The Pharr Press (Pharr, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 6, 1972 Page: 1 of 6
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*
The Weather
Warming trend on Friday with
temperatures in the 60s. Moderate
winds. No rain is indicated.
P'rarr .Manorial Library
150 l. Caff ary
Pharr, Texas
•----*
THE PHARR PRESS
VOLUME XXXX—NO. 1
PHARR, (HIDALGO COUNTY), TEXAS 78577 THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1972 10c PER COPY—$3.50 PER YEAR
10'
PER COPY
$3.50 Per Year in Hidalgo Co.
Mail Subscription
Rainfall Far Over
Average For 71
In this 16-year span, there was an
all time low of only 7.12 inches in
1956 and the all time high of 48.24
inches in 1967.
March and July • are the lowest)
rainfal lmonths of the year, accord- i
ing to The Pharr Press records.
For the second consecutive year,
rainfall in Pharr was considerably
above average with to total of 32.73
inches measured, which is nearly
identical to the 1970 total, also a
“wet” year with 32.24 inches.
The 1971 year was the wettest
since the year of Beulah, 1967, when
48.24 inches was recorded in Pharr
with about 25 inches of this directly
attributed to Beulah.
The Pharr and Valley weather cy-
cle seems to be running in “twos,”
as 1966, 1967 were very wet years,
1968-1969, below normal with less
than 20 inches, and now 1970 and
1971 have been wet years again. If
this cycle holds true, then 1972 and
1973 may be below normal in rain-
fall.
The first five months of 1971 were
very dry with only 3.60 inches
measured, but then June was wet
with 4.50 inches, August had 5.30
inches, September 10.70 inches and
October 5.82 inches. The last two i A freeze was expected on the
months of 1971 were very dry with j morning of January 5th but a cloud
only 1.16 inches for both months. j cover kept the temperatures in the
For the ten years, 1962 through 1 high 30s, with lows mostly 35 and
1971, The Pharr Press rain chart
shows an average of 25.83 inches.
For 16 years from 1956 through
1971, The Pharr Press rain chart
shows an average of 24.34 inches.
Valley Has First
Freeze of Season |
The Valley had its first freeze)
and frost of the 1971-72 season on
Thursday, January 6th, when tem-
peratures dipped to the 30 and 31
level over many areas of the Upper
Valley. Carl Schuster .Weather Re-
porting Station on 281 south and
east of Pharr reported a low of 31
and moderate to heavy frost. Lower
temperatures were recorded in the
western part of the county.
Agricultural Prospects In Co.
For 1972 Are Excellent
WELL, LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROM)"
Groundbreaking For Apt.
Complex Is Jaa. 11
Groundbreaking ceremonies for | Ten acres of he 37 acres will be
, the new “condominium” apartment developed first. -When finally com-
Tender vegetable that have been complex in southwest Pharr will be j pleted, the condominium will have a
on borrowed time anyway will be held next Tuesday, January 11th, ■ maximum of 28) apartments. Most
lost. Tender garden and yard
shrubs were nipped too.
at 10 a.m. at the site.
will be in units of four. They will
Two School Bistricts
May Have to ‘Merge’
Two Common School Districts in
Hidalgo Co. may be forced to con-
solidate with a neighboring school
district unless they can prove their
enrollment of minority race children
is less than 66 per cent.
These Districts are Valley View,
which adjoins PSJA Independent
School District on the southwest and
south, and the other is Runn Com-
mon School District, which adjoins
Donna Independent School District
on the south. These Districts have
affects common or independent
school districts with enrollment of
less than 250 and enrollment of mi-1
nority race students is 66 per cent
According to terms of the order,
each such district must show cause
why it should not be annexed to or
consolidated with, one or more in-
dependent districts of more than
150 students or one or more com-
mon school district of mere than
400 students so as to “eliminate its
existence as a racially or ethnically
been existence for many years.
Valley View was organized back in , separate educational unit,
the early 20s.
