elaborate building program will make boca raton … · 2014-01-31 · sunday, may 12, 1929. herald...
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SUNDAY, MAY 12, 1929. HERALD TELEPHONE 23125 THE HERALD, MIAMI, FLORIDA' TELEPHONE 23125 PAGE FORTY-NINB ,.
ELABORATE BUILDING PROGRAM WILL MAKE BOCA RATON UNIQUE PLAYGROUND
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'¥ CHARTER IN 1925Act of Legislature Creates First
Municipal Government InEast Coast Settlement.
[HE8AL0 SESYICEJ
BOCA JE ATON. Fla., May 11.—TheCity of Boca Baton was created by actof the state legislature in 1925. Be-fore that time there had been no or-ganized government, though there had |been a considerable settlement for jmany years.
The city is under the council formof government with a council of threemembers, the mayor, J. G. Brown; acommisisoner of public work. Leo C.Godwin, and a commissioner-city clerk,Mrs. Beulah Butler.
It has a volunteer fire department-with a paid afoief and assistant chief,•with eight men on call who are paidfor the time spent in drills or on firecalls.
The fire station is in the south endof the city hall building, where thecombination American LaFrance pumpand chemical engine is housed andwhere the chief makes his headquar-ters.
With the completion of the newwater system and the installation ofthe new fire apparatus the city is well ]equipped to care Xor any hazard, nowexisting.
Policing the city is not a difficult jobas the townspeople are law abiding. I.L. Blackmer, chief of police, has servedthe city to everyone's satisfaction sincehis appointment.
The city has a good system of pavedstreets, with the Dixie Highway run-ning through the center of the city!and Palmetto Park road running;through to the ocean beach. !
A new elevating span steel draw- j"bridge' lias just been installed in this ;road over the East Coast canal by jPalm Beach, county. j
The Federal Highway, which will be |completed between Broward and Palm I
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nmimm-Mounds of Indian Tribes "Furnish
Historical Background;Here Before Columbus.
By CARL K. NYE.Staff Correspondent fcr Ttia Krrald.
Beach county-points during the coming , t e r e s t i n ( ?year, will run through the city one 'block east of the Dixie Highway, pass-ing in front of the city hall.
Boca Baton has-an excellent school,pal. Two teachers assist Mrs. Platr.
The school is accepted as a standard-ised school by the state board of in-struction.
This year there are 65 pupils en-
BOCA RATON, Fla., May 11.—An in-historical background 1B
found for the city of Boca Raton.• Before v.he coming of Columbus, the
| worshippers and lived on the sunrise i "coast of America, built their moundson the shores of Lake Boca Raton andLake Wyman. These lakes lie withinone mile of each other within the city
rolled in the seven grades, which are l i m i t s ol B o c a R a t o n
conducted here. This is the largest: EchnoiogiSt s claim that the Abanikisenrollment since 192o, and Is neail, : w e r e t h e first h u m a n b e i t o t r e a d
double that o£ last year. I t h e s o l l o f F l o r i d a . T h w e r e s a i d t o
- Pupils of tn^ eighth fjrade are taken . b e a r a c e Qf a
by bus to Delray. where the. Junior i m e n b e l n g a b o u t e i g h t f e e t
One of their mounds was south of
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high school work is carried on.A beautlfication program has been
started recently at the school whichIncludes the planting of a new lawn [and shrubbery by the county and the I excavation ""oferection of a bird bath by the pupils.
Two railroads, the Florida East Coastand the Seaboard All Florida serve thecity. Motor busses of Mie Florida motorlines also give transportation serviceto the outside world.
Boca. Raton inlet, in the natural junglewhore the foliage is distinctly tropicaland different from that nearby. An
this mound iii 1925brought to light some skeletons and
Part of Unexpended $300,000Band Issue Utilized To Pro-
ride Modern Utility. ~:
[HEBAID SERVICE.]
BOCA BATON, Fla,, May 11.—The :
city of Boca Baton 5 now the posses-
sor of what competent engineers say-
13 the most modern and efficient wate*
supply system In the South.I t includes deep wells, a filtration
and softening plant, a water towerwith a tank of 150,000-galion capacityand nine miles of water main. ;
The new waterworks is located westof the Florida East Coast railway tracks,one block north of Palmetto Park road;in the heart of the city.
