Jacksboro Gazette-News (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 133, No. 26, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 4, 2012 Page: 4 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Jack County Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Opinion
Page 4 * Jacksboro Gazette-News_WWW.IACKSBORONEWSPAPERS.COM_Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Givers, givers
everywhere...
Christmas is such a special time of the year.
They have been really different for me over
the course of my lifetime. I hear moms worry-
ing because they don’t have much money, but
I tell them some of my family’s best Christ-
mases were those ones where we had very
little. The Santa letters this year have kinder-
garten children asking for iPads and iPhones.
Wow! What happened to bicycles?
Jack County does so many things for
the needy. I hope to write about that in our
“Christmas Greetings” special section this
year. We will include “Dear Santa” letters
but we will also feature grateful businesses
who are saying Thank You to patrons buying
local. Despite the economy, our businesses
purchased advertising to let their customers
know they appreciate them.
Sometimes I have an inside look at local
organizations and the boards that support
them. When I think about the museum, the
Concerned Citizens, the Library, the Clothes
Closet, the Big Brother Big Sister, the Lions
Club, the Jack County Child Welfare Board,
even the school boards, city councils, and
church boards, I realize that it takes dedi-
cated people to keep these organizations go-
ing. People with a passion, drive and a strong
belief in what they are doing. Many of them
have to plan fundraisers and dedicate long
hours of hard work to see them through-
I missed the Holiday Historical Dinner Tour
Saturday night. The first year I was back with
the newspaper, Kim went, then last year, I
sent Shelly and this year, I planned to go with
Pam's
Perspective
By Pam Hudson
A ;
Managing Editor
Sandi. Then Friday morning, I came down
with a bad sore throat and weepy eyes. When
I looked over the pictures Sandi took, it struck
me just how hard these people work to deco-
rate the homes, plan and prepare the food, get
student servers lined up, get entertainment
going and pull off a beautiful evening for at-
tendees with good fellowship and great food.
I’m thankful this season to be part of a com-
munity of big givers. Christy Thomas at the
Jacksboro school administration office orga-
nizes the Candy Cane project each year for
the children. I know she has lots of help plan-
ning the tree, taking applications and deliver-
ing the gifts purchased by more giving people
in the community. Keri Lane with Integra
Care does a Senior Angel Tree to help with
gifts for the elderly. For years, Jerry Yocham
has done Toys for Tots, but this year, passed
the torch to Big Brothers Big Sisters to carry
on. There are students that are learning the
joy of giving as they collect fruit and contents
for the stockings given out by Santa and the
firemen on Christmas Eve. Some 4-H mem-
bers recently collected toys for children. Even
watching those Sisters with a Mission work-
ing on our streets to make our city look better
than ever... more givers. I know I’m going to
miss someone, but we have such a great com-
munity of giving people.
Thank you, Jack County, for all you do to
help others.
Do we have to pay
taxes?
I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep
from paying taxes this year, but after reading
some journals by prominent tax preparer’s
associations, I’m pretty sure they can make
me sorry if I don’t. “They” being the govern-
ment.
I know, some people don’t have to pay, and
I’d really like to join that group, but I’d just as
soon “they” not come and take away my stuff,
my car, my clothing and my house, so I guess
I’m going to have to pay. From everything
I ’ve read ... THEY MEAN IT.
I’ve come up with a few options. First, I
need to have some more children. Those peo-
ple who have a house full of kids get to write
off a lot of income.
They get to add an exemption for every one
of those little buggers. That is until they get
too old. We had kids once, and we used those
exemptions.
But they got grown up, and went away, tak-
ing their exemptions with them. Ungrateful
... that’s all I have to say.
Without kids, you don’t get a child tax cred-
it, childcare credit, or even education credits.
“They” require proof that those children live
with you or that you are paying their bills.
What is this world coming to when the gov-
ernment of the US of A will not take your
word for it? Somehow, when a kid gets to
be thirty-five, is married and has kids of her
own, “they” don’t think her mother should be
able to count her any more..
I’ve thought of adopting a few, but that
would mean starting over with potty training,
Girl Scouts, and eighth-grade dances ... may-
be not. A three thousand dollar credit might
not be worth it...
Beth
Beggs
No, I’d need about six kids, and that would
mean adding on to the house and maybe even
getting another job ... Never mind.
