Stephenville Empire-Tribune (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, January 1, 1965 Page: 1 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: City of Stephenville Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Dublin Public Library.
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EMPIRE ESTABLISHED 1870-TRIBUNE ESTABLISHED 1890— CONSOLIDATED 1980
ERATO COUNTY
AT THE TOP OF PRODUCTION
OF DIVERSIFIED CROPS
DAIRIES * CATTLE
VOL. 96. NO. 1
& Home of Tarleton State College -£r
STEPHENVILLE. ERATH COUNTY. TEXAS, 76401 FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 1965
10 PAGES
PER COPY !•«
Town
Top
Picks
By BUD HIGGS
The first event of the new
year in Stephenville will be the
monthly “Dollar Day" Monday.
The event, which is sponsored
by the Chamber of Commerce
and administered by the Merch-
ant’s Activity Committee, has
been very successful during the
past year. Steptwnville trade
area citizens are offered hund-
reds of bargains at euch one of
the events.
Much of the success of the
Dollar Day has been because of
the planning done by the com-
mittee during the past year.
The coming session of the
legislature in January will pro-
bably be one of the most con-
troversial in many years. The
legislature has two important
problems — foremost is reappor-
tionment. The Texas legislature
is now under a federal court or-
der to realign its legislative and
senatorial districts on the “one
man, one vote” formula. Present
speaker Byron Tunneil of Tyler,
who is certain to lie reelected,
says he wants to dispose of all
bills pretaining to state services
such as, education, welfare and
taxes before getting into the re-
apportionment.
However, this may not be pos-
sible an<t the session may drag
Into special sessions. A capital
wag suggested that the solons
should take a supply of sun tan
lotion with them in January be-
en ue thdy may be there through
the summer and Austin summers
are hot.
Another interesting develop-
ment may be Arlington State
College's attempt to break
away from the A&M system
and go independent w ith a sep-
arate board of regents.
Rep. George Richardson said
in a nows story in the morning
Star Telegram this week lie will
introduce such n bill. The bill
would allow the school to retain
portions of its tuition fees for
building purposes.
Poll tax payments are still
lagging at the caunty tgx of-
fice. If a concerted drive is not
undertaken we predict that the
total payments will be less than
3,000. This would he sad with
two important city elections,
city council and school board,
coming up in the spring.
ONE LOCAL ACCIDENT
Stephenville Has
Quiet Christmas
We enjoyed a short visit with
Dr. Ben Cook who is on the fac-
ulty of Texas A&M at College
Station. Dr. Cook formerly
taught at Clairctto and Tolar in
this area where he had an out-
standing program in vocational
griculture. Dr. Cook is now
teaching agriculture education
and working with county agents
in the extension service.
We think a goad suggestion
for both city, county and
school officials would he to try
voting machines. The initial
cost of the machines is high
but aver a period of years a
great deal of savings could be
realized.
It has been suggested to this
department that they could be
tried in the City of Stephenvilje
to a grent advantage. If one of
the units would make the pur-
chase the other units co.uld rertf,
#r lease the machines. Another
saving in elections could be
brought about by eliminating
some of the voting boxes
throughout the county. „
Stephenville had a compara-
tively quiet Christmas as far as
law enforcement offices were con-
cerned.
Despite very heavy traffic
Christmas day, local Highway
Patrolmen reported no accidents
Friday and the Stephenville police
department investigated only one
wreck.
The local accident occurred at
6:10 p.m. Christmas day and in-
volved three cars, A 1956 Ford
driven by Elliot Lewis Knotts of
Austin and a 1960 Chevrolet dri-
Former SHS
Band Head
Stricken
Lions1 Project
Distributes 35
Yule Baskets
Seven Stephenvile organizations
made Christmas a little brighter
for 85 needy families here as they
distributed Christmas baskets
Christmas Eve.
The project was under the aus-
pices of the Stephenville Lions
Club, with B. L. Singleton chair-
man.
Other groups participating in
the project were Rotary Club,
High school Spanish Club, Girl
Scouts Twentieth Century Club,
Stephenville Garden Club and
Tarleton Campus Club.
Lt. Col. Claude Kneff, former
ven by Barbara Gryder Little of Stephenville High School band di-
Stephenville collided at the inter-1 rector, has suffered a severe
section of College and Floral, stroke, according to reports re-
streets resulting in heavy damage | ceived by local friends j of the
to both cars, but only minor in- family.
juries.
Mrs. Little's car was knocked
head-on into ’ A' Chevrolet truck
parked at the curb and her car
ended up with an estimated $500
in damages. Knotts' damage was
estimated at $250, with $25 dam-
age to the truck.
