The Wortham Journal (Wortham, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 29, 1976 Page: 1 of 4
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Route 1
Wortham, TX 76693
SERVING WORTHAM
And Its Tri-County
Trade Area
The Wortham Journal «•=
VOLUME 77
4 PAGES
WORTHAM. TEXAS
THURSDAY. JANUARY 2». 1976
10 CENTS
NUMBER 38
Kirgan Enters
Representative Race
Joe Lee Kirgan, Jr., 45-year-
old newspaper publisher of
Fairfield, has announced his
candidacy for State Represen-
tative, 14th District of Texas.
The district includes the
counties of Anderson, Henderson,
Freestone and the lower portion
of Smith. The District is now
represented by Fred Head of
Athens.
In making known his decision
to enter next May’s Democartic
Primary for the office of state
representative, Kirgan said, “I
have felt far some time that the
people of the 14th District are
being inadequately represented
in Austin. After much thought
and upon the urging of many
people throughout the district, I
have decided to enter this race.”
Kirgan is a member of a well-
known East Texas newspaper
family. He is grandson of the late
L.C. Kirgan who purchased The
Fairfield Recorder in 1900 and
operated it until his death in 1947,
and son of Mrs. L.R. Boyd and
the late Joe Lee Kirgan,
publishers of The Recorder until
his death in 1959.
The candidate purchased the
newspaper in 1960 and, along
with his partner, Tas S. Watson,
Jr., is present publisher of The
Recorder.
Kirgan is married to the for-
mer Bette Ann Nettle of Fairfield
and they are parents of three
children: Joe Lee, III, employed
by K-Way Builders Supply
Company, Inc., of Fairfield;
Kay, a sophomore at Baylor
University; and Jeff, a
sophomore at Fairfield High
School.
Active in civic and community
affairs, Kirgan presently is a
member of the Fairfield City
Council, Fairfield Rotary Club
and Fairfield Eagle Club. He is
also on the board of directors of
the Fairfield Chamber of
Commerce, is a director of the
North and East Texas Press
Association, is a 32nd Degree
Mason and is a member of First
Baptist Church of Fairfield
where he teaches the College and
Career Sunday School Class, is a
member of the choir and is
chairman of the Personnel
Committee.
“We are facing most difficult
times in our state and nation
today,” Kirgan said. “It is time
we have representation in Austin
sensitive to the needs and wishes
of the people of this district.”
Cemetery Assoc. Has
Annual Meeting
The annual business meeting of
the Wortham Cemetery
Association was held on Sunday,
January 25th at 2 p.m. in the
Walker Funeral Home.
Mrs. Harry P. Bounds,
president, presided for the
meeting. The invocation was
given by Harry P. Bounds.
Mrs. J.P. Black, secretary,
read the minutes, and reported
on the Memorial Fund. She ex-
pressed appreciation to Mrs.
H.C. Boyd, her assistant.
Mrs. Bounds thanked Mmes.
Black and Boyd for taking care of
all the correspondence, a time
consuming service.
The financial report was
given by Mrs. Billy Van Calame.
A detailed report is published
elsewhere in this issue of the
paper.
The president expressed ap-
preciation to Mr. and Mrs.
Calame far the many hours of
time they give to carry on this
work for the association; in-
cluding the sale of lots, paying of
labor in maintaining the grounds,
and the keeping of financial
records.
The president further stated
how gratifying it was that many
families were giving an en-
dowment to the cemetery
association. The money is in-
vested with only the interest
being used for upkeep. Further
information will be given to
anyone interested in this worthy
contribution for permanent care.
A report was given on the roads
in the cemetery which have been
seal-coated with hot asphalt this
past year. Plans are being made
to do more work in 1976.
A suggestion was made that a
fence would improve the looks of
the cemetery. The officers feel
this could only be possible if
donations were larger by in-
terested patrons to care for this
expense. The cost of same will be
investigated.
