The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-06-03
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
PEOPLES FORUM
A DEpLoRABLE SITUATION
Editor, The Citizen:

EdltOf, Inc (ltlzen:
/ / wish to commend The Citizen
on its fine cooperation in our
campaign to preserve the tropical
flora of the island. Your articles
and editorials deserve a favorable
public response.
! AT present, however, the palms
are still dying from disease and
the vandals are still despoiling
/ the beauty of our community.
Here are some further examples
of the outrage that is tolerated in
Key West:
| The other day boy climbed
coconut tree belonging to an in
habited house and cut out the
heart to make a hat of the tender
fiber; of course killing the tree
Another boy was observed stand
ing guard at the base of a nearby
palm, idly hacking the bark off
the trunk. Still another privileged
cherub was amusing himself by
swinging on the fronds to see how
soon they would tear off. Can
there be anyone in Key West SO
spiritually dead AS to condone
such acts?
And yet how can we eXpect our
youth to have any public decency
when their elders set the example
for them? Take the recent out
burst of pyromania in Martello
Towers, where grown man, who
loudly proclaims his civic virtue,
set fire to an entire block of fine
coconut palms and was seen
watching them burn. What can
we say to the yunger vandals
with such a precept before them?
And yet this mans stupid act so
reduces the sales value of the
surrounding property, to say
nothing of the incalculable aes-
thetic loss to the entire COM
munity, that it is equivalent to
taking money out of everyone's
pocketbook. But nothing has been
done about it, not even by the
owners of the damaged property.
And we are doing nothing to
lessen the disgrace of our refuse
Uttered streets. For example, the
Martello Towers section should
be one of the beauty spots of
town and a great attraction to
outside investment, instead it is
a shambles. The debris from the
ravaged palm trees litters the
land, the sidewalks, and the
streets, constituting an eyesore
and a fire hazard. Can't we see
that such a condition is a black
eye to us all?
Once a year Key West wakes
up. In the fall we clean our
selves up to hide our shame from
the tourists. / understand we are
also going to wash our civic face
for the impending bridge caebra-
ton. Are those people who are
coming to visit us SO much bet
ter than we are that we must
create a fine clean city for them
to look at and yet be content to
live in a pigsty ourselves? En-
phatically mott Then why should
we not keep our town clean and
make it a place of beauty for us
who live here?
There is much talk about this
deplorable situation m u h
lament that somebody should do
something about it"-but mean
while the city sleeps on. Why
not come out of this state of SOM
nambulance before the shock of
awakening kills the patient?
In other words, let's get going
before it is too late! Let's CO.
operate with the Plant Board and
stamp out the palm blight. Let's
have scavenger service that will
keep our streets looking their
best Let's have a police force
that viii protect our natural en-
downment. And let us all do
what we can to preserve and in
crease the beauty Of our island
and crush those elements that
would destroy it. a ia
H. P. CONNABI'E.
K a.y xUo.4 Et1n