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 the news in 1959 and today. As interesting as the similarities may be, often so are the differences. These are some of the stories published in the Florida Times-Union 50 years ago this week. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• First, some national news to give some perspective to the week of Feb. 16-22, 1959: In Havana, Fidel Castro was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba. He appealed to Cubans not to be impatient about reforms and said his administration called for “hard work and sacrifice.” A Vanguard II missile was launched from Cape Canaveral carrying America’s first weather satellite. It was the ninth object to achieve orbit around the Earth. It was reported that U.S. personal income reached a record level of $362.3 billion in 1958.
• National television celebrity Virginia Graham hosted a telethon for United Cerebral Palsy. The fundraiser was held at the George Washington Hotel and was broadcast live on Ch. 4. The event raised $112,275 in pledges in 15 hours before going off the air at 2:28 a.m. Miss Kitty, Doc and Chester from the television series “Gunsmoke” also attended, as did Jimmy Dodd, head Mouseketeer of the Mickey Mouse Club. Bob Carlisle, treasurer of the local UCP chapter said, “It is hard to say what the final total will be. There is a big difference between pledges and cash.”
• Circuit Court Judge A.D. McNeill stated that no jury would convict Jimmy “True Trapper” Poulus, who was charged with first-degree murder following a shooting death in February at the Jacksonville Terminal Truck Stop on North Main Street. The judge did remand Poulus to jail pending a ruling on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. McNeill, a former state attorney, said the kind of trouble that led to the incident will continue “as long as we have these juke joints outside of town.”
• The Jacksonville Fire Department showed off its new fire engine by testing it below the Fuller Warren Bridge and sending a “shimmering rain cloud” into the air. Fire Chief Frank Kelly said the 1,500-gallon pumper exceeded all expectations and that it was the “finest engine of its type in the Southeast.”
• At its meeting in Jacksonville, a report being prepared by the Continuing Educational Council of Florida pointed out two main issues facing the state’s public schools: the rise of double sessions and the lack of adequate classroom space. It was predicted that education in the fastest-growing counties, including Duval, would be hit hardest by anticipated population growth.
• State beverage agents arrested 38 people, smashed two stills and raided 10 “moonshine establishments” in a three-county raid. Assisted by federal tax officials, state agents smashed a 900-gallon still near Bryceville. They also destroyed a 500-gallon still, seized 30 gallons of illegal spirits, 1,000 pounds of sugar and 800 gallons of mash off St. Johns Bluff Road one mile south of Atlantic Boulevard. The agents were joined by Duval County deputies in a raid at a West State Street establishment and arrested the owner and four other people on charges of possession of moonshine. Thirty other people were also arrested on charges of vagrancy and as being inmates of a moonshine establishment.
• City Council enacted an ordinance that reduced the bus fare schedule charged by the Jacksonville Coach Company. Effective March 1, the token fare would be reduced to 18 cents from 19 and the transfer fare from 10 cents to 5. There was no change for the basic 20-cent cash fare or the 4-cent fare for children attending school. Council changed the fare schedule after hearing Special Council Auditor George Dandelake estimate the reductions would decrease the coach company’s 1959 revenue by approximately $70,000 – or less than 3 percent of the transit company’s $2.7 million projected operating budget. Dandelake predicted the company’s net profit would be $24,547.96 for the year. The only person who opposed the ordinance at the meeting was C.D. Towers Sr. who was the coach company’s attorney. He asked the Council to delay voting on the ordinance for six months in order to obtain a “fairer picture” of the bus company’s revenues. Mayor Haydon Burns said he would sign the fare ordinance as soon as it reached his desk. “I’ll certainly approve any reduction in fares,” he added. “But as important as that is, the greatest need of this community is an increase in bus service – a shorter waiting time between buses on various lines. I’d like to see an announcement from the company that they will put on additional buses.”
• Burns also went on the record to deny “widespread rumors” of a wholesale ouster of police department officials for alleged involvement in vice activities. The mayor, who was also police commissioner, said the source of the rumors was a 40 year-old practical nurse, Janie Louise Cole, whose criminal record included a dozen convictions in Florida and Georgia. The woman had implicated Jacksonville doctors, businessmen, police officers and law enforcement agencies in crimes ranging from murder to bootlegging, bolita (a lottery-type gambling game), abortion, prostitution and violation of civil rights. Burns also stated that in January, police had arrested Cole on charges of impersonating a policewoman and vagrancy which may have led to her making the allegations.
• A man neatly dressed in a sports coat and felt hat and armed with a gun robbed the 7-11 store at 5330 Ortega Blvd. He made off with $150 and was the same person suspected of earlier robbing the Beneficial Finance Company office on Normandy Boulevard at gunpoint and fleeing with $364.
• Miss Glenda Adams, who was described as a “103-pound beauty” was crowned Miss Jaycee of 1959 at a luncheon that also opened a membership drive for the Junior Chamber of Commerce. It was noted that the 19-year-old brunette was a graduate of Andrew Jackson High School, employed by the Jacksonville Credit Bureau and would represent the club at the Feb. 27 Azalea Festival in Palatka. Adams had also been selected Miss Flame in 1958 in a contest sponsored by volunteer fire departments. Dan O’Brien was the first new member to be signed up by membership drive co-chair Dawson McQuaig. O’Brien has just been named manager of the Jacksonville Braves baseball team.
• It was announced that construction of Philips Highway Plaza, claimed by developers to be Florida’s largest shopping center, would begin in April. The center would be located on a 41-acre tract at Philips Highway and Emerson Street. It would have 50 tenants including Montgomery Ward Stores and parking spaces for 5,000 automobiles.