The Coral Gables Times

Coral Gables TIMES

THE CORAL GABLES TIMES Thursday, April 27, 1961 4 Coral Gables TIMES Established Jan. 15, 1926 Published Weekly at 808 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 Steeber | Classified Manager Miss Helen Reynolds | Society Editor Mrs. Eleanor Newsholme | Office Manager Subscription: $3.00 year by mail anywhere

Remember The Times 25 YEARS AGO

25 YEARS AGO The Coral Gables PTA is now the third largest in the state . . . That eater of earth, the ditch digging machine that carved a trench across Ponce de Leon Blvd., is paving the way for the new telephone conduits for the dial exchange building . . . J. W. Durden, W. D. Fuller, W. Keith Phillips and F. N. Holley were elected this week as new members of the board of governors of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce . . . Determined that the administration building of the University of Miami shall receive a coat of paint, students this week formulated plans and named committees to carry out the work of obtaining the necessary funds to carry through the project . . . Some called her "Becky," others called her "Emma," but everybody in the Gables knew her when she was manager at MacFarlane's Sandwich Shop on Alhambra Circle. Gableites will be glad to hear that she opened her own barbeque at Coral Way and Douglas. . .

Everybody's Business

By Rolfe Neill Cool Man, Cool The Coral Gables Lions Club is trying out an idea that other green pea circuit organizations may want to sample. President Howard McQueen reports good response to a month's trial of a buffet cold plate luncheon in place of the traditional plate set before the members. Almanac People remember dates by reference points. If children knew that in school, some of those historical brain twisters would be easier to retain. Anyway, Bill (Cookies) Katz remembers the date he opened his Miracle Mile restaurant by the fact that his first son, Dale, was born Aug. 22, 1957. Twenty-six days later he set up shop. Incidentally, the Katzes added another son about six months ago. Money Talks Dr. Alfred Matthes drew a good chuckle from his Granada Presbyterian congregation with this poem in a sermon about church giving: Silver Dollar & The Penny A big silver dollar and a little brown cent Rolling along together we Rolling along the smooth sidewalk When the dollar remarked, for dollars can talk, "You cheap little cent, you poor little mite, I'm bigger than you and twice as bright!" "Yes, I know," said the cent with a meek little sigh, "But you don't go to church as often as I." Names Make News HEARD ON THE STREET — Several Miracle Mile merchants have leased space in Dadeland . . . One of the prettiest photographs ever taken in Florida is an Everglades color shot in a recent Holiday by Carroll Seghers II (his daddy's the jewel) . . . Dorothy Gillespie, operator of the Gallery on Coral Way, has been invited to present a one-man showing in Frankfort, Germany, next Spring.

A Final Word (For Now) About a Bookish Matter

The city fathers, most of them new on the job, will soon sit down with their first Coral Gables budget. Like most of us, we suspect they'll find more ways to spend a dollar than to earn it. It delights us to know that several of the new commissioners are pledged from campaign days to do something about a new public library here. Unless we misread the signs, the whole commission is in an attitude to do something. In approaching the matter of a new library—and this newspaper believes there is no greater need for our town—there are several points which stand out: 1. No location but a downtown one should be considered. The nearer Miracle Mile the building is located the better it will be. Contrary to many people's thinking, libraries need to get in the thick of traffic and not withdraw to the edge of it. Parking is of secondary consideration, virtually all authorities agree. 2. A branch for the Southern end of the Gables will, unfortunately, have to wait. There will not be enough money to build the central library this city must have and at the same time provide a branch. Those of us living in that area continue to be grateful to the Coco Plum Woman's Club for its facility on Sunset Drive. 3. Financial thinking should not only be directed toward a new building but toward greatly increased book purchases. Present expenditures are laudable (about 3,500 books a year), but, alas, they are too little for a city so much in arrears. We have but half the number of volumes we should. 4. A pay-as-we-go method of financing should be adopted for our new library. We like the sound of one idea we've heard kicked around among some commissioners. Their thinking suggests setting aside a sum, perhaps $150,000, this year. Follow this a second and a third year to finish the debt. The Times hopes that construction work itself, however, will not be delayed longer than another year. Matt Dillon and all those TV cowpokes notwithstanding, reading and research stand higher with the public today than ever before. The work in adult education alone has been a big booster shot for public library use. Business is making great demands for research material, leading to a further increase in library use. A city is run for the benefit of all its people. We know of no other project that would benefit our citizenry more than a new library.

