The Key West citizen. [volume], March 28, 1939, Image 1

About The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current

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Associated Press Day Wire
Service
For 59 Years Devoted to the
Best Interests of Key West
VOLUME LX. No. 74.
Criminal Court Met This
Morning; One Case Heard
Colored Defendant Given
Sentence Of 60 Days In
Jail; Sands’ Case Set
For Tomorrow
Criminal court of record for
Monroe county met this morning
with Judge William V. Albury
presiding and all officials oi the
tribunal in attendance.
There was but one case sched
uled for hearing, and this was the
case of James Mins, colored,
charged with the theft of $44 from
the fishing camp at Perky, Fla.
Mins was arrested last week
and brought to the city by Depu
ty Sheriff Fred Johnson, who
quizzed him after his arrest and
secured the return of S4O and
got a confession of the theft. The
balance of $4 was returned after
the accused reached Key West
by his turning over to the deputy
a check which covered the
amount of the theft.
Upon being arraigned this
morning Mins entered a plea of
guilty and was sentenced by the
judge to serve 60 days in the
county jail at hard labor.
The case scheduled for hearing
tomorrow is that of Eugene
Sands, charged with having slot
machines in his possession at his
place of business at Marathon.
HUGE SAWFISH
IS CAPTURED
CAUGHT BY DR. JOHNSON
AND PARTY AT END OF
LONG KEY BRIDGE
Dr. C. W. Johnson, a regular
winter visitor to Key West, and
party landed a huge sawfish
while fishing at the south end of
Long Key bridge last week. The
line used was 7-8 inch rope with
large shark hook and baited with
mullet.
The party went after jewfish
but caught the sawfish instead,
which is believed to be the larg
est taken in these waters this
winter. It was 16 feet long and
the saw blade was four feet long.
It took the combined efforts of
12 people to get the fish from
the water, and with the hook in
its mouth and rope wrapffcd
around the saw and tail, the ani
mal began theshing and strug
gling and in doing so struck one
of the members of the party on
the leg. ii.flicting painful injury.
In the party landing the enor
mous fish were Dr. and Mrs.
Johnson, of Lawton, Mich.; Dr.
Carl P. Arant, Wm. H. Schmidt,
and Joseph G. Moretti. of Mi
ami; H. A. Hindered, of Qalsh,
111.; Mr. and Mrs. Howard, of
Woodstock, New Hampshire; Mr.
and Mrs. H. L. Wiley, of Thorn
ton, N. H ; Mrs. Eleanor O’Brien
of Detroit, daughter of Dr. and
Mrs. Johnson.
This was Dr. Johnson’s second
experience of landing a big fish
in these waters. His first was
the season of 1938, while fishing
with Captain Wm. Wickers off
Sand Key. He hooked a nine and
one-half foot shark, which weigh
ed 750 pounds.
The doctor said that he is won
dering if he can equal this record
while spending his vacation in
Key West and on the Florida
Keys. He said that after landing
the big fish the party was re
warded with a catch of several
jacks and three’ jewfish.
HAS FAMILY DOCTORS
KENDALLVILLE, Ind. Four
generations of Dr. Williamses
have treated Daniel R. Wisel, 101-
year-old Civil War veteran. The
latest is Dr. H. O. Williams. The
others were his great grand
father, Dr. Nathan Williams;
grandfather, Dr. S. T. Williams,
and father. Dr. Warren S. Wil
liams.
EXCELLENT OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS-FT. JEFFERSON CRUISES-$lO ALL EXPENSE TWO-DAY TOUR-PRICE TOURS 505 DUVAL STREET-PHONE 124
©he <Keu West Citizen
GOOD FISHING ON
j ROUGHEST DAY HERE
Mrs. M. S. Kilsmiller, On-
I arga, Illinois and W. J. Keene
of Chicago fished on ihe Bay
way with Capt. Reggie Trevor
on the "Madeline'* and en
joyed a catch of 24 fish, and
this on the roughest day with
l the milliest water Key West
usually has. Which shows
just how true the saying is
that if it is rough on the
Oceanside, you can fish the
Gulf in Key West. If it's
rough in the Gulf you can
fish the Oceanside. All ac
cording to the wind.