Mrs. Little and her two young
children were taken to Stephen-
ville Hospital and released after,, , ...
treatment for minor cuts and; !°.T_Jacket Band from 1947 Untl1
Kneff is stationed in1 Denver,
Colo., where he is assigned to the
Machine Records Section of the
Air Force.
No detailed report has been re-
ceived of his condition, but corre-
spondence from his wife, Virginia,
indicatee that he will he hospital-
ized foe a long period.
Kneff was director of the Yel-
gfi-
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Tickets on Sale
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Chamber Banquet
To Feature 'Lum'
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in Knotts’
1953.
He left Stephenville to return
to the Air Force as a Captain, af-
ter serving with the armed forces
in World War'll. Kneff is also
remembered by former members
of the Texas National Guard as
the First Sergeant of the 142nd
Infantry Band at Brownwood,
prior to the start of the second
in the county Sat- [ WOrld war.
The Kneffs have four children *
ranging in age from six to 18. /
bruises.
Three passengers
car were uninjured.
Highway Patrolmen said that
'waffle was not as heavy as usual
on Christmas eve.
Joe Derrick, maintenance fore-
man for the Texas Highway De-
partment here, patroled the ma-
jor highways
urday and reported that all roads
withstood the heavy traffic flow
and no accidents caused any dam-
age.
Stephenville cafes and service
m
% t, '
ill
lx- ;,
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.-y- x&i
Here For Holidays
Bridge Winners
Duplicate Bridge Winners on
Tuesday night at the Tarleton
Steak House were Mrs. Jack Hale
and Mrs. T. W. Eagleston, first;
Robert Ross and- H. A. Hoover,
second; Mrs. Wauidecn Kiker and
' Mrs. J. W. Clements, third.
Whpers of the Six Weeks Se-
ries just completed were ,H. A.
Hoover, Mrs. Harry Ncbletft, Mrt.
T. W. Eagleston, Mra. H. A. Hoov-
er, Mrs. J. L. McDonald and Mra.
Jack Hale.
2 New Officials
To Take Comity
Oath January 1
Two new faces will appear
among the 10 county officials to
be given the oath of office Jan.
1 at 9 a.m. in the office of the
County Judge. County Clerk W. O.
(Bill) Croft will administer the
oath.
Sheriff-elect David C. Hale and
newly-elected Commissioner of
Precinct 1 Luther Pack will be
sworn into office for the first
time.
Hale has previously served with
the county as a deputy sheriff.
J. A. (Jim) Walsworth will as-
sume his first full term as County
Tax Assessor-Collector. Walsworth
was appointed by the County
Commissioners to serve an interim
term starting March 1, following
the resignation of Albert. Crag.
wnll.
Other county officials to be giv-
en the oath of office include Ed-
win Keller, County Attorney; Roy
Fallin, Commissioner Precinct 3,
Dwight W. Gaines, Constable Pre-
cincts 1, 3, and 4f Doc Gregory,
Constable Precinct 2; Grady Land,
Justice of the Peace Precinct 2;
W. J. Oxford, District Judge 29th
District; and Sam Cleveland, Dis-
trict Attorney, 29th District.
Dublin Native Gets
Executive Position
A native of Dublin, G. Perkins
Herndon Jr., has been named exe-
cutive vice-president of Motors In-
surance Corporation in New York.
MIC is the automobile physical
damage insurance subsidiary of
General Motors Acceptance Cor-
poration.
Herndon’s mother, Mrs. G. P.
Herndon, still lives in
is
Texas,
stations remaining open Christ- Miss Barbara Funk of Dallas
mas day were busy late Christ- ’ spent the holidays with her par-
mas d«y taking care of transients, ents, Mr. and Mrs.- T. G. Funk,
and highways throu
gh Stephen-
ville were crowded Saturday as
the holiday celebrants started re-
turn trips home. , _
City, firemen "made taro minor
rzxfiis&.s??**:
en hopse burned 17. miles west of
here On the lower Granbury Road.
Apparently smarted by burning
trash, the blaze kept a booster
truck busy two hours. Christmas
afternoon a booster extinguished
a grass fire on the railroad right-
of-way at Clinton and Washing-
ton streets.
Ejection Jan. 12
For North Bosque
Water Directors
The North Bosque Water Im-
provement District will hold an
election Jan. 12 in Stephenville
and Hico to elect two directors.
The Stephenville election tfdll
-be held at - the City—Recreation
Hail and the ljico election will be
jpt the Jlico City Hall.
Odis Petsiek and Earl Pack are
the two candidates who have fil-
ed for the offices. ^
College Farm Road
Temporarily Closed
The Bosque River bridge on the
College Farm Rond has been tem-
porarily closed to traffic., city Di-
rector of Public Works R. Y.