A nominating committee was
appointed to present a slate of
officers at the next annual
meeting in January, 1977, which
will be election year. Mmes.
Clifton Magness, Roy Miller and
Mr. Harold Walker were ap-
pointed on this committee.
Appreciation was expressed to
Buff Carmichael for the meeting
place, and Mr. Carmichael
served coffee and cookies at the
conclusion of the meeting.
Abbey Porter
Honored as
Sec. of Week
Mrs. Abbey D. Porter,
daughter of Mrs. W.H. Dodge of
Wortham, in the Accounting and
Finance Department of Dyess
Air Force Base, Abilene, was
honored recently when she was
named KRBC Radio’s Secretary
of the Week. Mrs. Porter’s name
was submitted to KRBC by her
supervisor, Capt. E.R. Miceli,
chief Accounting and Finance.
Captain Miceli praised Mrs.
Porter in the letter as an out-
standing receptionist with good
manners, a pleasant personality
and a good memory for faces and
titles. She is responsible for
processing all incoming and
outgoing correspoidence for the
office. Captain Miceli also
praised her as being highly
proficient, one of the most
valuable members of the staff.
Then Captain Mecile presented
her with a beautiful bouquet of
roses with a card that said:
“Thank you for being a good
secretary”.
Fuquas to be
Honored on
Anniversary
Rev. and Mrs. Vem Fuqua, will
be honored on their Silver
Wedding Anniversary with a
reception by the Clark Class of
the University Methodist Church
in Fort Worth. Rev. Fuqua is a
former pastor of the First United
Methodist Church of Wortham.
The reception will be held Sun-
day, Feb. 15th from 2 to 5 p.m. at
the church solarium, 2416 West
Berry in Fort Worth. Instead of
gifts, the class is decorating a
money tree.
FACTS &
FICTION
The Wortham P.T.A. will hold
a short business meeting in the
scfexil auditorium on Tuesday,
Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.
Figures recently released by
State Comptroller, Bob Bullock
show that Wortham’s total of
sales tax collection for 1975 were
$6,641.87.
Wortham received its first
measurable rainfall Saturday
evening with a total of .71, ac-
cording to official weather ob-
server, Jessie Miller.
Happy Birthday to Mrs. J.H.
Pritchard on Jan. 31; J.C.
LeFevre, Johnny LeFevre, and
Lottie Driver on February 1;
Gary Buchmeyer, Sharon Fuqua,
Robert Price, Imogene Magness,
Judy Calame and Franky Ridge
on February 2; Roy Cowart,
Jimmy Lane, Larry Williams,
Mrs. R.H. Lee and Jimmy Allen
on February 3; J.C. Collier and
Billy Joe Bounds on February 4;
and Mrs. E.A. Peurifoy, Harry
Bounds, Rene Gregory and
Wayne Poe on February 5.
Happy Anniversary to Mr. and
Mrs. D.D. Spakes on February 2
and Mr. and Mrs. Claude Jenkins
on February 3.
Simmons
Elected to
Board of F.N.B.
Mr. E.A. Strange, Sr.,
Chairman of the Board of the
First National Bank, Wortham,
Texas, announces at the annual
meeting of the Stockholders,
January 8, 1976, that Mr.
Franklin P. Simmons, Jr. was
elected to the Board of Directors.
Mr. Simmons received his B.S.
Degree in Petroleum
Engineering from Texas AfcM
University and is a Petroleum
Engineer with General American
Oil Company of Texas with of-
fices in Dallas.
Mr. Strange also announced
the election of Mrs. Emilie Anne
Jones as assistant cashier. Mrs.
Jones received her B.S. Degree
in Business Administration from
Baylor University. Mrs. Jones
has been with the bank since
June, 1974._
Birth Defects
Program Set Feb. 3
The Wortham Young
Homemakers will hold a meeting
in the Homemaking Dept, of the
High School, at 7 p.m. on
Tuesday, February 3. The
meeting is sponsored by the
March of Dimes and they will
present a program on birth
defects.
