Show BABSON'S ri AUTHENTIC ST STATEMENT A TEl un W eba Special to THE EXPRESS BABSON DISCUSSES FLORIDA FREEze BABSON PARK MASS MASS- MASSe rhe e recent freeze was very severe The newspapers say worst in the century Stat Stat- Statistics show that a similar freeze c caime me in 1899 Then nearly all circus cirtus trees north of Orlando Florida were kill kill- killed ed cd This latest freeze hit the citrus belt or r the central pot por- portion tion hard but also the south south- southern southern ern portion where many of the vegetables are grown liKe liKe- liKewise likewise wise had crops wiped out The northern section of Florida where the celery and other hardy crops are raised suffers less damage from freezes Florida Received full Warning There was no mistake on the part of f the Weather Bu Bu- Bu Bureau reau for three days it had warned Florida of the very cold air corning coming down from the Arctic regions But what could the fruit and vegetable growers of Florida do about it Only the Indian River area escaped The early crops had been picked The second crop in- in including in eluding the Valencia oranges were not ready to harvest built fires but ih these raised raised the temperature only 2 Or 3 degrees Growers who wh had adopted new schemes of spraying with wa wa- wa water ter saw the spray itself freeze The Loss Lon has a been very Great The loss has come not only to the growers but to all the pickers the cultivators and the teamsters It has thrown over a million out of work arid and thereby affected all the merchants arid and storekeepers Worst of all it came at th Christmas season when the people and the merchants planned on their best busi- busi business business ness The canning of juice has been the greatest hope of the grove industry If fruit even though frozen could be rushed to the canners while it was still sweet such lulu juice could be saved but the can can- canners ners could handle only so much juice and were power power- powerless powerless less to can the truckloads of fruit coming to them I have I been in Um the midst of the situ and will say that every every- rich one or poor has help help- helped ed freely in every possible way Almost every State Faces A Sudden Loss When i was a boy in Glou Glou- Gloucester cester Mass our most pro pro- profitable product was granite and we knew it could not freeze We had great quarries and we shipped the granite to Boston New York Washing Washing- Washington Washington ton and Philadelphia for use useI usein I in erecting the largest public buildings We believed we I had nothing to fear Sudden Sudden- Suddenly ly the Invention of cement IlY came and Cape Ann received n a great economic blow It was 1 saved only by its fearless fish fish- fishermen ermen ennen The cities s which grew up and prospered from coal have suffered greatly since the oil and natural gas industries have flourished When I was wasa wasa a boy every Gloucester home was heated by bl coal I went to the woods with my grandfather I ther when snow was on the ground to bring home on a sled kindling wood for future use Even the farms of New England once so prosperous have been gradually aban- aban abandoned abandoned The farm fann machinery introduced so widely for plowing cultivating and andI I even for harvesting could not be employed on the rocky New England farms What is the Warning this Florida Freeze gives to 10 every S Section of the US 1 It is the need to be ready for a change especially now that we are arc on the verge of the Electronics Age Every Industry in every county of this great country is subject to change 2 It is the know know- knowledge knowledge ledge that every community must dIversify more This should boa be the goal of every Chamber of Commerce The watchword should be greater diversification The only way Florida or any other agricultural or fruit state will lick climatic problems lems for droughts and floods may be as serious as is by attracting more industries indus indus- industries tries But even these should be of different kinds A city now dependent upon the steel industry or the paper indus indus- industry industry try or any any other one industry may be greatly handicapped by foreign competition Prime Minister Macmillan has been telling this to President Ken Ken- Kennedy nedy and he may be in saying that we Ve cannot have world peace without more freedom of trade This may mean that the have more nations may need to give up more to the have less na na- na lions This Is what Mr Mae Mac millan was telling Mr Ken Ken- Kenned Kennedy ned nedy in the Bahama Islands a few weeks ago Florida and every other state should pre pre- prepare pare for great changes ahead |