Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Coral Gables Times
Thursday, November 9, 1961, page 1 (of 20)
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The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
THE Coral Gables TIMES
THE CITY BEAUTIFUL Vol. 36, No. 39 20 Pages Thursday, November 9, 1961 Phone HI 3-1661 Price 10c
Town Meeting Called Tonight at 7:30 To Protest Sunday Store Openings Here
Home-Made Biscuits a Winner At 94 They Lifted Miss Martha's License So She Switched to Jets
By HELEN REYNOLDS Times Society Editor Mrs. Martha Lucy Murray, 909 Algaringo Ave., a resident there in the house she built in 1926, probably has greeted more people in her long useful life than any one of her contemporaries. She owned and operated "Ye Olde Burnham House" in Ipswich, Mass., for some 20 years. This quaint place, a tourist's paradise, was built in 1640, only 20 years after the Pilgrims landed. Martha was the third owner of the house and its treasures. On her first trip to Miami in early 1900, she made some land purchases which she turned into a swell profit. She bought her present home site, a 50-foot lot in 1925, built the present home and was just about to furnish it, when the 1926 hurricane came along. All the floors had to be replaced. But Martha Murray was making money in Miami in 1916. She operated the Douglas Tea Room in the old (then new) Burdine's Department Store for five years. She opened the first gift shop, in 1925, called the Janetta, on First Street in Miami. She also operated the Eggleston Inn, on the Hyannis shore in Massachusetts for some 35 summers, driving her Ford coupe with her maid, Rosalee, by her side. Rosalee's home made biscuits were a specialty. She is a member of the Coral Gables Garden Club, the Fairchild Tropical Garden Club, 10901 Old Cutler Rd. She takes great pride in her flowers, and her birds—wild birds that is. For years she has maintained feeding stations in her garden. She pays $4 per sack for the food, especially prepared for the wild visitors. She and her friends can watch the painted buntings, cardinals and robins from her TV room and near the window. And they — the birds — stop by, believe it or not. In the 35 years she has lived in her Coral Gables home she has remodeled it, adding a large screened porch, a patio and two bedrooms and bath on the first floor opening off the patio. A Bostonian, by birth, she visits old friends there, and a sister in New Hampshire, summers. She has been all over the world and travels back and forth North now by jet. She and Louise Bartlett, who lives with her, spent last Christmas week in Jamaica. She gave up driving her own car, last fall, at 94, but she laughingly says, "There is nothing wrong with me except my hear-sight and my eye-sight." -Staff Photo MRS. MARTHA MURRAY
Equal Time
Robert L. Searle Jr., the mayor's son, was picked up for speeding early Sunday morning by Coral Gables Officer Robert De Korte. "Skippy" was charged with going 45 miles an hour in a 30 mile-an-hour zone on San Amaro Drive at 1 a.m. Mayor Searle arrested Officer George Miller Oct. 28 on charges of speeding and running a red light. The charges were later dropped when Chief William Kimbrough gave Miller a suspension.
An Editorial We Can Lick 'Em
This community will not be stepped on. The people who want to run their cash registers here on Sunday in defiance of our tradition of Sabbath closings will find this out. It is gratifying to see the response of a cross section of our town as they have worked to plan tonight's town meeting. Coral Gables intends to let the merchant princes know that we want a day of rest in our town, that we think the reputation of our city is involved and we are so concerned about it that those who offend our way of life can expect us to fight back. As a citizen you can do two things: 1. Attend tonight's town meeting at the Youth Center at 7:30. 2. Write a personal letter to the officials of the chains who are leading Sunday selling here. They are: Murray Turetsky, General Manager Jackson's-Byrons Dept. Store 29 NW 10th St. Miami Raymond Mufson, Vice Pres. of Sales Jefferson Stores 3700 NW 62nd St. Miami It's our battle. We can win with persistence. Let's show those who would despoil it that we intend to preserve the basic decency of our community. ROLFE NEILL Editor & Publisher
Rally Will Seek Change In Policies
A town meeting to protest the Sunday opening of retail establishments here has been called for 7:30 tonight (Thursday) at the Youth Center. Various organizations in the city will present resolutions condemning Sunday selling. Vice Mayor Joe Murphy, an attorney, will speak on the legal aspects of the matter. Fred Hartnett, real estate and financial figure who is a former mayor, will preside. Also speaking will be Hamilton Hayes, president of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. The meeting is backed by interested citizens and groups and is conducted under the sponsorship of the Chamber of Commerce. Said Hayes: "The chamber believes the preservation of our tradition of Sunday retail closing is of proper concern to the entire community. We urge our citizens to make use of the town meeting to be heard on the subject." Boy Scouts from Troop 616 of University Baptist Church distributed placards yesterday (Wednesday) advertising the meeting. To be distributed tonight are two types of printed material. One is a placard which merchants can post. It announces a policy of continued Sunday closing by the store. The other material contains the names and addresses of certain store officials to whom citizens can write in protest of Sunday openings here. Food Fair, a grocery, has been open for some months on Ponce de Leon Boulevard. Two weeks ago, Jackson's-Byrons opened on Miracle Mile on Sunday, saying it did so reluctantly but in the face of competitive pressure. Apparently this was in reference to two large discount operations which have just established themselves in Dade County and are open on Sundays. Last week, Jefferson Stores also opened in the Gables. Royal Palm will open in December on Sundays. The city has no ordinance prohibiting Sunday openings.
Pickets Here
A man called the Times office Tuesday night and asked if we wanted a "scoop." "Go to Ponce de Leon Junior High at 8 o'clock tonight," he said. We did. About two dozen elderly pickets were there protesting the stand of Sen. Holland and Dr. Edward Annis on medical care to the aged. The men were inside at a meeting and neither saw the pickets, all members of the Florida Senior Citizens.
"NOTICE TO OUR CUSTOMERS"
"This store will not be open for business on Sunday. "For centuries there has been widespread belief that everyone needs one day a week for rest, relaxation, and the opportunity of closer association with family and friends. Sunday traditionally has been considered that day. "Out of respect for that tradition, the ________ will remain closed on Sunday." THESE SIGNS TO BE POSTED BY MANY MERCHANTS