The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 9, 1984 Page: 4 of 119
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Sunday, December 9, 1984
4-A-
THE BAYTOWN SUN
Dave Sorter
^^EDITORIAL '
Daytime TV not
greatest cure
: WAR
MEDIA
HELL Lm
is
HECK
crack up because a neo-liberal
Democrat and a hard-core con-
I now have even more of an in-
terest in maintaining my health.
A couple of days of sick leave servative Republican were pro-
this past week proved quite posing almost identical
educational, since it provided packages. This is something I
expected to see on “Fantasy
Island.” Bradley and Kemp are
both former professional
athletes. Maybe that bad
Mexico City might
get more tragedy
the opportunity to witness that
cultural quagmire known as
daytime television.
Other than the one soap opera
that every member of my something to do with it.
generation watched three and , Finally, after an MTV sanity
four years ago, I would never break (though Madonna in the
turn my tube on weekdays morning doesrft - quite seem,,
before the evening news. right), the time had come for the
Now, I never will again.
The first show that added
--
The series of explosions that ripped through a Mexico
City suburb recently caused a terrible tragedy, but
there are signs that even worse calamities are yet to
come to that huge metropolis.
More than 370 Mexicans were killed, more than 1,500
injured and some 10,000 left homeless by the blasts and
fires that swept through storage tanks at San Juan Ix-
huatepec.
The cause of the tragedy may never be known because
all those who were working at the state-owned Pemex
gas distribution plant are dead. But some residents who
survived say they warned authorities time and again
about gas leaks.
The butane and propane gas distributing plant was
situated 6 miles north of the heart of Mexico City in the
1930s, when the population was about 1 million. Since
then, the city has grown and encompassed the plant, as
rural Mexicans moved into the capital seeking a better
A
soaps.
On one drama, there was a
rugged-looking, independent,
free-spirited man on an exotic
adventure with a beautiful, more
mainstream lady. They are
deeply in love, but the woman is
or was married to somebody
6lS6.
Wait a minute. Is this 1984 or
1980? Is this the peacock net-
work or the Howard Cosell net;
work? I could have sworn it was
Luke and Laura and “General
Hospital”.all over again.
“GH” itself provided the
answer. That show is repeating
itself. Now Luke (hadn’t he
left?) and Scorpio were helping
some dude named Frisco find his
true love, who was searching for
a lost ring and scepter, which
supposedly were the keys to
some inherited treasure.
Gee. Maybe they found the
left-handed boy and the ice
princess somewhere along the
way.
I finally tried to get back into
reality by watching an “I Dream
of Jeanriie” rerun, starring nice-
guy Larry Hagman. But sudden-
ly comes a promo for that night’s
Dallas rerun, with villain Larry
Hagman offering his famous
sneer.
Made me want to shoot him.
(V7
&
depression to influenza was an
early-morning game show. To
protect the guilty, I won’t
divulge names.
Through a maze of buzzers,
lights and high-tech mechanics,
the contestant had to press a but-
ton that would stop the board
and earn the player either a
valuable prize, cash or what
they call a “whammie,” which
erases all winnings.
Not only does the host like to
speak in dialects, and not only do
the contestants act like they’ll be
kicked off the set if they are
quiet for more than a millise-
cond, but if a “whammie” is hit,
the show degenerates into a poor
imitation of Saturday morning
cartoons.
An animated “whammie”
Vs
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i
life.
\
Now the population has reached 18 million, making
Mexico City possibly the largest city in the world. The
number of residents is expected to climb to 36 million by
the year 2000 if Mexico cannot do something to reverse
the trend.
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Most of those who cope to Mexico City bring little
with them. They put up makeshift shelters wherever
they can find space, squeezing together in commercial
zones and established neighborhoods alike.
Mexico City is overwhelmed in its attempt to provide
for these arrivals. There is a lack of sewage systems and
e^en portable water. Mexico City is not the only
metropolitan area that faces these problems. Similar in- By preston Pendergrass
fluxes of people are occurring in other cities ■ The spot where Old Salem
If multitudes continue to move into the valley of Mex- church once stood in the rural
ico City from their farm communities, Mexico can ex- community where I was born
pect even more such calamities as the one that occurred and sPent my early childhood is
at San Juan Ixhuatepec. Another heavily populated brTmbies°Vered by §raSS and
Mexico City neighborhood, Azcapotzalco, harbors a
Pemex oil refinery that stores 25 million gallons of pieces of the crumbling founda-
gasoline. These residents are living with a time bomb. t
Even worse, the very air Mexico City residents timeless stately oaks and
breathe is heavily polluted. This dirty air, caused by d“®hes that thrive in
autos and factories, hangs over the high valley of Mex- i^was*! peaceful place atop
ico blotting out the sun. It deprives the residents of ox- snow Hill, which got its name
ygen, badly needed in a city 7,200 feet above sea level.