Everyone is invited to attend
this informative meeting.
Chaloupka Says Agreements Met
With Butz Over Texas Cattle
WACO -- Texas Farm Bureau
President Carrol Chaloupka said
agreements reached in a meeting
with Secretary of Agriculture
Earl Butz "seem to satisfy many
of the objections of the Texas
cattle industry to U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture Brucellosis
regulations.”
Chaloupka met in Washington,
D.C., Jan. 22 with Secretary Earl
Butz and animal health officials
of the USDA to try to work out a
settlement on the Brucellosis
program in Texas. At present,
the Texas Animal Health
Commission is complying with
federal regulations in response to
a court order, thus avoiding for
the time being, a quarantine on
Texas cattle.
"USDA officials agreed to
being a program of calfhood
vaccination in areas where
Brucellosis is a problem,” the
TFB president said. “They also
agreed to have the American
Academy of Sciences monitor the
USDA Brucellosis research
program provided that funds are
made available."
The state farm leader said
USDA also agreed to “explore
the possible release of the 45-20
vaccine to complement Strain 19
vaccine which is presently in use.
The 45-20 vaccine is safer to
handle, can be used safely in
adult cattle, but requires annual
vaccinations. Strain 19 vaccine
has been shown to provide
protection for at least seven
years.
Chaloupka was accompanied to
the Washington meeting by
Robert A. Faseler of Hondo,
chairman of the TFB animal
health committee; Warren
Newberry of Waco, TFB
executive dicrector; and Joe
Fields. Waco, radio-television
news director for the farm
organization.
Under the court order in Texas,
which is in effect indefinitely, the
Wortham United Fund
Has Meet Jan. 26
Commission Announces
Addition Of Personnel
The Public Utility Commission
of Texas, at its public meeting on
January 20 in Austin, announced
the hiring of additional personnel
and heard staff reports from its
division directors.
Mrs. H.P. Bounds, president of
the Wortham United Fund,
presided at a meeting of the
officers and directors in the M.C.
Strange Community Building on
Monday, January 26.
The treasurer, Mrs. N.D.
Buchmeyer reported that the
1975 Drive brought in $2,381.06
and Mrs. Bounds said that this
ranked Wortham tenth in the
State for the percent of goal
raised. The goal for Wortham
was $2,000.00 Mrs. Buchmeyer
stated that the following
disbursements have been made:
American Red Cross - $400.00;
Boy Scouts of America - $100.00;
Bluebonnet Girl Scouts Council -
$50.00; Salvation Army • $100.00;
Mexia State School Chapel Fund -
$160.00; Cerebral Palsy Foun-
dation - $100.00; U.S.O. - $150.00;
March of Dimes - $75.00; Cancer
Research - $100.00; Southwestern
Diabetic Foundation - $75.00;
Texas Association for Mental
Health $88.00; Texas
Rehabilitation Hospital - $50.00;
Christmas Fund - $118.40;
Wortham Hospital Library -
$100.00; Wortham Heritage
Home Auxiliary - $100.00; Lx>cal
Donations - $200.00 and Summer
Youth Program - $200.00.
Four directors were elected to
Hawthorne
to Attend Area
F.H.A. Meeting
Denise Hawthorne will be
attending the Area meeting of the
Texas Association of Future
Homemakers of America, as a
voting delegate of the Wortham
Chapter of F.H.A. All members
of the F.H.A. Chapter may attend
the meetings, to be held in Waco
at the Convention Center
February 6 and 7. Cheryl calame
is a candidate for area office.
Mrs. Nell Jolly is sponsor for the
group.
Installation of the 1976-77 area
officers will climax the Saturday
evening session. At this time 12
new officers will be placed into
office.
Special greetings will be
brought by Mrs. Norma Parton,
consultant with Texas Education
Agency Land Denton and Mrs.