The plant was erected a t a cost of- -$55,000, exclusive of the mains. Tha ".money was par t o l the $500,000 b o n d \issue voted i n 1925, for a number OX'Smunicipal improvements. ' "
No good appliance known to engl- ineers was overlooked in tha designing 'of the system. As a result Boca Batonhas a supply of the purest and clear-est water in Florida, produced a t a 'minimum cost for operation.
Water is supplied by two wells 107:
feet deep, from which ii ia pumpedover a series of aerating steps into anagitating basin equipped with Dorr ap> -pliances for mixing the alum and limaneeded t o soften and purify the water.This basin is equipped with a propel-ler blade which continually stirs tha ,water, and chemicals, getting a thor -ough mixture. Third, the water passesinto the large clarifying tank wherathe alum and lime settle in to t he bot-tom of the tank. This t ank is fitted'with a scraper arrangement which ia•used to free the sediment from t h »bottom when i t is necessary to pumpthe accumulated lime and alum residua.
I out.I • I t next passes by gravity flow intothe carbonating tanks where it is morethoroughly softened and clarified.' Car-bon dioxide gas is manufactured in acoke burning furnace and gas filter,",which.is installed inside the building. •
From the carbonating tanks tha',water is allowed to flow by gravity-through two large niters consisting o£thick layers .of very fine sand andgravel into the large clear, well under-ground. The clear well has a capacityof 75.000 gallons. The filters are made-
gutensils. The bodies nil were buriedfacing the east, according to the an-cient custom.
Another mound in the Villa Rica sec-tion north of Lake Wyman gave uppottery specimens, weapons of conchh l l d h IT A X D E L I N Q U E N C Y ! shell and other Indian utensils. In
m A D V T>r\ r\T?T?Cllrr ' t h i s m o u n d w e r e a l s o iound bones of IJ i A o Y l U O r r SJl J. [ the saber toothed tiger and other pre- |
historic animals once native to Flor-ida.
This mound has all been removedand the shell of which it was madeused In the building of a road. Asand mound nearby has not beentouched. Specimens from the excava-tions have been placed in the Smith-sonian Institution In Washington.
Pirates from the Spanish main made
Boca Raton Expenses Can BeCurtailed To Meet Revenue.BOCA RATON, Fia., May 11.—In.Boca
Raton, the amount of delinquent taxesia large since many acres of wild landwere added to the city limits during the •rush of '.lie Mlsner Development Com- |ppny to sell lots. With a curtailment I U E e o f t n e protection offered by theof municipal expense to meet the size j nn. tul.ai harbor, provided by the littleof the city nurl cave for it properly, j [a!ie j v s t b a o l i o f t h e d u n e S | betweenthe income can. be made to carry on j raiding parties. There are old parch-nrcessnry work and maintain a good ; m c n t m a p s tn existence which showcity.
Water bills furnish a considerable !Item of revenue to the city, although ;I he rate;; are not. e:-:ccssivc. It ia cs.i- •mated that this income will pay for jthe operation of the plant ond give ;some surplus for the sinking fund. j
Boca Raton inlet as a pirate refuge.Many legends relate of the buried
treasure lf>ft here by the pirates. Atdifferent times parties have spent timeand money in excavations along theorean shore and In the dunes stretch-ing north and south from Boca Raton
T'.ic city chr.rl.er is being revised by , inlet.the city on.ornoy. W. G. Miller, of Hall, j The Seminoles Also knew Boca Raton.Johnson and English. Fort Louclsrdsle. a , a natural beauty spot, the earlyIt is proposed to change the number history of the tribe, showing that theyppof city comml.-'Kioaci'n r.nd nlmr•*ii.y limits, as at. present these limitsare Rirclched too far.
Cher.ter B. Mnsslich. bond attorneyof New York, is muting n check of thp
htone! provisions of the charter as thepmrr-ut stipulations ore our. of propor-tion to the needs of Hie city.
raiViiirj; her a'Tairs artri idea:* to meet(.be conditions which f.re now govern-in.'r the life nnd growth of all commun-ities in this locality.
g ycalled it "Esta-hakk-wee," meaning a"beautiful scene." For many years acamp wns maintained just west of theHiUsborough river, in the favorite hunt-ing grounds of the tribe. It is saidUi.-u Boca Baton was considered theirbest fir-hiiiH grounds.
