The Mexia Weekly Herald. (Mexia, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 10, 1920 Page: 1 of 8
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The Mexia Weekly Herald.
VOL. XXII.
NO. 50.
MEXIA, TEXAS, FRIDAY, DEC. 10, 1920.
$1.50 Per Year, in Advance.
REFINERY PROJECT AND HOTEL
GIANT UNDERTAKINGS FOR MEXIA
t All doubts as to the founda-
tion of Mexia's oil boom are rap-
idly passing away. People are
coming to accept the announce-
ment that our town is in the
midst of an oil boom for its face
value and making arrangements
accordingly.
Col. A. E. Humphreys has
just purchased 350 acres of land
from Jos. Nussbaum & Co., sit-
uated alongside of the H. & T.
C. railroad two miles south of
Mexia, upon which he has an-
nounced he will construct a
large refinery. The deal was
closed for this property Thurs-
day, and other developments will
be undertaken in the way of
trackage from both railroads
and storage water in the very
near future.
Both the local banks confirm
the story of a proposed hotel
building to be erected in the
. near future, which will be either
from 5 to 7 stories in height and
occupy almost a half block fron-
tage on Commerce street imme-
diately east of the Jackson Bros,
two-story building.
This proposition is of such
magnitude that our home peo-
ple can hardly appreciate all at
once just what it will mean, ei-
ther as a development underta-
king, or from the standpoint of
investment. It will easily re-
quire from $750,000 to $1,000,-
000 to erect and equip the build-
ing, organize and capitalize the
bank and hotel and finish the
deal as a business proposition.
Details of the matter are still
being thrashed out behind clos-
ed doors, and it is difficult to
guess just what will yet be re-
quired to finance the project.
It may be that before the
contract is let a ten-story struc-
ture will be decided upon. Fin-
ances for both the hotel and the
bank, which will be known as
the First National Bank, will be
raised in Mexia, and we under-
stand has already been subscrib-
ed tentatively at least.
' • ' '
Another Well is Con-
tracted in Lease
/
W. M. Dominy and C. H. Tes-
terman, sons-in-law of Mrs.
Hardin, who owns about 800
acres of land near Mexia, some
of it close enough to the Humph-
reys well to be very valuable
stuff, were in town Thursday
afternoon completing contract
papers for the leasage of a por-
tion of Mi*s. Hardin's land south
west of town, on which a well
will be drilled within the next
GO days.
While the location of the well
was not given out, we under-
stand Mrs. Hardin has leased a
rather large tract of one of her
five different farms in that sec-
tion. The parties buying this
lease have contracted to begin
actual drilling by Feb. 2nd, or
within 60 days, failure of which
will cause payment of a large
forfeit. We did not acertain
who the parties were who have
this lease, but were assured that
they mean business and wili put
the well down to a depth of at
least 3,070 feet, or until they
reach the Woodbine sand.
PIPE LINE CONNECTIONS
SECURED FROM TEX. CO.
t General Manager John B.
Means of the Humphreys Mexia
Co. states that all rights have
been secured from the Texas
Pipe Line Company to connect
up with the Humphreys well No.
1, and the company will immedi-
ately make arrangements to
connect with the main lines of
this carrier at a point some 16
miles east of Mexia.
Steps were taken immediately
upon Mr. Humphreys' arrival
here several days ago to arrange
for this pipe line connection,
and announcement was made
! Friday that everything was
completed in preparation for the
work of laying the connecting
pipe to the main line.
Bank Building to
Get Second Story
An additional story is to be
added to the Prendergast-Smith
bank building on the rear. The
present building is two stories in
height in front but only one
story at the rear, and the addi-
tion will be run out to the full
length of the present lower sto-
ry.
This addition will provide sev
eral office rooms for rental pur-
poses and no trouble is anticipa-
ted in securing tenants for as
many as can be provided in the
new addition.
According to Ben Smith, the
interior of the bank will also be
improved and enlarged, necessi-
tating the removal of the vaults
to the rear of the building, and a
re-arrangement of the interior
to care for an increased busi-
ness and more facilities for
handling it.
Contract for the second story
will be let within a few days if
it has not already been placed,
after which work will begin im-
j mediately.
Humphreys Well No. 1
Flows 23 Minutes
The Humphreys well blew an-
other "head" Thursday night,
flowing 23 minutes without in
terruption, the longest it has
ever spouted oil since the strike
two weeks ago.
No one would estimate the
amount of oil coming from the
well, but a six-inch casing car
ries a large amount of fluid un
der pressure, and we judge
there were several hundred bar-
rels of oil which ran into the
slush pit during this latest ex
hibition of the new well.
No Developments
Today at Oil Well
The Humphreys No. 1 well is
still on the job, but marking
time. Its owners are in no hur-
ry to bring the well in. Wh
should they be?
Oil continues to flow by heads
about every 24 hours and each
time possibly a little more oil
comes out of the ground than
before. The last flow occurred
in the early hours Wednesday
morning and something less
than 200 barrels of oil went into
the tanks.
Four of the wooden storage
tanks will be completed by
Thursday night, after which
work will begin on the erection
of several large steel tanks.
