Five decades is a long time, but then again, not so much, with the 1973 Compass featuring crime stories, not unlike 2023. Specifically, the 12 July 1973 edition of the newspaper contained the story, ‘Fire And Burglary At George Town Bakery’ about an attempt to break an iron safe at the Wholesome Bakery on North Church Street. According to the report, for the first time in Cayman, acetylene and oxygen cylinders were believed to have been used by the culprits. Bakery owner Norberg Thompson said the crime hadn’t affected the day’s production, though delivery was late.
Much happier news was the photo, ‘WHAT-ER-MELON!’, that shows Sharon Ebanks holding the 39½-pound watermelon which was grown by Shirley McField. No indication of what the massive fruit was used for, but guessing a lot of people enjoyed the oversized melon.
An editorial, ‘A Measure For Peace And Tranquility’, referred to the Public Order Law that was front-page news the week before. The editorial noted: “A very important factor is the prohibition of the use of insulting or abusive words and languages intended to stir up hatred by reason of colour, race, and creed,” adding this was “one thing we would like to keep forever out of the Cayman Islands”.
And, finally, one to file under ‘things that don’t happen every day’, was a story about a young Caymanian man who “went to sleep in the middle of the south taxi-way” at Owen Roberts International Airport. It was never explained why the man chose the runway as his bed, but a freight plane approached the dark runway at 5am and it was only the lights of the aircraft that prevented a tragedy, as the pilot spotted the “sleeping hulk” and avoided him just in time. That did not wake him, however; the pilot radioed the tower and firemen had to come out to get him.
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