The first step in tbo vcnl estate h!s-to..y of Boc-i Er-lon rimB in 1>W4, rtrnthe fi'sf. whlto resident, T. W. Kickards,n. civil engineer employed by the Flag-ler Interests, earne here. He came byRchooner from Tituavllle, which wasthe Kouthsm terminus of the FloridaEast Coast Railway, at that time.
When the railway was built to BocaF I L L B O C A R A T O N H n t o u l n 18D<i' Mr- Hicfearda built a
house on the east side of the East Coast
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WINTFiR VISITORS
Every Available Dwelling PlaceIs Filled To Capacity.
BOCA EATON, Fla., May 11.—A sur-vey of housing conditions In Boca Ra-ton showed that during the winterevery dwelling In the city which wasIn habitable condition was occupied.
All owners of property from theNorth were occupying their Floridahomes and a large number of newcomers were here for the first time.In addition to the visitors a large
canal, not far from the present draw-bridge. The canal was being con-structed at this time. Mr. Rlckardsbuilt his house, it Is said, almost en-tirely from wreckage gathered on thebeach, even finding doors and win-dows there.
In 1897 the- first plat of Boca Ratonwa3 made by Mr. Rickards, who laidout a considerable portion ol 1,000acres in five-acre tracts which weresold to Northern Investors.
F. S. Lewis of Philadelphia, planted100 acres to grapefruit. Nearly 500
t inumber of men employed by the Sea- \ acres were set in pineapples by non-pyboard and Southern construction com-pany have moved their families here.
The Cloir.ter Inn of the Boca Ratonclub wa.s opened for part of the seasonnnd a large number of guests wereIliere. Tlie numbers of visitors to thisnew club krpt the town busy all winterlong.
Several properties changed handsb
Seve pp gduring the season, among them beingthe home of J. S. Cramer on BocaRaton Road which was sold to C. J.
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pp yresident owners who engaged Mr. Rick-ards to care for them.
For' 10 years the pineapple Industrywas thrlvlnp; and at one time BocaRaton shipped 10,000 crates of this de-licious fruit annually. Cuban compe-tition finally made the industry un-profitable and the fields were aban-doned.
Truck farming has since been themajor activity, although during the
l estate boom this was neglected. B.l J G BFlastrldge of Maiden, Mass., several lots j B. Buulerson. J. G. Brown, C. W. Brown,
on the beach front and one lot on j George Aklns. 8. H. Cheesebrough, Har-Palmetto Park drive. ry Chcescbrough and. W. P. Purdura
(1) The Boci Katon clubhouse, now under construction, one of llonil) architectural gems, includes 650 sleeping ronms. (8) The Cloister wing ofBoca Raton ilnhaouse. (3) Construction work on the west iving of tne Hiiitlrtlng, April 8, 1928. (4) A'Ttevv of the grounds looking from Ocean boulevardacross Lake Bm-alBato.il. The lake has been dredged and a new seawall dull'. (5) The Boca Raton schoolhousc. (B) Looking tlovm from' the water towerInto the aifitfitlnt basin and carbonating tanks of the Boca Katon city wafer plant. (7) The Cates residence in Palmetto drive- Boca Baton. (8) Resi-dence of Freti c tilken In' Floresta club section, Boca Katon. (9) The Boca Katon city hall, of Spanish mission type architecture;'' (10) The new bridgeover tiie Ea-t fottst canal, recently completed.^ (11) The Boca Baton city Water plant.
are old timers who are still active infarming. |
The tropical beaiity of Boca Katon IBexceeded by no place, in Florida. Thereis a natural jungle of tropical treesand plants along the inland waterwayand along the oceah shore. There aremany magnificent live . oaks coveredwith hanging moss, airplants and or-chids. And the tail palmetto, coconutpalm, rubber and sea grape add theirbeauty to ail parts of the little city.-
Good fishing is kound in t&e. Gult
Stream at the door and In the lakes andcanals. Hunting i i the back countryis good. Pishing iii the water warmedby the Gulf Stream is as fine as atany place along the coast.
There are many fine homes situatedon the bsach, along the drive to thebeach and west on the highlands.
