The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 6, 1972 Page: 1 of 4
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Mathis Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Mathis Public Library.
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®lu Hatliis Hems
VOLUME XLIIX
Mathis, Texas, 78368, Thursday, January 6, 1972
FOUR PAGES NO. 1
Office Closed Jan. 11-15
JP To Attend Seminar
Justice of the Peace E. L.
“Ernie” Ridenour announced
his office will be closed Jan. 11-
*45 when he will attend a short
course for justices of the peace
to be given in San Antonio.
Ridenour said the short
■^'courses are sponsored by the
f; Regional Planning Corn-
emissions and Councils of
i Government and are con-
ducted by Texas A&M
University’s Engineering
. Extension Service, Police
Training Division.
Five such courses are being
1 held for justices of the peace on
a regional basis throughout the
state.
The 40-hour courses will be
conducted in two 20-hour
sessions, Ridenour explained,
and will satisfy a Texas
Revised Civil Statute which
requires the 40-hour man-
datory training for justices of
the peace.
According to Texas A&M
University, the services of
some outstanding authorities
in the legal, educational, law
enforcement and judicial
professions have been obtained
to instruct the course.
4-H Leaders Meeting Set
[for Alice Saturday
‘-t
More than 50 adult leaders,
county agricultural agents and
specialists from 19 South Texas
counties will assemble in Alice
Saturday for the annual
. meeting of the District 4-H
Leaders’ Association.
Ernest Botard, adult leader
. from Alice, is chairman.
Purpose of the gathering,
Botard said, is to hear a report
on 4-H progress in Texas A&M
Extension Service District 12
during 1971 and to consider
■ leader training needs for the
new year.
I A special report of interest
I will be a briefing on the
Southern Regional Adult
Leaders Forum in Atlanta,
Ga., by the district’s
representatives, Mr. and Mrs.
Robert Sechrest of Riviera and
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Sim-
nacher of Skidmore.
Other Extension Service
participants will be District
Agents J. D. Selma arid Alma
Flippo and Area 4-H specialist
Preston Sides, all from the
Extension and Research
Center at Weslaco.
The one-day meeting will be
held at the Americana Motor
Hotel.
Glenn Dorris
Glenn Dorris Files
For County Commissioner
Glenn Dorris this week filed
for County Commissioner,
Precinct 3.
He has been a resident of
Mathis more than 30 years. He
has farming and ranching
interests and is manager and
part owner of Mathis Gin Co.
Dorris has served on the
Mathis Independent School
District Board for many years
as president and secretary.
He is married and has one
daughter.
71 Biggest Year For CPL
$50 Million In New Facilities
■ms
188
T South Texas customers of
Central Power and Light
Company increased their home
* use of electricity by the largest
amount in history during 1971,
the company reported in a
year-end review of operations.
The average CPL residential
customer used about 7,828
kilowatt hours of electricity in
1971, a gain of 835 KWH over
the previous record set in 1970.
Much of the increase in the
residential use of electricity
was attributed to the recovery
from Hurricane Celia, which
' struck the CPL service area in
1970 and reduced the use of
^electricity in the storm-hit
* area. Increased use of air
conditioning and more
widespread purchases of
major electrical appliances
I also contributed to the record
q electrical use in the year just
| ended.
l But while CPL customers
'♦ used more electricity in 1971,
they also paid less per kilowatt
hour for it than ever before in
history. During the past 10
years, the average use of
electricity has more than
doubled and the price per
kilowatt hour has declined by
■ :
IS
Domingo Cruz
Domingo Cruz
Gets Discharge
Specialist Fourth Class
Domingo Cruz, son of Mrs.
'Emilia Cruz, recently received
h\£ discharge from the U. S.
Army at Fort Know, Ky.
•'* Cruz took his basic training
Fort Bliss, Tex., and servied
one year in Vietnam.
* He is a 1968 graduate of
Mathis High School.
He will be honored with a
family supper upon his return
to Mathis.
22 per cent.
Total use of electricity by all
CPL customers reached 8.3
billion kilowatt hours, also an
all-time record. Total sales
were up 10 per cent over 1970,
paced by the 16 per cent gain in
sales to residential customers.