Gann said Tuesday. Gann said that
the Wood stringers under the
bridge had rotted out and several
large holes had worn through the
surface of the bridge. He estimat-
ed cost of repairing the bridge at
$1,000, and khid that the wood
stringers would be replaced with
steel.
Gann said that reopening of
the bridge would depend on the
Dublin. He 1 availability of the steel stringers,
a graduate of the University of I hut he felt that the structure could
xas. » ' he repaired within a few days.
Miss Funk has her own advertis-
ing firm in Dallas. *>
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-LUM’’ TO SPEAK HERE
"Wildcat" Wgrtield
:um* 1 -" ......-v -
Thurber Natives Remember
*. » . ■% . . .. Jj. . .V. i— i —
Duchess of Another Name
David Hale,
New Sheriff,
NamesAides
Two major changes can be ex-
pected in the personnel of the
Erath County sheriff’s depart-
ment Jan. 1, according to a report
from sheriff-elect David C. Hale.
Johnny Paul Bums haa been
named cheif deputy, with Charlie
Hook to assume the duties of jail-
er-deputy. Burns is presently em-
ployed by Higginbotham Broth-
era.
Hook will bring eight years of
law enforcement experience to his
new assignment, having served on
the Stephenville Police force from
1953 until 1961.
In a shuffle among the local
law enforcement agencies, Cecil
Stone, present chief deputy
sheriff for the county, will- rejoin
the local police department.
Stone will fill the vacancy created
by the .resignation of officer Al-
vin Flowers, who has resigned ef-
fective Jan. 1 to devote more time
to his dairy operation.
Prior to his appointment as
chief deputy. Stone served seven
yeans as a member of the total
police department
Hale stated that Mrs. Porter
Grimes, secretary and office de-
puty for the sheriffs department
would be retained in her present
position.
The presence of the Duchess of
Windsor 'in Houston, where her
husband,the Duke of Windsor,
has recently undergone major
surgery, has stirred the. memories
of former residents of Thurber.
Tlic history of the rise and fall
of Thurber, located in the north-
west corner of Erath County ri-
vals that of the international ro-
mance of the former Wally War-'
filed, now tho Duchess of Wind-
sor.
TKh link connecting the two Is^ vited.”
the visits the Duchess made to
Thurber when her grandfather,
Col. Edward Dickey Hunter, was
one of the owners 6f the fabulous
coal mining and brick-making
operation.
Mrs. Hazel Miller of Stephen-
ville, whose husband Mose Millar
was an executive with the Texas
and Pacific Coal Company, recalls.
r.
April Election Will
Test "Place” System
The method of electing members of tho Stephenville City Council
by places instead of wards will receive its first test in thc city elec-
tion to be held in April,
Tho change in the City Charter, approved by the voters in the
April 1964 election by an 857 to 660 margin, was the first change
to he made In the City Charter since Its adoption by the people of
Stephenville in 1960. ’ . -
Under the present provisions, candidates (or tho city council will
file by places irjstend of wards, without regard for plare of resi-
dence-inthe city. The previous method provided for the city to be
divided into four wards and required that candidates file for the
ward In which they lived.
Four places on the eight-member council will he filled each year, \
with the even numbered places to be elected In even numbered years
and th odd numbered places to be filled In odd numbered yeare.
Places 1, 3, 6, and 7 will bo up for grabs in the coming city election.
Members of the present city council whose two-year terms expire
in 1908 are Lee Orbiaon, W. H. Stem, Roy Swain Jr., and) Hubert
Darby. . . <
Local Chevy Co.
Named Dealer for
Air Conditioning
Reecie Jones has announced the
appointment of his firm, Jones
Chevrolet Company, as dealer-dis-
tributor for the Frigiking Com-
pany of Dallas, leading independ-
ent manufacturer of automobile
and truck air conditioning. Ap-
pointment was made by Frigi-
king’s Vice President, G. W. Der-
by.
The Jones Chevrolet Company
will be an important link in Frigi-
king’s 61>00-outlet sales and ser-
vice network covering the United
States with over 11,000 factory-
trained installation and service
specialists — and will furnish the
2R-mod«] Frigiking auto air con-
ditioning line to the area’s ear
and truck owners through conven-
ient. qualified, specially equipped
local outlets.
vividly the dr.ys Wally Warfield to feed the brick plants, and the
spent in Thurber as a ’teen-ager.
“She would come and stay sev-
eral weeks in ,the Colonel's man-
sion on New York Hill or at his
cottage on Thurber Lake,” Mrs.