Several cars of casing and
other material for the Humph-
reys Mexia Co. have already ar-
rived and preparations for ad-
ditional drilling are going ahead
in a strictly business-like man-
ner. The locatons for 6 or 7
new wells on the Humphreys
leases are now being made and
an enormous amount of mater-
ial in the way of machinery and
casing is now rolling.
Col. A. E. Humphreys is en
route if he has not already ar-
rived in New York City and will
be absent from the city for sev-
eral days. Ira B. Humphreys
and the general manager, John
B. Means, are continually on du-
ty in their offices hei'e, even un-
til a late hour each night.
Rooms in Demand
Nearly every home in Mexia
has extended accommodations to
the many outsiders who have
come to Mexia to live, either
temporarily or permanently.
The furniture business here
has been given added impetus
as rooms formerly either vacant
or seldom used have been furn-
ished and rented for a good
price by those who cannot find
hotel accommodations.
The population of Mexia is
considerably greater than three
weeks ago.
Mexia's Hospitality
Bestowed Upon
Guests at Banquet
More than 300 people attend-
ed the banquet Friday evening
at the City Hall when Mexia
people met to do honor to the
"man of the hour," Col. A. E.
Humphreys and a number of his
associates responsible for the
new oil well.
A column could easily be us-
ed in describing the supper,
which was spread for the visi-
tors, but this feast was only an
instrument of pleasure, like the
music, and served as an auxili
ary to the main feature of the
evening's entertainment—the
program. It is customary for
flowery writers to describe a
bounteous table as "fairly gx-oan-
ing" with its burden. We did
not hear the long table groan
Friday evening but very likely
it did. - It had occasion to. On-
ly one section of the hall could
be served at one time and as
there was only one long table in
the hall it had to be cleared the
third time to serve all the visi-
tors. No one went away hun-
gry, however. The commend-
able manner in which the enter-
tainment committee handled the
banquet was a cause for much
praise.
The honor guests of the even-
ing were Col. A. E. Humphreys,
A. R. Kightlinger, John B.
Means, W. A. Reiter, F. Julius
Fohs, W. F. Foster and Thos. T.
Hill, all of whom responded to
the toastmaster's request for a
short address. Senator D. Leon
Harp acted as toastmaster and
engaged in a tilted repartee of
fun with the Hon. Luther John-
son, recently of Corsicana but
now a citizen of Mexia, when
the latter was called upon for a
short address in which he was
asked to present some of the im-
pressions first received by new
comers to Mexia.
The musical numbers were
rendered during the early part
of the evening, and among the
most enjoyable were a cornet
solo by Prof. Jones, leader of the
Mexia band, a violin solo by
Miss Eleanor Bass, and a vocal
solo by Emile Nussbaum of Gal-
veston.
Jos. Nussbaum of Galveston,
who was lovingly referred to by
the toastmaster as the "father
of Mexia." marifi a speech sit-
ting, being too feeble to stand,
in which he pleadingly asked for
a united citizenship in order to
appreciate to the fullest extent
Mexia's good fortune. Mr. Nuss-
baum praised Col. Humphreys
in his. steadfastness and heavy
investments here before oil was
struck when he had nothing to
depend upon but the recommen-
dation of his geologists.
Col. Humphreys consumed
several minutes in his address
and gave all the credit for the
well to his driller and his geolo-
gists. He told of one oil field
during the past in Avhich he was
heavily involved and his driller
went through 40 feet of pay
sand during the night, finally
struck salt water and ruined the
well. The driller belonged to
some other company. A. R.
Kightlinger, who drilled the Me-
xia well is an honest workman,
a prince of a man, and to be
trusted under all circumstances.
Not only this but his expert
knowledge and unusual capabil-
ity were largely responsible for
the success of the Humphreys
Petroleum Company here.
The most interesting and
noteworthy incident Friday
night was the presentation to
Mr. Kightlinger by President T.
E. McGee of the Mexia Commer-
cial Club, and on behalf of the
people of Mexia, a gold watch.
Mr. Kightlinger, in his own mod-
est way, thanked the people
here for their kindness. The
driller who is referred to as
"the big chief" by Col. Humph-
reys, prizes the token very
highly.
Col. Humphreys, in his speech
assured the people here that
they were about to enter upon
one of the largest ventures
which ever falls to the lot of a
small town. He said he did not
want to see hundreds of der-
ricks going up and recklessly
Best Outing
Commencing Thursday—we will sell our best quality outings—stripes and plaids in light
and dark colorings—quality that formerly sold at 45c—get all you want now at the yard
ONLY, 19c.
ALL WOOL FRENCH SERGE AT $2.95.
AH Wool French Serge—54 inches wide—good quality, that formerly sold at $4.50—now
priced the yard, $2.95.
—$6.50 Broadcloth—very fine quality—the yard, $4.39.
—$8.50 Blankets—large size—now ONLY $5.50.
—$7.50 Blankets—good quality—now ONLY $4.95.
—$3.00 Best quality silk hose—now priced $2.00.
