The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-06-11
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Figures Compared
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POItation tax.
Figures Compared
Montgomery gave passenger fig.
ures comparing the first four mon.
tbs of 1854 with the first four mon
tbs of 1854.
However" he said, 81 must
stress the weather factor. Other
wise, these figures do not mean
much. During the 1853 season we
could only operate the boat about
half the time because of bad wea-
Their. So far this year, there have
only been four days when We did
not operate because of weather. /"
Here are his figures for the num-
Der Of passengers carried per mon
this:
JAN, 1858 - 803; Jan. 1854 -931.
Feb, 1858 - 1,O79; Feb, 1854 =
1,O4O.
March, 1853 -. 1,1O9; March,
1854 - S89.
April, 1858 - 664; April, 1854
617.
Weather Interference
'But bear in mind" he caution
ed, "that we only operated about
half the time in 1853 because of
bad weather. Our business this
year should have been about dou-
BILE that of 1853"
Montgomery went on to say that
when the free bus tours started
and his business dropped, 1--WE
went to the Chamber of Commerce
and talked with Laubscher.
He said" the Montgomerys con.
tinued, ito let the tours run awhile
and see if it really does hurt the
boat business.
No Business
"When the winter season of 1853
1854 began" Montgomery added,
I'VE noticed that even with crowds
in town we did not have enough
passengers to operate and we need
only a dozen to make the trip.
That is our minimum. We just sat
there day after day, doing nothing.
"We contacted Laubscher a num-
Der of times and he said the Navy
bus was hauling capacity crowds.
I'VE kept after Laubscher to
have the tours stopped" Montgo-
merry said. 'In March, 1854, Laub-
scher told us to come to the Cham
Der of Commerce Office. He said
he would have Mrs. Mary Lee
Graham, chamber president, and
Earl Adams, a member of the
board of directors there, to meet
with us.
when we got there" Montgo-
merry went on, "Mrs. Graham and
Laubscher were there. Adams was
not.
Schedule Change Asked
"Laubscher asked us if we
would change our schedule.
"We told him" Montgomery
said, "that we mad spent thous ands
of dollars advertising our schedule
and that it was an established
time. If we changed our time, we
told him, it would have to be
changed by an hour and a half
later.
"That would be impossible"
Montgomery said, because it gets
dark so early in the winter.
I'VE asked Laubscher to call a
board of directors meeting so we
could present out side of it," Mon
togomery added. ''Laubscher told
us he couldn't get all those bust
ness men together but that he
would bring up the matter at the
next meeting and we could be
there to tell our side of the story.
Not Notified
1--WE were never notified when
the board met" Montgomery said.
"A week or two later heard that
they had had meeting"
Montgomery said he then got an
appointment with Capt. C. L. Muir
ply, Navy chief of staff here.
Montgomery said he explained that
the free bus tours were hurting his
business.
Murphy told me-" Montgomery
went on, ''that the Chamber of
Commerce sponsored bus tours
and that he, Murphy, was going to
operate the tours until the chamb-
er said it no longer wanted the
tour or until he got orders from
Washington to stop the tours"
Montgomery then wrote to Wash
ington and also, he said, sent a
copy of the letter to Sen. Smath-
ers.
Ono Gives Order
Capt. Murphy said he had re-
ceived a letter from the office of
the Chief of Naval Operations, or
dering the tours stopped.
He said the 2 p. m. starting time
OF the tours could not have been
changed because that was "about
the only time when the bus and
personnel were available"
Individual tourists, Murphy
pointed out, no longer are permit.
ted on Naval installations. The
hlig he Said .uaS aho,.t Aka hact