The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1949-03-09
GRAND JURY RECEIVES

49, ~ "At4 10y eJ
vestigated the matters directed Z
SIS attention in the charge Of the
Court. In addition, the Crane
Jury made a personal inspection
Of the Florida Keys from Key
West to Key Largo in connection
with the matters contained with
In the Courts charge.
The Grand Jury is not pre-,
pared TO state unequivocally thai
there Is no gambling in Monroe
County. II there is such gambling
the citizenry Of this County i /
apparently unwilling to present
20 this Grand Jury evidence Il
constitute the basis Of an indict'
ment against the individuals who
may be concerned.
Specifically. this Grand Jury
has devoted most of its investi-
cations as to whether or not the
laws of the State of Florida rela-
tive To prohibition of gambling
are being properly enforced. In
particular, witnesses were called
before the Grand Jury relative to
the news item published in The
Key West Citizen in the issue of
February 10. l949. From our in
vestigations we find that the
newspaper article mentioned was
based wholly upon rumor and
had no foundation in fact. The
Grand Jury heard the testimony
81 the individual who was re-
puted 10 have won such sum OF
money and this individual stated
under oath that he had won no
money in the parlay mentioned
and as a matter of fact, did not
gamble. From the testimony adj
duced before the Grand Jury, the
Grand Jury finds no evidence of
fragrant violation of the laws of
the State of Florida relative to
gambling Insofar as the Grand
Jury has been able to determine,
the law enforcement officials of
Monroe County and the City of
Key West are performing their
duties in a satisfactory manner.
Certain testimony heard by the
Grand Jury would seem to indi-
cate that in the past slot machines
had been operated at various
places of business along the Flori-'
da Keys. Such places of business
were inspected by the Grand
Jury upon the occasion of its in
spection trip. heretofore mention
ed, but the Grand Jury found no
physical evidence 10 substantiate
the existence of slot machines in
such localities at the time of the
inspection.
II is regrettable that newspa-
pers and magazines find occasion
90 publish as news items or as
feature stories matters which
cannot be substantiated an d
which carry the implication that
local law enforcement officers
are direlict in the performance of
their duties. Freedom Of the press
Is one of the fundamental founda-
tions of human liberty, but we
believe that anything published
as news should in fact be news
and not rumor or hearsay, which
cannot be verified, especially if
such news stories necessarily cast
a reflection upon proper law
enforcement.
In addition to its Investigations
of gambling the Grand jury haS
heard evidence Which, II believes,
seriously affects the health of a
large number of people residing
in the immediate vicinity of
Sewage Disposal Plant No. 2 of
the City of Key West. Briefly,
such evidence indicates to us that
in connection with the operation
of such a sewage disposal plant,
there is released in the surround
ing air hydrogen sulphide in such
quantities as to- cause serious
deterioration and discoloration of
paint on buildings in the inn
MEDIATE vicinity. The Grand Jury
has heard evidence that the
presence of hydrogen sulphide in
the air to an extent greater than
twenty parts per million is con
sidered dangerous to the health
of those individuals. exposed We
believe that if there is enough
hydrogen sulphide present in the
air to cause the deterioration and
discoloration of the paint mem
toned, there must be sufficient
quantities of such gas present to
very seriously affect the health
of people residing in the area and
exposed thereto. In addition to the
harmful effects of this gas upon
the residents of this area, from an
asthetic standpoint, its presence
in the air is extremely distasteful
to the public at large using Palm
Avenue. We further believe that
unless the condition is rectified
within the near future the present
Naval Housing Project, which is
located Immediately adjacent to
Sewage Disposal Plant No. 2,
may be rendered untenantable,
Accordingly, we recommend that
a comprehensive study be made
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