The Coral Gables Times

THE Coral Gables TIMES Established Jan. 15, 1926 Second Class Postage Published at Paid at Miami, Fla. 364 Sevilla Ave., Coral Gables 34, Fla. JOHN T. WATTERS | President ROLFE NEILL | Editor & Publisher

Metro Fiddles And Maybe We All Burn

The local public relations firm hired by Seadade understandably is eager to create favorable impressions for its client and the oil refinery Seadale wishes to build in South Dade County. Three weeks ago we asked the publicity people for a list of cities with large oil refineries. Also, we asked for a similar list of those with petro-chemical complexes. Obligingly, they told us it would be hustled up immediately. After two weeks' lapse with no lists produced, we inquired We're still compiling, they said. It's now three weeks and still no lists. Our purpose in asking for the lists was a simple one. Since our elected officials of Metro seem unwilling to make an investigation into the desirability of a refinery here, we proposed to— Get In Touch —with cities that have them and ask for ourselves. Admittedly it's not the scientific study the problem warrants but it would be preferable to the do-nothingness of Metro. As we've said before, we don't know if a refinery can or can't be sufficiently controlled. Neither do we know about the satellite industries which grow alongside. We want to find out before saying yes or no to Seadade. Talk about the right kind of measures for controlling Seadade is fine talk but it's cart-before-the-horse variety. First, let's find out if we even want Seadade, then we'll discuss controls. Well, The Miami News has now beat us partially at our own game. Sunday, they published a survey of their own. It covered only refineries and not the more likely to be obnoxious petro-chemical industries. Although the headlines and most of the excerpts quoted tended to give the impression that all seven cities had nothing but praise for their refineries, the story is quite different if you read it carefully. Out of the seven, five talked about the odor problem. And many of these comments came from mayors and other tub thumpers who are hardly likely to say nasty things about a local payroll, even if it stinks. The closer we get to H-Hour on Seadade the more worried we get. Metro fiddles and we may all burn.

Not In This Case

There is no reason we know of that the Rader Report should be kept secret. Its recommendations affect our community and our daily lives. We are printing the report's major recommendations. Weeks ago, the town fathers made decisions in advance knowledge of the report's contents while denying the citizens and this newspaper the right to know. There was nothing sinister in their denial, just the thought that "the time isn't right yet," there's more work to be done. This newspaper and its editor are willing to cooperate in withholding information if it's in the public interest. Rarely, however, is it in the public's interest. Certainly not in this case.

Thank Them, Don't Gripe

For many years, the Retail Merchants Division has gone along independent of the Chamber of Commerce even though it was bone of its bones and flesh of its flesh. Apparently, nobody much cared. Now, the Chamber is undergoing a much needed reorganization. In it, the RMD is being put into perspective. It enjoys status and privileges not given other committees of the Chamber but in the end must draw its authority from the Chamber. It follows that in a difference of opinion, the Chamber's will shall prevail. This must be if the business element here is to speak with force. Those merchants who are apprehensive needn't be. The RMD can be stronger than ever if its merchant members wish it so. For the first time, there is the prospect of an assured budget. Work awaits those willing to undertake it. The move of realignment was overdue. Let's make it function.

Editorial From the Marathon Keynoter | It's Our Problem

What many Monroe Countians may think is Dade County's problem may develop into a King size headache for the Florida Keys. Oil magnate D. K. Ludwig's proposed oil refinery in South Dade County promises to stir up a good deal of controversy as the proponents attempt to overcome any opposition. The battle has a good chance of becoming as muddled as any political campaign going. The target of most of this propaganda from both sides will be the man in the street. He doesn't have time to look into the matter himself and must pretty well judge the situation on the information fed to him. There are a good many dollars involved in this deal. Thousands of acres of high-priced land are included directly but this is not the most important factor to keep in mind. If the refinery should prove to be a detriment to the entire Florida Keys, the investment and income from it would be a mere pittance. Should it and the associated advantages promised materialize the picture could be reversed. A great amount of pressure is expected as the decision, still about six months away, draws near. Naturally, everyone here wants what is best for the Keys, but people in other areas could not care less. Now is the time to take up the search for the true picture of the situation and weigh every bit of information which comes your way, keeping in mind on what authority the speaker bases his argument and whether or not he has anything to gain. Anyone who stands to gain from the project would very likely favor the refinery. There are some who would favor it for their own benefit regardless of what it might cost others. The layman can tell little by looking at a refinery. He is lucky to tell whether or not it is in operation let alone what effects it may or may not have on the surroundings. The experts must be relied upon to give us the true facts. Don't be fooled by glib talk and air castles or promises. Facts are the only things that count — and they count only when they're not distorted. The decision will have to be made and we can help tackle this problem which is ours, too, not Dade County's alone. (Editor's Note: A Monroe County Commissioner, Charlie Ramos Jr., says he will request an investigation to protect the Keys' interests in connection with the proposed South Dade County oil refinery. He says he is primarily concerned with the possibility of polluting the Keys' only source of fresh water, which comes from the Florida City area, west of the refinery site. ("We aren't opposing a refinery, but merely want to investigate any possible harmful effects," he said.)

