The Rusk Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 3, 1954 Page: 1 of 16
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pno°a,m Se" 4 &.
U Box 8U6(i aIes Co
9-7-54
(The following article, prepared
with the approval of the directors
of the Upper Neches River Muni-
cipal Water Authority, covers
some of the activities of this or-
ganization, in conjunction with
Brown and Root, Inc. of Houston.
These articles are designed to
bring out the principal problems
encountered, and the main con-
clusions reached, in this work.)
It will be recalled that the pre-
vious Upper Neches Municipal
Water Committee received a pre-
liminary engineering report from
the firm of Forest and Cotton, in
March 1952, covering a study of
three possible projects, all of
which contemplated dams locat-
ed on the Neches River near May-
delle. Two of these were of par-
ticular interest.
The "High Dam" project pro-
posed to impound 418,000 acre-
feet of water. This would require
the relocation of the main line
of the Missouri Pacific Railroad,
and the Jacksonville-Palestine
highway, where they cross the
Neches River. At the time, these
relocations would have cost about
one and three-quarter million dol-
lars, and would have simply add-
ed this much more expense to
such a project, without otherwise
increasing its value.
It was only natural that we
would thereafter examine other
locations where such relocations
'would not be necessary; and the
Blackburn Crossing site was
found to offer the same possibil-
ities of impoundment, without the
necessity for such expensive re-
locations. These facts were pre-
sented to a group of citizens of
Tyler and Athens in the Spring of
1953, at the time we first discus-
Neches Dam Recommended
sed a Neches project with those
cities.
It will be recalled that the Leg-
islature in the Spring of 1953 in-
serted clauses in the Act which
authorized the creation of the Up-
per Neches River Municipal Water
Authority, which limited the rights
to acquire property and to op-
erate Anderson and Cherokee
Counties only. This prevented
futher consideration of the Black-
burn Site by this authority un-
til such restrictions could be re-
moved. ,
The "Low Dam" project out-
lined in the Forrest and Cotton
report of March of 1952 proposed
to impound about 95,000 acre-
feet of water, with a dam near
Maydelle. That project was the
largest one which could use a
dam near Maydelle, without dis-
turbing the above mentioned
railroad and highway bridges.
While this authority was in the
process of being organized last
summer, the new Neches oil field
was discovered, and its develop-
ment has proceeded rapidly since.
This pool is now known to be
quite large, and it is expected that
more than 100 wells would be af-
fected if the "High Dam" project
were built; and a large number
also if the "Low Dam" project
were built. It has recently been
estimated that about fifteen mil-
lion dollars of extra expense
would be involved, if the "High
Dam" project was built. This Au-
thority has wanted to cooperate
in the development of this oil
field, rather than to hinder such
development.
Brown and Root's engineers re-
viewed the possibilities of the
Maydelle site and the Blackburn
site, along with other possible
dam locations. Because of the nec-
essity of thd relocations of the
railroad and highway crossings,
and the high expense now added
by the new Neches oil field, Brown
and Root's report estimates the
cost of a water project with a
dam near Maydelle, with a stor-
age capacity of approximately
four hundred thousand acre-feet,
at more thani $29,000,000.00. Such
cost is prohibitive, as the water
produced from such a project
would not be competitive in price,
and could not be sold.
Their report also shows an es-
timated cost of less than $10,000,-
000.00 for a project of the same
size with a dam at Blackburn
Crossing, including pipelines. As-
suming this total could be financ-
ed, the water from such a project
would be highly competitive in
price,
Sincere efforts were made by
the Board of Directors of this
Authority to reach an understand-
ing with citizens of Tyler and
Athens several month ago, at the
time of the Special Session of
the State Legislature. We tried to
find a basis for mutual cooperat-
ion. but the Special Session was
too/ far advanced before anything
constructive could be done.
The Water Committee of the
Tyler Chamber of Commerce re-
cently went on record, recommen-
ding the development of addit-
ional water supplies for that city,
by the construction of a dam on
the East Fork of Mud Creek, thus
indicating that they do not plan
to be customers for water from a
Neches River project any time
soon. That Committee also went
on record as being opposed to any
levy of taxes upon the citizens of
T^ler, which might be necessary
to build a project on the Neches.
The city of Athens has also been
making plans recently to build a
project on Kickapoo Creek, thus
showing that they do not plan
to) be a market for such water
either any time soon.
We are confident that our three
cities can obtain the right to ac-
quire land and to operate in other
counties later, but the immediate
problem is that of finance. Con-
sequently, it is the financing of
a Blackburn Crossing projeet,
which must first be solved. This
will be discussed futher.