In the catch were gags,
black and red grouper, red
snapper and a small jewfish.
P. S. the party liked the fish
• ing.
Tarpon fishing is just
around the corner. A few
anglers now and then are
j dropping around to ask .about
! how they're running. In Key
West spring the tarpon be
| gin to come into the hun
dreds of channels in the im
mediate vicinity of Key West.
They skulk in the deeps of
the channels during the light
parts of the day then come to
the surface to feed on the
flats and channel surfaces as
dark falls. Best lime is just
at twilight.
To the real sports fisher
man. it is have you caught
your tarpon yet? Or have
you caught your sailfish?
When you've caught these
two you're among the better
anglers. Both are wonderful
sport, with the "big silver"
perhaps a shade the better
fighter.
aSANGE DOINCS
NOTED AMONG
BASIN YACHTSMEN
j NIGHT CLUB WORKER AND
BOAT OWNER EAT IN TUX
EDO; CREW AWAITS UN
i
j DERWATER PICTURES
j At the Yacht Basin this week
| are many interesting activities of
i skippers and boatmen.
; On one boat, yacht captains off
. the spic and span varnish and
deck paint boats which come into
!
; the Basin are surprised to see a
blue and white, not SO graceful,
Key West. boat with a captain
seated at a table clad in immacu
• |
late tuxedo in the afternoons.
This captain, however, is not at
tempting to be merely stylish. It
is only that he works in a local
night club.
Crew of the Elsie Fenjmore are
still at the Basin and this morn
ing were attempting to put up a
lightning rod on the mainmast.
- After which they chatted with the
reporter about the underwater
color movies they are soon to be
; gin taking. The owner, however,
!is still in Philadelphia and will
\ not be here until April when
they will take some of the shots
here and later most of them in
the Bahamas.
The Dept, of Interior vessel
“F. W. Meade” was laying over
waiting for its trip to Dry Tor
tugas this morning with the crew
speculating on the latest W.P.A.
orders for workmen on the old
Fort. Formerly workmen had 15
days at the Fort and 15 days in
Key West. Now they must work
35 hours a week there. Which is
hard on the home folks and Amts
down somewhat on salary con
sumption. This is a headache of
W.P.A. officials.
Mrs. F. E. Nixon on the Wharf
Rat was this morning painting
rather well pictures of -the purple
parrot fish of the Key West Aqua
rium. She intends to do some of
each of the colorful squares at the
Aquarium.
THE SOUTHERNMOST NEWSPAPER IN THE U.S. A.
BLIGHT MENACING
I STONGE TRADE IN
! VARIOUS SECTIONS
OILY SUBSTANCE DISCOVER-
I
| ED WHICH CANNOT BE EX
j PLAINED BY OPERATIVES
IN INDUSTRY
Captains and crews of vessels
! which gain their livelihood from
i gathering sponge in the waters
|of Florida in this section, are
! amazed and astounded at the ap
j parent blight which has played
. havoc with the sponge beds,
j Captains and members of sev
; eral crews say they are appalled
!at the menace which is now*
■ facing them and for which they
! are unable to give any satisfac- 1
i tory explanation. All they are 1
’ able to say is that different beds
have been attacked by the blight
and thousands of sponges have
been ruined.
In the waters of Card Sound,
Barnes Sound, the “Lakes” and
“Spots” and even on the New
Grounds, the sponge have been
affected by the blight. Thou
sands of them having died and
literally fallen to pieces.
Old timers who have been in
the business since boyhood say
they have never before experi
enced anything like it They
, say that in some instances the
hooks are attached to the sponge
and when the pull is started to
remove the sponge from the bed.
the growth comes away in slivers
and strings.
I All kinds of explanations have
been offered, some are of the
opinion that water which is fresh
has run into the ocean from some
unknown source, and is respon *
sible for the wholesale destruc
tion. Others are of the opinion
that some kind of acid which has
been thrown overboard in large
quantities from a ship is respon
sible.
Not only have the sponggs
been affected, some of the men
have said, but reports have been
received by members of crews
that there are thousands of fish
floating in the water without any
j plausible explanation for the
cause of their death being ad
vanced.
One member of a boat’s per
. sonnel seen in the bus station
this morning told The Citizen
that never before has it .been
necessary to wipe off a water
glass, but now the glass becomes
covered with some kind of slimy
film and it is impossible at times
j to see the beds clearly.
Neve's has been received by
Key Westers from relatives in
the Bahama Islands, that prac
tically the same condition exists
in that section and that thou
sands of dollars worth of sponges
have been lost, but no explana
tion is advanced as a cause for
the terrible losses which are be
ing sustained by those who gain
their livelihood from this type of
! work.
i
TEMPERATURES^
Lowest Highest
Station - last night last 24 hours
Abilene 62 82
Atlanta 52 72
Boston 32 50
Buffalo 24 34
Charleston 62 78
Chicago 30 34
Denver 18 34
Detroit 24 38
Galveston 68 76
Havana
Huron 14 28
Jacksonville _ 62 80
Kansas City _ 38 56
KEY WEST _ 75 81
Little Rock 4B 68
Los Angeles _ 48 58
Louisville 38 58
Miami 74 80
Mpls.-St. P. 20 30
New Orleans _ 66 82
New York 38 68
Pensacola 66 72
Pittsburgh 34 46
St. Louis :.. 32 54
; Salt Lake City 36 48
I San Francisco 48 54
Seattle 38 60
Tampa 62 78
Washington 46 72
j Williston 26 38
ARRESTED FOR LIBEL
! LONDON Robert Mawler of
| this city was arrested for libel
because he spread gossip about
Ia neighbor baaed on things Mrs.
Mawler had said in her sleep.
KEY WEST, FLORIDA, TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1939
Loyalist Madrid f?Us Joyfully
To Generalissimo Franco’s Forces
HOUSE APPROVES
JACKSONVILLE AS I
SITE FOR AIRBASE
!
<n> A HNorlntrtl PrfM)
WASHINGTON. March 28. |
i —The house naval commit
tee approved Jacksonville as
the site of the southeastern
aribase by a 15 to 7 vote.
Chairman Vinson. Demo
crat of Georgia, explained
the vote would instruct the
house conferees to accept the
Jacksonville site if the senate
wrote it into the omnibus
airbase bill. , I
f orjer.o'jarjrjFjrj*rjr„so r jer.o'jarjrjFjrj* r jr„s >
COURT HOUSE !
; ANNEX TO BE !
FINISHED SOON
! i
■ ■ -
ALL WORK WILL HAVE BEEN
; COMPLETED BY MAY 5;
MAKING READY TO MOVE
. DIFFERENT OFFICES
1
Construction of the annex to
, the county court house is rapidly
nearing completion and will be
completed and ready for oc
cupancy by May 5. which is the
t date set by the Public Works
Administration, was the state
ment made this morning by En-•
gineer Inspector Charles Baker, i
• However some of the offices
will be occupied before that
time, and this is evidenced by,
the preparations now going>
ahead by Judge . Raymond R.
Lord, who is expecting to move
the fixtures and the mass of
volumes into the vault of his sec- *
tion the latter part of the week. .
! Judge Lord has been assigned
to the entire northwest end of
the annex and if it were not that
the paint which is being applied
to the walls of the vault, is not:
fast drying would have been;
moving in tomorrow. It is ex
pected that the fixtures will all
be in readiness for moving in
by the last of the week or the
first part of next week.
The office of Tax Assessor J.
Otto Kirchheiner is to be moved
into the spacious quarters in
that section of the annex opposite
to that to be occupied by Judge
Lord, but Mr. Kirchheiner did
not sav just when he would start
moving the equipment of his of-;
fice into the new quarters.
Office of Tax Collector Frank 1
Ladd is to be moved into the
quarters now occupied by the
office of the county judge and it;
is understood that moving of the
office and fixtures will be started
as soon as moving operations
have been completed by Mr. j
Lord. The vault which is in the
office of the county judge will
be utilized for the large array of •
papers and records kept by the
tax collector.
I Office of Sheriff K O. Thomp
son is to be moved with his rec
lords, which are very voluminous
into the offices occupied by the (
tax collector and assessor, and
they will be put into condition
: certain changes made to
accommodate the sheriff and his
force.
j There are two offices in the
annex which have not been as
signed as yet to any officials of
* the countv. but it is understood
that officials of the court may
occupy these, when the entire
building is ready for occupancy.
Office of Clerk Ross C. Sawyer
is to undergo some changes, and
after being remodelled and made
; ready for occupancy will occupy
) the entire south wing of the orig-
’ inal court house building, and
i will be one large office.
KEY TO Fisherman's Paradise p
as! Accorrcdations • Ciuire
F ■>- ng .r, the Ficiida K- R L C^)
- . ,r itarr, X. '•*. • S*-€ Re-, iS r- I T.* jZx -i ■— . J “
8— rfhfcit Fiwttwt. Eacarf HaMhf Galt Ed. Barry P—aaiaHy at Parky, FU.
People Await Food
Trucks; Loyalist Gener
als Escape; Alfonso,
Mussolini ‘Gratified’
|-
( II J I’rputl
MADRID. March 28.—This city
j fell today to the legions of Gen
eralissimo Franco of the Spanish
Rebels but instead of opposition
i
Franco found only wildly dancing
and singing crowds in the center
.of the city welcoming him.
‘ For the people were tired of
i Jiunger and bombs. Today a long
line of food trucks are pouring
| into the city with rations. There
was frequent famine in the city
• during the many sieges.
j General Franco has said that
he will pardon all Loyalist sol
diers who lay down their arms,
provided they are not guilty of
crimes.
Former Knig Alfonso, who was
ousted by the present Loyalist
; government declared himself as
; gratified with the capture. King
Alfonso may be King of Spain
! under the Franco regime.
Generals Miaja and Quesada
have fled to Valencia and are be
lieved to have boarded warships
for escape to France. They com
manded the Madrid defenses.
* Premier Mussolini of Italy,
while reviewing a massing of 18,-
000 pilots of the Italian army, 3.-
000 of whom had fought against
! the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil
War, was also much gratified to
hear the news of the fall.
English Ambassador Joseph P.
- Kennedy is worried over the pres- 1
> ence of J. P. Kennedy, Jr., in Ma
i drid. He said that he worried be
cause there was little news from
the area. Kennedy. Jr., it is be
j lieved, will remain in Madrid.
TANKARDS UffT
’ ENROUTE HOME
TENNESSEE FOLK GREATLY
ENJOY STAY IN IS
LAND CITY
i “We have enjoyed our visit to
Key West immensely and are
only sorry that we have not
longer to spend in this delight-,
ful city. We came to spend one
day, and yesterday completed
our ninth”, said C. O. Tankard of
Nashville, Tenn., who left over
the highwav this morning, with
; Mrs. Tankard.
Just after arriving in Kev West
Mr. Tankard visited the office of
i The Citizen and said he wanted
,to visit the office of the news
paper which told the truth about
the city with no embellishments
or misleading statments.
1 Mr. and Mrs. Tankard were
visiting in Orlando when they l
read the folder printed by the;
Artman Press for the Chamber
of Commerce, and they agreed
that if the folder told the truth t
i that was the place they wanted
to visit if only for a day.
“That we remained nine days
and are not at all anxious to;
leave, is proof that we found
everything as pictured and you j
may rest assured that we will
tell our friends what a delightful 1
place Kev West is” they said be
fore leaving.
-
EVERY WOMAN FOR PEACE
DINNIPEG Every woman
should belong to some peace or
ganization with a definite pro
gram for peace. Miss Mary Bel- '
' lert of Vancouver, president of I
the Pan-American Peace Union, i
told a group of club women
Zoning Enabling Act Given
Approval Of City Council
INTENSE STUDIES
OF LOCAL SCENES
IN EXHIBITION
ARTISTS OF KEY WEST SO
i CIETY PRESENT ANOTHER
GROUP OF LOCAL SUBJECT
j MATTER; ACTIVE COLONY
!
. This week’s exhibition of the,
Kev West Society of Artists at
the Community Art Center has
an interesting range of subject
matter.
Harry Leith Ross, who came
to the city and was intrigued
with the wonderful colorings of
the city and surrounding ocean
has been turning out l steady
stream of watercolors. Among
, those at the Center this week is •
one of “Lowe’s Wharf” with a
fisher boat in vivid red and
white colors alongside the dock.
A colored fisherman dangles a
line into the water. The gray’
dock stands high out of water
and the water is amazingly
smooth. Another excellent pic
ture is that of the “Turtle
Schooner”.
Vining Sherman, just a year
out of college, spent it in com
mercial fishing with Capt. Paul
Demeritt. His “Cap ’n Me”
shows the low lying fishing
launch out in the Stream beyond !
Sand Key trolling for kingfish. It j
is faintly satiric. “Boats” and:
“Gulf of Mexico” by Mrs. J. Tor- i
! chiana are amusing studies of •
; boat* and -children on the beach.
Hers is a gay touch.
A large photo of “Porter Dock” J
; is 1 bv H. • Woolridge, a former ,
commercial painter who is now
. trying to turn to better work.
“Junelr Town” by J. F. Putnam
is a fine piece of work on the j
praying, old houses on the west
side of town, where the first
houses sprung up alongside the
ship channel. “Peter Roberts
Wharf” by Alice Dudley shows
the old fish dresser at his work
in his little shell at the head of 1
a rambling dock. “Back Yard”'
is a day’s wash scene in the back
yard of a Kev West island shanty
,by Martha Watson and is drip
ping with vivid color of tropical
light shades.
The Kev West Society of Art
ists comprises the most of the
artists’ colony in Kev West. Its >
members know the city pretty j
well. Most of them depend on i
distribution of commercial phases j
of theif work and many are em-1
ployed with the Federal Art |
Project here. e Throygh tjjc city i
each year* passes at least 50 -art- j
ists who spend some •t^me , pilnt-
ing Key' West -scenes and ' the
moving on. Manv of them make
themselves acquainted with the |
Key West Art Colony.
BROTHERS HAVE
SAME BIRTHDAY
‘
'
ALL THREE WERE BORN ON
SAME DATE IN DIFFER
ENT YEARS
*Hy PrfMl
DELMAR, Md.. March 28 —lt’s
a better than fair bet that a
birthday for any one of the three
Long boys—George of Delmar,
William of Salisbury, and Cur
tis of New York—doesn’t go by
unnoticed.
All three were bom on March
I—George in 1907, William in
1911, and Curtis in 1914.
And the brothers shouldn’t for
get the birth date of their sister,
Mrs. Lewis Melson of Delmar—
born on the fourth of July.
DREAMS OF DISASTER
LIVERPOOL Eng.—A woman
who said she still dreamed of a
collision two years ago in which
she was pinned upright by
debris, was awarded $8,478 in an
action against a steamship com
pany. ;
SELECT CREW
MEMBERS FOR
NEW VESSEL
i
__
WILL LEAVE SHORTLY FOR
! CAMDEN. NEW JERSEY. TO
BOARD LIGHTHOUSE TEND
ER ZINNIA
I *
i Superintendent William W De
menti of the Seventh Lighthouse-
District today furnished The
Citizen with the list of officers
i and other personnel who have
been assigned to be sent to Cam
den. N. J.. to bring the Tender
Zinnia to Key West for duty in
this section.
Commanding officer of the ship
will be Captain W C. Banks,
transferred from the Tender
Poppy, and Captain L. R Muse,
who has been detailed from the
•
Ivy to make the trip south,
i Arthur Sheppard. Jr., is the
first officer. Herman R. Demeritt
is the engineer and Marius Cruz.
.is the assistant. Edmund Sawyer
assistant engineer of the Ivy. and
Carl Rom. chief radio electrician,
and Willard Albury, assistant
store room keeper, have been as
signed to the Zinnia to make the
> trip to Key West.
Quartermasters will be Robert
iR. Knowles, Albert Roberts and
j Esmond Sawver. Oilers Ray
| mond G. Navarro and Harry
(Pritchard Seamen Andrew De
; meritt, Eugrae Knowlks, J*e'
i Yglesias and William ffohhsaa.
1 Jr. Cook Thomas S. Mingo and
Mess Attendant Robert Sands.