Valley View lists a total enroll-
ment of 152 and Runn shows 135.
A court order issued last spring
by U. S. Dist. Judge Wayne Justice
of Tyler and unanimously reaffirm-
ed, with minor alterations by the
U. S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals,
Armed Men Rob
Shamrock Station
Sharmock Service Station, located
at Crump’s Truck Stop, North Cage,
was held up by two armed men
Tuesday night, January 4th, and
they escaped with an undetermined
amount of cash from the cash reg-
ister.
The hold-up came at about 11:20
p.m. Three employees were ordered
to the back room, two were tied up,
and the third was ordered to open
the cash register and then he was
told to lie on the floor. One of the
men was in his 20s and the other in
his 30s, according to Pedro Aguirre,
one of the employees. They were
both wearing blue jeans.
The robbery was reported to po-
lice at 11:30. Chief A1 Ramirez said
Plans for the large project were ' varY Pr^ce ' om $13,000 to $19,-
revealed the first time early in De-! ^or eacd apartment,
cember by the developer Fred Me- \ The developer will pay for paving
Caleb, Jr. of Weslaco, who an- j of streets and v ill pay for his own
nounced purchase of 37 acres from water and sewer lines inside the
project. The c-it; will provide water
and sewer to the property line.
This condominium is said to be
largest yet proposed up to now from
Brownsville to FI Paso.
There will be a recreation center,
swimming pool, storage area and
other special facilities for the occu-
pants.
The developer has already named
the project “Tin-' Town.”
The public i;-( invited
Mrs. R. D. Ward as the site of the
development. He then requested
annexation by the city and this was
done.
Jesus Cortez 79,
Dies From Injuries
In Accident Th „
J2SS »' 12- West Fcy&L; t'fPrler Fu“ral Home Cha!rei
d,ed m McAllen General Hospital | ,y_ ,he chamber ot ' "v r,H '
Monday morning, January 3rd, from Commerce.
injuries received when he was1 _________
struck by a car at the intersection! ^TTTT T?
of Highways 83 and 281 in Pharr! VVILri 1 ilEiil UtiirV./.n.l
The agricultural production in
Hidalgo County was fairly good in
! 1971 and prospects for 1972 are, for
the most part, excellent, according
to County Agricultural Agent A. H.
(Dutch) Karcher, Jr.
The 1971 cotton crop totaled
107,479 bales, produced on 92,-
500 acres, Karcher said. The crop
was “excellent from the standpoint
of yield and quality. With the ex-
ception of the Edinburg area, the
crop was produced at less than nor-
mal cost due to effective insect con-
trol work.”
The prospects for the 1972 cotton
crop “at the moment are excellent
due to an increase in cotton price
to where it is now at about 31 cents
per pound. This will encourage
farmers to do their best to plant
and take care of the crop,” Karcher
Teodoro Escobar
Long Time Res..
Dies at Age 84
Teodoro Escobar, a resident of
Pharr for 43 years, and a long time
church worker, died December 30th '
at Retama Manor Nursing Home in 1
McAllen. He was 84.
He came to Pharr from Mexico
43 years ago. He was a member of
the Assembly of God Church where
he was a life deacon, Sunday School
teacher and was active in all depts.
of the church.
Funeral services were held at 10
a.m. January 3rd at the Assembly
of God Church with Rev. Teodor
Gonzalez officiating, assisted by
Rev. Roberto Avitia of Brownsville.
Burial was in Donna Cemetery.
A prayer service was held at
said.
“There is ample water available,
since now there is no charge on
pumping after recent heavy rains,”
Karcher said, adding that this ap-
plies to all crops.
“A dark spot for next year — in-
sects can be expected to be severe
due to a poor clean-up program this
fall and too much rain in Septem-
ber and October,” Karcher added.
The prospects for grain sorghum
are excellent due to plenty of water
for irrigated lands and good mois-
ture in dry lands. More rain would
be beneficial to the dry land areas
where more than half of the grain
sorghum is planted, Karcher ex-
plained.
