Not all the letters that people write about TIME stories come to TIME. And it is undoubtedly true that a large share of the reactions to the news we print never reaches us. Recently, however, the subject of one of our news stories told us about what happened to him after it appeared. I think you will find it very interesting.

Perhaps you remember the postwar proposal (TIME BUSINESS, Sept. 17) of an energetic, young (37) Jacksonville, Fla. barge-line operator named Harold Gray Williams to ferry motorists and their cars across the 90 nautical miles from Key West to Havana, Cuba. Travelers had dreamed of it, but Williams had gone so far as to set up a company and order his first ferry--a super deluxe ship to carry 300 autos and 900 passengers per trip across the Straits of Florida in six hours at a cost of about $20 a car.

If all went well with this venture, Williams planned to make even more of the tropical Caribbean available to ambitious American motorists by ferrying carloads of them to Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Mexico. It was a good idea. Here is what happened:

The day after TIME hit the newsstands with the story Williams received a long distance telephone call from the U.S. Navy supervisor of shipbuilding at Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, Ala. The Navy, which no longer needed it, had just the ship for him: a new type LSD (Landing Ship Dock), almost completed, and available to the highest bidder. Williams bid high and got it. The LSD, now being converted, was bigger and better (e.g., it is equipped with the latest and best steam turbines) than the ferry he had ordered, and, Williams figures, puts him eight months ahead of schedule. The deal saved him $500,000.

This allowed Williams to reduce his bank loan by 25%.

The Maritime Commission agreed to guarantee the bank loan.

The foreign departments of Standard Oil of New Jersey and Shell Oil got on the wire, each offering to build a chain of super-service stations, hotels and numerous motels, along the drowsy highways of the islands.

The government of Cuba, delighted with this promise of money-bearing tourists, agreed to cooperate with the enterprise.

A U.S. motormaker offered Williams the exclusive distributorship for his cars in Cuba.

Nelson Rockefeller, ex-Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic Affairs, tendered his blessing, called the enterprise one of the best he had heard of for improving relations between the Americas.

The head of the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission (an official U.S.-British organization concerned primarily with social welfare, education, economics, etc. in Caribbean territories under the U.S. and British flags) sent his hearty approval.

Thousands of people wrote in from all over the world. Some wanted to buy stock in the project; others to make their reservations early. Merchant mariners galore (mates, plain sailors) asked for jobs aboard the ferries. G.I.s and navy men sent in their qualifications and said they would take any old job. Some writers just wanted to express their admiration.

Good luck to Enterpriser Williams.

Cordially,

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