There is an ever-present danger of an inversion layer in winter and had to be towed up
the grade by horses. An ancient
clay-based county-road served
the church and community.
Because Snow Hill was such a
to lure its people back to rural communities, away from quiet, out-of-the-way place may
the dangers of a metropolitan center growing daily
toward awesome proportions. If not, there surely will be
more tragedies.
t.
character appears on the screen
and does all sorts of crazy things
— breakdances, plays dixieland
jazz, makes like a baseball um-
pire — so much that stomach
trouble was quickly added to my
list of symptoms.
Well, so much for game shows.
Next, I turned on “Donahue,”
t
kVj Old Salem Church
- brings memories
1;
ti
u
d
U
L
white clapboard church. Part of
it is still tended by relatives of where Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J.,
Old Salem members buried and U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp, R-
N.Y., were discussing their tax
I sometimes visit the old reform proposals,
cemetery when I return to my
birthplace. Time and weather teresting, but I couldn’t help but
have combined to render some
tombstone inscriptions illegible.
I recognize names of those who
conducted Old Salem services.
Old Salem was the name of the
sparsely settled community
where the church was built.
Later, New Salem was settled
“down the road a piece,” as they
say in the country. Nearly all
Old Salem residents moved to
New Salem, which also has a
church, New Salem Baptist.
The congregation abandoned
Old Salem after a man of
there in the 1920s and 1030s.
The discussion was in-
Do** Sorter U wire editor of The Sun
Scattered broken bricks and
Jim Kyld
Ne west until a
restroom found
tion are still there. So are the
because early model cars stalled
1--UT
*»'' !
I don’t believe there’s any- around picnic tables. One guy
thing worse than to have to use a had the hood of his car up as hot
restroom on a trip and not be steam spewed out of a radiator
able to find one.
trapping polluted air over Mexico City long enough to
kill thousands of residents.
Clearly, the Mexican government must find some way
hose.
That sound made my problem
Cruising back toward Bay-
notorious reputation was town with my wife recently, one turn into a nightmare,
murdered inside the church. His of those situations almost did me Nowhere, but nowhere, was
bullet-punctured body was found in. there any place to use a
under the church piano, which I had drunk four or five cups of restroom without an audience,
had either been overturned to coffee before we started out and Rushing back into my car, I
hide the body or during a scuffle. I think it, forgot to go through my was trying jo avoid a conversa-
There was a big stir and a stomach. * bon with a man standing by his
county sheriff’s investigatibn, After 10 miles or so, the urge to motor home. He was trying to
but no one could be found who stop was working on my nervous tell me about his honeymoon to
saw or heard anything around system, In Niagara Falls,
the church on that summer I mentioned to my wife we Heavens to Betsy, that’s all I
were goiiig to have to stop pretty needed was to 'think about
soon andf naturally she said, “I
title of “community drunk” and told ypu riot to drink too much
had often been threatened by coffee.”
members of the Ku Klux Klan
have been the reason fotfnders
built Old Salem Church there.
There were tales about shadowy
figures darting behind trees and
bushes around the church. Most
walkers used a path instead of
the road to get around Snow Hill
and the church.
Did Salem was interdenomina-
tional, which meant people of all
faiths and church affiliation
were welcome. Preachers from
Watkins should be
cheered for actions
Navy enlisted men and taxpayers alike should cheer
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James D. Watkins for other denominations were
refusing to permit two enlisted men to be the only per- sometimes invited to preach the
sons blamed for a 1983 fire aboard the aircraft carrier Sunday sermon
For the most part, however,
_ , . ... Old Salem was pastored by
We applaud Adm. Watkins rejection of an initial elders and lay members of the
report absolving the Ranger’s officers of any respon- congregation,
siblity for the fire that killed six crewmen and injured 48 i remember going to Old
others. A new report from the more-thorough investiga- Salem services with Mama and
tion ordered by Adm. Watkins concluded that the ship’s
former commanding officer Bnd two immediste subor” ^ mile or so to church and cn-
dinates “must be held accountable” for Jailing to have joyed the exercise-
the Ranger and its crew in seaworthy condition. The of-
ficers, Capt. Anthony Less, Capt. Arthur Frederickson, eventually cleared beside the
Capt. T. Stephen Todd and Cmdr. James P. Melanephy, FrQm $unfijes
all have received “private” censure from Adm.
Watkins.
