The Texas Mohair Weekly (Rocksprings, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, January 20, 1956 Page: 1 of 4
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Volume 48
Rocksprings, Texas, Friday, January 20th, 1956
Number 2
■ *>
Tragic Gun Accident Takes Life Of
Charles H. Templeton Jr. Wednesday
Shock and grief spread over the
community Wednesday afternoon
when news was received of the
tragic gun accident' that took the
life of Charles Henry Templeton,
Jr„ son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry
Templeton.
The accident occurred at the
ranch home of Mr. and Mrs. Nor-
man Whitworth. Charles and Mau-
rice Sorrells had gone out to the
ranch Tuesday evening to attend
to the Sorrell’s cattle that is being
run on the place. The boys remain-
ed over night to go varment hunt-
ing which has become a favorite
Sport among the young people this
winter. Due to the bad weather
conditions the next morning the
boys were unable to get their car
started so that they could’ come
in to school. In the early after-
noon they-practiced target shooting
out in the yard and after using up
all the cartridges went inside the
house to reload the gun. a .22 cali-
ber pistol. After the gun was re-
loaded, Charles asked to see it.
Maurice handed him the gun and
in passing the gun from one boy
to the other, it dropped to the
floor and discharged. The .22 short
struck Charles below the heart,
penetrating it and lodging in the
8tdi rib. He took a few steps and
fell. The accident occurred about
3:00 o’clock.
Maurice carried him to the car
and (brought him into town to
•the hospital. The doctor pronounc-
ed the death was almost instantane-
ous.
Sheriff' Brown and Rangers
Houston White and J. A. Sikes
investigated the accident and fil-
ed a report of unavoidable acci-
dent.
Funeral services will be conduct-
ed Friday morning at 10 o’clock
at the First Baptist Church. Pall
.bearers will be classmates. Inter-
ment will be made in the Rock-
springs Cemetery under the direc-
tion of the Smith Funeral Home.
O
Charles was born January 1, 1938
in Rocksprings. He lived his entire
life here with his parents. He was
a member of this years graduating
class of the Rocksprings High
School and had played football
on the first string during his high
school career. His life was an open
book to the community and school.
He was an example of fine youth,
a quiet, mannerly boy that was
•looked upon with the highest
regard. Words are inadequate to
express the sympathy that everyone
feels for the families concerned
with this accident. At a time like
this, love and friendship knits a
community together to do every-
thing that is humanly possible to
ease the grief and ‘heartache. It
is beyond our finite minds to un-
derstand these things and in real-
izing these limitations we must
rely upon the great Comforter.
Besides the parents there is
surviving a brother, Carrol, 13
years of age, and his grandfather,
Walter Adams.
School To Be
Dismissed
For Today
In consideration of the esteem
and love the students and faculty
hold in® remembrance of Charles
Templeton, the Rocksprings School
will dismiss for the day, Friday,
January 20th.
Masonic Lodge
Backs “Back-To-
School” Week
Construction
Starts On Building
For Post Office
Excavating for the foundation of
the Neville Smart building began
Thursday at the building site east
of the court house. The building
will join the Hutt building on the
south and the Carson building on
the north. It will fill in the 55-
foot gap on the east side of the
square.
Mr. Smart plans a tile building
with concrete floors. A portion,
size 30 feet by 60 feet will be
rented to the Rocksprings Post
Office. New equipment for the
Post Office has already been ship-
ped to Rocksprings and is in stor-
age until the new building is er-
ected.
The other part of the building
will be constructed for office build-
ings. The structure will be mod-
ern in every detail, complete with
fluorescent fixtures, tile floor cov-
erings and rest rooms. It will be
set back 16J feet from the City
property line to allow for off-
street parking and the .-front will
run parallel to the front of the
Hutt building.
Louie Craig has the contract for
the foundation and floors. Maurice
Gentry and C. A. Turnell and
sons will do the tile work.
