The Cuero Record (Cuero, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 311, Ed. 1 Monday, December 31, 1934 Page: 10 of 24
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PAGE TWO
mu htro, record, cuero. tfxas
1934 Cuero Turkey Trot Proved
/nr*.
I 0
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a* _
MONDAY. DECEMBER 31, 1934
Notable Success
Thousands Visit City j
For Revival of Cuero’s j
Famous Celebration!
i
I - I
—
Cuero and DeWitt county, long famous as the Turkey!
Capitol of the World, in November of 1934 were swept back
into the limelight on a wave of publicity, as one of the most
successful Turkey Trot celebrations in the history of this lit-
tle city was staged under the direction of the Business &
Professional Women’s club of Cuero.
The 1934 Turkey Trot held on November 15th, 16th and j
17th was perhaps wider acclaimed -than any previous Turkey
Trot and the throng of more than fifty thousand persons here
during one or more of the
three days witnessed a bril-
liant spectacle.
Radio broadcasts, newspa-
per articles in papers from
the Mexican border to the
coast of Maine, magazine
stories and news reel cameras
heralded this celebration as
Cuero Scores Again With Novel Celebration
INDUSTRIES IN
CUERO FACING
BRIGHT FUTURE
Cuero in November of 1934 once more claimed space on front pages of newspapers throughout
the nation with the staging of one of the! most sue cessful Turkey Trots in the history of the city. A
crowd of more than 30,000 watched 8,000 strutting birds parade down the streets of this city to “baking
pans” of the nation.
Labor and Low Taxes
Boon.
one of the m- st unique in the Lower Power Rates, Cheap
nation, and today the name of ]
Cuero and DeWitt county is once j
mere known as the nation’s turkey
capitol.
Responsible in a great depee for LEADING PLANTS
the success of thia celebration was
the sponsorship of the Business & Compress, Cotton Mill
Professional Women’s club. Headed p„1Iinr pi0„+
by Miss Florence I Ellis, this club ro*vef Vjant
of thirteen members, took complete! Recognized,
charge of all arrangements for the | ...... j
Ttot and supervised the actual j Cuere industn€s continu€ to enJ°y i
staging to perfection. Active were1 a substantial growth despite cur- j cuero achieved one of the lowest
Misses Beryl DuBose, “Blondie” s tailment due to the business stag- ; fire record's for cities of it's size in
Laaks. Agatha Weber and Mrs. Ben: ........
Parmer, Mrs. Ella Semmler and
Mrs. Henry Heyer. Cuero business
men and women gave splendid co-
FIRE RECORD i
FOR 1934 GOOD
Loss For Entire Year
Confined Practically
to Single Blaze.
TURKEY TROT CHAIRMAN
i AMPLE WATER
nancy which held the nation in its !the state of Texas in 1934 despite
* the fact that the one single serious j
1 blaze caused fire loss of $19,400.
grip for many months.
The future of Cuero
industries
Cuero s total less Tor the year was j
only $20,822.37. the fire which gut- j
ted the Breeden-Runge Company
being responsible for j
cultural, poultry and women's ex-
hibits were among the other fea-
tures.
Saturday’s Kidjlie's Parade was
anothd^ outstanding feature, more
than one hundred entries taking
part in this parade. ,
Exhibits at the 1934 Trot were
far above the average, and would;
have been a credit to any state I
fair in the South.
Responsible for the success of
these exhibits were, Mrs. S. H. Put-
man, chairman of the women’s ex-
hibit; L. A. Carter and Dr. Louis
Kleinecke, chairman of the Art and
Flower 9Jhow; Charlie Thompson,
chairman of the poultry exhibit, and
R. B. McMahon, chairman of the
Industrial Exhibits.
