The Coral Gables Times

Thursday, October 18, 1962, page 4 (of 23)

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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 Subscriptions: $4.20 year by mail anywhere in the U.S.A.

In Giving, the Giver Is Honored

There were several remarkable aspects to last Saturday night's dinner bringing together Coral Gables people and the administration and deans of the University of Miami. One of the most obviously significant, of course, was the cordiality of the atmosphere generated between the groups by the pleasantness of a hospitable, gracious occasion. Good will come of it. But what struck us with equal forcefulness was the genuineness of the remarks by Chancellor Jay F. W. Pearson. Although the occasion was to honor him and Dr. Stanford, the new president, the chancellor instead directed honor to the people of Coral Gables. You would have been proud as a resident to have heard the tribute in Chancellor Pearson's remarks as he recalled the helpfulness of this city to a struggling university, helpfulness that has spanned the life of the institution and which has gone on irrespective of local political administrations. These comments by the chancellor were as much a comment on the past as an omen for the future. Henry King Stanford has a rock upon which to build his educational house.

A Postscript

Most worthwhile events occur because busy but concerned men and women are motivated to help. The dinner given by the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce last Saturday night is but one of scores of commendable projects which are undertaken here in a year's time. But typical, The Times believes, is the wide-ranging individual contributions which went to make it up. Often, the benefactors of a community toil annonymously, which is proper. Occasionally, however, we think it well to show their contributions—and to remind ourselves of their contributions. Consider this list: Ed Crowley, Curtis Howell, Hans and Grayce Wedemeyer, Albert Jacobson, Coral Gables Federal Savings and Loan, City National Bank, Mrs. Louise Cone, the Musicians Union of America Local 655 and Fred Casiola, Ed Brown, Bob Hildreth, Lee Smith, Sears Roebuck, Bob Bradley, Mort Guilford and the Gables City Commission. A typical community endeavor and a typical cross section, we say. And as we have remarked before: We can accomplish anything in Coral Gables we want to through just such people as listed above.

A Poem For Fall

FALL IN THE TROPICS It hangs there so dejected Shoulders sagging Shoved, pushed and so rejected Pockets bagging Pants and sport shirts get accepted So depressing From me the sweat just streams while I am dressing The world will little note Nor long remember My sick and sad lament Of late September When only moths and silver-fish Just gloat While feasting on my winter Overcoat ELVA CHARLTON

Of Architecture And Advertising

EDITOR: Mr. Rolfe Neill who writes "Everybody's Business" in your newspaper I believe has been acclaimed by many of us old Gableites for his article Architecture in your Oct. 4 issue. No one could be more correct than he. I have lived here since the early 30's when the Gables was a town to be proud of due to its buildings; now it is a town like every other with its glass boxes soaring above what is left of the trees. Where are the real architects? No, nothing is being built now as beautiful in any way as the Biltmore Hotel (I do not class it "old" as Mr. Neill does!) What about the beauties of the buildings in England, France, Italy, etc. — ageless and all the Americans go over to gaze upon them and exclaim. What about our City Hall? Mr. Cole's church? The present library building, small though it is? I trust the new one wherever built will be of the same Spanish architecture as the old, as George Merrick planned. I have come to the conclusion, as have many others, that in our midst there are no architects capable of designing buildings such as mentioned above; all the present ones (down here at least) and those who own property and build, either have no sense of love for their town or do not understand what beauty in form is. Shall the future citizens, I wonder, come home to gaze with "a glad eye" as Mr. Neill writes? I think not. So again many thanks to Mr. Neill for his appreciation of the things that may not feed the purses but certainly feed some persons' souls. M. P. TEMPLE

Advertising Consultant Clarifies Board Decision

EDITOR: I want to correct a misconception that might be conveyed by your front-page article in this week's Times, "Ad Board Decision Is Sifted." The point of my correction is that there were no "differences" between the Advertising Consultant and the Advertising Advisory Board of a type which required the City Commission to choose between two programs. The Advisory Board and the Consultant were unanimous in their final recommendations and the Commission's action simply confirmed these. It is true that, as your article points out, four different programs were developed in the course of reaching this final decision. These four programs varied in respect to the amount of money available, the specific objectives and the media to be used. However, each of the four programs was, in my opinion, a sound advertising approach, and I was able to recommend each of them as an effective and justifiable expenditure of City funds. Unfortunately, advertising has not yet become an exact science. There is room in any advertising program for differences of opinion. I regard as an important function of the Advertising Consultant the reconciliation of these differences between members of the Advertising Advisory Board, the City Commission and the City's advertising agency. This reconciliation sometimes involves sacrificing my own preferences. In no case, however, will I recommend a program which I feel is ineffective or wasteful. BERT BURRIS City Advertising Consultant