Betty Romans. The keynote
speaker is Mark Ellison, F.F.A.
State President.
The Future Homemakers of
America is an organization
sponsored by Homemaking
Education, T.E.A.
Thomas L. Boudreaux, a
Certified Public Accountant and
five year employee of Arthur
Andersen & Company of Houston,
has been selected to head the
replace retiring directors E.A. -^counting Division of the PUC.
Strange, Jr., Wayne Poe, Hubert " • n«nager ftr Arthur An-
Wasson, and Dr. N.D. Buch-
meyer. Elected for the years 76
through 78 were Mrs. E.A.
Strange, Jr., Buff Carmichael,
Glen Latimer and Mrs. M.D.
Craig, Dale Ricer was chosen to
fill the unexpired term of John
LeFevre who resigned.
Mrs. Bounds appointed a
nominating committee for 1977
consisting of Mrs. F.P. Simmons,
F.B. Covert and Hubert Wasson.
She expressed her appreciation
for the fine cooperation of the
officers, workers and the Fund
Drive Chairmen, Wayne Poe and
Mrs. Charles Calame.
Those attending the meeting
were Mrs. Bounds, Mrs. N.D.
Buchmeyer, Mrs. W.O.
Richhardson, Randy Goolsby,
Buff Carmichael.. E.A. Strange,
Jr., Hubert Wasson, J.D. Moore,
F.B. Covert, and Mrs. F.P.
Simmons.
Beta Club
Members Attend
Convention
Members of the Wortham Beta
Club attended the State con-
vention held at the Sheraton-
Hilton Hotel in Fort Worth last
Friday, and Saturday. Those
attending were Mary Ann
Strange, LaNell Bounds, Mildred
Walker, Cheryl Calame, Carlitta
Mason, Elaine Bounds, Gay
Mason, Hammond Sessions,
Mark Moore, Rex Spakes, Brent
Jones, and John Calame.
During the General Session on
Friday evening the key-note
address was given by Janet
dersen, Boudreaux acquired
extensive experience in the
economics of utility rate setting,
and has supervised the
examination of financial records
of numerous public utilities in
Texas.
A native of Port Neches, Texas,
Boudreaux earned his BBA
degree in accounting from
Lamar University in 1970. In his
capacity as Chief Accountant,
Boudreaux will serve as counsel
to the commission on all ac-
counting and rate making
matters.
Roy Henderson, Director of
Hearings, reported that the
commission has received 2076
territorial map filings to date. He
said that the required fillings
have been received from the
major utilities under PUC
jurisdiction, but that a number of
Medication Courses
Set at M.C.C.
Two medication ad-
ministration courses will be
included in the McLennan
Community College Continuing
Education program for the
spring semester. This course,
designed to increase the ac-
curacy and safety of drug ad-
ministration to nursing home
residents, is approved by the
Texas Department of Health
Resources, the Department of
Public Welfare, and the Texas
Education Agency.
Enrollment is limited to nurse
aides employed in nursing
homes. An entrance exam and
interview are required. The first
Huddleston of Celina, State section will meet on Monday and
President. Campaign speeches Wednesday at 6:30-9:30p.m. and
the second on Tuesday and
Thursday at the same time. A
second General third section will be offered in
held and also Rosebud if there is sufficient
and skits were then given by
candidates for state offices
Saturday a
Session was
separate conferences. A Talent interest from that area.
Show was held Saturday evening Classes will begin on Feb. 16
followed by installation of new and 17. For further information,
state officers and a dance.
The Wortham group was ac-
companied by their sponsor, Mrs.
T.C. (Nancy) Strickland and Mr.
Strickland.
contact the MCC Continuing
Education Office or call 756-6551,
ext. 217,_
Booster Club to
Meet Feb. 2
Animal Health Commission now
requires the S-branding of cattle
exposed to Brucellosis to prevent
them from being diverted from
shipment to slaughter, and
and also requires tighter
controls of cattle entering
Brucellosis-free areas of the
state.