Housed in up-town business
houses, these exhibits drew thous-
ands of spectators, and proved with- i annually for compressing and stor
DEWITT BOASTS
10W TAX RATE
Tax Rate For County Is
Only 52 Cents Per
$100 Valuation.
operation, and preparations for the:tarries even greater promise. The
big celebration went off without a | prosperity of industries in this city
f J is predicated on the fact that this : warehouse -----„ _
Opening with the big Turkey;^ enjoys the industrial assentials i $1°'400 of this total
Tret parade on the morning of No- f Loss in other blazes was cut to j
tenter 13th, the Trot^got off nec€ssary to the success of . those! the minimum. I
to a great start. More than six | todustriss who desire a location for ‘ Directly responsible for this
thousand strutting gobblers follow- j economic distribution, good cheap splendid achievement are Chief R.
ed the care bearing Governor-elect j labor, hydro-electric powers an | F- Heyer and the volunteer fire de-
James V. Allred and other notables,; abundant natural gas supply, cheap j partment who are prepared at all
and the beauty erf the fifty or more! living costs, ideal climatic condi- j times of the day cr night to pro- 1
floats and decorated automobiles j tions and a lew tax rate. j tect Cuerq citizens and their prop-
making up the parade has never! Texas’ largest power dam is lo- [ erty- Sheer courage nr. j tireless en- j
been excelled in ft pftfftde of this hated on the Guadalupe River at i thusiasm, coupled with modern
natlire in South Texas. ! Cuero and is owned and operated equipment and speedy fire engines.!
Climaxing the day’s entertain-1by the Central Power and Light aid them in their work, the city of,
ment was the Coronation erf Sultan Co. During the past year this city Cuero toasting one of the most.
Jekuit. Dr. Dan Peavy, and the j has become a hub of high voltage j modernly equipped fire departments
Coronation ceremonies honoring | transmission lines extending to
the Sultan, his Queen Sultana, Miss j cities in all directions. Additional!
Frances Hamilton, and other mem- i power developments on the river
bers of the Royal party. i are being contemplated to fill the
Rodeos, football games, the ever increasing demand for power
George- J. Loos show*, modern andifcr the new industries being built,
old time dances, dare-devil stunts j One Of the first cotton mills in
by auto racers, and wealth of agri- Texas was built at Cuero. Records
indicate that the Guadalupe Val-
ley Cotton Mills was reorganized in
1911 for $135,000.00 and has enjoyed
a splendid growth. The capital
stock was increased to $270,000.00
out of the profits and at the pres-
ent time the plant is worth more
than $540,000.00. Employment is
given one hundred and sixty-five
persons and five thousand bales of
local cotton are consumed annually,
in the manufacture of duck and
asnaburg and linert»ette a new
product.
One of the largest inland cotton
Compresses in the South is located
at Cuero and Is owned by the
Grander industries Inc. The state
bonded warehouse has a capacity of
10,000 bales. The company also owns
compress plants at Victoria, and
Shiner. More than sixty thousand
I bales of cotton is concentrated here
SUPPLY HEREC0STS ™
_ j Egf^s Set at Home
New 500 Gallon Per Min- |
ute Well Swells Flow
to-1100 Gallons.
Completion cf a 500 gallon per their eggs to mid-western produc-
, m:nute water v.'ell in September for er*s aj- jgc pej- egg; nut E. C. Hesse,
152,000 Turkeys Go
To Market From This
County During Year
DeWitt county turkey producers in 1934 reaped one of
the? richest harvests in recent years as 152,000 gobblers and
hens wfnt to market to return their growers more than
$319,000.
While the 1934 crop was perhaps 15 per cent short of the
1933 turkey crop, grower^ received never-the-less more than
double the return than they did for their 1933 turkeys.
Prices in 1934 ranged from 12 to 17 cents ns compared to
an average of 8 1-2 cents in 1933.
Cuero led all sections of the
county in total shipments, ap-
proximately 80,000 turkeys
moving out of this city dur-
ing the Thanksgiving and
Christmas season. An ac-
curate check is impossible,
due to the fact that thous-
ands of birds were trucked out
of Cuero in addition to the 35
carloads that moved by rail.
The $319,000 paid to DeWitt
ccunty turkey growers in 1934 was
shared by practically every average
farmer in the county. Contrary to
general belief the birds are not pro-
duced on giant turkey farms, but
each farm contributes from 25 to
100 birds to the market annually.