National and State Park Officials
Visit In Rocksprings Wednesday
The Rocksprings Masonic Lod-
ge says “Let’s go back to school
—if only for a day. Do you rem-
ember the smell of chalk dust when
the blackboards were erased? The
eound of marching feet on the way
out to recess? The sing periods5
And tbe flag-raising ceremonies,
on occasion? Well, you can ex-
perience all of this again during
Public Schools Week, March 5
through 10. Public schools will
(hold open house during the week.
You will be made welcome, So
let’s make a date now to go hack
to school—if only for a •'ay Rem-
ember the dates—March 5 through
Clyde Nix left Wednesday. for
ulsaif, Florida, after spending six
reeks here with His mother, Mrs.
L. Williams and family.
Brackett Wins
First District
Game From
Rocksprings Boys
Brackettville Tiger’s first win for
the district and Rocksprings boys’
first loss, after two wins took
place in the localgym January 12th.
Rocksprings boys had already taken
games from Nueces Canyon and
Leakey.
The Angoras held the score to
25-37 in favor of the opponents in
the first half but couldn’t hold the
pouncing Tigers any longer and
the score whizzed to a lead of
69-35. Both coaches played second
string boys after the score went
out of bounds, giving these boys
some good experience. The final
score was 80 to 47 in favor of
Brackettville.
Scorers for Rocksprings were
McNealy, 15; B. Smart, 11: J. Ed-
wards, 8; Dixon, 5; D. Edwards,
Charles Bierschwale and Jimmy
Roe, 2 each; Rodney Merritt and
Dwight Davis, 1 each. Neville
Smart, Jimmy Holland, Mike Ta-
tum and McCoy got in some
good plays. Gonzales of Brack-
ettville led all scorers with 23
points, followed by Talamantez
with 22.
In the Big Lake Tournament
Rocksprings forfeited their game at
noon Friday to McCamey, due to
the games coming so close toge-
ther. In the middle of the after-
noon they lost their conflict with
ACC High School by 3 points—
50 to 47. Pointers were McNealy,
18; B. Smart, 11; J. Edwards, 8;
Dixon, 6; Dud Edwards, 4. Char-
les Bierschwale and Dwight Davis
were subs. Dilley came out cham-
pions of the tourney.
The boys went to Ozona yes-
terday to play in Ozona’s famous
tourney. They met Menard at 6
o’clock, Thursday evening. They
go to Comstock next Tuesday af-
ternoon for their 4th district play.
Tommy Cowsert
Assessing Taxes
For County
Tommy Cowsert has accepted
a position in the Edwards County
Tax Assessor and Collector’s office
and will have charge of assessing
taxes for the county.
Mr. Cowsert began work this
week contacting ranch people and
town property owners for the ren-
dition of their property.
Mrs. Green Lockley spent Sun-
day in Kerrville with her daughter,
Mrs. Reuben Hartman. Also vis-
iting with the Hartmans were Mrs.
Lockley’s brother, Mr. and Mrs.
H. A. Litsey of Ft. Worth. The
family had a get-together with
Capt. and Mrs. Roy Lockley be-
fore they left for Virignia.
Frank D. Quinn of Austin, mem-
ber of the Texas State Parks Board
and former chairman of this Board,
headed a group of technicians from
the National Park Service and
State Parks Board in a meeting
with County Judge Horace Brown
and a delegation of Rocksprings
business men at the Judge’s office,
Wednesday noon. The Parks’
group were here to discuss the
possibility of making the Devil's
Sink Hole into a State or National
Park.
With Mr. Quinn were Dr. Eric
Reed and John Kell of the National
Park Service, Santa Fe, New
Mexico; Dr. Ross Maxwell, Bureau
of Economic Geology, University
of Texas and Gordon K. Shearer,
Director, State Parks of Texas,
Austin.