However, due to bumper grain
crop in 1971 all over the nation,
price prospects are not too good un-
less large amounts are exported,
Karcher said.
The county agent said the vege-
table crop acreage was small due
to the heavy rains. However, he
It has not been determined wheth-
er the student enrollment means
average daily attendance or total
students enrolled during a school
year. Also, it has not been deter-
mined if transfers to neighboring
junior and senior high schools are
to be included in the student enroll-
ment. If transfer students are in-
cluded, some of the Districts in
Texas would not be affected. The
two in Hidalgo County would not
fall in this category, as their en-
rollment is not near the 250 figure.
At least two independent school
districts in the Valley may be af-
fected. These are in Willacy County
and they are LaSara Independent
School District with 244, a border-
line case, and San Perlita Indepen-
dent School District with 230.
The Court ordered the State
Board of Education to withhold
funds from school districts who are
in violation of the decision.
A total of 24 school districts in
South Texas counties apparently
are affected.
Highways
at 7 a.m. the same morning. He
was 70.
Cortez was crossing Highway 83,
going south, when he was hit by a
car driven by Francisco Gomez,
who was going east on 83.
Pharr police investigated the ac-
cident. He was the fourth traffic
fatality of 1972 in the Valley and
the first in Pharr for this new year.
December 31 —
High
.. 84
Low
61
January 1 .......
. 81
62
January 2 ........
. 81
58
January 3 .......
. 72
60
January 4 .......
. 82
59
January 5 .......
. 68
35
January 6 .......
- 47
31
Reading taken
from
the
Rain
.08
Carl
Sta-
Schuster Weather Reporting
tion, South 281 Highway, at the Blue
Silo.
Funeral services will be held Fri-
day, January 7th, 10 a.m., at Gua-
dalupe Cemetery, Pharr, with ! ;-
Father Rodriguez of St. Margaret’s I CAT SHOW JAN. 15-16 -
Church officiating. | The third annual John M. Morgan
I Memorial Cat Show will be Jan.
JaSuafy .2nd, V... m. C*f
He is survived by his wife, Mrs.
Blasita Escobar, Pharr; a son, Ro-
gelio Escobar of Greenfield, Calif.;
a daughter, Mrs. Louisa Villecas,
McAllen; 14 grandchildren and one
great grandchild.
Skinner. Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
Citrus Shipments
He is survived by two brothers,
Ernesto and Antonio Cortez of
Pharr; three adopted children, Pa-
blo, Ruben and Alicia Cortez, all of
Los Angeles, Calif.
15-16, in the Casa Del Sol in Harlin-
gen. The show is sponsored by the
Tropical Trail Cat Club which has a
Valley wide membership.
Fire Dent. Has
False Alarms
The Pharr Fire Dept, had sever-
al calls on December 31, the last
day of the month, but they all
nroved. to be false.
Alarms were scunded at 12:13,
12:20 and 12:26. The day had been
unusually hot and then a little
shower fell, causing steam to rise
from some of the roofs. Thinking it
was smoke, the alarms vvere turned
in, stated Bud Blackwell, fire mar-
shal.
I said, income was excellent for t<K-
matoes, peppers, cabbage, cucum-
bers, and squash.
He said late plantings will throw
the vegetable season into 1972 with
the outlook unknown.
Citrus is a real bright spot, Kar-
cher said. There are excellent prices
on grapefruit and oranges both in
the fresh market and in the juice
prices.
He said that the marketing and
advertising efforts of the Valley cit-
rus committees have been very
helpful to increase price outlook for
citrus.
Karcher said there will be a sub-
stantial increase in the value of the
citrus crop after the current citrus
season due to the rise in prices.
In the area of livestock, Karcher
said the number of head sold in the
local markets is far higher over
previous years. He said this indi-
cates there are more cattle on the
county farms and ranches.
The price of cattle has been gen-
erally good throughout the year and
it seems this will continue into 1972,
Karcher said.