In most instances the farmer pro-
duces his own feed and proper feed-
ing costs approximately ninety cents
It may be a good thing for De- j P63? when figuring the feed at
Witt county turkey growers to ship j market prices. Cckt for feed were
slightly higher in 1934 than in 1933.
GAIN NOTHING
FROM SALE OF
TURKEY EGGS
Pioneer Texas Buyer Says
Practice Means Suicide
of Industry.
FARMER
I
Will
Net Farmer preater
Returns.
the city of Cuero assured this city • manager Qf the Cuero Packing Go ,
one of the most ample and purest Texas’ picneer Texas Turkey dress-
i water supplies boasted by any city ing plant doubts it
Lin this section of the state. i „ •. n .. . if
The Record recently published ari$
announcement from the county \
agents department to the effect
i that northern and midwestem tur-
key ra-eers had submitted an offer
to purchase up to 100.000 eggs at
this figure. At first glance it seem-!m 1 - past.
Wells at the Cuero municipal'
water plant supply this city with a
flow of 1.100 gallons of water per
| xninnte.
The new well flows 500 gallons of
pure artesian water per minute,
The birds should average from 14 to
20 pounds, and turkeys marketed in
DeWitt county during the past sea-
son were in most instances in splen-
did condition.
Opening of an organized market
for turkey eggs this year premises
to net turkey producers perhaps as
great a revenue as they have been
receiving from the birds themselves
ifd “ «*^»*”?» ed an excellent way tor
! -Y-iLY farmers to realize an extra income
DeWitt |
cooler months and prevent wastage
i frem their turkeys, but Mr. Hesse.
Jwho has been buying turkeys here
since 1904, says it
I
! of water. <
! The mundpal water works is one
'of the show places of the city and . , . . . ,. ,____
, , - . . ., mental not only to the farmers
has been a valuable asset m provid-;
themselves, but to the turkey m-
; ing lunch for civic expenditures, , , , _ .. _ . . „ '
° , . dustry of South Texas in general.
; not only being a self supporting, y he n red „ ^
! unit of the city government but pro- representative of the Becort:
i ducing annually a steady revenue.
1 “An average turkey hen, under
out a doubt one of the Trot’s great-
est features.
The cooperation otf Cuero pack-
ing firms was another'contributing
age. Firewalls and other modern
improvements costing thousands of
dollars have been made during the
past year.
factor to the success of the Trot, the j Turkeys has made Cuero famous
Cuero Packing Co., and the Alamo all ov£r the world. The Turkey
Despite a reduction in valuations,
DeWitt ccunty commissioners in
1934 decided to retain the unusually
low tax rate of 52 cent's per $100
valuation for DeWitt county.
The tax rate of 52 cents is among
the lowest county tax rates in the j Trot,
state, but through efficient handling
of county funds, DeWitt county has
been able to meet all expenses and
chalk up a neat balance annually on
this 52 cent rate.
County finances are now in splen-
did condition, and the bonded in- i
debtedness of the county was re-
duced materially during the past
year. T)eWitt county is rated today
as one of the few’ counties in the
state boasting a balance rather than
a deficiency.
Florence I. Ellis, past president of the Cuero
Business and Prorfessional Women’s Club, who
served as General Chairman for the 1934 Turkey
The celebration, staged entirely under di-
rection of women, was one of the most successful
ever staged h£re.
Packing Company purchasing the
birds used in the Trot.
Unique in more ways than one
was the 1934 Turkey Trot.
For the first time in many, many
years, the 1934 Trot proved to be
a money making proposition.
Under-written by Cuero business
men who made contributions to the
Trot, which is to be a bi-annual
celebration, when eight or more ] ing a pIant for
NEW CANNING FACTORY
Snider Facking Company is build-(
Deer Slaying Is
New Industry
AUSTIN, Dec. 24.—<INS)—Deer-
slaying is fast taking on the pro-
portions cf a leading industry in
Texas, the report of the State
Fish, Game and Oyster Commis-
sion, just published here, reyeals.
During the 1933-34 season, the
and geese.
