Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 37, Ed. 1 Friday, September 15, 1922 Page: 1 of 4
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For a Greater, Better Palacios Country—Agriculture, Industry, Commerce, Living
SUBSCRIPTION $1.50 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE
PALACIOS, MATAGORDA COUNTY, TEXAS, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1922
VOLUME XV NUMBER 37
Wm. Rutledge
Makes Reply
To Mr. Morris
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Kirk wood, Mo., Sept. 12, 1922
Editor The Palacios Beacon:—
I am grieved and pained be-
yond measure to learn that my
old friend, Chas. Morris of your
city, is capable of writing such
an article as appeared in your pa-
per last week over his name.
What he hopes to accomplish uy
such an article I cannot see.
1. Mr. Morris has not one dol-
lar in the Economy Oil Co. Mr.
- Morris has been predicting all
along since we started that we
would reach oil, first at 1800 to
2,000 feet, then 2500 to 2800 ft..,
then 3000 to 3200 ft., then 3200
to 3500 ft. Now he claims we
will reach it at 50 to 100 ft. more.
We are now down 3860 feet.
2. We have some stockholders
in Palacios, but so far as we know
no one of them has complained
of our management.
3. We stated publicly in Palac-
ios that we were not there to put
on a stock-selling campaign, but
we did not say we would not ask
anyone there for a dollar's as-
sistance. We stated we wanted
the co-operation of the citizens
of Palacios. We asked that and
received it from some of the
good people, but not from Mr.
Morris. While he does not own
a dollar's interest in the Economy
Oil Company, he has given ua
' more trouble than all of our
> stockholders combined. He seems
to think that it is his duty to run
the Economy Oil Co.
4. The offer was not made to
me by the men or anyone else
that the men would drill the well
to 4000 feet without a pay day.
Had such an offer been submit-
ted to me, I certainly would have
accepted it.
5. Mr. Morris seeks to defend
Mr. S. T. Davis, while as a mat-
ter of fact he is as mad at Davis
as he is at me—so mad that he
will not speak to him. He writes
him letters as he does me. Mr.
Morris seems to be long on writ-
ing and short on doing. He
preaches but he fails to practice.
Here is a statement Mr, S. T.
Davis wrote me: "I will not
agree to put another dollar of
the company's money in the Pa-
lacios Taylor No. 1." So it is
clear from this statement that
Morris is far from the facts when
he says Mr. Davis would have
made a well, if I had let him.
6. Here is the offer I made
the people of Palacios: "If you
people will buy $2500 worth of
leases, we will drill the well to
4000 feet." They pledged them-
selves to do this, that is, all pres-
ent at the meeting, and on the
strength of their promise we con-
tinued to drill some 1G0 feet
deeper, but not one dollar of the
$2500 has been received, as I
know of, and I am the treasurer
of the company. More than once
I have repeated that offer, and I
here repeat it again. I heard
nothing of any terms except the
statement I have made. It was
reported to me that some $625 of
the money had been placed in
the Palacios State Rank. On the
terms Morris states over $1000 of
it is still due us.
There is hardly a week that
some stockholder of the Economy
Oil Company does not come into
our office at Kirkwood, Missouri.
They look over our books and so
far as I have heard no fault has
been found with our accounts,
until Mr. Morris found this fault.
And I here declare that Mr. Mor-
ris has never seen our books.
8. Yes, without being asked,
I have more real cash in the
Economy Oil Company than any
other man, woman, or child.
9. I have never said I owned
90 per cent of the stock of the
Economy Oil Company.
1U. i have not received one
cent of the money paid into the
Company by our stockholders. I
mean I have not had the personal
use of a cent of it. The books
will show this.
11. Mr. Rutledge has no pow-
er to dispose of any of the hold-
ings of the Economy Oil Com-
pany, except some I am holding
as security for money I have ad-
vanced the Company, and I have
already offered to the stockhold-
ers to take stock for this.
12. I fail to understand what
Morris means by referring to
my good friend Dr. Thomas
Semmes of South Richmond, Va.