Everybody's Business by Rolfe Neill

Boy vs. Girl Men are better thinkers than women, I've always maintained. A University of Miami dean and I were discussing this yesterday. He noted that while girls always lead the honor rolls—more than 50% of the names are girls'—when it comes to competitive testing, they fare poorly. For instance, of the 19 Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists at Gables High, only three were girls. This is typical. What this proves, I suspect, is that boys rebel at memory and rote-type work normally associated with the classroom. Give them a problem, however, and they'll out-think girls. * * * No, Madam At a meeting of all the garden club presidents in Dade County the other day I was seated next to a pleasant lady who asked me over our fruit cups, "Don't meetings like this bore you?" I said that they didn't. Then she wanted to know: "Well, at least all these women; what do you find to talk about?" There are a half dozen standbys to talk to women about and I've never found a situation where at least several of them couldn't keep you going for hours. Herewith, I offer free of charge a guide for keeping women companions talking: Ask about their children. Comment on something they're wearing. Inquire about where they grew up. Ask them the most interesting city they've ever visited. No, lady, it's not boring; it's highly informational. * * * Another Riddle Seeing Ham Hayes doodling the other evening, I looked into the subject matter. It was as follows: I—Twelve coins — 11 of equal weight with one either heavier or lighter than the remainder. II—A scale which is only a balance; it tells you which side is heavier or lighter or equal. III—You have but three weighings to locate the odd coin. Ham, whose auditing experience even includes Hialeah race track, can't figure this one out, says further it's got better minds than his stumped at First Federal Savings & Loan downtown. If you can help him, send me the answer.

Our States: Head-High in Problems and Knee-Deep in Midgets

Reprinted from New York Times By JAMES RESTON BOSTON — It is difficult to make a political swing around America these days without coming to the conclusion that the governors of the states, taken as a whole, are a poor lot. It is not that they are all bad, but that they are not nearly as good as they ought to be. Most of the state capitals are over their heads in problems and up to their knees in midgets. This year's petty and quarrelsome Governors Conference at Hershey, Pa., presided over by Wesley Powell, a dub from New Hampshire dramatizes the point, and Gov. Ross Barnett of Mississippi had done very little to dispel this impression. Political critics, of course, have been complaining about this for generations. James Bryce, in his remarkable study of "The American Commonwealth," devoted a whole chapter as early as 1891 to "why the best men do not enter politics." But in recent years the thing seems to have got worse rather than better. Not so long ago we had Earl Warren of California, Thomas E. Dewey of New York, Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois and James F. Byrnes of South Carolina all presiding over their respective State Houses at the same time, and, whatever their shortcomings, they were all considered for the highest offices in the land. Today, Nelson Rockefeller of New York is the only governor thought worthy of consideration for the presidency and most of the rest of them seem to be having trouble making any impression even within their own states. California, for example, is a case in point. This is not a state, but an empire, larger than Great Britain and more populous than Canada. Its problems would challenge the talents of a Churchill, but it is run by Pat Brown, an amiable political Babbitt, who apparently is tolerated by California voters because his name is not Richard Milhouse Nixon. The same thing is true of many other states, Massachusetts included. Here in Boston the political question is not who's the best man, but who has a name like Volpe or Kennedy that will be popular with the Irish or the Italians. The usual explanation of the problem is that because of problems such as this one in Massachusetts, talented and sensible men would rather make a lot of money in non-political jobs than run about swallowing hot dogs and insults from tough politicians and journalists. Well, there is no doubt something in this, but more able men would undoubtedly come forward if somebody knew how to flush them out of their normal routine. It is conceivable, for example, that the political professionals would listen to the newspapers if the latter took the lead in soliciting names of possible governors from their readers in each community before decisions were taken on the candidates. As things now stand, most newspapers merely take a position for or against the two candidates of the major parties, which means usually a choice between two turkeys much of the time. However, let the people of the state do a little informal nominating on their own ahead of time, with the papers publishing the results, and it might do some good. The men suggested by their peers could scarcely ignore the honor, and the political pros would at least look them over. This does happen in a few states but not many. There is a funny thing about state pride: the states are forever trying to prove that they produce the prettiest girls, the best clam chowder and the shiftiest halfbacks. Yet, at the same time, they will settle year after year for the most incompetent governors. GOV. PAT BROWN