How more and more farmers are
setting up private preserves is indi-
cated from the growth of acreage in
leading counties. In Mason county,
there were 129,831 acres in 1929.
and 250.514 acres in 1934. The Gil-
liespie county acreage increased
from 148.221 to 253,300 during the
same period. In Kerr county, the
canning and pro-number of acres of Private hunting
feeding' peas a: Harlingen ad — i Preserves, “farmed out’’ to hunt-
CITY HAIL IS
TRANSFORMED
Eggs sold on the early market will
net approximately 13 cents each,
and according to the county agent’s
department northern hatcheries will
would* "be detri- have reP^nt^iv<* in *** «"***
(during 1935 with orders for thous-
ands of turkey eggs.
Poultry production first became
recognised as a profitable industry
in this section with the establish-
ment by the Northern Produce Co.,
„ in 1903 of the first turkey dressing
ordinary conditions will produce 30 plftnt m provideA ^
eggs per year. At a price of lie an aU ye4r market production
each, these 30 eggs would net the
farmer $5.40. •
| “If kept at home and set these 30
eggs will produce at least ten
Relief Labor Used to
Renovate Cuero City
Hall.
Renovation of Cuero’s city hall
was ameng the most noticeable
projects accomplished in Cuero in
1934 under the unemployment pro-
gram and as a result of this ,work
Cuero today boasts a most attrac-
tive -civic center.
Renovated throughout and given
a stucco exterior finish, the city
hall was transformed from an un-
sightly brick building into a most
attractive civic building.
Cost to the city was less than
$2000. relief labor being used al-
most entirely on this project.
Renovations included not only a
stucco finish to the building and
turkeys to maturity. On the
Cuero market these turkey’s averag-
ed better than $2.00 each. At $2.00
each they frould net the farmer
$20.00 or $14.60 more than if the
eggs were sold. Even if $5.00 addi-
tional was expended for feed the
farmer would still make $9.60 more
by setting his turkey eggs ratiler
than selling,” Mr. Hesse estimates.
But the losis of profit through
sale of the eggs is not the only dis-
advantage, Mr. Hesse points out.
“When tire DeWitt county eggs
are shipped out of the state, the
outside growers get them six weeks
earlier than under ordinary condi-
tions. Their birds will be ready for
market the same time as the Texas
crop. We will be supplying the eggs
for out of the state growers to pro-
duce turkeys tq compete with ours
in the northern and eastern mark-
ets and as their production increas-
es the price will be forced down and!
began on a much larger scale.
Farmers for 50 miles around brought
their turkeys and chickens to the
Cuero market and during one siggle
1934' season alone the Cuero plants ship-
pea
ers. had increased to 2.833,947 in
nishes an interesting spectacle j .'T“ “w * , ,
viewed by thousands cf people. The! rCS ' s f e^aco ar-r‘ fifty^ight counties. This included
Cuero Packing Co., is the pioneer! ar fngen. A ca. oad cf machinery' aP hunting preserves although the
turkey dressing plant of Texas. This
large industry handles poultry and
eggs, shipping more than two hun-
dred carloads of eggs annually. The
fund without any idea of receiving \ Alamo Produce Company is the sec
a refund, the Trot cleared above all j ond poultry dressing hou’se in this
expenses, approximately 50 per cent ^ c^y and and Co. operates a
of the money subscribed. .third plant here. They are playing
This money was refunded to don- j an important part in the develop-
ers to the Trot funfl by -the Busi- j Rient cf the turkey industry in the j
ness and Professional Women’s j county also.
club- j The Crescent Valley Creamery, i
Cuero now looks to a Turkey Trot | ]argest sweet cream creamery in f
in 1936. Texas will celebrate her | Texas provides an all year cash J
great Centennial in 1936 and plans j marjcet in Cuero for whole milk and
for a Turkey Trot to be offered as butter fat.
one of the novelties of the Texas j _______
birthday party are already under-
way.
recently armed at Harlingen for.d;,erjpreserves predominated,
the three plants. The actual pro-; upon these acres. 17,458 hunters
cessing is expected tc b-yjjcJfr De- fared forth, killed an estimated
cember with 2.500 acres of peas. 6,513 deer, 2,057 turkeys,
under contract. ! quail and doves, and 18.020
1929 acreage was 211.149 and in 1934 project) accorn-
358.806; while Comal county in- | Plished under the 1934 relief pro-
creaked from 198.764 acres to 167.-
853 acres. Of the five important
counties, Llano alone showed a de-
crease.