For many years it has been
known that the Angelina River
am) its upper reaches sucb as
Mud Creek, are a prolific source
of good water.
(Continued on Page 4, Sec.. 1)
BLANKET CIRCULATION
An Estimated 13,000 People Will
Read This Publication, Based On
Circulation Figures
The Rusk Cherokeean
TEXAS' OLDEST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, ESTABLISHED AS THE PIONEER JULY 5, 18AS
SERVING THE GREATER RUSK TRADE AREA
TRADE IN
RUSK
VOLUME 106
THE RUSK CHEROKEEAN
JUNE 3, 1954
16 PAGES
NUMBER 49
Ide R. Hall Is One Of Four Texans
Appointed To SBA National Board
IDE R. HALL
Veteran Of War
Of 1898 Dies Here;
Buried Tuesday
Funeral services were held
Tuesday for Hugh Ellis Peace, re-
tired farmer and resident of Rusk
for fifty years. Rev. J. H. Free-
land, assisted by Rev. Wm. N.
Parkey, officiated at the services
held at the Wallace Funeral Home
Chapel, 10:30 a.m. Burial was in
Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Peace died Monday, May
31st at the Rusk Memorial Hospi-
tal. He had been in the Hospital
a week. He had just recently re-
turned from a convention of Span-
ish-American war Veterans in Ft.
AVorth. He suffered a heart attack
shortly thereafter and was con-
fined to the hospital until his
death.
Mr. Peace was born in North
Carolina. He would have been
eighty years old this October 31st.
He is survived by one son, Ray
Peace of Livingston: one brother,
George Peace of Rusk; and two
sisters, Miss Emma Peace and
Miss Minnie Peace of Ft. Worth.
Pallbearers were Maxwell Dear,
Bill Payne, Belve Ross, George
Monroe, Terrell Fisher, Major
Russell, Webb Finley and Hern-
don Trible.
Members of the Coleman-Isgate
American Legion Post were hon-
orary pallbearers.
Funeral arrangements were un-
der the direction of Wallace Fu-
neral Home.
Ide R. Hall of Rusk has been ap-
pointed on the Small Business Ad-
ministration's National Board of
Field Advisors. Mr. Hall is one of
four Texans who are serving on
this board.
The Small Business Administra-
tion is the first peacetime inde-
pendent Governmental agency
created solely to advise, assist,
and protect all small business en-
terprises. The agency was estab-
lished under the Small Business
Act of 1953, which was passed by
the 83rd Congress July 30, 1953
and signed into law by President
Eisenhower the same clay.
A prime objective of SBA is to
provide maximum assistance # to
small business concerns in their
own communities, Toward this
end, the agency's 31 field offices
work in close cooperation with
state and local groups, such as
trade associations and community
development organizations, which
are interested in strengthening
small business.
Small Business Association of-
fers three major types of assist-
ance to small firms: Business
loans, contract assistance, and
Management and Technical As-
sistance.
Man Killed When
Struck By Auto
Near Here Wed.
William Edgar Smith, age 73,
| vv a s killed Wednesday when
struck by an automobile one half
' mile South of Rusk on Highway
69.
The elderly Smith was walking
toward Rusk on the left side of
the road. Frank Murray of this
city, driving a pick-up was also
coming toward Rusk, and stopped
to give Smith a ride. It was re-
ported that he looked in the di-
rection of an approaching car, but
continued across the highway to-
ward the pickup. He was struck
by the approaching '49 Ford, driv-
en by Paul A. Watts, Jr., of 3410-
11th St., Port Arthur.
Mr. Smith was a resident of
Route 1, and had been a night
watchman at the Rusk State Hos-
pital, prior to his retirement at
the age of 70.
Sheriff Frank Brunt conducted
the investigation.
Local Couple Back
From Vacation On
Western Coast
Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Lee have
recently returned from a week's
vacation. They traveled to San
Francisco through the northern
route, and returned by the south-
ern route. Their trip included a
tour of the Featherwer Canyon,
and parts of Mexico.
They report a scenic trip, which
was thoroughly enjoyed.
o
READ THE CLASSIFIEDS
-o-
Bill Freeland Is
Recognized For His
High Spanish Marks
Bill Freeland was recently
awarded a loving cup for having
the highest average in Spanish n
class at Austin College.
He is the son of Rev. and Mrs.
