A story on the front page of the 5 Dec. 1973 issue of the Cayman Compass followed an article the previous month on the fuel crisis. ‘Gas Stations Close On Sundays’, due to distributors reducing their hours, included before-and-after shots of a busy-on-Saturday and then empty-on-Sunday Delworth’s Esso. Comparing the scene to a ‘ghost city’, with motorists only stopping by various gas stations “to make use of their air and water services”. They were to be closed on Christmas Day but open for Boxing Day.
And here’s a story you don’t read about every day: ‘Baby Turtles Cause CAL Plane Delay’. Included with the luggage for the plane was a Styrofoam box containing a plastic bag holding several baby turtles. As it was being loaded, one of the aircraft’s engines “sucked it in”. The captain shut down the engine, and there was no damage to the turbine blades. The “debris was cleaned out’, the engine was checked and, after a practice run, the plane and its passengers were on their way to Costa Rica.
A photo on page 9 showed a concrete truck which wound up in a precarious position off North Sound Road. The loaded truck had slid off the road into the swamp, while apparently swerving to avoid another vehicle. A Flowers water truck pumped out “most of the eight yards of concrete before the cargo solidified” and a Moxam Industries crane lifted the truck back onto the road. Luckily, no one was injured.
Finally, then Director of Tourism Eric Bergstrom outlined the government’s new nine-point programme on tourism. Among the points were pursuing a policy of “controlled development” to avoid destroying “our fragile Island environment”, not permitting casinos for “obvious reasons”, and offering more activities for visitors outside their hotels.
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