Mr. Kell was one of a party
from the National Park Service
that came to Rocksprings in Feb-
ruary, 1947 to see the Devil's Sink
Hole, explore it and talk of its
development with Edwards County
people. Encouraging reports of the
Devil’s Sink Hole's possibilities
were made at that time by the
National Park men, who suggested
that it be taken up on a state
level. Mr. Kell told the group,
Wednesday, that it is the policy of
the National Park Service to
shelve these reports if nothing is
accomplished about the project
within three years. He stated that
with the apparent interest mani-
fested now the 1947 reports would
he brought out and again delved
into. •
Mr. Quinn presided over the
meeting and gave some aspects of
the work that the State Parks
Board undertakes and the methods
by which they are accomplished.
He brought out that all parks had
their beginning in small meetings
such as the one in Rocksprings,
and not all these meetings were
so fortunate to have as many Parks
Board representatives present. Mr.
Quinn stated that there was not
any doubt but that the Devil’s
Sink Hole would be designated
either as a State cfr National park
at some time. With the scenic won-
ders of the world, Mr. Quinn said
Texas had sadly lagged in develop-
ment. However of late years and
during the time he has been with
the Parks Board, appropriations for
park use have increased from $65,-
000 to $320,000, and at the last
Legislature authorization was made
to issue revenue bonds to develop
parks.
According to Mr. Quinn, the
State Parks Board .has always re-
lied upon the recommendations of
the National Park Service.in re-
gard to the required amount of
land for a Park and thus far, feel
that they have never gone wrong
on these recommendations.
Mr. Quinn assured the Rock-
springs people that the Devil’s Sink
Hole would be placed on the ac-
tive list of future development by
the State Parks Board.
The park men were scheduled
to investigate the Enchanted Rock
near Fredericksburg, Wednesday
morning, but due to adverse wea-
ther conditions were not able to
make the inspection that morning
and rather than wait there came
on over to Rocksprings to talk
about the Devil’s Sink Hole. The
men returned to Fredericksburg
that afternoon, but took time off
to go by the Devil's Sink Hole on
their return trip.
Auto Accident
On Del Rio
Road Wednesday
■ ■ %
Thomas Ray Holt and John D.
Phillips of Junction received min-
or bruises and scratches late Wed-
nesday afternoon when the 1954
Ford sedan in which they were rid-
ing overturned on the Del Rio
Highway about a mile out of
Rocksprings.
The Holt car missed a curve and
turned over on its top, doing con-
siderable damage to the body of
the car. The accident was investi-
gated by Sheriff Brown and High-
way Patrolman Yeary of Junction.
.........Oi-O--
Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Custer of
Camp Wood visited in Rocksprings,
Wednesday. Louise was catching
up on her around-the-square news
at the drug store.
Program Ready For Band Boosters
Presentation Monday January 23rd
This season of (the year people's
mind's are trended toward the bas-
ketball court, but the Rocksprings
Band Boosters Club hopes that the
public will take .time *out from
sports to enjoy an “Evening of
Musical Entertainment’’ at the
High School Auditorium next
Monday evening at 8 o'clock.
If you have not bought your
ticket to the program, admission
charges may be taken care of at
tile door that night. All proceeds
will be used to benefit the Rock-
springs School Band. Those who
plan to attend the program will be
interested in the background of the
artists.
Mrs. Geraldine Gosnell was rear-
ed at Pharr in .the Rio Grande
Valley. She was a 'high school
classmate of Mr. Davis, our band
director. After finishing high
school she received a scholarship
in voice to Baylor University,
where she studied and sang in
several Church choirs in Waco.
From Waco, Mrs. Gosnell went
to Chicago to study voice and
there sang several leading roles in
opera, on radio 'and television.
People, who have heard Gerry, say
she has a voice that a person would
enjoy listening to all night and
then start over the next day. A
very attractive brunette with a
smile and laugh all her own—to
hear her will always remain as one
of your fondest memories. She
brings a varied program—some ex-
cerpts from opera, bust mostly your
favorite musical numbers. She has
a clear mezzo-soprano voice.