EVERYBODY'S Business | By Rolfe Neill

Changing Times The gradual changes are the ones not likely to be noticed. As I drove to work the other morning I stopped to look at what had happened in three long blocks of LeJeune Road in the last six months on the south end between Bird and South Dixie Highway: 1. Deel Motors has just completed a nice-looking showroom addition. 2. The firm has paved a parking lot across the street. 3. Tenants are moving into the South Le Jeune Office Building next to Riviera Drugs. 4. A new City-metered parking lot is in operation. 5. Steve's Market has gone out of business. 6. A track has been built on the Gables High athletic field. 7. A chain link fence has been built along Le Jeune. 8. Le Jeune itself has been widened and repaved. 9. A furniture factory faded and Rogers Air Conditioning moved in. * * * Alas Doesn't seem fair the Hialeah Race Track should now start charging just for looking at an empty track. It's a tourist showplace but recently the owners decided there would be no more free tours. You have to pay 75 cents an adult head and take the tram ride. * * * It's Free A lady called to ask how much we would charge to put an item in the paper about her son being home on leave. She is an intelligent person who's read newspapers all her life, yet she thought we charged for news items. Something is wrong with our industry that the public doesn't better understand how news gets into print. * * * Postscript Speaking of news: I called the manager of a local store the other day to ask about the change of name that was taking place in three-foot high letters on the front of his establishment. He didn't want to talk about it! Manager of a chain outlet, he is unfortunately like many people—figures it's better to say nothing rather than incur the stern displeasure of New York. But to say "no comment" on the name change, well ... * * * All Gone That locally-produced best seller, the Jaycees' community survey, is all gone. Arrangements are being made for more to be printed. It's good reading for anybody who wants to know what makes the Gables tick. Particularly, it's meaty for merchants.

Friend Views What Ails Mr. Nixon

Richard Nixon has seen more of the world, met more of its great, attended more of its lofty councils, struggled with more of its insolubles, and caught more of its rotten eggs than any other major political figure running for the governorship of California. And yet his campaign is dragging, and he has contrived to alienate bloc after bloc of those who might want to follow him ... Wherein does he fall short? * * * Most probably it is an affair of the soul. In Richard Nixon there speaks, deep down but very audibly, a strain of self-doubt, a passion for self-analysis, and the hesitation that flows from the habit of too much examining oneself. * * * In many men these are precious qualities, and in high office they can serve to protect the country from overweening pride, reckless action, arbitrary and whimsical decisions. But when these qualities are mixed in a slightly wry proportion, they produce a personality that does not carry; a presence without charisma; a policy that seems to lack integrity because it seems to lack conviction, even when it may indeed have been built on the igneous rock of a grand faith. Whence, despite his virtues, we may trace the failure of a man who surely deserves much better than the condescending sympathy of James Reston. — The National Review.

Why Not? It's Age Of Machine

By PHILLIPS RUSSELL Correspondent A student at one of our big universities (it is so big that its business must be done with the help of computers and IBM machines) writes that the formal education to be had there in the classrooms is second-rate and second-class. The students have no informal contact with their professors and the individual easily feels lost. Yet the outside atmosphere is stimulating and discussions go on despite tht chill imparted by statistics and set machinery. This recalls the saying of Emerson that when a boy goes to college the students educate him. This will doubtless remain true even in institutions with 20 to 30 thousand students. But as enrollments mount up and new waves of applicants beat on college doors, more and more dependence will doubtless be placed by administrations on business machinery. A student will know he belongs on a certain campus because he carries a card or cards bearing cabalistic numbers. In the classroom he will sit further and further back from his professors and will meet them only by accident. In fact, he may pass them on a campus walk without recognizing them. If he is in trouble or needs help with a special problem, he can consult the nearest machine and get an unbiased and impersonal answer. Hymns to Alma MPater will continue to be sung, no doubt, but they will recall not the faces of gray old professors but the cool countenances of a row of clicking machines. And why not? Isn't it a machine age?

FACES IN OUR TOWN by ine | Bill KATZ

FACES IN OUR TOWN by ine Bill KATZ OWNER OF COOKIE'S RESTAURANT HAS BEEN IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS 30 YRS. BORN IN BROOKLYN, N.Y., HE CAME TO MIAMI IN 1938. BILL LIKES HORSEBACK RIDING AND RIDES WHEN TIME PERMITS. HIS WIFE GLADYS AND THEIR CHILDREN, DALE, 41⁄2, AND MICHAEL, 19 MONTHS RESIDE IN THE N.E. SECTION. BILL LIKES SPORTS... AT ONE TIME HE PLAYED FORWARD ON THE YMHA BASKETBALL TEAM.