The Mercedes News (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 63, Ed. 1 Friday, June 29, 1928 Page: 1 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.
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YOUR EYES
—and Your Efficiency
Glasses Properly
Fined
J. M. Reynolds
Jeweler and
Optoeromist
©he lllcrcebes items
For
Printing
Phone
432
Tuesday Morning and Friday Morning
VOLUME V.
MERCEDES, TEXAS, FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 1928
NUMBER 63
jprst Bale Cotton
limned Wednesday;
Crops Look Better
Ten Days Will See Gin>
ning In Volume; Rust
Is Disappearing
Ginning of cotton started in Merce-
des Wednesday when Alberto Ybar-
ra, living on the military road,
brought in the first bale to the Val-
ley gin. The Traylor gin got a bale
yesterday and all of the gins are ex-
pected to operate at about a bale a
day for a week or ten days when vol-
ume delivery will begin.
All of the ginners agree that the
crop will be much better than it was
expected it would be ten days or two
weeks ago. The rust has practically
disappeared under the hot sunshine
and the plants are beginning to fill
out. Except in the country north of
Mercedes where hail did great dam-
age the crop in this territory will be
a good one.
An inspection of the fields this
week has shown the necessity for
mere watering and more dusting. The
heavy rains of early May did not put
water into the ground as deeply as
had been thought. Underwatering
and dusting the plants have begun
to fill out and both growers and gin-
ners are optimistic over the prospects.
It is agreed that the crop will be
very much larger than last year, but
it is also certain that it will be later.
Some of the fields will be quite late
but watering and poisoning will bring
them around all right. There are
fields, however, which will' mature
early and bear heavily. These are
principally along the military road
where the crop is in exceptionally fine
condition.
“We are going to have a good
crop,” said one ginner. “We have
been in the fields this week and they
do not look nearly as bad as we
thought they did ten days ago. A
lot of fields needs water and they are
getting it. This will cause the stalks
to fill out and make a good, even
though it is a late, crop.”
The first hale ginned here was dis-
played at the intersection of the Main
highway and Texas avenue Wednes-
day.
-o-
Brownsville Completes
Plans for Opening New
Bridge There July 4th
Brownsville, June 29.—Prepara-
tions for Brownsville’s International
celebration and formal opening of the
international bridge, to be held July 4,
are practically completed.
The program for the day, which
will start at 9 a. m., will be replete
with interesting features, including
boat and swimming races, addresses
by nationally-known speakers, a huge
international parade, water fiesta and
pageant at Fort Brown, the day clos-
ing with a gorgeous display of fire-
works^ which will be handled by an
expert. The water fiesta and pageant
will be staged on the Fort Brown
lagoon and will be followed by the
fireworks display.
Brownsville residents are making
preparations to entertain one of the
largest crowds ever assembled in the
city, and_ every possible accommoda-
tion will be supplied visitors, cham-
ber of commerce officials state.
Matamoros is cooperating in the
celebration and troops and floats from
that city will participate in the inter-
national parade, which will pass
through the business section of
Brownsville, cross the new interna-
tional bridge, and over the new paved
highway to the center of Matamoros.
The water fiesta and pageant, un-
der the direction of Jimmy Holmes,
well-known theatrical producer, will
be one of the most gorgeous spec-
tacles ever presented In the Valley,
according to plans announced by the
director. It will be staged on the
Fort Brown lagoon, which provides a
natural setting of great beauty.
Music for the occasion will be fur-
nished by several bands, including the
military bands of the Fort Brown and
Matamoros army posts and the drum
and bugle corps of the Brownsville
American Legion.
-o-
Chamber of Commerce
Occupies New Offices
In City Hall Building
Offices of the chamber of com-
merce, which have been located on
the highway here between Texas and
Ohio avenues, were moved Tuesday
morning to the new city hall. The
new office occupied is on the second
floor about the middle of the building.
It is planned to move the chamber
of commerce office to the first floor of
the new city hall in the very near
future.
JULY FIRST OR AUGUST FIRST?
July 1 has been set as the open date of the white wing season and you will not break the laws
of your state if you shoot them any time during July. However, if you do, you will be helping to
exterminate this bird—the hunting of which is one of the principal sports for huntsmen in the
Valley—because during the greater part of the month of July the birds have their young still in the
nest dependent upon them for food.
