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.
• U.S. Navy Lt. Alan Bean helped cut the ribbon to open the 1963 Greater Jacksonville Agricultural and Industrial Fair.
He was stationed at Cecil Field Naval Air Station and one of 14 new astronauts selected for the program to land a man on the moon.
Bean, a test pilot, had just returned from indoctrination in Houston, where all of the new astronauts posed for publicity photos. Bean said his photos created some difficulty for NASA.
"They had to reject three of the four pictures because they said my smile was too big," Bean said,
He and his wife, Sue, and two children lived at 4371 Water Oak Lane.
• In the agricultural judging portion of the fair, Forshee Farms of Garden City took first place in the swine competition with eight winning animals.
Larry Forshee, 14, took four trophies in the 4-H swine competition.
His entry "Forshee's Emily" won both reserve grand champion and senior champion awards in the sow division. His "Red Duchess" and "Fancy Lady" won the junior and reserve junior championships, respectively.
Joey Forshee, 16, also won four trophies in the 4-H event.
One of his entries, "Star Lad," won both the overall grand and senior championships, and "Sally Bell" won the grand and senior championships in the sow division.
Winning entries by Forshee Farms, property of Joe Forshee of Garden City, were "King Edward" in the reserve senior championship, "Royal King" in the junior championship and "Super Pride" in the reserve junior championship.
Pinebreeze Farms took first place in the adult egg competition. Their eggs won both the "best white dozen" and the award for best in show. H.P. Osborns won first place in the "best brown dozen" competition.
• City Council clamped down on spot raises for city employees, enacting an ordinance that prohibited the city auditor from signing pay vouchers of more than one-twelfth of the original budgeted amount each month in wage and salary accounts.
The legislation was introduced by the Budget and Finance Committee chaired by council member W.O. Mattox and was unanimously passed.
• About 25,000 Roman Catholics from the 41 counties in the Diocese of St. Augustine attended a Eucharistic Conference in the Jacksonville Baseball Park.
The observance had a three-fold purpose, said the Rev. Mortimer Danaher of Jacksonville, executive secretary.
It was planned as a public worship service, as a profession of faith by Catholics and to promote and pray for unity, he said.
A 5,000-voice youth choir, of which 2,800 were from Jacksonville, would provide music for the event.
• Thousands of burlap bags and wooden crates caught fire and destroyed a recycling business along Commonwealth Avenue, sending up a plume of smoke that could be seen in half of Duval County.
County Fire Marshal Henry Melzer said the loss at A. Levin and Co. at Commonwealth and Lane avenues probably would exceed $100,000. He said the owners of the building valued the structure at $50,000 and the contents at between $50,000 and $60,000.
The building was covered by insurance.
Firefighters from six volunteer departments were treated for smoke inhalation as clouds of yellow-brown smoke poured from the one-story brick and sheet metal building.
Melzer said the building was "stacked to the ceiling with burlap bags and crates." In addition, hundreds of empty 55-gallon drums, which at one time held a variety of chemicals and other liquids, added to the blaze.
The alarm was turned in when smoke was spotted coming from the metal roof. "It undoubtedly had been smoldering for hours before that," Melzer said.
Abe Levin, owner of the plant which reprocessed the bags, crates and drums for resale, said he had no idea how the fire started. By the time firefighters arrived, the structure was fully engulfed.
• Jacksonville's "Last Man Club," the oldest of its kind in the country, had its 33rd annual meeting at the Ambassador Hotel.
The organization was founded within the ranks of the Phi Kappa Chi fraternity by Thomas Mallem on Oct. 22, 1931, for the purpose of perpetuating friendship.
Of the original 13 members, 10 remained in 1963. Halstead Hurlbert resigned from the club and two members had died: H. Dillard Mullis in 1947 and Lester J. Mickler in 1957. No new members were added.
The annual program included graveside services conducted during the afternoon for the deceased members and memorial rites during the evening program amid the silence of the banquet hour.
Each member occupied the same seat at the banquet table assigned to him at the first meeting and when a member died, his chair was draped in black.
Under the bylaws of the club, the procedure of the draping of the vacant chair at the death of each member would be continued until only one living member remained.
The last man would drink a toast to the deceased members and dissolve the club. A bottle of wine was secured when the club was founded for the last surviving member to open.
In addition to club president Mack Fillingham, surviving members in 1963 were Carroll E. Carter, secretary; Elliott Martin, chaplain; and members Mallem, Victor Zambetti, Edward L. Acosta, Norwood Gay, John Naugle, Joe T. Duffy and Loyal Parnell.
• Power was disrupted due to a maritime mishap near Sisters Creek in North Jacksonville.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, a tug boat was towing a U.S. Navy crane under the Bascule Bridge when the crane severed part of the overhead electric cable.
The city electric department repaired the line and restored power after about four hours.
• Sara Thelma Luckie pleaded not guilty to a manslaughter charge in the April 8 pistol slaying of the Rev. George Earl Hodges. Judge Hans G. Tanzler Jr. set a trial date of Jan. 20.
Originally charged with murder, Luckie was indicted Aug. 23 by a Duval County grand jury on a charge of manslaughter.
County Solicitor Edward M. Booth, who had the power to raise the charges to second-degree murder, decided instead to file for the manslaughter charge.
Luckie was free pending trial on $3,000 bond.
• Circuit Judge W.A. Stanly threw out a mandamus suit in which state Comptroller Ray Green sought to prevent Duval County Tax Assessor Ralph Walter from reducing assessments on intangible personal property from 100 percent to 42 percent of full value.
The decision was at least a temporary victory for Walter, who was seeking to reduce the intangible tax liability for 22,000 corporations and individuals in Duval County by nearly $2 million.
Since the ruling could have implications statewide and so much tax revenue was involved, it was expected that the state Attorney General's Office would appeal.
Walter hailed the ruling as "upholding equitable, fair and constitutional practices of taxation."
Walter contended, and his attorneys argued, that the 42 percent formula would bring
the intangible tax ratio in line with the average of 41.64
percent on real estate and 42.5 percent on tangible personal property.
He said the state and county employee retirement fund, recipient of proceeds of the intangible tax, was bloated and did not need all the money it received from the intangible tax throughout the state. The $2 million would be better spent in Duval County, Walter said.
The intangible tax was levied on stocks, bonds, mortgages, notes, contracts for deed, accounts receivable and annuities.