CPL President Barney M.
Davis said the increase in
electrical sales was another
reflection of the healthy state
df the South Texas economy
and the quick comeback that
was made from the hurricane
in 1970.
The year just past was also a
benchmark for CPL in many
other ways as the company
continued to push forward on a
record expansion program.
During the year, CPL’s new
E. S. Joslin Power Station at
Point Comfort began
operations, construction
progressed throughout the
year on a 325,000 kilowatt
addition to Nueces Bay Power
Station in Corpus Christi, and
work began on the new Barney
M. Davis Power Station south
of Corpus Christi on the
Laguna Madre.
CPL invested nearly $50
million in the construction of
new service facilities during
1971, with about half going for
the building or expansion of
power plants. Major additions
were also made to the com-
pany’s transmission and
distribution line systems.
To meet the anticipated
demand for electricity in the
future, CPL expects to more
than double its generating
capability in the next 10 years.
“We’re planning ahead now
to meet future needs.” Davis
pointed out, “and expect to
invest more than $700 million in
new equipment and facilities
during the next 10 years.
Because of the long-range
planning, CPL was able to
meet the record demand for
electricity without ex-
periencing any shortage of
power.
Also in 1971, the company
won the electric industry’s
highest honor, The Edison
Award, for recovery and public
information efforts following
the Hurricane Celia disaster.
It was the first time that any
power company in the south-
west had won the national
award.
The company’s total
revenues in 1971 amounted to
almost $lw3 million, an in-
crease of $12 million or about 10
per cent over 1970.
At the end of the year, CPL
was serving 320,000 customers,
an increase of 10,300 over 1970.
The customer gain was the
largest in 15 years, reflecting a
more rapid growth pattern in
the company’s South Texas
service area.
A total of 3,985 all-electric
dwelling units were con-
structed in the CPI service
area during thef irst 11 month
of 1971, compared with 2,245 for
the same period in 1970.
Dealer sales of major
electrical appliances in CPL’s
South Texas service area also
showed sharp gains. Electric
range sales were up 32 per
cent, electric v/ater heater
connections rose by 56 per cent
over 1970 and electric dryer
installations increased by 29
per cent.
At the same time revenues
were increasing, CPL expenses
also went up at a fast clip.
While rising prices and
higher interest rates put a
“cost squeeze” on the utility,
Davis said CPL employees
continued a program of close
expense control to produce the
most efficient operation.
The company’s biggest
single item of expense again in
1971 was taxes, which
amounted to about $27 million,
or more than 22 cents out of
every dollar the company
received room its customers.
Edwin D. Harris Jr.
Edwin Harris
Is Graduated
From Baylor
Edwin D. Harris Jr., son of
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin D. Harris
Sr. of Route 2, Mathis, was one
of 313 Baylor University
students who completed
requirements for graduation
and received degrees Dec. 21
when the 1971 fall semester
ended.
He received a bachelor of
arts degree in mathematics.
No public graduation,
ceremonies were held. The
university’s next com-
mencement exercises will
come at the end of the spring
semester. The December
graduates are eligible to take
part in those exercises.
Ground Cleared For Public Housing
Units To Be Built With Federal Money
Ground clearing began this
week preliminary to starting
construction on $848,000 worth
of low-rent public housing for
Mathis.
The 50-unit project will
provide 16 units of housing for
the elderly and 34 units for
families with children.
Initial construction will be in
the area bounded by Bee,
Rockport and Fulton Streets
and the railroad tracks.
Aliens
Reminded
To Register
Hoyt H. Harris, district of the
Port Isabel district of the
Immigration and
Naturalization Service, again
reminds all aliens to report
their addresses during
January.
Cards with which to make
their reports are available at
post offices and offices of the
Immigration and
Naturalization Service
throughout the country, he
said. The reports must be
submitted to one of those of-
fices.
According to Erasmo
Galvan, executive director of
the Mathis Housing Authority,
construction will begin as soon
as weather conditions permit.
Krueger Construction Com-
pany of San Antonio is the
contractor.
The 50 units of housing are a
part of 500 units of public
housing being constructed in
the Hurricane Celia disaster
area and will be paid for by a
federal grant which was made
available after the storm.