The facts are that the two enlisted men caused the fire
when they failed to close some valves, allowing fuel oil
to spill and catch fire. But the additional reality is that
the ship’s officers failed to correct long-standing
mechanical and personnel problems aboard the carrier.
“Had these officers fulfilled their responsibilities, it is this is the way it was 40 and 30
likely. . .the tragic fuel-oil fire may have been avoided, and 20 years ago.
Therefore, these officers must be held accountable for pvt Herbert j .E^giert, son of
their failures,” Adm. Watkins said. We agree. Mr and Mrs George Engiert,
will observe his first anniver-
sary in the Marines in February.
He has already been in the inva-
sion of Patau Islands in the
South Pacific and has been
overseas since May.
George Walmsley, football
star at Rice, is picked for the All-
Southwest Conference team by
Saturday night.
The dead man had the dubious
Niagara Falls.
I never dreamed my car would
run as fast as I drove the next
eight or so miles to a small towft
with a gas station.
Sliding in sideways, I threw
open the door and screamed at
the attendant: “I’ve got to use
the men’s room — now! ”
He said the key is hanging up
over thereby the door.
I could only see one key hang-
ing there and guess which one it
was. The long, plastic key-holder
had this little drawing of a per-
son with a dress on. The men’s
room key was gone.
I’ve never done this before in
my life, but I grabbed that
woman’s key and went right on
in there. I would have killed
anyone who stood in my way.
Before we left, I had the fellow
put some gas In my car. A few
miles down the road, my wife
asked me if I’d like to stop and
get a cup of coffee.
She never got an answer.
In southwest Texas one can
because he neglected his family, drive a long way without seeing
The murderer was never ap- anyplace or anything.
There were just too many cars
V
Ranger.
prehended. It was speculated he
was passing through and pro- on the highway for me to make
bably got to drinking with his an emergency stop and there
was absolutely not one big tree
victim.
Grandpa Pendergrass said he to hide behind,
doubted the “law” tried very
hard tqJinsWhe^lgitive^*
My urge was starting to turn
-------into misery. To* keep my mind
off the situation, I started chew-
ing out my wife about petty
things and got no reaction from
her. If she had just fussed back
like she always does, everything
would have been OK. Instead,
she agreed with my gripes.
As we rode over the top of a
hill, I saw the most beautiful
sight I’ve ever laid my eyes on —
the sign that said “roadside park
consolidated with Baytown one mile.”
Schools. The Cedar Bayou Speeding ticket or not, I put
district included soipe the pedal to the metal.
Chambers County territory in We roared into that park like a
which residents said they would SWAT team. I jumped out and
rather be in the Barbers Hill saw an these people sitting
District. 6
A plot for a cemetery was
Preston Pendergrass is former executive editor
of The Baytown Sun
Harris judge says
freeway is a must
From The Baytown Sun files,
Jim Kyle is/eatur* editor 0/The Sun „
L
For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus.
Bible
Verse
DEC. 9,1964
Ron Cannon will play the
leading role in “Tom Sawyer” at
the Baytown Little Theater. In-
dian Joe will be played by Jose
Tavares, foreign exchange stu-
dent attending REL.
Four employees in Humble’s
Research Division are honored a
service award banquet. They
are B.E. Golden, R.L. Clark arid
A.E. Walters, who each com-
pleted 30 years, and O.C.
Behymer, who’s worked there 40
years.
The commUnity-wide choir
performance of Handel’s ,
“Messiah” will be dedicated to
the memory of Marse. W.
Harper.
Lester Alford will be in charge
of the annual Welcome Stranger
project of the Baytown Optimist
Club Dec. 23.
Berry's
World
I Timothy 2:5
Zt)t Uaptoton &uti
f
...........Editor and Publisher
.........Assistant to Publisher United PreSS.
Editor and Publisher, 1950-1974
I
Leon Brown.....
Fred Hornberger
Fred Hartmon
€
DEC. 9,1954
A freeway direct from
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
t
Managing Editor
News Editor Houston to Baytown by way of
the Baytown-La Porte Tunnel is
a “must,” says Harris County
Judge Bob Casey.
The issue of the Chambers
County portion breaking away
from the Baytown school district
apparently is dead. Chambers
County Judge Floyd Williams
says he personally would not be
in favor of holding another
public hearing on the matter.
The controversy arose after the
Cedar Bayou school district was
Wando Orton
Joan McAnaM
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
Advertising Director
Bill Cornwell
CIRCULATION
Circulation Manager
Gory Dobbs
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urmmtci
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Pleose keep letters short The Sun reserves the nght to excerpt letters
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Brown, Leon. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 9, 1984, newspaper, December 9, 1984; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1153277/m1/4/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.