Chicago newspaper criticism on
her voice are brilliant, talented,
promising, highly cultural and
pleasing.
Michael Wilkomerski in his ear-
ly career performed in concerts in
tlhe United States and settled in
Chicago, where he helped origi-
nate the Breakfast Club program.
He also performed over radio, giv-
ing concerts and at one time was
irated among the top ten best vio-
linists in the world.
He is in semi-retirement, due to
his health. For his present occu-
pation he teaches violin, tunes
pianos and plays regularly over TV
Stations in the Rio Grande Valley.
He gives of his talent in helping
young artists and playing for
benefit programs. He and Ben
Davis have given several concerts
in the valley. Mr. Wilkomerski i
a persdn you can really enjoy
listening to.
Ben J. L. Davis started his mu-
sical career in San Antonio at the
age of 8 years. Since then lie has
been performing continuously in
one capacity or the other.
During World War II, he per-
formed for the U.S.O. at Brooke
General Hospital and Lackland
Field Hospital for the convalesc-
ing soldiers, often being M. C. for
the program. After his parents
moved to the Rio Grande Valley
from San Antonio, Ben performed
for the Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions
Clubs and was sponsored by music
clubs in concerts throughout the
valley.
As a freshman in high school,
be was awarded the D.A.R. medal
and as a senior, the distinguished
Service award. During his high
school days, he was student hand
director under Mr. Ed Holt for 3
years. He received a one-year
scholarship to the St. Louis Insti-
tute of Music in St. Louis. For
the next three years, he earned a
scholarship to the Institute. He
majored in piano the first two
years, having Lyndon Croxford
and then Dr. Leo Sirota as piano
instructors and conducting under
Nicolai Gogotsky.
Mr. Davis received his Bachelor
of Music Degree from the St.
Louis Institute of Music in S't.
Louis with two majors, piano and
piano teaching. He was one of 4
seniors in his graduating class, who
were given the honor of playing
their senior recital in public.
He has completed 18 hours of
his Masters Degree at the Uni-
versity of Texas and while attend-
ing Texas U, studied Advanced
Conductory under Dr. Von Kre-
isler and also played in the Austin
Symphony Orchestra, under the dir-
ection of Ezra Rachlin.
“District School” and Other Attractions
For Benefit Of March of Dimes Drive
A reproduction of the "District
School” with new faces, old faces,
faces that have gone cotton pickin’
and faces that have finally grad-
uated will be presented at the
High School Auditorium next
Thursday night, January 26th at 8
o'clock. A free-will donation to
the March of Dimes will he taken
up at the entertainment.
Other attractions during the ev-
ening will he a one-act play put
on by the Lions from the Lions
Club. Square dancers from Jane
and Hilton's club will perform.
Mrs. Buddy Thurman, MOD, chair-
man, reports that a carving set
will be given away that evening.
' Coffee money at Gwen's Cafe
will be given to the March of
Dimes, Monday, January 23rd.
Craig’s Cafe gave their coffee
money to the MOD Monday of
this week and McKnight Drug Co.
did this the week before.
Peoples State Bank
Re-elects Officers
And Directors
MOTHERS OF PRE-
SCHOOL CHILDREN TO
MEET NEXT WEEK
Mothers of pre-school children
will meet at the home of Mrs.
Bill Taylor next Wednesday, Janu-
ary 25th. Mothers of this age
group who are interested in the
•octal development of their child-
ren in preparation for school, are
asked to attend this meeting.
The Peoples State Bank held
its annual stockholders meeting
Friday, January 13th at the hank
building. All officers and director?
were re-elected.
• Re-elected were C. H. Gilmer,
president; J. A. Miller, active vice-
president and cashier; L. B, Ward-
law, 2nd vice-president; Thos. L.
Taylor, assistant cashier; Mrs.
Evelyn M inter, bookkeeper.
