A front page story in the 21 Nov. 1974 edition of The Caymanian Compass, headlined ‘62 Tons of Concrete’, gave details of a desalinisation well being installed by Cayman Water Company on Seven Mile Beach, next to Government House. It noted that the well would contain four sections, with one weighing 17 tons and the other three weighing 15 tons each. It would also include 300 feet of pipe that would “run out to sea”. The story reported that the water would flow into the well and then be pumped to the main plant across West Bay Road, at Governor’s Harbour. The water plant would be able to produce 500,000 gallons a day.
A page 1 photo and an inside story featured Andy Martin of Cayman Brac winning the Galleon Country Music Trophy. Martin was the first winner of the inaugural award, which organisers at the Galleon Beach Hotel planned to run twice a year. Runners-up were the Cayman Cowboys, consisting of Oliver and Heith Hill and Graham Thompson who played harmonica while riding a hobby horse. Other contestants included Cardinal DaCosta, Buddy Parsons, Trevor Scott “who sang to a goat”, and Dalmain Ebanks.
Page 1 also gave an update on the ongoing saga of stolen cash from a Chicago vault heist which was believed to have ended up in Cayman. Headlined ‘Monies Have Been Handed Over to Cayman’s Grand Court’, the story noted that an “undisclosed amount of money” had been found in four safety deposit boxes of the Royal Bank of Canada. The money was believed to have been deposited there by suspects in the Chicago vault robbery. Three of the suspects, who were subsequently arrested, had travelled to Cayman following the robbery in which more than US$4 million was stolen – at the time considered to be the largest heist in US history.
“‘The Mikado’ is Good” was the simple and rather understated headline – given the author’s praise – of a review of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical at the Town Hall. The writer, lamenting the small attendance at the “excellent and entertaining” performance, congratulated the director Patti Hulse and lauded the hard work of the cast and the Cayman Singers.
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