Miller said. “Many of the young
people thought she was an "“odd-
ity” because of her Baltimore
background, but I always enjoyed
being with her. JI invited her to
our home toir dinner, and she
seemed bery grateful for being in-
Miller Recalls
Mrs. Miller .recalled that Thur-
ber was in its heyday at the time
the future Duchess mads her vis-
its. More than 2 000 homes lined
the streets of the hustling com-
munity, which boasted a popula-
tion of approximately 10,000.
Starting with the discovery of a
rich bituminous coal vein in 1887,
Thurbec mushroomed into a brick
making business that soon became
the largest In Texas. Vitrified
brick, used primarily for paving
purposes, soon found it* way into
virtually every city in the state.
When oil displaced coal, the mines
were closed. The clay, a by-pro-
duct of the coal mining, ceased
two primary industries of Thur-
ber had died.
Thurber itself did not die, it
just faded into the surrounding
areas. The rows of homes, form-
erly occupied by the miners, did
not rot and fall as a monument to
a ghost town, but they were sold
one by qne and moved to the many
small communities surrounding
Thurber. As went the houses, so merce
went the . people. Many of them The-
moved to other towns' in the area
and entered occupations complete-
ly foreign -to the mining opera-
tion they had previously known.
The executive office of the Tex-
as Pacific company moved to Fort
Worth, and Thurber soon became
a memory. Today, some people
call it a ghost town, but most of
tho oldtimers do not. It was never
a town — it
L B. Howards’
Son-in-Law
Catering Head
Charles W. McCarroll, son-in-
law of Mr. and Mra. L. B. Howard
of Stephenville, has been named
executive manager of the Odessa
Chuck Wagon Gang. The elite ca-
tering organization is composed of
approximately 200 business execu-
tives of Odessa, and is sponsored
by the Odessa Chamber of Com-
The Chuck Wagon Gang caters
functions throughout the nation,
and it is not an uncommon sight
to see bank presidents, doctors,
lawyers, oil company owners, and
other executives dishing out beans
and barbecue in a professional
manner.
The organization fed in excess
of 16,000 people in November and
December with the largest total
was a mining camp j coming during the Permiah Basin
first and last. All of the property j Oil Show. 13.500 people trouped
and improvements were owned the line during thiB annual affair,
and operated by the Texas Paci- ( In addition to his duties as man-
fic company. Its purpose was to
mine coal. When the coal mining
ceased, so did the camp.
Mrs. Miller, who came to Thur-
tContinued on Page Five)
ager of the Chuck Wagon Gang,
McCarroll also assists in the pub-
lic relations department of the
Odessa Ch*^tfj»ar of Commerce.
McCarrofl’s .wife is the former
Annie Laurie Howard, ^ j
ROGER A. GEORGE
Outstanding Area Farmer
Says “Nuts” to Theory
.. a-JL.
ryri
A
Police Investigate
Two-Car Accident
A two-ear accident was investi-
gated by tho lota I police depart-
m*nt at 8:8? Tuesday morning.
The accident occurred at the in-
tersection of Tarleton Avenue and
North Graham Street.
A 1901 CWvrolst, driven by
Wesley Fay Booth, of 112 Park
Drive, collided with a 1962 Ford
Panel truck driven by Gian Haley
and owned by tho Singer Sewing
Machine Company.
Police estimated/ the damags to
tho two vehicles a* $275.00.
■ ^ ^ .....t
“Nuts to you,” says Roger A.
George, 26 year old president of
the Stephenville Young Fanners
Chapter, who haa recently been
named Outstanding Young Farmer
from Area IV.
George, a peanut farmer, has
disproved the theory that farmers
two generations ago believed ■*—
they said peanuts hod to be plant-
ed in March, but George plants in
July to shorten the growing sea-
son and still gets blue ribbon pea-
nuts. His regard for changes is
evident by the manner In which
he operates -his 200 acre livestock
and peanut farm. His Investment
In farming totals $62,000.
George started in farming in
1952 by buying a tractor and
working a rented farm. While at-
tending high school and college,
he began raising peanuts on the
farm he now owns. Wind and rain
he*! taken toll of ths tnndjf
\
soil, so George literally “dug in”
to remedy this situation. He had
the thin topsoil from several acres
of the land hauled away, mtxed
with finer subsoil, and replaced,
and paid for it with the first crop.
His knowledge of soil conserva-
tion from school dictated the need
for terraces and cover crops dur-
ing the winter months. Using the
latest scientific methods of ferti-
liser application, George has con-
tinually increased his peanut pro-
duction, topping the county aver-
age each year.
