Looking back at what was making news in Cayman half a century ago, it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Currently, the Cayman Islands government is looking into plans to redevelop or relocate its cargo facilities at the harbour. Fifty years ago, one of the front page stories in the 28 June 1973 edition of the Cayman Compass was headlined ‘New Harbour Plan’. It noted, “Work on a new redeveloped harbour in George Town costing CI$1 million will start next April if the Caribbean Development Bank approves the preparatory plan submitted by the Government.” That plan involved extending the present 100-foot shoreline out into the sea by land filing it to 536 feet to enable ships with deeper drafts to berth.
Echoing the cost of living increases being seen in Cayman and worldwide nowadays, a short editorial addressed a similar situation. Headlined ‘It Would Be Funny If It Didn’t Hurt’ the editor wrote, “If we hadn’t asked the store clerk for confirmation, we wouldn’t have believed it; we just thought ‘of course, it’s a mistake in marking the price’. But there was no mistake; the price of that honeydew melon we picked up last week in a George Town market was… hold on… CI$2.65!” That’s equivalent to a whopping $19.34 in today’s currency – which is pretty steep, even by 2023 inflationary prices.
The main story on page 3 dealt with a new technology being embraced in Cayman, and was headlined ‘TELEX Communications With Miami Should be Operational Next Tuesday’. The article pointed out that Cable and Wireless was in the process of installing a ‘special direct telegraph link’ from Cayman to Miami and Montreal for Interbank House. In these days of instant communication, the 60 words a minute that the telex machines could relay messages may seem slow, but at the time, it was double the speed of the existing equipment on island. While not the first direct telegraph link to Cayman, it was the first direct link circuit that originated and had its controls in Cayman.
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