Maybe I should invest in something that
loses money. I have friends who have had oil
wells, beauty shops, restaurants, and cows.
They have a lot of write-offs, but I’m not sure
it’s worth it. What if I made money at it? ...
“They’d” want some.
There are always charitable donations. I
could give away a lot of my old clothes. I’ve
got several boxes of really cute size fourteen
pedal-pushers.
I bought them that summer I joined that
weight-loss club and bought my meals ready-
to-heat- and-nibble.
I think I was size fourteen only long enough
to get to the mall and buy everything that fit.
On the way home I stopped at Braum’s and
blew the whole thing. I could only write off
about seventy-five dollars’ worth ... since
you get about ten cents a pair.
I don’t have much money to give to the
church (in case the preacher is reading this),
and Salvation Army just wants me to ring a
bell. So getting enough donations, property
taxes and medical miles to meet the standard
deduction is impossible.
The alternative to paying taxes is to not
make any money ... or lie ... and I think the
punishment for lying to the Government is
rough. Not only do “they” get your stuff, it
might mess up some plans for the big “tax
holiday in the sky.” Maybe “they” have a
payment plan.
Jacksboro Gazette-News
212 N. Church St. • (940) 567-2616 • editor@jacksboronewspapers.com
a iaMediaNews Group newspaper
USPS 271-720
The Jacksboro Gazette-News is published each Tuesday by Lake Country
Newspapers. Periodicals paid at Jacksboro, Texas.
side of
ADJUSTMENTS: Please check your ad the first day it r
ration is correct. We must limit our financial responsibilities, if any,
irrect ads after the first
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Jackand adjoining counties - $26.99; elsewhere
in Texas - $35.99; outside of Texas $50.99.
ERRORS & ADJUSTMENTS: Please check your ad the first day it runs to ensure
all the information is correct. We must limit
the charge for the space and cannot be responsible for incorrect ads after the f
day of publication.
ADVERTISING DEADLINE: Ads must be submitted by noon the prior Thursda
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Jacksboro Gazette-News, P.O. Drawer 70,
Jacksboro, TX 76458-0070.
Pam Hudson
Managing Editor ' "*
Robert L. Krecklow
Publisher/Vice President
William Dean Singleton
President
Elaine Osteen and
Melissa Rowland
Advertising Manager
Sandi Argo
Staff Writer
Kristi Jones
Office Clerk
Member Texas Press Association, West Texas Press Association, North and East Texas Press Association and Newspaper Association of America.
TEXAS PRESS '
ASSOCIATION
BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST
>/,- Award Winner
--- —2008^'--•
tst
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
ilWe
fc^Tej
West
Texas Press
Association
TAeaswMe, al The Base <S Ybe. Fi££a\ CVf£
Oil boom days in
Breckenridge
Everything changed fast during oil boom
days in North Texas.
Nowhere was that more true than Brecken-
ridge. The big oil boom hit Breckenridge in
1920. The whole climate of the quiet town
founded by ranchers changed practically
overnight.
For a while, an endless stream of men con-
verged on the town: drillers, tool dressers
and roustabouts headed for new wells. And
added to those, the list goes on and on — drill-
ing contractors, lease men, land men and oil
scouts for the companies plus people of every
profession.
They flocked to a town that like the gold-
mining camps of California promised the
chance to get rich quick.
The fortune seekers threw up tents and
shacks in the classic oil boom tradition. Sun-
day in the 1920s was a big day in Brecken-
ridge, but not because of church services.
“Most of the wells shut down for the weekend
payroll.
Nothing but merchandise stores closed for
the day, and the brothels of the city did a land
office business.” Hoards of gamblers and
liquor sellers also moved in town to set up
shop.
From late Saturday night to early Monday
morning, the streets of the town would be
packed with weaving men.
A conservative estimate placed the popula-
tion in January 1920 at 1,500. Just one year
later, it had soared to 30,000. Some 10.000
people poured into the town in one month, re-
corded the city’s chamber of commerce.
Before the original citizens realized what
was happening, the town had grown to many
thousands. “It was a mighty rough place for a
while,” wrote one journalist, “as such places
are, and without modem conveniences. Di-
North
Texas Tales
By Gay Sehlittler
1 I
Storms
_L_:_J
sastrous fires threatened the entire town on
several occasions.”
