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 1963. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• State Rep. Tom Slade of Duval County filed a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would allow any county to levy a 25-cent sales tax for exclusive use of its public schools.
The proposal did not call for an added sales tax, but provided that a school district could levy and collect a district school tax after approval of the taxpayers in an election.
Slade already had stated he was considering legislation that would permit Duval County voters to impose on themselves an additional 10-cent sales tax to increase the standards of education in the public schools.
Slade said such a tax, had it been collected in 1962, would have produced $1.2 million more than the $4.8 million collected through the 10-mill district school levy.
State Rep. Bill Basford had another proposal to raise more funds for Duval County’s public schools. He suggested a 3 percent surcharge on electric bills in the city and county, which he said would provide enough money to give teachers a $350 annual pay raise.
• Speaking of raises, the Duval County Legislative Delegation approved a pay raise that would increase the annual salary for Jacksonville Mayor Haydon Burns from $13,500 to $15,000.
Gov. Farris Bryant sent the bill to the secretary of state’s office without his signature.
Also approved was a bill to allow Neptune Beach City Council members to vote themselves a salary of up to $50 a month, if the voters concurred.
• The Board of County Commissioners was refereeing a dispute between a group of homeowners in Killarney Shores and the owners of the Midway Drive-In Theatre along Beach Boulevard.
Bernard Douglas was spokesman for the residents. He said his property was separated from the theater’s property by a fence of about 10 feet high. Douglas said the theater management was planning to raise the fence another 10 feet, which would “block the view, air and sunlight” and thus decrease the homeowners’ property value.
Douglas received immediate relief on the fence issue when the commissioners denied the theater owners’ request for the increased fence height.
Douglas and others then complained about noise from the drive-in, which they said kept them awake daily until 1:30 a.m. They also contended the theater owner connected his water and sewer lines to the subdivision’s system, which caused a loss of water pressure in the homes and an overflow of the sewers.
The matter was continued until the commission’s next meeting and Commissioner Fletcher Morgan instructed the City Engineer to investigate the homeowners’ claims and to be prepared to make a report at the
meeting.
Commissioner Bob Harris suggested the County Zoning Department should study the situation with the objective of developing minimum distance regulations that would prevent drive-in theaters and residences from being so close together in the future.
Asked by Morgan what power the County had to prevent such situations — particularly the noise — County Attorney J. Henry Blount said it appeared a private and not a public right was involved and Douglas’s best hope for relief was to file suit in Circuit Court.
Douglas said he and his neighbors had investigated the cost of filing suit against the theater owner and it appeared to be prohibitive.
• Jacksonville attorney Delbridge Gibbs was sworn in as president of The Florida Bar. Florida Supreme Court Justice B.K. Roberts administered the oath of office at the organization’s annual convention at the Americana Hotel in Miami Beach.
A law graduate of the University of Florida, Gibbs was president of The Jacksonville Bar Association in 1956 and was a past president of the Duval County Legal Aid Association.
• The U.S. Coast Guard determined a fuel-line leak in a gasoline-powered generator aboard the Sea Witch probably caused the destruction of the 57-foot patrol and research vessel.
The vessel, valued at $75,000, was leased to the Florida State Board of Conservation. It was undergoing routine repairs in a shipyard on the Intracoastal Waterway when an explosion started a fire in the stern.
A spark from an electric motor used to pump drinking water apparently ignited the fumes, causing an explosion and the leaking gasoline fed the fire, said Capt. Harry Frazer, officer in charge of the Coast Guard Marine Inspection office in Jacksonville.
With the blaze out of control, the craft was towed into the waterway and set adrift. It drifted to the bank and burned to the waterline.
Frazer said the fire also ignited 500 gallons of gasoline in the main fuel tanks, but the tanks did not explode.
• Ellwood H. Augustus of Cleveland, Ohio, president of the National Council, Boy Scouts of America, was in Jacksonville for the Region 6 association meeting at the Robert Meyer Hotel.
He said the greatest problem facing Scouting was finding good unit leaders.
“If a unit has a good, imaginative leader, the boys will have plenty of interest in Scouting,” Augustus said.
Augustus presented to Region 6 the Lorillard Spencer Trophy for excellence in 1962. The award was annually made to the region with the best record of service to boys.
• County Solicitor Edward M. Booth charged three local men with unlawful distribution of anti-Semitic leaflets.
The charges stemmed from an investigation by Deputy Sheriff John Cunningham and County Patrolmen Don Gates and Bob Kennedy.
Booth said the defendants were arrested in the Arlington Hills area after being observed distributing the leaflets on residential properties. He said he had urged local law enforcement agencies to look into the activities of the American Nazi party. Booth said one of the men arrested stated he was a member of the party and was in Jacksonville to help set up a local chapter.
The three men were charged under a Florida statute that prohibited circulation of leaflets or handbills tending to ridicule individuals or any class of individuals when it was anonymously done without the true name and post office of the authors. The maximum penalty was a 90-day jail term and a $500 fine.
Criminal Court Judge A. Lloyd Layton set bond at $1,000 for each defendant and scheduled a June 25 court date.
• Douglas Caldwell, 33, was arrested and charged with the $82 armed robbery of the C & C Grocery at State and Broad streets.
The arresting officers, City Patrolmen D.E. Merritt and C.C. Rhoden said Caldwell, a longshoreman, was carrying two handguns in his pockets when he was apprehended in the 900 block of Julia Street.
Detective Sgt. J.H. Hamlin said robbery witnesses picked Caldwell out of a police lineup as the store bandit.
• Florida Gov. Farris Bryant was named “Best Dressed Man in Government” by the New York City-based Fashion Foundation of America. He was cited for his “quiet, solid look.”
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was honored as “Best Dressed Man in Public Life” and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was named “Best Dressed in Civic Affairs” for his “flair for the dynamic.”