The commission inferentially ap-
proved of this method, since the
man with a hunting preserve will
1.649 i not allow excessive kills to deplete
duck 1 his stock.
the complete remodeling cf the in- ^ wiU receive less for
tenor, but a modern and attractive lheir turkeys
“We produce the finest flavored
turkeys in the world in south Tex-
as,” Mr. Hesse said. “The feed they
get on the range givefc the birds a
fine flavor. We have nothing to
gain by shipping our eggs to out of
state growers. In my opinion such
roof as well.
Cleaning of ditches, improvement
cf city streets, and the construction
of several bridges over drainage
ditches in the city were among the
ether permanent project^ accom-
jects in this city.
FIRM CHANGES NAME
“Candies. Inc ” is the new cor-
porate name of the Elie Sheets
Candies Co., of Fort Worth, to-
gether with another charter ameno-
ment increasing the capital stock
from $16,000 to $25,000.
peti a total of 112 can of dressed
fowl. :
New poultry dressing plants are
located in practically every town
of importance in the county and
all contribute to the total nun$*er
cf cars shipped out of the couaty,
with Cuen plants handling approx-
imately 50 per cent of the total num~
ber of birds shipped.
DeWitt county turkey producers
are improving their breed* each
year, and through educational cam-
paigns and effective work
county agent’s department
70 per cent of the turkeys fc
this county are of improved strains.
As a reteult of improvement fh
breeds," DeWitt turkeys are com-
manding the highest market pr
and “Cuero turkey” is being/
tured on the menus of many leac
hotels and cafes of the nation.
In addition to the sum paid tbr-
key producers’, thousands erf dol-
lars „were distributed among work-
men of this county by packing firms,
hundreds of pickers and packers
being employed during the market-
ing season.
Recognized as the “turkey capitol”
of the world, DeWitt county is to-
day one of the leading poultry pro-
tactics mean absolute suicide to the ducing sections of the United
turkey industry in Texas.” States, and possibilities offered by
“In reaching the above conclusion poultry production cm a large scale
no account is taken,” Mr. Hesse have not,yet been fully recognized,
said, “of the vast amount expended
in operation of the packing indus-
tries in Texas. At the local plant
alone the operation expense is $60,-
000 per year,” he stated,
1934 Pecan Crop
Proves Be Light
In This County
The 1934 DeWitt county pecan
crop was one of the lightest crops
in several years.
Pecan bottoms throughout the
Guadalupe Valley were “hard hit”
during the past year, the crop being
spotted.
Prices offered for pecans during
the past year were considerably
higher however, and local markets
were fairly busy during the buying
season.
Livestock Values
Reach New Highj
CHICAGO. Doc. - J.—-(INSy—Live- j
stock values soared to new highs i
for the season here today as the i
recent “bull movement, influenced i
by light receipts and improved j
dressed meat demand, continued.
Hogs advanced 40 to 75c per;
hundredweight with light grades*
leading. It was the most spectacular
one day advance witnessed in many
months. Top reached $7.10, the
highest since last September.
Cattle values were strong to 25c
higher than Monday and 50 to 75c
over last week. Top in the market
(was $10.75 paid for weighty steers, i in tilio GCCtion Of the State.
One of Cuero’s boasts is of her modern and efficient school system. Seen above is the Senior HiTh building, one of
the three modern school buildings consist ing the Public School system. The building is one of the most i. lequately equipped
in I i o ''ggi mn rv-f fKn otof n
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Howerton, J. C. The Cuero Record (Cuero, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 311, Ed. 1 Monday, December 31, 1934, newspaper, December 31, 1934; Cuero, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1072808/m1/10/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Cuero Public Library.