The Coral Gables Times

Thursday, August 31, 1961, page 4 (of 28)

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THE Coral Gables TIMES

Established Jan. 18, 1926 Published Weekly at 344 Seville Ave., Coral Gables, Fla. | Second Class Postage Paid at Miami, Fla. ROLFE NEILL | Editor & Publisher JOHN T. WATTERS | President Robert M. Slane | Advertising Manager Roy Speier | Circulation Manager Maurice Labelle, Raymond Long, Becky Doyle-Quinn | Reporters Mrs. Irene Stoeber | Classified Manager Miss Helen Reynolds | Society Editor Mrs. Eleanor Newsholme | Office Manager Subscription: $3.00 year by mail anywhere

The Business Fees And You & Me

Comes now the howls of businessmen who have had their occupational license fees increased by the City of Coral Gables, effective Oct. 1. And as usual, the most-repeated argument is that the raise will be harmful to our commerce for it will increase the cost of operations and therefore stiffle enterprise. We doubt it. Despite the doubling of the levy for some, none of the charges is very large. But the Times believes other issues are involved. We join with those who protest that no public discussion was allowed to precede the change, that no affected individual was given a say. And a bigger question that remains to be clarified by our City Commissioners is, What is the purpose of an occupational license? Until now, it has been regarded as a regulatory fee, not one of income. The increase looks suspiciously like one whose only intent was to bring in some more City tax dollars. We hope the Board of Realtors will press on, in behalf of its members, for some public discussion of the whole fee matter. Meanwhile, those businessmen who want to make an effective argument should turn to some of these more basic considerations and stop parrotting the "they'll kill business" line.

Goodbye, Dutch

Dutch Willard takes his leave of us this week end, heading for Virginia where he's to become a generalissimo of the land. This community will miss his effective action. In our estimation, he leaves his own epitaph: You could always get a straight answer from him and if you wanted a job done, give it to Dutch Willard. Bon voyage, old pal.

Remember The Times 25 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

25 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK The Chamber of Commerce has made an appeal through the Governor, to transient winter visitors. It is in the form of a request that they do not come to this area in the winter months if they do not have employment lined up, or will not have enough money to support themselves without it .

Elva Wonders Are We Happy in Our Privacy?

By ELVA CHARLTON Correspondent Privacy and retirement are words of greater significance to those people living in the Gables than most other places in the world. These words can also mean loneliness, seclusion, regression, concealment, etc. "I have worked hard to get where I am, I'm entitled to a little privacy," is said here often. I heartily agree with that remark if people are happy while they are protecting their privacy. Many aren't. Behind the closed shutters of many of the older homes there lurks a vivid story. People could tell it if they would. For instance, I was once a guest in a large house bordering the golf course, enchantingly furnished. Great political personages held meetings of importance there some years back. There was also a whisper of personal tragedy in the lives of the people who lived there. A skeleton was found by small boys in the empty lot adjacent. All very intriguing to a newcomer to the area. But a newcomer soon learned that there were many such homes thus endowed with legendary tales, true or false. And that privacy could not be violated. It's the people still living in the homes protected from prying eyes who interest me. Are people really happy who hide themselves away from participation in everything, as so many of them do? Is this period of their lives sorewarding after all? I don't think so. One Coral Gables woman relates: "My house was up for sale. I was prepared for the influx of people who arrived at any time. I put up with it until they insisted on discussing my furniture, (which is unique). Then I thought this was as infringement on my privacy." Another woman says: "To help fight depressions, I decided to take some courses. I thought I could keep my identity secret. I tried to transfer myself from one kind of life to another. It didn't work. I'm right back where I started." This woman was disappointed in people as a whole, but taking courses was a step in the right direction. I believe participation is answer for most people. Participate in something, anything to round out a life and make living worthwhile. Open the shutters. Let friendship in. There are many people in the Gables just like you. Tell your story. Tell me your story. Or write to this paper and tell us what you think about whether people are happy protecting their privacy in the Gables.

