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 from the week of July 20-26, 1959. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• Edward Ball, financier and trustee for the duPont estate, was nominated by the St. Joe Paper Company as one of the three reorganization managers who would direct the development of a new financial structure for the Florida East Coast Railroad.
The FEC reorganization plan, as approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the U.S. District Court, assigned to St. Joe the right to nominate one of the three reorganization managers.
St. Joe held $25 million of FEC first refunding mortgage bonds of which $45 million were outstanding. Under the new common stock allocation plan set up in the reorganization schedule, St. Joe would receive the majority of the new common stock and resulting control of the railroad.
• A new reporting service for screwworms was set up by the directors of the State-Federal Screwworm Eradication Program because half a dozen unconfirmed cases had been reported in Duval County.
Arthur U. Spear, speaking before the Kiwanis Club, said screwworm headquarters in Sebring would accept calls 24 hours a day seven days a week if any Duval County resident spotted a suspected screwworm case and was unable to make immediate contact with the County Farm Agent or one of seven livestock inspectors working in North Florida. Spear was the information officer for the program.
(Screwworms are the larvae of a particular species of fly that feeds off the tissue of living warm-blooded animals, particularly livestock although cases in humans have been reported. The United States officially eradicated the parasite in 1982 using the sterile insect technique. Campaigns against the screwworm continue in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Jamaica.)
• Striking workers at the Jacobs Building removed pickets and returned to work following a two-day strike involving a jurisdictional dispute between the carpenters and the lathers.
Meanwhile the Jacksonville Tile Company announced the filing of an unfair labor practices charge against the lathers with the National Labor Relations Board requesting a permanent injunction against repetition of the picketing. The lathers were members of the Wood, Wire and Metal Lathers Union, Local 59, AFL-CIO. The unfair labor practices charge also included the Building Trades Council which sanctioned picketing of the job.
The lathers walked off the job charging that carpenters employed by Jacksonville Tile were doing work that came under the jurisdiction of the lathers. An executive of the tile company said that while the workers in question were members of the carpenters union they were “highly specialized” acoustical tile workers.
• At its meeting at the Timuquana Country Club the Junior League of Jacksonville voted to sponsor a series of Jacksonville Symphony concerts for the second year on educational television and pledged to underwrite a class for teenagers at the Jacksonville Art Museum during the upcoming school year.
“The Magic of Music,” a television concert series, would present 13 programs, six scheduled for during school hours and seven on Sunday evenings. In 1958 the series was presented largely for school age audiences in cooperation with the Duval County school system.
Mrs. Edward W. Lane Jr., president of the Junior League, said the revised program schedule would allow the series to reach a larger adult audience in addition to younger viewers.
• Robert H. Cowan, president of the Southern Hardware & Bicycle Company, announced the 1960 line of RCA Victor televisions and high-fidelity equipment would go on display at the company’s showroom and warehouse at 1440 E. Adams St.
He said an assortment of sizes and models in the television group would be previewed including portable, color and remote control sets. Stereophonic high fidelity equipment, stereo tape recorders and players and radios would also be shown.
More than 200 dealers from North Florida were expected to attend the showing which also included refreshments from 6-7 p.m. preceding a buffet supper.
• The County Commission created the Duval County Water and Sanitary Sewage Authority and took immediate steps to revive plans for a sewer system for the Ortega-Venetia area. Commissioner Julian Warren, who chaired the new authority, said a similar plan would be developed soon for the Lakeshore-Hillcrest area.
On Warren’s motion, County Attorney J. Henry Blount was directed to request the engineering firm of Reynolds, Smith and Hills to bring up to date its November 1957 report on the Ortega-Venetia area. The project boundaries were the Ortega River and McGirts Creek on the west, the Jacksonville city limits on the north, the St. Johns River on the east and Jacksonville Naval Air Station and Timuquana Road on the south.
• The Jacksonville Beach City Council received a preliminary 1959 ad valorem tax roll amounting to $38,624,493 — an increase of $2,428,505 over the previous year.
The Council also called for the preparation of an amendment to the parking meter ordinance to discontinue enforcement on Sundays and holidays. It was noted that a survey would be made to determine if merchants wanted enforcement discontinued on Saturdays as well.
The low bid of the General Electric Company was accepted for supplying a new municipal radio system. The City would pay $3,000 toward the network and the U.S. Civil Defense Administration would match that sum.
• Rocky Lemieux, former manager of a local dry-cleaning plant, pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling nearly $5,000 of his employer’s funds by padding the payroll.
Criminal Court Judge A. Lloyd Layton deferred sentence which was a maximum of five years for grand larceny until Sept. 18. Defense attorney Thomas A. Larkin requested the delay so Lemieux could finish making restitution of the funds.
Owner of the dry cleaning firm was T.A. Saleeba who was doing business as DeLuxe Laundry and Dry Cleaners at 2216 Oak St. Lemieux had been employed by Saleeba since 1951 and was in charge of the general dry cleaning operation including hiring, firing and keeping the time book.
When Lemieux was absent from work one day, Saleeba’s son acted as paymaster and discovered he had 12 pay envelopes too many after all the employees had been paid.
• Groundbreaking ceremonies were held at the Hogan-Spring Glen volunteer fire station on Huffington Lane near Beach Boulevard and Love Grove Road. The 50-by-60 foot concrete structure would cost $10,000 to build and would contain an office, library, bunk room. meeting and training room and space for four firefighting units. The department had 23 volunteers.
• A five-day conference on aircraft painting began at the overhaul and repair department at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. It was the first such conference ever hosted by the Navy and the purpose was to introduce a new hot lacquer spray process developed at Jacksonville NAS six years earlier but used only at the station.
Fifty personnel representing each of the Navy’s nine overhaul and repair units would attend the first three days of the conference while representatives from the Air Force, Army and civilian contracting groups were invited for the final two days.