J. H. Freeland of Rusk.
The ideals and aspirations of
the Southern Confederacy in the
Civil War were referred to as the
Lost Cause.
o
RUSK,
THE FRIENDLY CITY
Highway Construction Slated In This County
FRANK BRUNT RESIGNS SHERIFF'S JOB
SHERIFF SAYS GOODBYE. Sheriff Frank Brunt, right, shakes hands with County Judge J. W. Sum-
mers after tendering his resignation to a special session of the Commissioners Court of Cherokee
County Tuesday.
Pictured above, left to right are: Commissioner Lester Etheridge, County Judge Summers, Sher-
iff Brunt, Commissioner Black and Commissioner Burroughs. Commissioner Mack Allen was at the
meeting, but was unavoidably cut off the picturc.
Rusk Volunteer
Firemen Answer
4 Calls Recently
Rusk Volunteer Firemen have
answered four calls recently, ac-
cording to Elray Williams, Fire
Marshal.
Próperty damaged has been es-
timated at better than $1,000 to
the house of L. N. Bolls on Hos-
pital St., which caught fire May
22nd. Hayden Banks was living in
the house.
June 1st, approximately 9 p.m.,
a stack of old lumber and scrap
material caught fire on the Ele-
mentary School grounds. This was
brought under control immedi-
ately, with no property damage.
May 31st, Mrs. Edna Rhodes
summoned the Fire Department
to her home on the Palestine
Highway. An extension cord on
her refrigerator burned, causing
a small amount of smoke damage.
No property damage resulted
in the fire at Bruce Slover's, June
2nd, when his shaving house blaz-
ed into flames.
It has been estimated that each
call answered by the Rusk Fire-
men costs the taxpayers $25.00, a
small fee for day and night pro-
tection.
Local Tomato Deal Begins This
Week; V-ji To 3c Is Average Price
Mrs Annie Taylor
Former Native Of
Rusk, Is Buried
Installation For
Eastern Star Set
The Rusk Chapter, No. 79, Or-
der of the Eastern Star, will have
Installation services, Friday eve-
ning, 8 p.m., June 4th. AH East-
ern Star members are urged to be
present.
Mrs. Annie J. Taylor, age 87,
died last Thursday at her home
in Dallas, where she had been ill
for more than two years.
Born March 15, 1867 at Rusk,
she had lived in Dallas County
for the last fourteen years, mak-
ing her home with a daughter,
Mrs. Annie Wright. She was a
life-long member of the Methodist
Church.
Survivors include four daugh-
ters, Mrs. Ruby Maness of Dallas,
j Mrs. Kate White of Grand Prairie,
Mrs. Mary Banks and Mrs. Annie
Wright of Dallas; three sons,
George W. Taylor of El Dorado,
Ark., Lewis H. Taylor of Portland,
Oregon, and Edmond W. Taylor
of New London; a brother, R. C. T.
Jacobs of Dallas; fourteen grand-
children and seven great grand-
children.
Funeral services were held Fri-
day at 2 p.m. at the Owenwood
Methodist Church, Dallas, and la-
ter at the Atoy Methodist Church
at Atoy. Burial was in the Atoy
Cemetery.
Wallace Funeral Home assisted
with local arrangements.
. o
SHOP IN RUSK
Local tomato sheds report a
slow start this week. However, as
other shipping points fade from
the picture, the East Texas mar-
ket is expected to become strong-
er.
A total of four cars were ship-
ped from J. P. Acker's shed, six
from Riley Maness' shed, and four
' from Coy Halbert's shed, since
Monday morning, when the sheds
opened. 2V¿ to 3c per lb. has been
the average price over the coun-
ty.
The cool front which moved in-
to East Texas Wednesday night is
expected to hold some of the fruit
on the vine a little longer. A de-
layed East Texas market might
bring better prices a few weeks
from now.
Mrs C. E. Jay
Suffers Heart
Attack, Dies
Mrs. C. E. (Zelma) Jay dropped
dead of a heart attack at her
home, Thursday morning, ap-
proximately 9:30 a.m.
Her husband Is City Chief of
Police, C. E. Jay. Mrs. Jay was
employed at the Rusk State Hos-
pital.
Services will be held Friday, at
the First Presbyterian Church,
3:30 p.m. Burial will be in the
Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Sheriff Frank Brunt turned in
his resignation lo the Commis-
sioners Court Tuesday. He leaves
Cherokee County to become a
Special Investigator with Humble
oil and Refining Co. of Houston.
"It was a hard decision lo make
after serving the people of Chero-
kee County for nearly 14 years,
but 1 feel that I owe my family
1 he right fo more security. I have
had wonderful cooperation from
the County Judge, Commissioners
Court, and the entire citizenship
of this county," commented Sher
iff Brunt at the special session of
the Commissioners Court Tuesday
morning.