Construction originally was to
have started in April 1971.
According to Galvan, the delay
was caused primarily due to
completion of required
governmental paperwork
connected with the project.
The site being cleared will
contain the 16 units for elderly
persons and a site on Fulton
Street will get the other 34
units.
Both sites will be developed
in the context of a neigh-
borhood concept with
provisions made for parks,
playgrounds, parking areas
and community buildings.
Wieting Reception
Set For Sunday
Mmmmm ..
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Association Sets
Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the
San Patricio County Affilliate
of South Texas Cotton and
Grain Association will be held
tonight (Jan. 6) at 6 p.m. in the
East Elementary Cafeteria at
Taft, Woodrow Hart, president
for San Patricio County, has
announced.
Wayne Hitt
Wayne Hitt Seeks
Reelection As Sheriff
Sheriff Wayne Hitt an-
nounced this week that he
would seek reelection for his
third term as Sheriff of San
Patricio County in the 1972
Democratic Primary election
to be held May 6.
In announcing his candidacy,
Sheriff Hitt said, “I have en-
joyed serving the people of San
Patricio County as Sheriff for
the past two terms, and if
reelected, I will endeavor to
serve them to the best of my
abilities in the years to come.”
A get acquainted reception
honoring State Representative
Leroy Wieting will be held
Sunday from 2 until 5 p.m. at
Gregory-Portland High School
cafeteria, according to James
W. Atkins of Portland,
chairman of the reception.
All residents of the 41st
Legislative District, their
families and friends are invited
to attend.
Punch, coffee, and cookies
will be served and en-
tertainment will be provided.
Atkins said one reason for
the affair is the anticipated
formal announcement by
Wieting for re-election to the
Texas House of Represen-
tatives where he has served for
the past nine years.
Also, it will bring together
for the first time residents of
the new district which was
formed recently by a special
redistricting board. The
district is composed of Aransas
and San Patricio Counties and
about 17,000 citizens from
western Nueces County.
Complete poll lists are not
yet available, Atkins said, and
for that reason public in-
vitations were being extended
rather than relying on personal
letters.
1971 Was A Wet Year
Station Provides Data
Rocket Builders
Make Progress
Two Mathis rocket builders
estimate that their next missile
will be completed within ap-
proximately two months.
This information was
released this week by Kenneth
Schumacher and Steve
Ramsower, partners in the
construction venture.
Most of the parts for the
missile have been machined;
however, the two young en-
thusiasts are awaiting ad-
ditional parts to be shipped
from Canada.
The projectile has been in the
construction stage for about
two years and is being built
from Canadian plans.
When completed it will stand
about six feet tall with an
empty weight of 10 pounds and
will carry a fuel load of four
pounds. Maximum gross
weight is 25 pounds.
The missile will produce 128
pounds of thrust for seven
seconds or 100 pounds of thrust
for 10 seconds and is capable of
reaching an altitude of 15,000
feet according to the builders.
They explained that the fuel
consists of fuming nitric acid
See ROCKET, Page 4
It was a wet year.
This most likely will not be
very surprising to most, but
according to the records kept
by Kenneth Schumacher on
Redwood Drive for the
National Weather Service, 1971
totalled out to 49.41 inches of
rain, making it the wettest
year during an eight-year
period for which records are
available here.
Tommy Woodall began
maintaining the records in
April 1964 and they were taken
over by Kenneth a little more
than a year ago.
Kenneth provides the
weather bureau in Corpus
Christi with a monthly report
giving them the daily rainfall
and maximum, minimum and
temperature at time of ob-
servation readings. The bureau
in turn provides a copy to the
Army and one to the National
Weather Service.
To gather the weather in-
formation, Kenneth uses a rain
gauge and two especially
designed thermometers which
allows him to record the
minimum and maximum
See STATION, Page 4
Two Attend
Police Course
A Mathis city councilman
and a city policeman are at-
tending a seven-week police
academy at A&I University at
Kingsville.
City Councilman Guadalupe
DeLeon and Patrolman
Lorenzo Olivarez began the
seven-hour-a-day course this
week.
