The Key West citizen., 1952-08-21
CONCH
cHOWDER
BY RAYMER

society editor seems prosaic: So
and-so had q birthday party; the
PTA appointed new officers; club
states i meeting, council meets,
q group Of ladies planned . lunch
con. On the surface, it's straight
unexciting news. except to the in
dividuals involved, and far cry
from colorful feature stories to
which l am accustomed, or to
stalking the nightclub glitter front
as I used to do. in Miami. Yet in
these records of day by day hap
penings there Is the element Of
life itself: birth, growing up,
deaths, and the repeated cycle in
tegrating itself into the tapestry Of
q towns history. Here Is the basic
material for q novel. Of such strong
fabric was woven Thornton Wild
er's famous play, "Our Town." and
the wonderful, revealing verses Of
Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River
Anthology"
/ All this reflection was inspired by
one days happening at the office:
"Pete" TORY came in to have birth
announcements made, looking very
pleased. and when asked If the
story had appeared in print yet,
grinned happily and said, swell,
no! You see the baby was just
born last night" The child is NAM
ed for "Pete"... and the full name,
II you please Is John Archibald
Hyde TORY III. Within q few min
utes / picked up the phone to call
Joan Porter who viii become the
bride of DR.. William HIATT, USN,
on Saturday. ..and she said, That's
funny. / was. Just picking up the
| phone to call you" Only casual
friends, used to think whenever
/ saw Joan and Bill nearly every
Sunday at the beach, and then one
! night when went to q ships party,
and suddenly realized that all the
light at their table didn't come as q
| reflection Of the glow Of candles.
! STREET SCENE:
While writing this, glanced Out
of the office window to the City
| Hall across the street and watched
| q group Of Navy white hats, chiefs
and officers, waiting, | presume
for court session. They were all
draped in relaxed attitudes, some
sitting on the steps. At that mo
ment two very erect and dignifiee
Britishers in the dress whites Of th'
Royal Navy appeared, one carrying
q baton. They were en- route tc
the official courtesy call they were
making to be greeted by Mayor
C.B. Harvey and City Manager
Dave King. At first I thought they
were going to visit the court ses-
sion. and having heard the English
| expressions Of arna9ement at A.
merican court procedure There wa
q dog sleeping before the judge 8
bench on that other occasion and
one Of the witnesses sat on q table
smoking a cigarette). had q fleet
ine thought of what q surprise i'm
preston the British were about to
get. :.
slpEPEEKs: The little gif'
Lover Boy got for his birthday il
bas.relief figure in q small case
with q tiny crank handle, which,
turned rapidly, gives very real
istic demonstration Of Swiss move
ment, unchecked. I am about tc
90 to the dogs again. This time
rs q purebred collie named
Claude. !" He is sable and white
and has q pedigree as long as the
Firth Of Forth. Shannon Worthing.
ton who owns him Is leaving town
and he needs q home. I need q
hearing ear dog. and 50! We have
not met yet, formally, but l don't
need to brush up on canine eti-
Quette. The first dog I ever had
was . Terhune collie. and I have
q picture Of Us. both aged nine
months to prove ii. So II anyone
calls ct my house and q big dog
answers. don't hang up. ..on the
nearest tree limb. He's very well
trained. I'm told. Word comes that
Becky Guthrie. ex-Key wester. hal
q black cocker spaniel added to
her household out IN Fort Sill.
Okiahoma. Let's al hammer away
at the issue Of getting q vsterin.
arian established In Key West. I've