His small herd of registered and
crossbred cattle graze the coastal
and common bermuda grass pas-
tures both summer and winter.
Experimentation with two rows ef
sudan grass planted between each
six rows of peanuts has proved to
George a method of controlling
wind erosion and conserving mois-
ture. Through initiative and ax-
perimentatio nho discovered that
quality peanuts could he grown
completely in 90 days instead of
160, by planting them in July and
taking advantage of the September
rains.
George was active in school ac-
tivities and has continued to be
active in his community. Hs was
elected the Jaycee’s Outstanding
Young Farmer from Erath County
In 1963, and has headed several
countywide liveetock disease pre-
vention programs. His model farm
haa been visited by touring offi-
cials from Washington, D. C. and
Pakistan. George and Ms wife
have one son. ,
Friday evening, Jan. 8 is the
date of the Eleventh Annual
Yotfng Farmers Award Banquet ia
Dallas, where one of the ten are*
winners will be named Outstand-
ing Y oung Farmer of Texas.
Tickets went on sale last Satur-
day for the annual Chamber of
Commerce banquet to be held Jan.
8 at 7 p.m. in the Tarleton State
College dining hall.
Guest speaker for the banquet
will be Chester H. Lauck, execu-
tive assistant for Continental Oil
Co. who is better known as
“Lum” of “Lum and Abner” fame.
Only 600 tickets will be sold for
the banquet and ducats are $2.60
per person.
Lauck is an unusual combine*
tion of businessman and erltn*
tainer. Lauck travels more than
130,000 miles annually for Conoco
from coast to coast. Constantly on
the “Conoco circuit," he hss talk-
ed at countless business meeting
and state and national conven-
tions since joining the firm in
1956.
In one week he delivered eight
speeches in five different states.
He is booked months in advance.
And in between appearances, th*
tire Hess executive manages te
handle special assignments for
Continental Oil Company.
Arkansas Native
Lauck, although known primor-
ily as a radio and movie personal-
ity, was first suffetsful as a
banker and businessman. A na-
tive of Aliens, Ark. he attended
grade and high school in Mena, *
Ark. A graduate of the Univer-
sity of Arkanaas, he majored In
(Continued on Page Five)
C-C TICKET SALES
OVER 300 *
Ticket sales for the annual
Chamber of Commerce banquet,
to be held Jan. 8 in the Tarleton
State College dining hall, soared
past the halfway mark today.
J. C. Helm Jr. and his 11 man
committee have set a 500 ticket
goal for the annual affair. *
By noon today the purchase of
ducats had reached the 306 mark,
and there was no indicatfon of a
let up by the committee. Helm
said that an all-out effort would
be made for a sell out by the end
of the week.
The format of this year’s ban* —
quet will follow that of humor ,
and entertoinmsnt thot—has—be* ,
come a hallmark of the Chamber’s
yearly affair.
Chester H. Lauck, “Lum” of
“Lum and Abner” fame, will be
the guest speaker.
The noted radio and movie per-
sonality i* expected to entertain —-
the overflow crowd with the same
folksy humor that haa made him
m favorite in the entertainment
world since 1931.
Lauck follows some of the coun-
try’s leading speakers and enter-
tainers to Stephenville for the an* »
nual banquet. In 1962 Dr. Walter V
K. Kerr, Director of the Youth
for God and Freedom Foundation,
was the princjple speaker. The
following year Dr. Charles W.
Jarvis of San Marcos, noted ra-
conteur and humorist, sent the
crowd home laughing at his rare
and entertaining stories. Last
year’s meeting featured Dr. Ken-
neth McFarland of Topeka, Kan.
who spoke to an audience of ap-
proximately 600.
Those persons who have not
purchased tickets for the Jan. 8
banquet may do so by calling J. C.
Helm Jr. or the office of the
Chamber of Commerce.
Scout Program
Presented to
Kiwanis Club
Ross Wolfe showed pictures
Tuesday night to the Kiwanis Chib
of the 1964 Boy Scout Jamboree
held at Valter Forge, PS. Wolfe
attended the Japiboree with •
group of Scouts from the Coman-
che Trail Council.
The Scouts took side tripe to
Philadelphia, Washington, D. Cl
and New York. Whtte In New York
they attended the World’s Fair.
Wolfe was Introduced by T. A. ‘
Tunneil. Other guest of the chib
were Danny Wolfo, Joe Belcher
and four members of the Mineral
Wells Chib.
Fred TMwell dub president said
new club officers would be install-
ed at the Jan. 12 Meeting.
......
M
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McCullough, Gordon. Stephenville Empire-Tribune (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, January 1, 1965, newspaper, January 1, 1965; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1135184/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dublin Public Library.