The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 194, Ed. 1 Friday, June 14, 1991 Page: 4 of 16
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-44
THK
RAYTOWN SUN
Friday, June 14, 1991
Opinion
Da:
rec
Sun editorial
Victims to be
Stifling Saudi summer
----—---—
remembered
A fitting tribute is being planned for those who have
/\ died in petrochemical industry accidents near the
JljL Houston Ship Channel.
7 Ttieimames will be [listed on a wall that will be part of
ih*' new North.Channel Regional Branch Library to be
built on Wallisville Road east of Carpenter’s Bayou.
At least 44 people, including several Baytoqians, have
died in a series of petrochemical industry accidents along
the ship channel over the past two years.
Twenty-three workers died in an explosion and fire at
the Phillips Petroleum plastics plant in Pasadena in Oc-
tober 1989 while 17 peoplb died in a similar incident at
the ARCO Chemical Co. plant in Channelview in July
last year,..........”1."“...........
A group, Surviving Families of Petrochemical Disas-
ters, is currently raising additional funds for the
memorial, . I
■Families wanting/to have the name of a relative who
died in a petrochemical accident placed on the memorial
should contact the,group through the office of Jim Foil
teno, Harris County Precinct 2 commissioner.
One hundred twenty degrees is hot in any-
one’s language. That was the temperature
the second day on die job here in Saudi
Arabia.
This, after five weeks of nearly constant
rain in Baytown. The black clouds emanat-
ing from Kuwait have- cither subsided or.
gone elsewhere. *
The second day was no better. It was 121
degrees. In this kind of heat, one works a
little and rests a little. You also have to
watch your liquid intake. It seems as though
you arc always ready for a cold glass of
water. .
• It’s true that the humidity is much less
than it is in Baytown and it really doesn’t
feel like it’s 121 degrees but your body
reacts as if .it is. Your throat gets very dry.
Your nose stops up. Your, lips chap.
By the third day, the wind had picked up.
My barometer hail fallen from 29 inches to
28.H inches of mercury the night before and 1
prediaed-rermy-meehante friend we should
be having some bad weather. By 10 a.m., we
were having around 60 mile per hour winds
with, sheets of sand.
The sand blows like snow but it doesn’t
melt, The visibility was down to 50 feet in
places. Tire sand built up in drifts .along the
road and at'our camp. Since rig work never,
■ stops;-wurtr-Tontinued: The smart workers
wore face protection. (Now I know why the
Arabs cover themselves so. much). The
others suffered. The stomi lasted well into
the night.
1 slept well That night in a clean bed. after-
Arthur
Wilde
a nice shower and shampoo. The air condi-
tioner was on full blast, and the sand striking
the metal building produced its own unique
music. By morning, it was calm and some-
what cooler.
The summer also brings longer days.
Saudi Arabia does not observe daylight sav-
ings time. At 5:30 a.m. it is broad daylight.
The sun sets around 6:30 p.m.
On this particular morning, on the way to
the rig, the mechanic and I took a circuitous
route deep into the desert to start our water
well that supplies our drill water. We had to
travel about eight miles from our rig over
gravel roads made by some bedouin and
over open sand.
Close to the well site is a nomadic family,
living in a large tent with a goat pen next to
it, enclosed with blankets and with a tarp for
a roof. Then: was already a Tot of activity -
around the place even though it was only
5:45 a.m. We went to the well, started it and
came back by the family’s “front door.”
Outside were the family’s four children,
some. 200 -feet away, playing-on top ©4 a
mound. As we passed, they all waved and I1
returned their wave. I could not help but
think of the hour and the comparison with
American children. I told my friend that the
only time children got up that early was on
Saturday morning to watch cartoons. He
agreed but also added Christmas to the list.
I also wondered about the 'universal
school bus out here in the desert. Did these
nomadic children go to school at all and if
so, did the bus pick them up? The answer I
got from a Saudi engineer is worth a sepa-
rate article on the entire educational process
for the nomads. So you will have to wait on
your answer.
The nomads, by the way, are a separate
class of people in Saudi Arabia — not quite
gypsies, but similar.
At the water well site itself was the inevit-
able tent with two Indian watchmen. Along
the water line to the rig were two more tents.
Each with two Indians. They sign up to work
three years before any vacation lime. They
have no electricity and bottled gas and water
is brought to them for cooking. They are
deep in the desert, by themselves, living in a
heavy tent with no windows (just a flap
door), and no electricity for even a fan.
It’s going to be a long hot summer in
Saudi Arabia but when I start -to feel sorry
for myself, all I have to do is think of the
Indians in those tents.
The Da
dent Coui
annual 3
Student C
lion held
The Text
the large:
over 4,(X
dance, Tl
School re
the state
were the
tiotj Dev
projects c
energy aw
the Tcxa
Youth Sal
projects <
safety; the
its drug/a
prevent ior
Oulstandi
■'TwardTor
over 15
Day,(on f
Council ci
-j'ccts in (
award.