USDA officials said after the
injunction was issued that they
would continue cooperating with
Texas in carrying out a
Brucellosis eradication program,
including the payment of in-
demnities to owners of infected
cattle.
The Texas Animal Health
Commission will meet Feb. 19 to
propose regulations that are
expected to comply with Uniform
Methods and Rules of USDA. At
that time the Commission is
expected to announce a hearing
to be set for March 30. The
Commission has ten days after
that to act on any objections.
Then it can type up the
regulations in the form of a
proclamation which would
establish the effective date of the
new regulations.
Tournament
Winners
Announced
The Wortham Junior High
Tournament was held last
Thursday. Friday and Saturday.
The winner of the tournament in
the girl's division was Mildord
They beat Kerens 34-16 in the
championship game. Blooming
Grove girls won the consolation
trophy by beating Hubbard 46-20.
In the boy’s division of the
basketball tournament. Mexia
beat Milford 53-34 for the
championship. Groesbeck won
the consolation by beating
Blooming Grove 48-31.
Trophies for the tournament
were furnished by the First
National bank, of Wortham.
Those named to All Tour-
nament were the following:
Boys: Milford. Terran Carter.
Jerry Johnson; Mexia. Robert
Busby. Sugar Jones, Adrian
Baker; Groesbeck. Curtis
Harris. Girls: Milford: Fadys
Mathews. Karen Washington,
Barbara Perkins; Kerens, Irma
Hancock. Debra Bradford;
Blooming Grove. Sherrie
Ulsevton.
cities and water and sewer
corporations have not yet filed
with the commission.
Application forms for Cer-
tificates of Convenience and
Necessity, which are due by
March 1, are being mailed to all
utilities that have requested
them or filed maps. The PUC
announced it will begin hearings
on territorial filings in mid-
February and exercised its lease
option to additional space for
hearing rooms.
The commission also an-
nounced the price of several
publications. Subscription to the
Bulletin, which will be published
twice monthly and contain
complete information about
hearings and commission orders
will cost $30 annually. Copies of
rules may be purchased for $2,
and copies of the Public Utility
Regulatory Act may be obtained
for $1.15. All charges reflect
actual commission costs.
Charges for all transcripts will be
printed in an appendix to the
rules.
Anyone wishing to subscribe to
the Bulletin or obtain copies of
any commission publications,
may do so by enclosing payment
with the request directed to:
Public Utility Commission of
Texas; 7800 Shoal Creek Blvd.,
Suite 450N: Austin. Texas 78757.
Computer *
plug-in’ Assisting
Braille Readers
Wortham Girls
Beat Penelope
25-24
Friday night the Wortham
High School girls basketball
team beat Penelope 25-24. High
point girl was Margaret
Freeman with 12 points. D’Anna
Calame had 9 points and Darlene
Spence had 4 points. Outstanding
defense was performed by Mary
Freeman, Sherrie Lane, Martha
Butcher, Betty Latham and
Denise Bosley.
The High School boys team was
beaten 64-53 by Penelope. Gerald
Butcher as high point man had 24
points.
Re-indictment
Sought for Farrar
ANAHUAC. Tex. (AP) - Lib-
erty County Dist. Atty. W. G.
Woods Jr. says an attempt will
be made to reindict Dr. Joseph
D. Farrar in connection with
the 1972 death of a 17-year-old
pupil at his Artesia Hall school
for troubled youths.
Judge George Taylor dis-
missed the murder with a mal-
ice indictment against Farrar
The Bulldog Booster Club will on a defense motion Monday
meet Monday, February 2 at 7 because Taylor said provisions
p.m. in the High School Library.
Plans for the upcoming Football
Banquet will be discussed.