Some of the neighboring towns refused per-
mits to drill within the city limits, but Breck-
enridge allowed it.
An estimated 200 oil wells inside the city
limits created constant fire hazards. A plan
was devised so that owners within a block
could pool their interests in city oil in the lots
making up a block.
The block was offered to interested people
who wanted to drill, and the property holders
shared equally in royalties. Small companies
from all over the U.S. took over these leases
and drilled and had amazing success.
A 1929 Dallas News article said that “not
one well in this two and a half miles (city
limits after incorporation) has been drilled
that was not proved to be a fine producer. In
the town itself, I am informed, there are 175
wells completed and being drilled and not one
dry hole has yet been encountered.”
Jail records confirm the abrupt social change
and crime triggered by the oil boom. In 1892,
only two prisoners stayed in the jail the entire
year
The original old rock jail had served the
town for more than 40 years, but the small
jail could not contain the soaring criminal
population.
When the new jail was built in 1927, it was
constructed just in time. One old timer com-
mented that the “old jail was used to store cot-
ton until ‘these people came,’ and then it was
worn out in five years.”
On the positive side, the oil boom brought
See STORMS, Page 6
Those rough “oi”
words
“No loitering.” The message seems abra-
sive; we recoil. “Loitering”—like “spoil,
roil and embroil”—wallows in negativity. So
does “soil” when used as a verb.
It would seem as difficult to enforce as those
“NO STOPPING OR STANDING” signs on
city streets. Come on now. Have you ever
seen or heard of a citation for either one?
Sorta like the puzzling post office door sign:
“No Dogs Allowed—Except Seeing-eye
Dogs.” (Dogs—and sightless people—can’t
read.)
And the sign at school: “In case of nuclear
attack, the ban on prayer in public schools
will be temporarily suspended.”...
The unraveling world we live in provides
fertile ground for “thou shaft not” signs to
spring up—even at McDonald’s.
Despite Ronald McDonald’s best efforts, ad
campaigns that boast of happiness, splashy
ad art throughout stores and despite smiling,
warm “welcome-to-McDonald’s” greetings,
some stores post stem warnings to deter “loi-
terers.”
On balance, I’m a more-than-satisfied Mc-
Donald’s patron. “Mickey D’s” coffee is pre-
dictably good and generously “senior priced.”
Their soft-serve ice cream is a hit, their rest-
rooms are consistently clean, and they offer
free Wi-Fi.
Still, the sternly-worded warning on the en-
trance door in downtown Houston seems so
“unMcDonald like.”...
It emphasizes “manager-enforced” loitering
policies. “Loiterers” choosing to go inside
face “30-minute time limits, while consuming
food.” The sign is less than one-foot square
and is dwarfed by colorful window ads push-
ing iced vanilla coffee, peppermint mocha
and “real pork—really awesome.” But it’s at
eye level.
Unshaven that morning, I wondered if I
might be “labeled,” and I kept a wary eye
out for stopwatches. I could have easily been
thought a “loiterer.”
Lots of others—perhaps between buses on
their way to day work—hurried in and out.
I’d say most of ‘em had jobs with no time for
coffee breaks, much less “loitering.”
An older woman at the next table took a foil-
wrapped burrito from her tattered purse, chas-
ing it down with McDonald’s “senior coffee.”
Was she a “loiterer?”
Internet postings hint that the sign is aimed
at gangs of purposeless teens, roaming aim-
lessly. (One teen was said to have left his
socks on a table.)...
In some stores, piped-in classical and oper-
atic music seems to keep the traffic flowing,
the result, management maintains, of a sub-
conscious “get-outta-here” response to high-
brow musical programming.
Across the pond, they’ve installed outdoor
high-pitched sound devices designed to com-
bat mosquitoes. They say the sounds also are
displeasing to most humans under 25 (those
whose hearing hasn’t been muffled by too
much loud music).
Before too long, the warning in Houston
may seem tame....
I’ve thought a good deal about the sign for
See IDLE, Page 6
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Hudson, Pam. Jacksboro Gazette-News (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 133, No. 26, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 4, 2012, newspaper, December 4, 2012; Jacksboro, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth707812/m1/4/?rotate=90: accessed July 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library.