He is not the largest stockholder
but he is a good man, and I am
sure he is not a friend or in any
way a party to Morris' attack.
It is not in my heart to hurt
Morris or any other man. I have
only the kindest feeling for him
and every man and woman in
Palacios. So far as I am con-
cerned personally, I would not
reply to his article at all, but the
interest of the Economy Oil Co.
demands it.
If an investigation of my books
will show that I have ever taken
a dollar of the Economy Oil Co's
money for my personal use, T will
deed my home over to the man
who makes such a showing, and
everything I have on earth.
13. In conclusion, we agreed
to sink the well at Palacios only
3000 feet. Morris says every-
body in Palacios believes that we
will get a gusher in 50 to 100 ft.
more. Then let them put up the
$2500 and pay us what they now
owe on the contract or agree-
ment and we will get the jrusher.
I do not discredit Mr. Hinton's
opinion, but it is due all concern-
ed, to state that Mr. Hinton like
Morris is an interested party.
While he has no money in the
Economy Oil Co., he like Morris
holds leases near the well and
these leases are worth nothing
unless we get a well.
I never said that our Company
had the money to sink four wells
but I did say that if the people
would co-operate with us, we
would drill more than one test
well, and the last time I was in
Palacios I repeated this statement
and meant it.
W. E. Rutledge,
Sec. and Treas. Economy Oil Co.
The Girls Auxiliary of the
Baptist church to Lhe number of
twelve and their leader, Mrs.
Bulloch, had a jolly slumber and
splash party at the B. Y. P. U.
grounds Thursday night of last
week. They made candy, had a
picnic supper and one of the fin-
est times imagineable. For
breakfast they were the guests
of the Wharton Boy Scouts.
New Garage and
Filling Station
Ground has been broken at the
corner of Main and Pavilion for
a mighty nifty little building,
which Donald Moffet and George
Potvin, under the firm name of
Moffet & Potvin. will use for a
filling station and garage. This
corner has long called and beck
oned for some one with a vision
to come and take possession, but
it remained for these two young
men to be attuned to the call and
to see the beckoning hand. By
their energy and optomism they
are adding considerable to the
town's appearance and to its
business worth.
The plans for this up-to-the
Opening of School Postponed
The school Board met last night in special session and,
after careful deliberation, decided to postpone opening of
school for following reasons:
(1.) There is no money in the treasury to operate
with.
(2.) The Board of Trustees did not feel like signing
a note to finance the school which would make their ir-
sonally responsible for the money with a spirit of protest
against the recent election, copy of the protest appearing
in this issue.
The trustees all have children to attend school and
are as anxious as anyone for a school. They have figured
all expenses carefully and called the Bond Election as the
cheapest and best way out, and as a Board, want the pub-
lic to know who is responsible for the delay, respectfully
requesting its help and co-operation in a method to pro-
ceed on a satisfactory plan.
Palacios School Board.
minute filling station were drawn
by architect H. L. Shaw, who is
also superintending the con-
struction of it. The main build-
ing will be 48x24 feet and will be
equipped with all modern con-
veniences. There will be a dou-
ble concrete driveway, a new
Tokhiem visible gasoline pump
and a complete line of accessories
for disabled automabiles.
Citizens Protest
Recent Election
On Wednesday night several of
the opponents of the0 Bond Elec-
tion met and decided to file pro-
test with the School Board and
employ counsel to contest the re-
cent school bond election and no-
tice was registered to the Presi-
dent and Secretary of the Board
as follows;
Palacios, Texas Sept. 13, '22.
State of Texas, ) q q
County of Matagorda)
To Mrs. J. W. Boiling, Presi-
dent Board of Trustees Palacios
Independent School District, Pa-
lacios, Texas.