Bob Lilly is to be the guest
speaker for the banquet, which
will be held March 18th
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A
33-year-old man blind for a dec-
ade can read braille five times
as fast now that he can “see”
it with the help of a computer
he plugs into his brain, scien-
tists say.
Scientists also said Wednes-
day that the man has been able
to recognize vertical and hori-
zontal lines through a small
television camera hooked into
the computer.
“I never expected anything
like it. I was just overwhelmed.
It's hard to explain,” said the
patient, describing his ex-
perience last August, the first
time he had seen light in 10
years.
The patient was identified
only as “Craig,” an Ogden,
Utah, student, married with
one child.
The experiments are the lat-
est developments in a $l-million
artificial vision project. A re-
search team from the univer-
sities of Utah and Western On-
tario, Canada, developed the
program and have been testing
it with “Craig" for six months.
Details were released
Wednesday by the project’s di-
rector, Dr. William H. Dobelle,
head of the University of Utah
Neuroprostheses Program. The
announcement followed publica-
tion of the experiments in the
British scientific journal “Na-
ture".
Dobelle said the research
eventually could lead to devel-
opment of a a miniature com-
puter in the frame of a pair of
glasses that would be used to
Exxon Reports
Profits Down
NEW YORK (AP) - Exxon
Corp., the world's largest in-
dustrial company, said today
its profits in 1975 fell 17.5 per
cent below the 1974 level.
In the last three months of
the year, Exxon's profits de-
clined 17.9 per cent from the
like period of 1974, the com-
pany said.
Exxon said it earned an esti-
mated $2.5 billion in 1975, down
from $3.03 billion the year be-
fore. The profits broke down to
$11.18 for each share of com-
mon stock in 1975 and $13.54 a
ihare in 1974.
convert images seen by an eye
socket camera into artificial
sight. Dobelle declined to esti-
mate when such devices would
be available, but he said they
would probably cost between
$3,000 and $5,000.
The lights Craig now sees are
produced by computer stimu-
lation of 64 pinpoint electrodes
implanted on the portion of his
brain which controls vision.
The platinum electrodes are
connected by a tube to a quar-
ter-size socket camouflaged un-
der his hair. A computer pro-
grammed to produce braille
images is then plugged into the
socket.
The braille alphabet normally
consists of six raised dots in
different configurations. For
Craig, the dots are specks of
light, which allow him to read
about 30 characters a minute,
five times faster than he can
by touch. Dobelle said.
Craig compared what he sees
with time and temperature
signs or the numbers on a foot-
ball scoreboard. He said at
times the lights also look “like
distant stars".
Craig lost his sight after
being shot in the head during a
barroom fight.
Kermit Residents
Wondering About
Their Tremors
KERMIT, Tex (AP) - Resi-
dents of this West Texas town
are being shaken up, literally,
and want to know why.
The area was hit last week
by three small earth tremors
and townspeople are awaiting
data from the National Earth-
quake Information Center in
Golden. Colo., to see if it can
be determined why the quakes
are occurring.
The first quake struck at 1:06
a m Monday, the second at
1:45 a m. Thursday and the last
rocked the area at 1:50 p.m.
Saturday.
The Saturday tremor lasted
about 10 seconds and Texas
Tech seismologists at Lubbock
estimated it to have registerd a
3.0 on the Richter scale.
There has been no damage or
injuries reported.
in a new state penal code
enacted after the indictment
would not cover the alleged
crime.
Farrar, 58. was indicted in
1973 by a Libory County grande
- Kermit was hit by an earth-
jury on a charge of murder by quake in August 1986 and an-
ommission for failing to pro- other was reported in 1971.
vide medical attention to Dan- The tremors reportedly cover
na Annett Hvolboll who died in an area 40 miles wide and 100
November 1972 three days after miles long, moving from north
she had taken rat poison. to south
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The Wortham Journal (Wortham, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 29, 1976, newspaper, January 29, 1976; Mexia, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1126427/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Fairfield Library.