Our game laws set the opening day too early—won’t you do your part in preserving this bird
by not shooting them until August 1 ?
This cartoon was paid for by a local sportsman who is interested in keeping the Rio Grande
Valley one of the best hunting countries in the southwest.
Larger Enrollment
To Force Use Old
North Side School
Board Advertises for
Bids On Extensive
Repair Work
Bids are being asked for this week
by the shool board for practically re-
building the old north side grammar
school here located at the corner of
Hidalgo street and Indiana avenue.
Specifications will call for a new roof,
new floor, all outside walls stuccoed,
and the interior to he plastered. The
advertisement asking for the bids ap-
pears in this issue of The News.
When the new north side school
was built it was thought that it
would care for the enrollment there
and for any growth of the school for
a number of years. However, during
the first years of its occupancy, the
1927-1928 term of school, the board
was forced by the large enrollment to
use two of the rooms of the old
building. This was very unsatisfactory
because of the deplorable state of
repair the building was in.
The school census just completed
shows that the enrollment will great-,
ly exceed last year in this school and
that the old building will have to be
remodelled to care for this overflow.
Two or three additional teachers
will be employed by the board this
year.
-o-
Hearing Will Be
Held On Further
Sidewalk Building
Another large block of sidewalks
will be built in the city, according
to assessment notices printed in this
issue of the News. This block will
take in the following property:
South side of Fourth street from
Vermont avenue to Colorado avenue;
the east side of Colorado avenue from
Fourth street to Eighth street; the
west side of Washington avenue from
Second street to. Fourth street; and
the north side of Fourth street from
Washington avenue west to the alley.
Property owners have been mailed
notices to appear before the city
council July 21 at 2 p, m, for a hear-
ing on this matter,
Hidalgo County Leads
Valley In Enrollment
At C.M.T. Encampment
San Antonio, Texas, June 28.—Hi-
dalgo county with a representation
of 66 young men in the C. M. T. C.
at Fort Sam Houston leads by a large
margin all counties in the Valley in
number of students enrolled in the
local camp.
Mercedes has the following seven
boys attending the camp: James L.
Johnson, Townsend R. Anderson, Rit
S. Erwin, Martin B. Glasscock, Wil-
liam T. Trousdale, Jr., Jack 0. New-
ton, Randall W. Law.
Pharr is represented by ten stu-
dents. They are the following: Gau-
dalupe Reyna, Jesse F. Heard, Ralph
R. Beck, Louis L. Crawford, William
P. Horn, John A. Wessling, Samuel
K. Jack, Ivan E. Gutshall, Charles R.
Harles, Chester E. Mabry.
The following eleven students come
from Mission: Herbert Hass, Wil-
liam A. Kunze, Ernest J. Madsen,
Charles L. Melden, Clifford Olson,
Robert J. Anderson, Jim Stephenson,
Jack L. Lehman, Theodore M. Mel-
den, Jr., Glen E. Hodgin, Oscar J.
Truitt.
Edinburg has the following eleven
boys attending the camp: George Es-
timbo, Herschel A. Price, Harry N.
Renfroe, Robert J. Chavez, Desiderio
Flores, Stevens C. Garza, Alfred G.
Guzman, William T. Rowley, Senobio
Flores, Eustacio Guiterrez, Robert C.
Pauli.
The following eight boys attending
the camp come from Donna: Wallace
W. Patterson, Guy W. Ennis, Harvey
R. Billman, Leon P. Maddox, Marcus
E. Mehtonen, Lawrence H. Birthisel,
Jr., A. J. Price, Tom J. Watts.
The following seven students come
from Weslaco: Horace T. Henrichson,
William A. Yarbrough, Robert A.
W. Detlefs, Ben T. Fagile, Arthur M.
Rowland, Tom B. Yarbrough, Thomas
Turner.
Alamo has five students attending
the camp. They are the following:
Kenneth F. Reynard, Victor A. Kor-
meier, Jacob DeVries, Marvin Downs,
Stephen R. Schiffert.
The following four students come
from San Juan: Frank S. Marie,
Leonard H. Irving, Edwin E. Han-
cock, Edward F. Martin.
McAllen has the following three
boys attending the camp: Porter W.
Leavell, Jack M. Palacios, Warner S.