We, the undersigned residents
and taxpayers of the Palacios In-
dependent School District, here-
by give notice to the trustees of
said district that we propose to
contest the election held by the
said board of trustees of the Pa-
lacios Independent School Dis-
trict, on the 5th day of Septem-
ber 1922, on the grounds that the
votes were counted and informa-
tion given out as to the result be-
fore the polls were closed, along
with other irregularities, to be
filed with the District Clerk of
Matagorda County, Texas, on or
before the third day of October,
1922. Yours respectfully,
C. O. Graham
E. H. Bruce
W B. Rae
J. H. Wilkeson
W. F. Harriman
J. W. Tompkins
John Bentler
F. H. Houston
R. M. Snodgrass
L. J. Garner
J. A. Griffin.
Do your eye glasses need
changing? Eyes tested free. H.
C. Boyd, Jeweler & Optometrist*
Figs in the Gulf
Coast Country
By Owen Warder Nolen
One of the outstanding features
of the development of the Gulf
Coast country is the progress
that has been made in the pro-
duction of figs on a commercial
scale in the past few years. It is
hard to explain why this industry
was not developed many years
ago, for as far back as the mem-
ory of man runs in the history of
this section, it was known that
figs thrived better than any oth-
er fruit that had ever been plant-
ed. The writer has visited the
sites of old homesteads that had
been abandoned in the period fol-
lowing the Civil War, and found
the ruins marked by immense fig
trees that still flourished and
bore fruit many, many years af-
ter the houses and' raii fences
had crumbled into dust.
A few years ago a boom sprung
up in the planting of fig orchards
in the Coast country and a great
many fine orchards of from ten
to forty acres were set out. The
trees, began to bear the second
year, and then the peopls found
that they were confronted with
the problem of disposing of the
fruit. The fig is one of the most
perishable fruits known. It will
not keep more than a few hours
after being removed from the
tree, and the people with the fig
orchards found that it was im-
possible to market, the figs in the
natural state and no provision
had been made for canning them.
The upshot of the matter was
that the fig industry received a
setback at the beginning of the
attempt to produce them on £
commercial scale.
CANNING SOLVES THE PROBLEM
All that is changed now. Peo-
ple realized that canned figs is
one of the finest preserves known
and preserving plants were es-
tablished to take care of the fruit
going to waste for lack of a mar-
ket. This year has witnessed
the biggest season of the whole
history of fig growing in the
Coast country. Palacios, Bay
City, Alvin and Scaly are some
of the centers of the fig industry.
Sixty-nine thousand jars were
shipped into Sealy at one time
this season to use in preserving
the crop of figs.
The writer visited the preserv-
ing plant of the Crawford Fig
Company, at Palacios, and found
the plant going full blast. The
figs are weighed at the receiving
platform and the amount is en-
tered on a book and a receipt is
given the party delivering the
figs. Five cents a pound is paid
for the fruit, and on Saturdays
the growers get checks for the
amount delivered to the plant
during the week. As the fruit
is gathered and delivered daily
the weekly checks amount to a
good deal. Practically every
home in the city has fig trees
planted in the back yard, and
even some of the hnsinoaa Vmnooo
have a few trees planted at the
rear of the buildings. As a large
number of these people have no
way of delivering the fruit.-tthe
factory keeps a man employed to
drive around and call for the
fruit at each house every morn-
ing.
After the figs are weighed at
the receiving platform they are
put in a lye solution which re-
moves the skins and leaves the
fruit snow white. The fruit is
then run through long troughs
and repeatedly washed, during
which operation the fruit is cull-
ed over. After having been cull-
ed and washed the fruit is placed
in big steam cookers and sugar
added, and is then cooked until
almost candied. The fruit is
placed in jars and put in steam
pressure cookers and sterilized
for forty minutes. The final op-
eration consists of labeling the
jars and packing them in boxes
for market.
PROSPEROUS FUTURE FOR FIGS
Mr. Carlton Crawford, the
manager of the Crawford Fig
Company, said in regard to the
possibilities of the fig industry:
"The growing of figs is one of
the best paying enterprises that
a farmer can engage in in this
section of the country, One man
made $4,000 from seven acres,
and we are unable to get enough
fruit to supply the demand for
the preserved product. Many
farmers are making the mistake
of devoting their time to corn
and cotton when the fact is that
this section is not a corn and cot-
ton country. This part of the
Gulf Coast country is primarily a
truck and fruit country, the soil
and climate being peculiarly
adapted to such products, and
the sarrounding territory here
will never reach the pinnacle of
its development until the farmers
understand that feature and get
away from the old corn-and-cot-
ton idea.
