Debate over ambulance service; prisoners freed for Christmas
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. 21-27, 1959. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• The City Council considered an ordinance that would get funeral home operators out of the ambulance service business.
The bill set up procedures for licensing and regulating operators of private ambulances. It was noted that in reality the proposed ordinance, which was supported by most local morticians, was designed to clear the way for a large-scale operation by Eastern Ambulance Service Inc. that was already providing ambulance services in Miami as well as Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.
Robert Barnes, president of Eastern, was slated to be president of the local operation with local morticians serving on the board of directors. Eastern would be the successor to Ellis Ambulance Service Inc., which was operating under the management of 32-year-old Harold Ellis, who would be manager of Eastern serving under Barnes.
Two funeral establishments were opposed to the bill, Key-McCabe Funeral Home and Colonial Chapel Inc.
The majority of the funeral home operators had wanted to get out of the ambulance business for a long time. They had presented the Council a bill in 1958 that would have given a virtual monopoly in ambulance service to a local investor. City Attorney William Madison told them the City had no authority to grant such a monopoly without specific legislation.
The Council was told ambulances were a drain on morticians’ pocketbooks and that they were provided mainly as a public service. The businessmen also complained that under the current system, as many as five ambulances were called to the scene of one accident due to lack of a central agency to dispatch calls. They also admitted many of the ambulance drivers and attendants employed by funeral directors were not qualified to render first aid.
George H. Hewell, manager and principle stockholder in Key-McCabe, said he was not opposed to regulation of ambulance service but did oppose retention of Ellis as manager of Eastern. Hewell said if the bill was enacted in its original form, Key-McCabe would continue to operate as an ambulance service even though the bill would require an operator to maintain perpetually at least six ambulances not more than three years old.
Each ambulance would be equipped with a two-way radio and required to carry emergency equipment such as splints and an oxygen tank. The proposed legislation would also require drivers and attendants to have a knowledge of first aid equal to or better than the requirement of an advanced Red Cross first aid rating as certified by the City Physician.
Ellis said Eastern would charge $10 for a call inside the City limits, $15 for a call outside the City limits. There would be a $5 additional charge for oxygen but first aid would be rendered at no charge.
The bill was withdrawn at the meeting of the Council’s Laws and Rules Committee on Tuesday when the funeral directors showed they could not agree on the measure. The committee suggested the funeral directors get together on a regulatory bill that would satisfy all of them but when it was determined such an agreement appeared unlikely, the legislation was withdrawn.
Ray Wilson, attorney for Ellis, said the bill would eliminate the confusion and danger of many ambulances rushing to the same accident. Attorney Edward Siegel opposed the bill on behalf of Key-McCabe and said it would drive the company out of the ambulance service it had operated for more than 25 years. He also said the bill if enacted would create a private monopoly that could dole out favors to wrecker services, attorneys and funeral parlors.
• A 50-year-old admitted “confidence man” who had spent most of his life in prison told U.S. District Judge Bryan Simpson he “hoped his plight would impress youngsters in court and convince them that crime doesn’t pay.”
Kermit Whisenhunt was charged with having caused the interstate transportation of a forged $150 check from Tulsa, Okla., to New York on Sept. 26.
“I know this is curtains for me judge,” Whisenhunt declared in court. “I’ve been in and out of jail since I was 17 years old. If I could take the load off the kids in here today, I’d be glad for you to stack years on me until they reached the ceiling.
I know I’m going back to prison. It’s what I deserve, but prison hasn’t helped me. When I get out I’ll do the same thing again.”
Whisenhunt then ticked off a long list of criminal characters he had served time with including Al Capone and Roger Touhy, victim of a gang-type slaying that made national newspapers the week before he appeared before Simpson.
“I had offers to join their gangs but I never used violence,” asserted Whisenhunt, to which Simpson replied, “Your weapon was a fountain pen, not a gun.”
Simpson then imposed a three-year prison sentence with a recommendation for psychiatric evaluation during Whisenhunt’s confinement.
• The City Pardon Board, in a traditional gesture, voted Tuesday to free 104 prisoners for Christmas.
The action applied to inmates of the City Prison Farm who had been booked prior to the opening of Municipal Court Monday morning. The board had a list of 154 names and rejected pardons for 55 inmates, most of whom were in custody for second convictions of driving while intoxicated.
The pardon board included Council members James Peeler, Brad Tredinnick and Lemuel Sharp.
• Jacksonville led all metropolitan areas in the South in increase in retail sales volume during the first 10 months of 1959 and Christmas buying was expected to break all records. According to an Associated Press report, Jacksonville recorded a 19 percent increase from January through October. I.M. Sulzbacher, manager of Jacobs Jewelers, called 1959 “the best Christmas in many years” and reported the sales volume had eclipsed the 1958 numbers several days before Christmas.
• Gordon Darby, former State Prison education director, was chosen Monday by the County Commission to head the Duval County Prison Farm. The appointment ws made contingent upon his living in the quarters provided for the superintendent of the prison farm located at Commonwealth Avenue and Superior Street.
On Tuesday, Darby was contacted by City Engineer John Crosby on behalf of the commission and offered an annual salary of $4,600 to accept the job, which was below the range set by Civil Service guidelines and less than the $6,565 salary paid to the previous superintendent who retired in October.
Crosby acknowledged the error and said it was an oversight on the part of the County auditing department but by that time it was too late. Darby rejected the offer.
“Any further discussion regarding the salary might be construed as bargaining for my services,” said Darby, “and I, of course, would refuse to do that.”
Early Wednesday morning, 69-year-old Thomas Dunn, acting superintendent of the prison farm, was found bludgeoned to death on the steps of his residence at the facility.
Officers theorized Dunn’s assailant had waiting in the bushes near the residence with a heavy bludgeon and slugged Dunn twice as he approached the steps.
It was well-known among inmates. former inmates and civilian employees that Dunn always carried large sums of cash in two wallets, one containing $1 and $5 bills, the other with $10 and $20 bills. The wallets, estimated to have contained $500 were missing as was Dunn’s .32 caliber pistol.
Jacksonville Police Capt. Henry Collins was appointed the prison farm’s superintendent Thursday at a special meeting of the County Commission. Collins was offered a $5,500 annual salary and said he would start as superintendent Jan. 1 upon his retirement from the police department.
• Bert Hagen, who had recently been promoted to detective in the City Police Department, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, drunkenness and resisting arrest. He was off-duty and attending a party at 1005 Riverside Avenue at the time of his arrest.
The arresting officer said he received a complaint that Hagen had been in an argument with another guest at the party. Hagen was released on his own recognizance within three hours.
Two days after his arrest, Hagen was suspended for 15 days after an administrative presided over by Assistant Chief of Police H.V. Branch.
Hagen also appeared in Municipal Court where formal charges against him were dismissed by Judge John Santora. Branch told Santora that Hagen’s suspension would cost him $225 in pay and made a plea for dismissal of charges on the basis of Hagen’s four children and the Christmas season.
• Gator Bowl Week was launched Sunday with a sailing regatta and an outboard boat marathon race. The Jacksonville Rudder Club sponsored the sailing event and the Jacksonville Outboard Club sponsored a field of racers who covered 10 laps between the Main Street Bridge and Jacksonville University.
Also on the week’s sports agenda leading up to the Jan. 2 Georgia Tech vs. Arkansas game: a golf tournament at Selva Marina Country Club, a bowling tournament at Jacksonville Lanes and a basketball tournament at Jacksonville University.