Lewis.
Rehearing Is Denied
Foes Of The Arroyo
Navigation District
Engineers Will Proceed
With Plans for Work
On Arroyo Channel
The fourty court of civil appeals at
San Antonio Wednesday denied the
petition of Joseph K. Wells and
other Brownsville citizens for a re-
hearing of the case in which, about
three weeks ago, the injunction grant-
ed by a Cameron county court re-
straining the Arroyo navigation dis-
trict from functioning, was dissolved.
Wells, and his associates announced
immediately after the injunction was
dissolved that they would appeal to
the state supreme court. Instead
they applied for a rehearing.
Whether there will now be an ap-
peal is questionable. Wells and his
associates undoubtedly desire to em-
barass the district as much as pos-
sible, but if an appeal is filed, at-
torneys for the district will ask that
a bond of considerable size be ex-
ecuted to compensate for loss of in-
terest and expenses. It is expected
that the court will grant this request
and there is some question whether
the Brownsville objectors will be so
zealous when the matter of the bond
comes up.
It begins to look as though the dis-
trict would soon emerge from the le-
gal difficulties that have beset it
and start work on the project.
“As soon as these legal matters are
out of the way,” said J. B. Chambers,
president of the district,” we will em-
ploy engineers to draw the plans for
work. It begins-to look as though the
litigation had about run its course.
There is still an appeal to be consid-
ered, but we certainly will ask that a
good sized bond be posted to protect
us from the expense all this delay is
putting us to. The constitutionality
of the act under which the Arroyo
district was organized seems so plain
that about the only fear we have of
an appeal is the expense it will put
us to.”
Col. J. L. Schley, district engineer
at Galveston, it is reported, has made
an unfavorable report on the exten-
sion of the intraeoastal canal from
Corpus Christi to the mouth of the
Rio Grande. This does not affect the
Arroyo project greatly, although Har-
$ 75,000 Being Spent On
Improving and Extending
Water System In Mercedes
Capacity of Filtration Plant To Be Doubled; Mer-
cantile and Residential Sections Being Grid-
ironed With New Mains and Laterals; New
Building To House Plant.
_
Announcement was made Thursday afternoon by A. J.
Thomas, local manager of the Central Power & Light company,
that work would begin in the immediate future on the enlarge-
ment of the present water filtration plant here to where the capac-
ity would be practically doubled. The new improvements will cost
the company in excess of $20,000. In addition, the company is
now installing new water mains in the business and residential
sections at a cost of approximately $52,000. This makes a total
of about $75,000 being spent in Mercedes to make the water sys-
tem here one of the best in the Valley.
Virginia Minister Is
Named Pastor of Elsa
Presbyterian Church
Reverend T. J. Woods of Richmond,
Virginia, arrived in the Valley Thurs-
day night to take charge of the new
Presbyterian church at Elsa. Mr.
Woods has been teaching at the Vir-
ginia Theological Seminary at Rich-
mond, Virginia. He will conduct serv-
ices at Elsa and at Santa Rosa, alter-
nating his time between the two
towns.
Reverend T. H. Pollard of Mercedes
organized the churches at Elsa and
at Santa Rosa and has been conduct-
ing services there for the past eight
or nine months. Mr. Pollard was in-
strumental in the construction of the
new church building at Elsa. The
services at Santa Rosa will be held in
the school house there, the Presbyte-
rians alternating with the Methodists
in the use of the school building.
Rev. Woods will conduct his first
service at Elsa on Sunday morning.
-o-
Cemetery Clean-Up
Urged by Chairman
Individuals owning lots in the Mer-
cedes cemetery are urged to have
them cleared of weeds, according to
Mrs. Katherine Chadick, chairman of
the cemetery association. “Much can
be done to improve the appearance of
the cemetery if the owners of indi-
vidual lots would see to it that the
lots are kept in good condition,” she
says.
Other interested people, who wish
to donate to the fund for cleaning of
lots, or who have servants they will
donate for a day’s work, are asked to
get in touch with Mrs. Chadick or with
Mrs. E. M. Spendiff, secretary of the
organization.
As the deeds have but recently
come into the hands of the organiza-
tion, no fund is at present available
for cleaning the cemetery. A com-
mittee is now investigating perma-
nently endowed cemeteries, with a
view toward raising a fund which will
insure proper care for the Mercedes
cemetery.
