Have you ever wondered what stories made headlines in Jacksonville 50 years 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 then and today. As interesting as the similarities may be, so are the differences. These are some of the top stories published in the Florida Times-Union the week of April 6-12, 1959. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• The Duval County Legislative Delegation was considering a proposal set forth by the judges of the 4th Judicial Circuit that their salaries be increased.
The judges – Bayard B. Shields, A.D. McNeill, Claude Ogilvie, Charles A. Lucky, Edwin L. Jones, W.A. Stanly, A.W. Graessle Jr. and William H. Maness – wanted an increase from $16,200 per year to $18,500, which would be more in line with the compensation judges received in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe, Hillsborough, Orange and Brevard counties.
The delegation pointed out any raise granted to judges would also apply to State Attorney William A. Hallowes, who State Sen. Wayne E. Ripley described as “the finest State Attorney in the South.”
• Ripley also wanted to stop Duval County Juvenile Court Judge Marion W. Gooding from issuing search warrants for raids on gambling and moonshine joints. Ripley said he was going to introduce a bill in the Senate to amend the existing juvenile court law so as to restrict Gooding to issuing search warrants only when juveniles were involved.
“I want to emphasize that in no way is my action to be construed as unfriendly to Judge Gooding, who I think is one of the best juvenile judges in the country,” Ripley said. “All I want him to do is to devote more time to juveniles.”
• The trial of George Darnell, who was described as “North Florida’s major supplier of bolita and Cuban lottery equipment,” was postponed in Criminal Court until the next week at the request of Asst. County Solicitor Hans Tanzler. He said a key witness for the prosecution was not available. Tanzler declined to identify the witness or the nature of the testimony the witness would offer.
Darnell’s three-press shop, the Colonial Printing Company at 1100 W. Adams St.,was raided March 15, 1958 by County, City and federal officers headed by Sheriff Dale Carson. The investigators seized what they described as “Cuba and bolita books with a resale value of more than $1 million.” The officers also said the shop showed evidence of being the source of pool books for baseball and football games.
Darnell was free on $1,000 bond and was being represented by attorney S. Perry Penland.
• A countywide “gas war” was in progress. It was reported prices had dropped four cents a gallon in a single day. Premium grades were selling for 30.9 cents a gallon while regular could be had for 25.9 cents a gallon at major oil company outlets. Independent dealers cut their prices to 27.9 cents for premium and 23.9 cents for regular.
• Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield came to town to appear on a television program and said Jacksonville would suffer a “widespread loss of prestige” if its population dropped to third-place among Florida cities in the 1960 census due to failure to extend the municipal limits.
A plan was being proposed that would extend the city limits to include nearly 100 square miles and 147,000 people. The plan was similar to an annexation Atlanta implemented in 1952 that added 81 square miles and 100,000 more citizens. Hartsfield said a “high-type, high-class citizens committee” surveyed the effect of annexation and reported favorably on the city’s expansion. The committee also advised a reshuffling of City-County functions, which also went into effect in 1952.
“We gave it a beautiful name, called it the ‘Plan of Improvement’. Who could be against improvement?” he asked.
Questioned about if taxes had increased in Atlanta due to annexation, Hartsfield replied, “Taxes have gone up everywhere, but not unreasonably in Atlanta.”
• The Navy opened what was described as an “improved auxiliary landing field” designed primarily as a training facility for pilots flying jets from nearby Cecil Field.
The 8,000-foot paved landing strip was named “Whitehouse Outlying Field” and it was reported the Navy “planned to use the field day and night” to give pilots practice in aircraft carrier landings.
• A Philadelphia transportation engineering firm declared the Jacksonville Coach Company was giving “fully adequate” bus service to the city. The engineers also strongly recommended against granting a competitive bus franchise to another company, Public Transit Lines.
The report stated, in part “We find that while in some respects there are opportunities for transit improvements, on the whole, the service being rendered is fully adequate” and “In fact, if anything, the service has been extended into areas where it is difficult to support public transportation because of the low density of development and the lengthy routes that must be operated to tap any substantial population.”
It went on to say, “Improvements in service can be achieved through a greater degree of cooperative action between the company (Jacksonville Coach), City officials and business interests of the Downtown business interests whose future depends largely on the continuance of an effective system of mass transportation.”
The report also said “Operation of bus service by the City government would not be desirable at this time” but did recommend the establishment of a “nonpolitical transportation authority with broad powers over bus service in Greater Jacksonville.”
• It was announced that 14 bands from Georgia, Alabama and Florida would present concerts in the annual Jacksonville Beach spring high school band festival which would open April 18 and close June 6.
Sponsored by the “resort’s” Recreation Department, each band would be treated to a beach party in addition to being featured in the oceanfront bandshell performances. No competition or judging was involved in the festival, rather its purpose was “for fun for both the visiting students and the public which is invited to hear them without charge.”