OFF BEAT By MAURICE LABELLE

There are some disadvantages to working for the City of Coral Gables. C. Frank Shaw, the city's horse-loving plumbing inspector, used to gallop to his jobs via horseback while doing the same work for the county some years back. Don't get Frank started talking about horses unless you want to hold up construction in the Gables. Frank will ramble on about all aspects of the equestrian sport at the drop of a horseshoe. — ML — A lot of drivers are getting away unpunished as a result of the timidity of police to arrest persons following recent court decisions. Police are under orders not to make misdemeanor arrests unless they are witnesses. A local attorney escaped a possible hit-and-run charge last week because of this loophole. Unless the victim brings charges, he will have to settle for whatever damages he can get. The pendulum has now swung to the other extreme. In some communities in the past, police made arrests in virtually every accident, regardless how trivial. — ML — Recent City Commission candidate Bernard Weksler is pictured by some of his enemies as a modern day Don Quixote—fencing at windmills. But Weksler continues to pound away at what he believes to be inequities and injustices. His recent victory on county school milk bidding will not endear him to the moo moo industry which enjoyed some windfalls over the less competitive way the milk trade was handled in the past. But Weksler has yet to score on the biggest pitch: tax freeloading. He's not likely to — unless he goes after a change in the law. There are too many loopholes in existing laws to snare the people who have been eating out of your pocket and mine for years. — ML — Assistant Police Chief D. F. Edwards has come back from a recent FBI re-training session with a list of sex misdemeanors and crimes several pages long. After reading this list I'm beginning to wonder if everyone isn't immoral but you and me — and I'm not so certain about you. — ML — Sign entering a North Florida town: Welcome to Orange Lake—the home of pure water! Florida, incidentally is the first Southern and the largest state to go completely dial phone. We ain't so backwards. Only the small states of Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut have eliminated all the "Number please" gals. Who needs them? Did you know there were 22 telephone companies in Florida?

The Downtown Retailers Reach for Non-Retail

By PHILLIPS RUSSELL Correspondent Retail establishments in some towns are now making a combined effort to bring non-retail attractions to their areas. There would seem to be a contradiction here, but the statement is made by no less an authority than the Wall Street Journal. This is part of the effort to restore glamor and prestige to downtown sections that had begun to lose customers to outlying shopping centers and suburban supermarkets. Banks, libraries, bookshops, professional offices, theaters, bowling centers, and even apartment buildings are being encouraged to take their places among regular retail shops and stores. The idea is to avoid an appearance of too much concentration on one activity, and to show that downtown areas have all the variety necessary to attract strollers as well as average customers. After all, no business area can flourish that fails to attract people, and it may be that some business sections have concentrated too exclusively on the selling process. Booksellers long ago learned not to scare the customer by too much eagerness but to leave him free to browse, and some of the supermarkets put on various attractions to bring people within the store, whether or not they are potential buyers. Americans have sometimes been compared to the people cast on a desert island — they made a living by taking in each other's laundry. So we have been accused of being a nation of salesmen thinking only of selling 7 per cent more than last year, to each other. Selling is a fascinating activity, and may be profitable besides, but first there must be people to sell to. And we have to recognize that people are human and like variety.

INK SPOTS

THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IS STARTING ITS DRIVE TO RAISE $7,500 FOR NEW DECORATIONS TO BE PLACED IN MERRICK PARK ONLY 117 DAYS 'TIL CHRISTMAS A REAL COOL SAVING! CORAL GABLES STOPPED RENTING ICE MACHINES SUPPLYING ICE TO ITS WORK CREWS AND PURCHASED THREE OF ITS OWN. THE ICE WILL COST 10¢ A 100 LB. AS AGAINST 86¢ A 100 LB. UNDER THE OLD METHOD. FOOTBALL SEASON'S NEAR AT HAND THE CAVALIERS ARE WORKING HARD THEY'LL BE OKAY THE COACH HAS SAID IF THEY CAN LOSE SOME LARD. GREENS 3-4-13 AT BILTMORE GOLF COURSE ARE OPEN AGAIN. THE GREENS HAVE BEEN REDESIGNED WITH A MORE NATURAL TOPOGRAPHY AND A LARGER AREA. SOMETHIN' BUGGIN YA, MAN? COST OF SOME OCCUPATIONAL LICENSES IN CORAL GABLES HAS RISEN SHARPLY SOME EXAMPLES: INSURANCE COMPANIES FROM $50.00 TO $125.00 REAL ESTATE BROKERS FROM $30.00 TO $60.00 EXTERMINATORS FROM $30.00 TO $75.00 SHUT UP!