To serve on the Board of Dir-
ectors with Mr. Gilmer, Mr. Miller
and Mr. Wardlaw, the stockholders
also re-elected Ivan Smart and
Harold Hough.
Show Your Interest By Attending
The Junior Livestock Show January 28
Rocksprings Girls
Lead District
With Three Wins
In the third district venture for
the Angoraettes. Rocksprings girls
squeezed Brackettville’s Tigerettes
out of the running on the home
court, January 12, by 6 points.
Neddie Clark, Sheila Hankins and
Mary Miller 'handled the guard
spots for Coach Barr in such a
fashion that gave the team its 15th
victory in 19 starts and a score of
37 to 31.
Rocksprings was on the hall
from the start with forwards Jo
Nell Hunt, Edwina Smart and
Betty Feynn working their three-
point teamwork to perfection.
Brackett's favorite, Jamie Shahan
happened to a painful accident a
few minutes after the game start-
ed and a hard fall to the floor
put Jamie on the bench the rest
of the game. Fearing a head injury
Jamie was taken to the hospital
here, hut was pronounced all
right after examination. However
she continued to have optical trou-
ble and was taken into San An-
tonio over the week-end where
doctors recommended temporary
glasses to help get her over what
seemed to be an injury to the op-
tical nerves. Tulisha Shahan play-
ed an excellent game ringing up
19 points for her home town.
Scoring as made by quarters was:
Rocksprings, 1st:—13; 2nd—15; 3rd
—9; 4th—0. Brackettville: 1st—2:
2nd—l; 3rd—8; 4th—17. Feynn
made 16 points for her team,
Smart made 11 and Hunt made
10. Coach Barr pulled the main
string from the floor after the
score got under way and played
Lana Guthrie, Christine Haines,
Kay Hankins, Arlene Osburn, Bar-
bara Becker and Garylee Owens in
the forward line-up. Helping the
starting guards mentioned above
were Ginger Whitworth, Eliza-
beth Hough, Barbara Guthrie.
Shirley Barrows, Sue Storey,
Louise Whittle and Adele Mat-
thews.
Brackettville made 49 per cent
of free throws and Rocksprings
made 38 per cent.
This game gave Rocksprings
girls a head start on the district |
victory. Leakey eased a win over!
Nueces Canyon by a meadey 2|
points last week and Nueces Can-
yon came hack to win from Brack-
ettville by 1 point. A prediction
of the district winner is near im-
possible at this stage with 4 strong
teams vying for the championship.
Edwards County ranchers of to-
morrow will be showing their
stock at the annual Junior Live-
stock Show, Saturday, January
28th at the Edwards County Park
and extend an invitation to every
one to come out to the show barns
and look over this stock.
These young people have put
much effort into raising and feed-
ing their stock and your presence
at the show will encourage them
and the men, who are (helping to
put the 9how on.
Judging will start at 9 o’clock,
Saturday morning and the show
is expected to be completed about
the lunch hour.
During the noon hour at the
Park Building a ham lunch wlil
be served for $1.00 per plate. Pro-
ceeds will go to the March of
Dimes. Mrs. Buddy Thurman,
March of Dimes chairman, says
that the plate will have plenty or
good food and along with the
ham will lie beans, sweet potatoes,
salad, hot rolls, coffee, and dif-
ferent kinds of pie.
That is not all the good eafs
that will he served during trie
day. The Home Economics De-
partment will serve sandwiches,
coffee, homemade cakes and candy
at the show grounds in the morn-
ing.
Trophies will he presented to
winners of the show by the Rock-
springs National Farm Loan As-
sociation and the Edwards County
Chamber of Commerce. Premium
ribbons will he furnished by the
Chamber of Commerce.
Nueces Canyon
Girls Win; Boys
Lose To Brackett
Rocksprings A and B girls go
to Junction tonight to play prac-
tice games starting at 7 oclock.
Tlie B girls will play Comstock
Tuesday afternoon. January 24th
at 2:30 o'clock in a non-district
game.