--o-
Uneedus Sunday School
Class Is Entertained
The Uneedus Sunday school class of
the Baptist church met with Miss
Mary Keelty, Tuesday evening. After
a business session a social hour was
enjoyed. Mrs. Hutchins will take
charge of the class during the sum-
mer months as Mrs. W. W. Wilson,
teacher of the class, will leave for a
vacation trip.
A refreshment course was served
by the hostess to Misses Annie Lee
McManus, Goldsby Poag, Grace New-
by, and Mesdames Wilson, Hutchins
and James Johnson.
-o-
Guests at Tea
Thursday Evening
Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Evans and their
guests, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin C. Ham-
mack of Pasadena, California, were
guests of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Bruce
at tea Thursday evening. Mrs. Ham-
mack is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Evans.
lingen people would have liked to see
the canal extended and probably will
take steps to plead the case before the
army engineers at Washington.
It had been anticipated that the
Arroyo channel would make some use
of the intracoastal canal, but that is
by no means the major use to be made
of it and the development of the Ar-
royo will go on as heretofore outlined,
it was announced yesterday.
The present filtration"'plant has a
capacity of 665,000 gallons per day
and it will be increased 500,000 gal-
lons, bringing the total to 1,125,000
gallons daily. Brick and other mate-
rial have been unloaded at the plant
and the old sheet iron structure will
be replaced with a modern brick build-
ing. In addition, two new filters will
be built at the same time as well as
either two or three coagulators. The
new filters and coagulators will make
it possible to retain the water at the
plant longer before being used, thus
purifying and clearing it better than
it has been in the past.
The water plant here was enlarged
to more than twice its original capac-
ity about twelve months ago, but the
growth of the city has forced the
company to increase again the capac-
ity. The new building, filters, coagu-
lators and other equipment to be add-
ed will cost in excess of $20,000. En-
gineers of the company have not defi-
nitely decided on the exact type of
filters to be installed, but it is under-
stood that this part of the system will
conform with the requirements of the
state health department.
For several weeks workmen have
been laying new water mains in the
downtown business section and in the
residential section. The entire mer-
cantile part of the city has been
looped with ten and eight inch mains
and is being gridironed with eight and
six inch laterals. These new mains
are replacing the old steel mains that
do not meet the requirements of the
insurance commission, and on which
Mercedes has been penalized in its fire
rate. When completed the system in
this part of the city will conform with
every provision of the insurance com-
mission and will be large enough to
care for any future growth in the
business section as at present laid
out. It will also be the means of the
city getting a reduction in the insur-
ance key rate.
Beginning at Eighth street an
eight inch main runs to Fikes avenue
west, then north to Hidalgo street in
the Mexican section of the city, then
east to Ohio avenue and back to
Eighth street. The section inside this
area in the residential part of the city
is also being gridironed with laterals,
and extensions have been or will be
laid to many other parts of the city
outside this area, one going to Tenth
street and then as far out as Cope-
land addition. This part of the sys-
tem is also arranged to meet all re-
quirements of the insurance depart-
ment.
“When the water system here is
improved according to our present
plans, Mercedes will not only have
first-class water, but the system will
be the equal of any city in the Val-
ley,” Mr. Thomas stated Thursday.
“In making these improvements and
extensions our company is building
for the future -and the completed sys-
tem will be sufficient to take care of
any anticipated growth of Mercedes
in the next few years.”
-o-
Hearing To Be Held
On Paving Sixth Street
Petitions presented to the city
council asking that Sixth street from
Ohio avenue to Virginia avenue be
paved were considered by the council
at their meeting Wednesday and as a
result July 21 was set as date for a
hearing on the matter. The petition
was signed by more than the neces-
sary number of property owners re-
quired for the city to authorize the
paving.
Although it was not stated definite-
ly at the city hall that the paving
would be authorized at this time, pro-
vided the hearing was favorable, in-
dications are that the work will be
done if the necessary funds are avail-
able.
The work, if authorized, will add
three more blocks of paving to the
new program and will cover a much
used east and west street.
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The Mercedes News (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 63, Ed. 1 Friday, June 29, 1928, newspaper, June 29, 1928; Mercedes, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth651662/m1/1/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.