Included in subjects being
covered are first aid, police
procedures, weapons, search
and seizure, civil defense,
narcotics and Texas liquor
control laws.
Ridenour Resigns As City Judge
Temporary Replacement Appointed
Important Mail Coming Your Way
Auto License Forms Sent Out
If you own one or more of the
more than 7% million motor
vehicles in Texas, some im-
portant mail is coming your
way.
The first of 7.5 million
renewal applications from the
Motor Vehicle Division of the
Texas Highway Department
were dispatched from the post
office’s facilities in Dallas Dec.
31.
Owners of motor vehicles
should receive the renewal
applications - for obtaining
1972 Texas license plates --
early in January.
The actual motor vehicle
registration at county tax
bffices does not begin until
Feb. 1; however, vehicle
owners may go ahead and
order their license plates by
mail immediately.
All that is required is to send
the entire renewal application,
the registration fee and $1 for
each vehicle to be registered to
the local county tax office.
License plates will be returned
by mail after registration
begins formally Feb. 1.
Vehicle owners should allow
at least 30 days for processing
and delivery. The application
should be sent to the local
county tax office -- not to the
Texas Highway Department.
License plates can be ob-
tained in person at county tax
offices and designated sub-
stations beginning Feb. 1.
In any case, registration will
go faster if the owner leaves
the three-part form intact and
does not separate any of the
three parts.
Complete, easy-to-follow
instructions are contained on
the form and on the envelope.
Deadline for displaying 1972
license plates is midnight,
April 1.
Texas Baptists To Hold Conference
More than 15,000 Baptists
from throughout the state are
expected to gather in Fort
Worth’s Tarrant County
Convention Center Jan. 10-12
for the annual Texas Baptist
Evangelism Conference.
Leading preachers of three
races-Black, White and
Oriental--will challenge
preachers and lay people
through the theme of “God’s
Priorities in Evangelism.”
Major speakers for the
John
First
conference will be
Bisagno, pastor of
Baptist Church, Houston;
Kenneth Chafin, director of
evangelism for the Southern
Baptist Home Mission Board;
Wayne Ward, professor of
Christian theology at Southern
Baptist seminary; James
Landes, pastor of First Baptist
Church, Richardson and Bill
Pinson, professor of Christian
ethics at Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary, Fort
Worth.
At a special meeting of the
Mathis City Council Monday
night, E. L. Vasquez of Corpus
Christi was appointed acting
Municipal Judge for the City of
Mathis to replace Ernest L.
Ridenour who resigned ef-
fective Jan. 1.
Ridenour, recently appointd
Justice of the Peace, Precinct
5, in his letter of resignation
said, “Since my appointment
as J. P. ... I feel that the work
load is too great for me to
adequately serve both
positions, so at this time I
would like to give my
resignation effective Jan. 1.”
He explained in the letter
that at the time of his ap-
pointment as municipal judge
he advised the City Council
that if the time ever came
where he felt he could no longer
serve the City of Mathis in the
best interest of the city he
would tenture his appointment
as Municipal Judge.
The council appointed
Vasquez with the un-
derstanding that it was tem-
porary and that a concerted
effort would be made to ap-
point a Mathis area person to
fill the position on a permanent
basis.
Vasquez, in taking the
position on a part-time basis,
said he could not devote full
time to the job but would be
available for several hours a
day until the city could find a
permanent replacement.
In other business, the council
accepted a bid from Stone
Bros. Ford for purchase of a
new truck chasis on which to
install a garbage tank.
The council members also
were presented a briefing by
an insurance firm on medical
coverage of city employees and
their families. Under the plan
the city would pay for the
employees portion of the
coverage and the individual
would pay for the family
portion.
A meeting of all city em-
ployees will be held tomorrow
(Jan. 7) at which they will be
briefed on the plan and queried
if they favor adoption of such
coverage.
The regular monthly
meeting of the City Council will
be held at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18.
•. ;;v
.......... '
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jggSSSw { Mf
E. L. Vasquez
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Leveen, Paul. The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 6, 1972, newspaper, January 6, 1972; Mathis, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1055699/m1/1/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Mathis Public Library.