The main story on the front page of the 1 Aug. 1974 Cayman Compass told of an application from a US airline for permission to fly between Miami and Grand Cayman. Southern Airways said it had asked Cayman’s Civil Aeronautics Board on 26 July for authority to start the route but the Cayman Islands government, in response to Compass queries, said it had not received an application. An airline official said it was seeking approval from the board so it could prepare for “the lucrative winter vacation season” and launch by 1 Nov.
Also getting front-page treatment was a photo of Royce Bodden holding a diving helmet that he found while digging a hole to plant a coconut on his North Church Street property. The 50-pound discovery was manufactured by a Wisconsin diving equipment company in 1946, according to a plaque on the helmet. A second plaque read: “Oh, God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.” Bodden, who found the helmet between two big rocks, mused that it “might have been used to mark a tomb or a treasure”.
The newspaper’s editorial focused on equality for women after a British government decision to outlaw sex discrimination. It said that “in recent years Women’s Lib has gained momentum and more and more members of the fairer sex have been staking their claims for equality”. It noted that women in Cayman are “holding influential positions” in both the public and private sectors. It ended by expressing confidence that “as our womenfolk” follow the UK news, “they will identify themselves more fully when it comes to making their rightful claims for equality”.
Next to the editorial was a photo, headlined ‘Speeders Beware’, of two police constables with a radar set used to help ensure motorists drive within speed limits – an issue as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.
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