Leaders in
Mexia for
40 Odd Years
erxiA TEXAS
Leaders in
Mexia for
40 Odd Years
turning loose to waste in the
gutters the valuable oil which of
a certainty underlies this sec-
tion, but rather would he like to
see "conservation" stamped on
every undertaking. He pledged
this to the people here on behalf
of his company and promised
that Mexia would in a very
short while become one of the
largest refining centers in the
Southwest. Mr. Humphreys
says the resources of the Mexia
oil field will be conserved to the
utmost and Mexia will be one of
the sanest, as well as most sub-
stantial oil towns in the state.
The entertainment closed with
a prayer by Rev. Tew, after
which many took advantage of
the invitation by the toastmas-
ter to shake hands with Col.
Humphreys and his party.
Mention should also be made
of the short talk by Dr. R. B.
Jackson. No public gathering
in our city is complete without
the joyful presence and friendly
counsel of Dr. Jackson who on
this occasion said that Mexia
was bound to be a big oil city.
In fact if such was not the case,
he was simply a "blowed up
sucker."
Blacksmith Shop Vacates
$25,000 Fire Des-
troys First Baptist
Church and Home
J. B. Neill has vacated the
building used by him as a black-
smith shop just west of the
News office, and stoi-ed his ma-
chinery and tools. The building
known as the Cundiff livery
barn has been sold to Jesse Mc-
Lendon and will either be torn
down or leased as it stands for a
garage. Mr. Neill will possibly
locate his shop in the oil field la-
ter,
Commercial Club Buys
Page in Sunday News
The Mexia Commercial Club
has bought a page advertise-
ment in next Sunday's Dallas
News, to be followed later with
a half page and two quarter
pages.
This was done to present Me-
xia's side of the oil boom and to
advertise the possibilities for in-
vestors here, not only in oil but
in everything else attractive.
A disastrous fire at 4 o'clock
Thursday morning completely
destroyed the First Baptist
church building and the home of
R. E. Hickman adjoining, entail-
ing a loss estimated at more
than $25,000.
The Baptist church and all
contents, including two pianos,
a large and valuable library and
the private library belonging to
the pastor, Rev. C. T. Tew, was
destroyed, together with all oth-
er fixtures of the church. Mr.
Hickman's home was a total loss
but neighbors succeeded in re-
moving a considerable part of
the furniture and a quantity of
clothing and lesser valuable ar-
ticles from the front rooms.
\V, A. Buckner estimates the
loss on the church property at
$20,000 with $6,500 insurance.
R. E. Hickman says his loss will
amount to $6,500 with $4,000
insurance.
The cause of the lire is
thought to have been from a gas
stove which may have been left
burning in an upper room after
the meeting Wednesday evening
of the B. Y. P. U. Gass connec-
tions had only recently been
made to substitute the coal
stoves previously used, and it is
believed that if the stove was
left burning the extra gas pres-
sure later in the night caused
the stove to become heated to
such a degree that either the
walls or fioor was ignited there-
from. No other probable cause
was given for the fire.
The home of Mr. Hickman,
which stood about 25 feet east
of the church building, caught
from the extreme heat caused
by the burning church. People
in the meantime had removed
some of the furniture and fix-
tures from the residence but
much of it was destroyed.
Tommy Lee Currie of the fire
department states that it would
have been a small task to save
the Hickman home if sufficient
water pressure had been avail-
able, but water could not be had
m
in time to prevent the destruc-
tion.
Inquiry at the water offices
brought the statement that the
standpipe was full to the top and
cause for low pressure was as
yet unascertained.
The home of Rev. Tew just
; north of the church and across
the street caught fire from
! burning brands but was extin-
I guished without any extensive
damage. Rev. Tew'lost a num-
ber of valued relics in the church
] lire, among the number being a
very old book, valued at $125.00.
Rev. Tew's study was in the
church.
Arrangements have been
made with the First Presbyteri-
an congregation, which has no
' pastor at present, to conduct
services in their edifice pending
building plans which must yet
be perfected. This will afford an
agreeable arrangements for
' both congregations.
Mr. Hickman will probably re-
build in the near future on the
lot immediately east of the one
on which his former home stood.
NEW MATTRESS FACTORY
PROPOSITION LOOMS UP
Channing W. Rogers, a repre-
sentative of the Chanway Fac-
tories, Ltd., of Corsicana, was a
business visitor in the city
Thursday and conferred with a
number of the business men
hero with a view to locating a
mattress factory in Mexia.
Mr. Rogers was favorably im-
pressed with the opportunities
for a large volume of business
by his firm here and expressed
a desire to begin preparations
immediately to secure a factory
site and begin operations. Mr.
Rogers is now in search of some
respnosible man to place in
j charge of the interests here.
The city marshal has already
I confiscated enough booze for a
great big egg nogg for both
himself and the editor, thus the
News-Herald has benefitted in
| another way from the oil boom
besides the 90 cents previously
mentioned. Mr. Allen became
suspicious of two strangers ma-
king regular trips into Freed-
man town a few nights ago and
decided to search their baggage.
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The Mexia Weekly Herald. (Mexia, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 10, 1920, newspaper, December 10, 1920; Mexia, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth292392/m1/1/: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Gibbs Memorial Library.