A front-page story in the 22 Aug. 1973 edition of the Cayman Compass detailed Cayman Airways’ plans to introduce “bigger and more modern aircraft to operate through Grand Cayman”. The additions, expected to be in place within two weeks, included LACSA’s newest BAC 111-500 aircraft to fly the Cayman-Miami route. The national flag carrier was also planning a “computerised reservations system and the possibility of employing more Caymanians with the airline in Miami”.
Also worthy of page-one news was the 98th birthday of Bodden Town resident Joseph Solomon, who was pictured raising a glass at his party. He came from a family that included several people who lived impressively long lives. His mother lived to be 110 and his great grandfather reached 115.
Cayman’s postal service took centre stage in the newspaper’s editorial, ‘Investigate. Don’t Hesitate’. The piece, which could possibly have been written nowadays, starts with: “The undue length of time which now elapses between the despatch of mail from abroad and receiving it here in Cayman is causing much concern in these Islands.” As examples of the problem, the editorial pointed out, “Only last Monday we received mail postmarked February 21, 1973, and six days ago, a number of press releases arrived from Kingston, Jamaica, with March and April postmarks.”
And, finally, modernisation was not only taking place in the skies, but also on land. Thomas Seymour was photographed in front of two of his buses – an old one he was fixing up, and a new one, which he had just bought. The new bus travels to East End on Fridays and Saturdays, and is used for an “around the island tour” every Sunday, for $2 per person, with Seymour boasting of “31 years without an accident”.
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