Alt combine to make a place withhistory, scenery and. physical assetssecond to none.~ '
BUILDING HELPSBRING PROSPERITY
Tourist Trade Not Sole Resourceof Boca Raton.
BOCA,BATON. Fla., May 11.—Busi-ness has profited in this city from agood touriBt season, but also from theconstruction work at the Boca Batonclub, where the Seaboard and Scsuth-ern Construction Company, has & forceof 250 men at work.
Many " of the workmen have madetheir homes In the city, while manycome from Delray Beach and othercommunities.
At present the' construction work is65 per cent completed, engineers Incharge of construction said today. The WARSAW, May 11.
ONIONS HELP CHURCH.RAYMONDVILLE TejtaS, May H. (ff)
A 27-acri? p a t c h OV onions cultivatedby members or the congregation hasadded $2,200 to 'the Jirpt. BaptistChurch's treaeury '
I building will be completed during Oc-rtober. It Is expected.
Besides benefittlng Boca Raton, thl8project has furnished ', Income to allparts of the state.
Every pound, of cement In the con-struction work is a -Florida -product,coming from the plant In Tampa.
The rock used, in all concrete work
is being furnished by the Meteor Trans-port and Trading Company of Miami.
All rough lumber used in the con-crete fonns is cut In the northwest sec-tion of the state.
Mlilwork for the entire Job is beingfurnished by the Duval Planing Mill ofJacksonville.
In the exterior finishing a largeamount of quarried Florida key rockia being used.- This rock is all comingfrom the yards of John B. Ore Companyof Miami, where it is cut to specifica-tion afijer being quarried out on thekeys. This company is also furnishingthe oast atone- used in architecturalwork on different parts of the building.
POLAND BANS NOBILITYTITLES ON PASSPORTS
Polish"prlnccB" and "counts," whole titleswere abolished by the constitution or1931, may no longer use their desig-nations of alleged nobility on paSs-ports. Government offices have beenlenient with the de-ranked nobilitysince their "fall," but the ministry ofthe interior has now prohibited one ofthen- last Indulgences. . .
PARIS MOTOR CARS JAM •PAWN SHOP
PARIS, May II. (*5—So many over-optimistic Frenchmen have been pawn-Ing their automobiles that the cityhock shop has had to call a halt, "MyAunt," as the PS*13 pawnshop Is called,has no more: room in her garage. Thecity has decided to build.a garage tohold 600 cars. It will be a good Invest-ment, for the municipality makes morethan $60,000 a year clear profit.on thevehicles of'those compelled to resumethe status o t pedestrians.
SOCIAL JATTACHE ADDEDTO GERMAN DELEGATION
BRUSSELS May n - im~T{le G e r m a n
lgatlon herb has been reinforced by a'3ocial attiche-' who has the special
mission of Studying Belgian social leg-islation aid '• observing the Belgian-labor movement/
Martin Ebel, the occupant of the newPost, is a hieh oHiclal of the Germandepartment; of lsb°r- H e w l U e n j o y t h c
eame diplomatic Immunities as aregranted to nJflitwy and cojamerctalattaches.
Costly Geist Development Is Oneof Most Important Construe-
. tion Projects In Florida.[HERALD SERVICE.]
BOCA RATON, Pla., May 11.—Thelargest and most elaborate buildingprogram under way in all Florida IsIn progress here In the completion ofthe Boca Raton club, which includesall the property between the DixieHighway and the ocean formerly ownedby the Mizner Development Company.
The Boca R-aton club was conceivedD,nd planned by Clarence H. Geist ofPhiladelphia, capitalist and public util-ities owner.
The Cloister, administrat'on buildingand the land mentioned before, were
by, Pa.The carbonating system i3 consid-
ered by authorities to be the best sys-*tern for completely purifying the water-in use today.
From the clear well the water. J»_"pumped into the 150,000-galion stor-age tank on the tower. Two pumps'are used as needed to keep the properpressure in the tank. ' • . . . ' . •
Inside the building, on the secondfloor, are the grinding and mixing ma-cnine for handling the chemicals. Onthis floor also fs a complete laboratorywhere daily tests are made of the qual-ity of the water in the mains.