Tom Bill Taylor
Recovering From
Polio Attack
Boys And Girls
District Games
At Leakey
Friday Jan. 27
Rocksprings boys and girls go
to Leakey on Friday. January 27th
to meet Leakey in a district game.
Games will start at 7 o’clock.
Mrs. E. R. Brown of Harper is
•pending this week with her daugh-
ter, Mrs. Paul Barr and family.
Torn Bill Taylor, 21-year-old son
of Mr. and Mrs. Thos. L. Taylor,
is recovering from a serious attack
of bulbar and paralytic polio. The
good news reached here \\ ednes-
day morning when reports from
Tom Bill showed that lie had been
clear of fever for 48 hours and
that he was able to talk and take
nourishment.
Front Wednesday morning of
last week until Monday his con-
dition was considered extremely
doubtful of recovery and not un-
til Friday were his parents told
that he would, have a 50-50 chance
of pulling through. Each clay after
that he gained a little more ground.
It was feared for a few days that
his vocal cords were paralyzed,
but perfect use of his voice has
come back.
With him are his parents and
his sister, Mrs. T. C. Barnes of
Salt Flats. Other friends and re-
latives have stayed by during the
critical time of his illness.
Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock,
the Dean of A. and M. College
and some of’Tom Bill's classmate?
will visit him at the Brackcnridge
Hospital in Austin and the Dean
will present him with his Degree
from A. and M. College. This de-
gree was tp Have been conferred
upon Tom Bill at the graduation
exercises at the college on Thurs-
A truly hair-raising basketball
game was that played between tfie
Brackctville girls and Nueces Can-
yon girls at Barksdale Tuesday
night, January 17th, with the
Canyon girls winning the game by
a one point margin.
The Brackettville girls were a-
head in the game 1 point about
15 seconds before the final whis-
tle. when Bain of Barksdale sank
one for 2 points, putting them a-
head by 1 point. One of Brackett-
ville forwards shot one at the bas-
ket in the last 4 seconds of the
game, the ball slowly circling the
basket and falling on the outside
as the buzzer sounded, ending the
game.
The final score of the game be-
ing Nueces Canyon girls 50, Brack-
ettville girl- 49. Frances Bain was
high point girl for N'uoces Canyon,
making 30 points. T. Shahan was
high point girl for Brackettville,
making 34 points.
The score for the Brackettville
boys and the Nueces Canyon boys
was Brackettville 67 points and
Nueces Canyon 48 points. The high
point man for Nueces Canyon was
Hershel Burleson, making 17 points.
High point man for Brackettville
was T. Reschman, making 32
points.
In A and B games played
by the Nueces Canyon boys at
Leakey Friday night, January 13th,
the Nueces Canyon boys took
the A game and lost the B game.
In ,fhe boys B game, Nueces
Canyon scored 22 points to 24 for
Leakey, with the following high
point men for Nueces: Ed weld),
Charles Sherman, and I'ineky
Garduna each making (> point. The
high point man for Leakey made
8 points.
In the A game, which was won
by the Nueces Canyon by a score
of 74 to 49. Hershel Burleson was
high point man for Nueces with 28
points. George Haby was high
point man for Leakey, making 18
points.
In the girls game, the Nueces
Canyon was defeated by a score
of 40 .to 38. The high point scor-
ers were as follows:
Frances Bain made 29 points for
Nueces and Margaret Cravy made
25 points for Leakey.
o-o-■—
Mrs. Ci Gardner Franks spent
Tuesday morning with her brother.
Coke R. Stevenson and family at
their Telegraph ranch. A baby girl
named Jane was born to Mr. and
Mrs. Stevenson at the ranch
Monday morning at 10:10. The
baby weighed seven pound*.
day. January 17th. Hi» major was
in .production and marketing of
i---*---
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The Texas Mohair Weekly (Rocksprings, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, January 20, 1956, newspaper, January 20, 1956; Rocksprings, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1096849/m1/1/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .