Gator Bowl brings more than $1 million to city, missing boys found safe
Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It may have been a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the similarities may be, so are the differences. These are some of the top stories from the week of Dec. 28, 1959-Jan. 3, 1960. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• The 15th annual Gator Bowl Classic would not only be played in front of a sold-out stadium Saturday afternoon, but the game had also caused a temporary housing shortage in Jacksonville. A survey of hotels and motels indicated they were all virtually booked up with 6,881 rooms in the area reserved for the two-night weekend. Some of the rooms reportedly would have as many as a half-dozen tenants.
Judging by to ticket sales, Georgia Tech fans would outnumber Arkansas fans by about 2-1 but the Razorbacks had “taken over the community of Ponte Vedra Beach.” Yellow Jackets fans seemed to prefer Downtown hotels.
Doris Wilkes, manager of the Jacksonville Tourist and Convention Bureau, said the visitors would spend an average of $50 each during their visit, generating an economic impact of $1.25 million for the city.
• The municipal electrical department was called “the goose that lays the golden egg” in terms of the City’s financial structure. It was reported that “year in and year out the giant municipal utility pours more money into the City’s general fund for operation of other departments than all other sources of revenue combined.”
That led to a resolution being approved by the executive committee of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce lending support to the issuance of revenue certificates totaling $30 million to finance expansion of the electric system.
City Auditor John Hollister said the electric department would transfer an estimated $10.3 million to the general fund aside from other sums for retirement of electric department debts. The amount was more than half of the total of $17,315,063 in the general fund for operating accounts. That year ad valorem taxes raised $3.65 million.
All of Jacksonville’s registered voters would be eligible to cast their ballot Jan. 12 in an election to decide whether the certificates should be issued.
• A reward fund for capture of the killer of Capt. T.J. Dunn, assistant superintendent of the County prison farm, was started by the Duval County Employees Union.
Union President C.A. Alexander said the fund was started with a $100 donation from the union and also said other contributions would be welcomed.
The committee administering the fund included attorney Walter G. Arnold, businessman A.S. Broward and Chief Deputy County Tax Collector T.E. McDowell.
Dunn, a veteran of 40 years in county service, was beaten to death and robbed Dec. 23 in front of his quarters at the prison. County and City police were working on the case.
• Duval County deputies, volunteer firemen and civilian searchers raced against an approaching cold front Monday night in an effort to find two brothers who disappeared on a hunting trip in Marietta.
Fourteen-year-old Wayne Driggers and his brother Tommy, 11, wandered into the woods beyond Old Plank Road at Pickettville Road late in the afternoon and no trace had been found of them at midnight. Lt. D.R. Horne said the youngsters were armed with a 20 gauge shotgun and a .410 gauge shotgun when they entered the woods to hunt squirrels.
Their mother, Mrs. Paul Driggers, said the boys were not warmly dressed and had no food with them. She said Wayne, who had been hunting since he was six, called her at her place of business at about 3:30 p.m. and asked her permission to ride out to the area on his motor scooter to explore a new hunting site he had discovered.
Duval County Patrolmen Richard Elian and J.L. Pfeiffer found the scooter on the side of Old Plank Road about 9 p.m. after they talked to Mrs. Driggers who had been searching for the boys herself. She told the officers her sons had been due home at 5 p.m.
The search was hampered by swampland, so the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse was called to the scene about 10:30 p.m. Bloodhounds had been ruled out due to wet ground and brisk winds.
Volunteers from the Marietta, Lake Shore, Dinsmore and Arlington volunteer fire departments assisted County Patrolmen Harley Johnson, J.R. Durrance, B.A. Moore and O.L. Crews in the search for the missing hunters.
It was noted the area under search was several miles square and one of the most desolate sections of the county.
At about 3 a.m. Tuesday the posse found the boys safe and unharmed huddled together next to a tree stump. Patrolman Elmer Rudd, who was in charge of the mounted unit, discovered the shivering youngsters with their two shotguns and a dead squirrel.
The older brother said they had wandered for a considerable distance and after recognizing they were lost, found a small clearing and decided to wait for morning. With a cigarette lighter, they started a fire which kept going out because the leaves and wood were damp.
Their mother took them home, gave them a warm bath and some tea and put them to bed.
• Winners of the annual Christmas lighting contest sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce were announced.
J.D. Cook Jr. of 1829 Loyola Dr. was awarded first place in the residential division. The display at his home featured mechanical representations of Santa Claus and animals associated with the holiday season. Second prize went to Charles Francisco of 6801 San Souci Dr. for a decoration of Santa diving head first down a chimney and toys scattered across the house’s roof. W.D. Robinson of 748 Brookview Dr. W. was awarded third place.
In the business division the lighted antenna tower at Ch. 4 was recognized as the outstanding decoration.
Judging was based on originality, ingenuity, utilization of surroundings, conformity with the Christmas spirit and size, according to contest chair Jim Hadley. Seventy-two displays were judged during the contest.
• A proposed $750,000 low-income housing project for African-Americans at Jacksonville Beach was delayed because owners of some of the needed property could not be located. The Housing Authority of Jacksonville, administrator of the project, said options had been obtained on 19 of the 35 parcels wanted as apartment sites. The authority had to get options on at least five more parcels before before it could apply to the Public Housing Administration for construction approval. No money had yet been earmarked for the project.
• Police believed a Christmas gift caused $3,500 damage to a business. L.O. Bostick, manager of the Jacksonville Paint Company at 249 Park St., reported five plate glass windows valued at $700 each were punctured with a BB gun. He said all the windows would have to be replaced.
• It was noted that some 78,000 Florida residents would be required to report their addresses to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in January. They were aliens who had been admitted to the United States but had not become naturalized citizens.
State immigration officials reported 75,346 such persons had reported their status in January, 1959 and estimated that 3,000 more aliens had moved into Florida since the last filing period. Officials cautioned that willful violation of the address report requirement could subject the violator to a fine of $200, imprisonment for 30 days and deportation.
• A “polite bandit armed with a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun” robbed a service station and a market in the same day but on opposite sides of town.
At 12:15 a.m. the one-man crime wave robbed the Amoco service station at 550 Atlantic Boulevard. According to the station attendant the man was about 40 years old, slender and wearing a hunting cap and tan jacket with a fur collar. He fled south on Love Grove Road in a green car and escaped a dragnet organized by the County patrol.
In the second holdup at 10:30 p.m. a man of the same general build wearing a white cloth sack over his head with eye and nose holes cut in it was accompanied by another man wearing a black cloth mask as the pair held up the 7-11 Market at the corner of Cassatt Avenue and Kingsbury Road. The taller man wielded a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun according to the store manager.