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Letter to the editor

1967: Blaze-plagued woods smoky again

By THERESA BLACKWELL
Published June 3, 2007

JUNE 4, 1967

EAST LAKE - The fire-plagued wooded area around State Road 584 and East Lake Road was struck again late yesterday afternoon.

A.D. Boyd, owner of Boot Ranch, said he saw lightning strike and set the woods afire inside the Brooker Creek Swamp around 6 p.m.

Florida Forestry Service reported around 8 p.m. that early evening rainfall helped some.

The fire was burning at ground level and no longer was sending billows of smoke into the air.

The Boot Ranch owner said depending on the winds and rain the new outbreak should burn several miles of swamp area but that it will be confined with equipment because there are tenant houses in the area.

JUNE 2, 1937

Commissioner's sow killed by rattlesnake

TARPON SPRINGS - County Commissioner Ed Beckett reported today that his winter's supply of pork had been destroyed recently by a rattlesnake at his farm northeast of town.

The commissioner had been counting on a 200-pound sow to supply him with pork this winter. A few days ago a rattler invaded the pen and killed the animal. Several other hogs of common variety were bitten but not killed.

JUNE 4, 1938

Guardsmen avert 'war' between sponge men

TARPON SPRINGS - In a friendly effort to avert an impending "war" between Tarpon Springs and Key West sponge fishermen, Lt. A.E. Harned piloted a seaplane from the local Coast Guard air station early yesterday and later dropped warning notes to 10 Tarpon Springs sponge boats when they were sighted near Everglades City.

Harned was accompanied by a representative of the Tarpon Springs sponge exchange.

The notes, written in English and Greek, advised the Greeks to return to Tarpon Springs immediately and avert trouble with the Key West faction.

Recently, Coast Guard officers aboard the cutter Nemesis attempted unsuccessfully to affect a peaceful settlement between the warring factions, and the Key Westers continued their demands that the Greek boats leave the Key West area and not return.

"I think the Tarpon Springs boats are returning to their base now, " Harned said. "I hope so, at least, for I'm afraid something will happen if they remain in Key West waters."

Editor's note: The rivalry reported here provided the plot for the 1953 movie Beneath the 12-mile Reef, which featured Tarpon Springs and starred Robert Wagner, Gilbert Roland and Peter Graves.

JUNE 9, 1938

Coastal highway nears completion

PALM HARBOR - Completion of the new scenic highway along the shores of St. Joseph's Bay from Wall Springs to Tarpon Springs will complete a coastal highway in Pinellas County from Pass-a-Grille northward to Tarpon Springs.

The only missing gap along the keys is the opening of Big Pass and Little Pass at Clearwater, but the road skirts the shore of the bay at this point.

Theresa Blackwell compiles the history column. She can be reached at tblackwell@sptimes.com or 727 445-4170.

Looking back

Headlines through the years

A look back at the events, people and places that made North Pinellas the unique place that it is. The information is compiled from past editions of the St. Petersburg Times.

[Last modified June 2, 2007, 19:09:17]