Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It was 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 differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from this week in 1961. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• A legislative hearing in Jacksonville turned into a verbal battle between officials of the American Cancer Society and the State Department of Welfare over no-cost hospitalization of patients in poverty who were diagnosed with cancer.
Physicians representing the society complained before Senate and House appropriations subcommittees that the welfare board had refused payment of federal and state welfare funds for cancer diagnostic procedures in hospitals.
Dr. Ashbel Williams, a Jacksonville physician who was a member of the American Cancer Society’s national board of directors, and Dr. Earl Wilkison of Tallahassee, president of the society’s Florida division, said the policy was unjust because cancer was difficult to diagnose compared to other diseases.
State Department of Welfare Director Frank Craft said that only acute cases of illness or injury could be paid for under the hospitalization law.
“It does not authorize payment for diagnostic examinations nor preventive care. If the law is changed so that it does not require us to limit payment to acute illness, our medical consultant would be so advised and would act accordingly,” said Craft.
Dr. T.Z. Cason, the welfare department’s chief medical consultant, offered an opinion more to the point.
“You cancer people are trying to force us to do something that is against the law,” he said, adding that if hospital payments were to be authorized for diagnosing cancer, the welfare program would have to be expanded to cover diagnosis of all diseases.
“We’re doing a desperate job in trying to up the cure rate for cancer. We’ve got the tools but we’re not doing too good a job of it, mainly due to lack of finances,” said Williams.
State Rep. Fred Arrington of Gadsden County told all parties they would be heard again on the subject before definite action would be taken, possibly at the legislative session scheduled to begin in April.
• Circuit Judge Marion Gooding upheld the Duval County Commission’s rezoning of property near the San Jose Country Club that blocked construction of apartments in an area of single-family dwellings.
The ruling followed a day of hearings in which Atlantic Home Improvement Co. sought an injunction that would overturn the commission’s decision.
The County was joined in defense of the action by three residents of the neighborhood, C.W. Rowe, Henry T. Shine and James L. Smith, who were allowed to participate in the suit because of their equities in homes they owned near the proposed apartment development.
The controversy surrounding the case had already caused the commission to amend its zoning rules prohibiting homeowners from filing rezoning petitions concerning property owned by them. The amendment allowed outsiders to ask the commission to rezone another’s property on the commission’s initiative, however.
A.J. Bloom, president of Atlantic Home, which also built residences in the area, testified the six lots in question on Via de la Riena had been classified as suitable for apartments for about 10 years before the rezoning was brought up as an issue.
When neighbors learned Bloom intended to build apartments on the properties, they filed a petition to have the property rezoned for single-family dwellings only.
After several contentious zoning board meetings in 1960, the commission adopted the request for single-family zoning.
Eugene L. Roberts, attorney for the company, sought to show that Atlantic Home had taken substantial steps including the acquisition of architectural plans, property appraisals and mortgage commitments before the neighbors petitioned for the rezoning.
County Zoning Attorney Thomas Oakley and Harvey Mabrey, who represented the neighbors, argued that Bloom had notice that the petition for rezoning would be filed before Bloom obtained his building permit from the County and therefore proceeded with the apartment plans “at his peril.”
Testimony showed that the rezoning petition was filed by the homeowners Feb. 19, 1960, and that a rezoning notice sign was posted on the property four days later. Testimony also showed Bloom did not obtain the building permit for the apartments until Feb. 24, 1960.
In denying the injunction, Gooding ruled that Bloom had notice of the rezoning action before he obtained the building permit.
• A report that a flare had been sighted and airplane wreckage had been found in St. Johns County set off an air and land search that led to officials confirming that a plane had crashed about five miles east of Hastings. The catch was the aircraft had crashed more than a decade earlier.
The Navy diverted two planes to the scene and dispatched a helicopter from Jacksonville Naval Air Station. A Coast Guard plane was also headed to the scene and the Florida Highway Patrol sent an officer to the scene when the reports came in.
It turned out the wreckage was that of a World War II Wildcat fighter, which investigators said had been on the ground for 10-15 years.
• Police arrested two men following a burglary that led to an unsuccessful attempt at opening a safe containing $4,400.
The safe was taken from Le Chateau Restaurant at 39 Seventh St. in Atlantic Beach and was recovered in Jacksonville with the money still inside.
Robert Alston and Richard White, both 28, were being held in the Duval County Jail under bonds of $5,000 each. They were charged with breaking and entering and larceny on the safe.
A third man, Edward Davis Jr., was arrested as a material witness and released after questioning.
Lt. W.J. McClung of the Atlantic Beach Police Department said Alston, who was employed at the restaurant as a dishwasher, and White had first decided to break into the restaurant and steal money tossed into a pool for good luck by diners. The money was donated to charity by the restaurant.
According to McClung, Alston and White broke into the restaurant about 3 a.m. through a side door, but Alston was unable to get to the money because the pool was too deep. They decided to steal the office safe instead.
McClung said Davis told him Alston and White gave him so much whiskey before the burglary that he was duped into taking part without realizing it.
Davis used his car to transport the 350-pound safe from Atlantic Beach to Jacksonville, where he made Alston and White get out of the car and take the safe with them after he began to sober up, said McClung.
He said at that point, Alston and White traded a bottle of whiskey, stolen from the restaurant, for a crowbar to be used to open the bottom of the safe in a vacant lot at First and Lee streets.
Sunrise interrupted their efforts, however, and the pair abandoned the safe after ripping through the bottom. Investigators said only the thin inner lining separated the men from the loot.
Later, McClung said, Davis told his father he had unwittingly taken part in a burglary, and the elder Davis notified police. An unidentified man who lived near the vacant lot also called police when he saw the safe after daybreak. Davis surrendered voluntarily to Lt. Harry Branch of the Jacksonville Police burglary squad.
Atlantic Beach Police Chief James Russell apprehended Alston when he arrived for work at the restaurant the day after the burglary. Alston and Davis implicated White, who was arrested at his home in Jacksonville.
• Assistant Fire Chief W.E. Smith estimated fire damage to the dormitory at the Florida Barber College at $9,000, including $1,000 to the contents.
Jack Forehand, a co-owner of the college, which leased the two-story frame dwelling at 218 Clay St., said all of the students who lived there were out of town at the time of the blaze.