"Why there's hardly room for you and no room at all for any lesson books!" —Alice in Wonderland

CITY SIDE

By Maurice Labelle One thing newspaper readers have difficulty getting straight is the difference between a reporter's personal views, a news story he may have written and the editorial policies of the paper — all on the same subject. Very often a particular news story reflects or conveys a position that is contrary to what the writer believes and also the editorial policy. It is based on what others have said or done and is a factual report of that action. Any reporter has had the occasion to write a story which he personally finds fault with or one which is at odds with editorial policy. A lot of people, who should know better indicate by the typical comment "Did you see what the Daily Blah said" that they have never grasped this simple difference. The exception to this journalistic triangle is the interpretive story in which the writer draws conclusions from the evidence or facts. In journalism, we have people afflicted with many of the normal prejudices, character quirks and inefficiency that plague every other field of life and these things are sometimes reflected in print when not checked and corrected. It is difficult to understand the feeling by the critics of the press that every error is deliberate, intentional and the result fo the worse possible motives. —ML— The role of city watchdog—which most closely characterizes the job of Auditor Paul Gleman — is not always a pleasant one and one guaranteed to raise the blood pressure a few percentage points. Gleman, in his work of checking to see if city employes are doing what they are paid to do and when paid to do it, is bound to rub a few the wrong way occasionally. So when he found two of his tires flat one day last week, he wasn't too puzzled at what happened.

Editors & H-Bombs

The most amazing thing about Editor Norman Cousins' appearance Tuesday before a group of University of Miami backers was not his speech, noteworthy as it was. It was Cousins, the man himself, and his youth. Saturday Review of Literature readers and others who know of this editor's work among some of the prime causes of our day were surprised that the man isn't 10 or 15 years older than he is. The maturity of his outlook would suggest it. There is an earnest, compelling air about him; even the luncheon waiters at the Dupont Plaza Sky Room stood attentively and heard him out. The talk itself was Moral Rearmament in literary clothing. Cousins measures his words precisely, deftly but strikes with the force of a meat cleaver. As he said, nuclear strong arming is not the answer. We have all the power man can muster and still have no security. The answer, obvious as it is difficult, lies in the submerging of nation state interests into a single nation state. That, of course, is the United Nations. We are far from Cousins' answer of rethinking the UN's purpose and then equipping the body to do the job. He readily admits this. But, unless we prefer extinction, we have no other way to trod.

But What Would Columbus Say? The Moon Is Next, He Says

By PHILLIPS RUSSELL Correspondent When the Russians put their man into orbit around the earth, I consulted an astronautic friend about the possible next step. "They will shoot the moon," he said. "And when they have got a footing there, they will make it a way station between Mars and Venus. Or try to." "Then they will try for the stars, I suppose." "Not a chance." "Why not?" "A ray of light from the sun reaches us in eight minutes. But a ray from the nearest star, called Alpha Proxima, would be nearly four and a half light years on its trip to the earth, even tho' it would move at the rate of 186,000 miles a sec-ond." "And so?" "And so we are restricted to our small solar system, which includes eight planets besides the earth. "We will never visit a star, or know whether any of them are inhabited by beings like ourselves. They are too far off, even though we might try to reach them with the speed of light." "Do you expect to see an early landing on the moon?" "Without a doubt. Even with present engines and fuels it can be reached in three and a half days." "What are the drawbacks?" "The moon has no air and no atmosphere. We shall have to take breathing air and breathing apparatus with us. And some sort of telephonic or signaling system, for there is no air to carry sound." "Is Mars. inhabited?" "It might be. The snow that forms every winter on its two poles shows it has moisture. Where you have moisture, you can have vegetation. And vegetation will support animal and human life. "But the cold there is terrific, because Mars is further from the sun that we are." "What about Venus?" "We do not know much about it because it is constantly covered with a dense layer of clouds. Dust, most likely. Venus must be very hot and dry because it is nearer the sun than we are." "What do you think will be the first steps taken to set up interplanetary travel?" "Intermediate platforms or stations to store fuel and food and other supplies. From there photographs can be taken at close range and proper preparations made." "What's the good of all this travel in space?" "The same question was probably asked of Columbus before he set sail. And his answer I reckon would do for mine."

What YOU Think

Editor: Is it possible that your paper covers only an area of sweetness and light as of the last two or three editions? Or have traffic accidents, burglaries, robberies and acts of vandalism been brought to a summary end in the Gables and adjacent communities. Perhaps your making them public was onerous to the city government, or just who suppresses it? Frederick Dykstra 2700 SW 54th Ave.