Mr Demeritt said that yester
day afternoon he had reaervad
] notice fmm Henry B. Haskina.
assistant superintendent, who
went to Camden to watch the
ship during her trials on March
24, and the report was that the j
vessel came’ up to expecta
tions.
All that is needed is for the
anchor chains to be added to the
equipment of the Zinnia and the ,
vessel will be in readiness for the
trip south. As soon as notice is
received, said the superintendent,
that the ship is ready for the
crew, they will be sent to Miami,
and from there via Florida East
j Coast to Camden, N. J.
WEINTRAUB and i
ESPEBDY RETURN
HAD BEEN ATTENDING DEM
OCRATIC MEETING
IN OCALA
. i
I.adore L. Weintraub. presi
dent, and John A. Esperdy repre
sented Monroe County at the
Young Democratic Club Conven
tion at Ocala last Friday and Sat
urday. returning to Key West
Sunday. Weintraub was appoint
ed to membership of the rules
committee of the organization
State officers elected were sup
ported by membership of the
local club. All state cabinet of
ficers were present at the con
vention. Principal speaker on the
program was J. Francis Reilly of
Washington, D. C.
STEAMER DUE
HERE TONIGHT
Radiograms received at the of
fice of the Mallory Lines this
morning are to the effect that
| the Steamship Colorado, which
was due to arrive at this port this
morning will not reach here until
7 o’clock this evening.
The vessel is from New York
with freight for Key West and
after discharging will proceed to
, Tampa.
Key Went. Fieri*. hm the
Dost equibie climatt m tfcft
only lrTitaSS
PRICE FIVE CENTS
Few Otker Matters Were
Discussed Durwf Spe
cial Seism C■■darted
Last Night
The City Gornmni mi a spacwl
proved the prop mad T—mg Ext
Kii>j Ad. which wifi ha ustro
ducec *or
iaiure toy Rspr—nlativi B- C.
Papy.
The act in question wouki
grant to the city powers m addi
tion to those contained m its
charter to regulate and restrict
the height, number of stones and
size of buildings and other strut
lures, the percentage of lot that
may be occupied, the sue of
yards, courts and other open
spaces
It would also include the den
sity of population and the reg
ulation and use of buddings,
structures and land for trade, m
| dustry. residence or other pur
poses, granting powers to carry
into effect sucti regulations and
! restrictions, to set up and pro
; vide, for boards or ofbctn for th-
purpose of administering im
■ zoning powers, and to grant the
1 city powers to punish ami atari
of any ordinances pertaining to
zoning, with various other pro
visions embodied in the aaeps
■ ure
A general discussion was en
tered into relative to finances,
! with tax matters also bring
heard duffing the session
J After disposing of a few other
matters f minor importance. the
meetihf Was ordered adjuum-d.
I
)§•••••••••••••••••*•**•
i NEWS FLASHES
(Mr ImxUIH Pre—
WASHINGTON. America a ill
■ probably recognize Nationalist
: Spain shortly Tb cu- Uan of
' this ctHintry consists in waiting
until a force has captured ma t of
the country and has shown that
' it can keep order.
BUFFALO-—King Ge*g~ and
Queen Elizabeth of Ei giand will
visit Niagara Falls first in the U.
S. After being greeted here by
Cordell Hull they will go directly
to Washington by train
J WASHINGTON Prendeut
Roosevelt favors the building of
two 45.000-ton battleships He
disclosed this m a inference
with Admiral Wm D. Leahy.
The approval came with th rev
elation by the President that <jb
er foreign countries are building
tiattieships mure than 35.M0 tons.
Six new 35.(1Ub tin U S. battle
ships are being built at present.
CLEVELAND—CTO’s national
convention will not elect nexi
year's officers until the final day
of its sessions Today it is con
sidering the Chrysler plant em
ployer and laborer demands This
is the second day it has been m
session.
WASHINGTON.—Coogresi lav
, ors granting of farm parity to the
amount of 8250.000.00 Relief ad
vocates had attempted to join
forces with farmers, and get also
its 8150.000.ttM “cut" back, hut
farmers revolted
1 NEW YOKE—In a National
Safety Council convention it was
revealed that there are 32 per
cent less accidents this year in
New York than were there last
attending the convention.