"I earnestly wish that more
people here would go into the fig
growing business so that we can
expand our business. We have
been contemplatinG erectinG a
larGer preservinG plant, but can
not undertake to do so until we
are sure of GettinG enouGh fruit
to justify us in puttinG up the
new buildinGs. We Guarantee
the people in advance a sure
market for all the fiGs they can
raise, and they can not receive
that assurance for any other
crop they produce."
The variety of fiGs Grown in
the Coast country is confined al-
most exclusively to the Magnolia,
which is the larGest of all, the
fruit often beinG as large in di-
ameter as the top of a teacup,
and one of the Greatest advanta-
Ges in settinG out a fifi orchard
is that the fruit is propaGated
from cuttinGs. —Farm and Ranch
Deutschburg's
2nd Annual Fair
COAL! COAL!
Two cars Coal
expected soon
Palacios ICE Plant
On Friday, September 22nd,
the Annual Deutschburg Fair
will be held, preobservation
showing that it bids fair to sur-
pass in every way, the entirely
successful and enjoyable effort of
the preceding year.
A varied and interesting pro-
gram is being provided, the ex-
hibits covering practically every
phase of farm activity. Stock of
all kinds is to be exhibited, rib-
bons and prizes to be awarded to
the winner and runner-up of each
class. Those who attended last
year's fair will be able to note
the improvement that even one
short year has made in the qual-
ity of animals to be shown. The
stock judging events are free to
all, no entrance fee being re-
quired. The culinary department
is due for a busy day. The riv-
alry among the women of the
community in that line is intense
and many and varied are the pro-
duets of their art which will be
exhibited. The Deutschburg
kitchens are destined to become
the centers of great activeness
just before Fair day.
The ladies are also to vie as to
their skill with the needle, and
the fact that the most praise-
worthy efforts both as regards
the products of the kitchen and
of the needle will be awarded
prizes, will tend toward the very
best efforts of ali and will be sure
to result in a display of art sel-
dom seen in this section.
In the afternoon representa-
tives from the A. & M. College
are expected to address the gath-
ering, as well as a representative
of the Mistletoe Creamery.
Dairy cattle and poultry will be
the main topics discussed, and it
is a surety that many interesting
and instructive pointers can be
picked up by attentive members
of the audience.
And then, of course, there are
the inevitable athletic events,
foot racing and horse racing and
many other games, some of
which, (reminiscent of last year
and certain of the events) are
sure to be of much amusement.
Ample refreshments and good
eats will be available on the
grounds, and the worthy citizens
of communities from near and
far are cordially invited to attend
this, the Second x^nnual Deutsch-
burg Fair. Remember the date,
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 22.
J. F. Evers,
Chairman Fair Com.
We the undersigned merchants
realizing the importance of com-
munity building, agree to close
our places of business at noon,
Friday September 22nd, and at-
tend the Deutschburg Commu-
nity Fair, if possible;
Curtis-Sisson Grocery Co.
N. L. Hayes
Ed Russell Market
H. C. Boyd Store
Traylor Hardware Co.
G. H. Stanford Garage
F. A. Sisson
J. L. Pybus Planing Mill
J. L. Parker Racket Store
J. W. Stewart
T. R. Brandon
W. B. Rae
Jno. T. Price Lumber Co.
A. J. Tatum Grocery Co.
L. A. McKinnon
Foley Printing Co
M, E. Rogers
City Barber Shop
D. P. Moore Dry Goods Co.
Grant Lumber Co.
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Grant, Mrs. Earl. Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 37, Ed. 1 Friday, September 15, 1922, newspaper, September 15, 1922; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth411863/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Palacios Library.