In the basement are the pumps, oneelectrically operated, and one driven, bya gasoline engine for emergency use iacase of a fire needing direct pressure"in the mains or in. case of failure ofelectric current. These pumps are of750-gallon an hour capacity.
Here also is the equipment made byDrelffoin and Flyun of Chicago for pro-ducing the carbon dioxide gas used ia-carbonating the water.
The wiring equipment Installed byR. E. Lowry of Miami, is a very com-plete switch hoard, controlling the op-eration of every piece of apparatus.
The plant has been in operation for :about one month, with no trouble ex- 'perlenced in adjustment to condition*required of it.
Tests of the water made by the plantchemist and by the state board ofhealth have shown that the watertests are as nearly chemically pure as ii;is possible to obtain it, reports show.
Fifty pounds pressure Is maintainedin the mains at all times in conform- •ity with the fire insurance "require-ments, and this can be boosted aaneeded by the throwing in of a secondpump. • •'*;
The completion of the system is ex-..purchased Xiy Mr. Geist and his asso- j pected to result in a reduction of fir*elates in a syndicate.
The Spanish Biver Land Company,a Florida corporation organized by thesyndicate, later purchased the build-ings and land and in addition 112acres on the ocean front. This areawill be devolped into a residential sec-tion surrounding the club.
The Boca Raton club has purchasedfrom the syndicate the Cloister, the ad-ministration building, land for two 18-hole golf courses, tennis courts and a j tails known to the best of hotel servicebathing beach on the ocean. j companies.
Using the Cloister as a nucleus, Mr. South of the building an outdoorGeist has planned the Boca Raton club swimming pool, estimated to cost 590,-along lines of his experience with the I 000, is under construction, around'Seaview Golf club, located at AbSDCon, which a large area of fine ocean sand
insurance premiums in the city, agentsof the Florida Eating Bureau have re- 'cently checked the city with this inview.
Construction of the waterworks -wasdone by the Donathan ConstructionCompany of Miami. C. G. Bostwlck oiCoral Gables was the engineer in di-rect charge of the entire project.
N. J., across the inlet from AtlanticCity. This club is one of the lnrgeBtand most successful restricted clubs inthe world.
When the building program is fin-ished tho club house will have 650sleeping rooms, an indoor salt waterswimming pool, a Healthitorium for I dock or on foot through the tropical
is to be placed for sun bathing andlounging.
On the ocean beach a bathing casino.modeled after the Bath club £t MiamiEeach will be constructed. This willbe accessible from the club by a direct,motor road, by boat from the club
Jungle along the lake shore.One 18-hole golf course is completa
and has been in use by members andtheir guests during the past season. Asecond 18-hole course is under con-.structlon by Toomey and Flynn oiPhiladelphia. This course 13 designedto be one of the championship coursesof Florida.
During the past season Gil Nichols,
women and one for men and commo-dious rooms for sunbathing.
On the ground floor will be the maindining room, which will seat 700guests under Its 75-foot vaulted cell-ing, a ball room, several lounge rooms,large locker rooms and grill room ad-jacent to the men's locker room.
In the arcade on the ground floor•will be a barber shop, beauty parlor,rooms for shofs of various kinds, j well known golf professional, has beeabrokers offices.and telegraph and tele-, in charge of the course. It is expectedphone offices. j that he will return next year.
The club house will also have five! Lake Boca Raton and the inlet havabeautiful patios in different parts and •• been dredged to a depth sufficient; to .a rocking chair terrace overlooking ' allow yachts to enter and havs a goodthe main patio. This patio Is 350 feet) anchorage, a Jetty has been constructedBquaro with R largo fountain In the' on the ocean Bide of the entrancecenter, Immense royal palms and near- channel and ft rock sea trail built alont;ly 40,000 tropical shrubs and vinen. A. the shore of the lake and a large.,complete nursery has been purchased ! amount of earth from the lake bo'.tomto cupply needed plants. pumped out making msny acres of
A children's dining room, and spp-' fine lawn surrounding the club -build- •nrate dining rooms Tor maids and' Ing.chauffeurs are provided. Complete j In addition to the arrangements fwcafeteria equipment Is arranged for the ; golf, tennis, battling and ricilng a flenthelp.. of 20 flehing boats tins been ordered.
The kitchen Is complete la all de-,for the use of members.
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Boca Raton Historical Society, Inc.
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