, In add
awards, t
. ceivcd sw
the four ]
ously the
tending thi
presented
"SMILE!
addressed
drug and
which cot
local seho
from aero
Oil rig worker Arthur Wilde is a longtime
Baytonim,-——■--————-------
Armj
schol
Nation reflects its home life
1936: Di
of ‘cutes
man proud
baby of all’
When a person gets old, events of .the ear-
lier years of life more often pop into mind.
(Yes, I’m there.) Since 1 have always
worked with children and young people, my
memory goes/ back to them.
It breaks my heart to see what is happen-
ing to our society today. I can’t recall who
said it, but the quote. “As goes the home, so
goes the nation," is a’irue One, I am prone to
believe that the homes have the greatest re-
sponsibility. A child’s morals, ambitions and
has. entire outlook on life are instilled in his
life as he is trained- in the home.
1 thank God for my Christian parents and
..the.Jrairt'ing.l4ad-as.-l.grew-.up._We..were-
taught to be truthful, honest, sincere- and
straight face.
I am not classing_all homes nor all young
people in the same category. We still have
Elodie
Edwards
childhood which illustrates this point. Ruby
and I went with-Mama to visit a neighbor.
When we were leaving, I picked up a safety
pin, which was-tying on-fte porch. 1 didn’t
show it to Mama until we got home. When
’low these rules,
discipline
1 never shall forget one instance in my
______________ ___________she asked me where I got it and I told her.
paid the price with she marched me right back to the neighbor’s
house to return the safety pin and apologize.
I’m sure the neighbor was amused but kept a
many great Christian homes which train
their children right and we have many good
and moral young people. But from the news
reports in our'World today, all you hear and
see is immorality, crime and evil occur-
rences. So often, we hear very ’little about
the good in our society.
There is.danger to life at every turn, even
, in our schools. When I taught in the 1920s
and early 1930s, there was very little discip-
line required. The teachers were loved and
respected; -But- now-we have- the opposite sh
tuation.
Kevin A
ves, both
School, W'
the U.S. A
Schol ar/At
This aw
ally by the
to high s
have sha^
in both ae:
Staff Sc
scrited Da;
walnut plat
ing the slut
excellence.
The U.S
presented I
Athlete A\
change and that all homes will realize their
responsibility.
Elodie Edwards is a longtime~Baytonian.
From The-Baytown Sunj files,, this is the way it was:
In 1936
ig for county commissioner, holds his
;al rally crowd to see. He says, “Here’s
iund telling proud mothers you’ve got a
’t tell them that because I have the
Fred Dittrnan. campaign)
' ^ baby daughter for the politi
" the reason why I can’t go a:
cuter baby than I have. I
.cutest baby' of -.them all.”
George Shanks pitchy
Cities Softball League. .
Getting out of financial hole
NEW Yt iRK -• There’s an old saying in
American folklore that to get rout of a hole
first -you have , to fill in the space beneath
your feet or you’ll still be standing in a hole.
The saying remains pertinent for those
whose work involves earthen ditches, but in '
an economic sense it also sums up the prob-
lem of millions of Americans d^cp in a fi-
nancial hole. j
1
no-hitter for Culpepper’s in the Tri-
John Meciom, Houston
which is anchored af May.l
Mn 1956
§1 man, buys the Jefferson ferry boat
Landing near Wallisville. The ferry
used to run. between. Galvesjfen and Bolivar and for a short time ran
between Hog Island and/5 organ’s Point.
‘ Ann Kelly, senior at "Rot rt E. Lee, is elected treasurer of Girls
State in Austin.
!In 1971
Fire destroys Norene S\v nagan’s home at 2001 Texoma and
causes extensive damage),to. he Reggie President, home next ooor^
Baytoriams graduating frd i Rice University are Paul Quinton,
John Killough, Kathy Gaute: :n, Arthur Dermis Gibbons, Christene
Ehlig James, Michael Glen, lullen, Tom Post, Richard Ruckman,
David Start Jr. and Patriciaf Elaine Wimmer.
With 79 members, the new j loose Creek chapter, Daughters of the
American Revolution, is one 'f the largest in the state. Mrs. Elbert
Black is organizing regent.
Herschel Scott, Don Teter ai id Art Aikey chat in the hall during a
break at the Galveston Bay Co iference in Houston. . . Bob Maeser
was there'at nearly every section as was Bob Love . . . Herman
Davis was faithful in attendahir?. . . Also attending the conference
was Clarence Johnson of the T jjeas Quality Board regional office in
La Porte.,-.. I ~
Ir 1981
Services will be- held.tomofri w for Della Lee, who was 103. She
and her late husband, Leonard .ee, operated a grocery store at 400
E. Lobit for many years. • v| 1 V
Willadinc Hines retires frefri .Exxon Research and Engineering
Co/, where she: was-senior grj ahics. technician.
Billy. Mitchell of Baytown v| hs a Citizen of the Year award at
Diamond Shamrock.
- ijeCN
. (
There are al lot of people there: corpora-
tions that borrowed billions when money
was almost free for the asking; governments
that prolonged spending sprees on borrowed
money; ordinary folks Who thought it was
the way to go.