"We are stocked to learn that
Sheriff Brunt is leaving this coun
ty. We have been blessed with
one of the finest Sheriffs that Tex
as has ever produced, lie has serv
ed as president and vice presi-
dent of the Texas Sheriff's Associ-
ation. We will miss him, but we
also understand that a man's first
obligation is to his family," said
County Judge J. W. Summers.
The entire court, composed of
(J. M. "Boots" Black, Mack Allen,
Lester Etheridge, and Prentiss
Burroughs, spoke-up and express
ed their regrets in losing .sheriff
Brunt.
Allen Dotson received the ap
pointment to fill the unexpired
term of Sheriff Brunt. His term
will last from June 15th until I>o
cember 31st. The county's new
sheriff is no stranger to the folks
of this area. He was a former
deputy under Sheriff Brunt, and
taught school at Maydelle 1 a s t
year.
Crime in Cherokee County has
been at a minimum during Sher-
iff Brunt's terms in office. When
he became Sheriff the county had
many "night clubs", and it was
necessary to make as high as 50
arrests on Saturday night on
drunks. Today, there is not a sin-
gle known "night club" operating
1n Cherokee County.
It was under Sheriff Brunt's
leadership that Cherokee County
installed the 2-way radio which
has greatly aided his department
in keeping crime down to a min-
imum here.
As Sheriff of Cherokee Coun-
ty, Frank Brunt has broken-up
and solved just about every type
case known in the criminal world,
Several months ago, he tracked
two thieves all the way to Hous-
ton after they had broken into the
Rusk school. Law officers from 10
East and North Texas counties
were after this pair. They are now
serving a long term in the pen.
Back during the war, he broke
up a tire stealing gang and re
turned around $50,000 of tires to
the owners. This gang was living
(Continued on Page 4, Sec. 1)
(See Letter of Resignation
Page 1, Sec. 2)
The Texas Highway Commis-
sion has announced the approval
and release for planning opera-
tions of the 1955 and 1956 Con-
solidated Highway Program in the
approximate amount of $211,000,-
000. This will constitute the con-
struction or reconstruction of ap-
proximately 2,602 miles of Texas
.Highways, according to informa-
tion received from W. I). Harris,
Sr. Resident Engineer for this
area. *
Projects approved for Cherokee
County are the reconstruction of
U. S. Highway 69 from Rusk to
Jacksonville and State Highway
21 from Alto to the Angelina Ri-
ver.
The work on Highway 69 will
consist of widening the pavement
and improving the sight and pass-
ing distances. It is not yet certain
whether this will be done by re-
vision of the alignment and grade
line of the present pavement or
by the construction of another two
lane road along side of the pres-
ent one. The estimated total cost
of this project, which covers
around 12.1 miles, is $440.000. The
proposed character of work is list-
ed as grading and structures and
«surfacing.
"The work on State Highway 21
will consist of widening and
strengthening of the pavement, re-
placing timber bridges with con-
crete structures, and improving
alignment by partial relocations,
information as to what work, if
any, Is planned in Nacogdoches
County on this road is not avail-
able in this office at this time,"
explained Mr Harris.
Estimated total cost of work on
Highway 21, which covers approx-
imately 7.0 miles, is $220,000,
It is hoped that both of these
projects will be under construc-
tion within eighteen months after
July 1, 1954. The date of the be-
ginning of the work will depend
to a great extent upon the time
required for the securing of the
additional right-of-way necessary
for construction.
Movie Executive
Dies Recently
Funeral services for S. L. Oak-
ley, 49, widely known motion pic-
ture executive who died May 27
at his home in Beaumont after a
long illness, were held at First
Baptist church at 3 o'clock May
28. Dr. T. A. Patterson, pastor of
the church, officiated.
Burial, under direction of Rob-
erts and Pipkin - Brulin funeral
home, was in Forest Lawn Me-
morial park. Members of the fam-
ily requested no flowers be sent
but money used for these tributes
be donated to the cancer fund.
Pallbearers were E. N. Arm-
strong, Max Wertheim, Fred Min-
ton, Dr. Julian Fertitta, Irving
Cohn, E. D. Hayle, Sam Landrum,
Mortie Marks, L. C. Kyburz and
Pete Navarro. All friends of the
family were designated honorary
pallbearers.
(Continued on Page 7, Sec. 2)
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Whitehead, E. H. The Rusk Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 3, 1954, newspaper, June 3, 1954; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth150027/m1/1/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.