sunglasses. The eyes tell all there is to know about a person and when you can't see the eyes you can't see the character. Secretaries who demand to know, "Who is calling?" It's an offensive question but if somebody must know a much better way is, "May I say who's calling, please?" It's still a Gestapo-type inquiry. Smart executives take all comers. ★ ★ ★ Board Feet President Dennis Renuart says he is surprised by the popularity of the hardware store's lumber odds and ends box. Customers can dip in free for various pieces to do a small job. No need to be surprised; the greatest appeal in the world still is something for nothing. ★ ★ ★ Hither & Yon W. T. Grant Co. is following a trend, will initiate S&H Green Stamps in the company's New England stores... Bell Telephone is getting some complaints on that fancy new phone, the Princess. The claim is, that weighing only slightly over half as much as the regular set, the Princess is too light to hold still during dialing. Bell puts cork legs on non-skid pads on compainers' models while bringing out a non-skid set... Horse race betting yielded the 24 states that tax pari-mutuel wagering, a total of $258 million in 1960. This is up six per cent from the year before. A two per cent increase in the number of racing days and a three per cent attendance increase helped tracks push up their take... ★ ★ ★ For Sale Steve Hessen, who sells everybody else's property, is trying to peddle his own at 7390 Red Rd. The asking price is $150,000. Steep as that may sound to a man with a mere $20,000 or $30,000 mortgage, it's far behind the tag hanging on the Ritter place at 6875 Granada. Price: $325,000. ★ ★ ★ People Anthony Abraham of th- Gables, who recently sold his Chevy dealership to Dumas Milner, now has offices in the Dupont Plaza... Mert Madden, 5311 Maggiore, an exec of the Curtiss National Bank, was in charge of the $1 million in currency display at the Miami Home Show. He planned to have $600,000 of it in $10,000 bills. They're virtually out of circulation, he discovered; he came up with only three.

CITY SIDE

By Maurice Labelle Coral Gables is the intellectual and cultural center of Dade County. That's the image. But the image gets a little tarnished each election day when only a small percentage of those of voting age bother. The recent campaign had everything calculated to bring out the vote. It had issues. It had controversy. It had personalities. But more eligible Gableite voters stayed away than voted. The outcome might not have changed, but the poor exhibition of civic responsibility — a thing in which the Gables prides itself — is a stigma to the community. —ML— Three of the faces on the City Commission are new. In view of the fact that the candidates all sounded pretty much alike by the time the campaign ended, it will take the customary shake down cruise before a policy trend can be established. But if you think all the issues were resolved by the election, stick around. The wheelers and the dealers did not drop dead April 11. —ML— A bit of irony resulted when Carl Tukington, president of the Citizens Association, was forced to go out of town a few days before the election and did not vote. Turkington's group was active in the high rise fight and came out with a slate of candidates. —ML— Speaking of slates. The outcome showed that it was difficult to win if you weren't on one. Commissioner Joe Murphy and Dr. Franklin J. Murphy and Evans triumphed. slate with Bernard B. Weksler and Henry J. Simmonite. Murphy and Evans triumphed. Jerry Dressel Jr. and George Wilson were on the same slate with Lee Mahan. Dressel and Wilson won. —ML— Another bit of irony in the campaign resulted from the fact that Murphy and Weksler stood shoulder to shoulder on virtually every issue that's come up in the past two years, from Tommy Blount to tax freeloading. Murphy nearly set a vote getting record while Weksler finished seventh in a field of 11 after 77 absentee ballots had been counted. A lot of explanations are being batted about for Weksler's poor showing, but it doesn't take a Solomon to figure out the main reason. Which prompted a bad election joke about the "anti-Simmonites" being out to get Henry. Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should be made parchment? that parchment being scribbled o'er, should undoaman.—Shakespeare.