- They're in a hole, and 'they must work
their way out of it by buMnj* a. firmer base
beneath their feet. ”
wrM
John
Cunniff
This is, perhaps, the main reason why
those forecasts about the recovery from re-
cession predict a sluggish process, some-
thing in the nature of 2 percent annual
growth instead of 6 percent, as in some ear-
lier recoveries.
is it to their personal experiences.
Millions of Americans, for example, are
in an employment hole.
In May, 8.64 million were without jobs.
Nearly 6 million were employed part-time
but wanted full-time work. One million were
listed in the first quarter of the year as “dis-
couraged workers,” meaning they have gi-
ven up the search for jobs.
Millions more are in a paycheck hole:
Their incomes have not r$pn- in many
months, or have risen less than enough to
offset the effect of inflation.
That forecast, or something like it, is,now
becoming the consensus or most; popular
forecast. It may tqm out to be inaccurate, but
until the seers change their minds again it is
the currently popular view, of the future.
, Unlike so many economic theories, it is
also one that most Americans, those; who
consider themselves part of the consumer
economy, can understand,, so nearly parallel
Real disposable income fell through most
of 1990 and this-year. The total earnings of
all American production workers in private,
nonfarm jobs in March was lower than a
year before, even without deducting for
inflation.
There is the debt hole, a big one, and not a
lot of material with which to fill it
In December 1980, Americans owed
$385.66 billion of consumer installment debt
on such items as automobiles, credit-cards
and department store purchases. In Decem-
ber 1990, they owed $750.94 billion in that
same category.
Moreover, much consumer debt has now
spilled beyond the official category “install-
ment debt” and is listed under home equity
loans. Fortunately, home values have risen
faster than equity loans, but that trend may
be over.
There is still another hole, a psychological
one. In the 1980s, there was a popular per-
ception that things got better and better. In
the 1990s there is uncertainty, doubt, hesi-
tancy, caution.
However the mood is described, it is one
in which people in the hole feel they must
put a firmer base under their finances before
launching new ventures —a feeling they
must pay down old bills before assuming
new ones.
Evidence pervades the marketplace.
It is the despair of car makers and dealers.
It has other retailers, from boutiques to de-
partment stores, concerned about the future.
It is the feeling that, after months of work,
causes the real estate agent’s deal to
collapse.
Americans seem to be saying that there
are enough trip-holes in the economic envi-
ronment, and that they need no more. As a
consequence, they may spend part of the re-
covery filling up old holes 'before digging
any more.
i
Wl)t SJngtohm &un
Leon Brown.....
Fred Hartman..
■Wanda Orton..
Bruce Guynn..
Russell..Marone
oney..
Qpfrhie Kjjnmev
...............-Editor and publisher
. Editor and publisher, 1950-1974
• editorial Department
.................:.. Managing editor
..Associate managing Editor
ADVERTISING WPARTMENT
..Advertising manager
.. Classified manager
Gary Dobbs.
CIRCULATION
. Gary-Guinn„
PRODUCTION
......General manager
Circulation managed
rffoduettorMnanagef-
■ Lynne Morris..................:......fe,...........:. Composing room foreman
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Today in history
1777: National flag officially adopted
Philadelphia
On June 14,^777, the Continental Congress in
adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national (lag.
In 1775, the United States Army was- founded.
In 1801, former American Revolutionary War General Benedict
Arnold died in London. y
In 1841. 150 years ago, the first Canadian.parliament’opened in
In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the
disputed Falkland Islands — on the 74th day of a conflict that
claimed some 1,200 lives.
In 1985, the 17-day hostage ordeal of TWA Right 847 beganasa
pair of Lebanese Shiite Moslem extremists seized the jetliner shortly
Kingston
In 1846, settlers proclaimed the free republic of California at
Sonoma.
In 1922, Warren G. Harding became the first president to be heard
on radio, as Baltimore station WEAR broadcast his speech dedicat-
ing the Francis Scott Rc$ memorial at Fort McHenry.
In 1928, the Republican National Convention nominated Herbert
Hoover for president on the first ballot. V
In 1940,, German troops entered Paris during World War II.
In 1940, in German-occupied Poland, the Nazis opened their con-
centration camp at Auschwitz.
In 1954, President, Eisenhower signed an order adding the words
“under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1967, the spac6 probe Mariner V was launched from Cape
Kennedy on a flight that' would take it past Venus.
after-takeoff-fromAthens,-GrccGe,TheplaneflcwtCT Beirur.thcnto
'Algiers.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Burl Ives 4s 82. Actress Dorothy
McGuire is 73. tActor-director Sam Wanamaker is 72. ABC news-
Real estate developer Donald Trump is 45. Actor Eddie Mekka is
39. Olympic speed skater Eric Hciden is 33. Singer Boy George is
BIBLE VERSE
“I am come a light into the world, that whosoever
believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
John 12:46
JC Penney \A/$/
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Brown, Leon. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 194, Ed. 1 Friday, June 14, 1991, newspaper, June 14, 1991; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1051938/m1/4/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.