“The ranches are in excellent
condition to go through the winter
months,” he said.
silFi’^ouNb"
THE TOWN
Did you start the NEW YEAR by
eating your peas? There is an old
tradition (southern origin) that peas
should always be eaten on New
Year’s Day to bring good luck
throughout the year. Some cafes
serve pinto beans for those who
can’t stand the peas. ... A few
weeks ago, this col. mentioned that
there would be a national sales tax
of some kind p -yj in the next few
years to support the federal gov’t,
in its varied give-away programs.
We didn’t realize at that time it was
so close, but The National Observer
in its current issue says the Nixon
Admin, is going to drop a bomb this
year on taxes and propose just such
a tax, but it won’t be called a sales
tax. . . . And speaking of the sales
tax, it has been a bonanza for the
City of Pharr and it is going to get
better. The Pharr Press is going to
conduct a little contest to see who
can come the closest to estimating
en bunches in cartons.
PHARR RAINFALL
Rainfall measured in Pharr since
last publication has been as fol-
lows:
December 31 ...........06 inch.
Annual Masonic
Dinner Tan, 1?
The annual Masonic Party will be
held at the McAllen Tourist Club,
1200 South 10th, January 16th, with
dinner served at 6 p.m.
Speaker for the evening will - he
the noted lecturer and orator, Dr.
R. Bruce Brannon of Corpus Chris-
ti.
A humorous talk will be given by
PHARR RAINFALL RECORD- 19B-1971
Citrus shipments for the week
he and his staff were working on it, endin„ Dpp 18th tota]ed 471 ^ t 1™us LaiK wni 0E S!ven n5
and had some leads but did not j boxes and early orange shipm^ts I ^ai'd Bailey of Ft. Wayne, Indiana
want to disclose them at this time. , 395000 boxes to bring fVe season to-
tal to 2,964,000 boxes of grapefruit
Texas Highway Dept, (and 1,771,000 boxes of oranges. This
k/—j■»-% fra0 A nnmmmrl j compares to 2,543,000 boxes of
unanges Announced j and 1897 000 taes of
Raymond Stotzer, district engi- j oranges a year ago, same date, ac-
neer for the Texas Highway Depart-! cording to figures furnished by the
ment, announced this week that ef- Texas Valley Citrus . Committee
Tickets are $2 and they are avail-
able at the City of Palms Tourist
Club.
1956
1957
1958
1959
1930
1961
1932
1963
1931
1965
1986
1967
1938
1969
1970
1971
Jan.
—
.24
6.95
.85
1.15
1.70
.80
.25
.50
.30
3.13
1.42
2.15
.10
3.10
.20
Feb.
.41
3.09
2.84
2.67
1.65
.10
.15
.60
.88
1.70
1.18
.25
1.11
2.55
.90
.50
March
.25
2.19
.97
.15
.85
—
1.30
—
—
.50
1.20
.82
.90
.50
.12
_
April
1.43
4.84
—
1.16
3.50
1.70
.60
.30
.80
.30
3.42
.60
1.44
.55
1.00
1.70
May
1.60
1.98
.84
.15
.65
.55
1.20
2.70
4.81
5.20
8.58
1.63
4.38
2.40
5.17
1.20
June
.78
3.45
3.79
2.29
3.70
4.50
4.95
1.00
.46
.95
8.11
3.30
1.88
.68
4.54
4.50
July
—
—
1.31
—
—
2.35
—
2.30
.20
.15
.05
—
1.90
_
1.30
1.65
August
.40
.33
—
.74
6.20
2.45
.10
1.10
—
1.42
.25
4.64
_
4.85
3.83
5.30
Sept.
— j
2.C5
5.40
1.40
4.90
4.40
2.85
5.35
1.83
5.72
1.54
23.89
2.24
2.64
.9.05
10.70
Oct.
1.75
—
11.01
3.90;
3.70
.35
.70
4.45
.48
2.66
7.02
4.50
2.07
1.50
3.08
5.82
Nov.
.25
3.35
1.35
.25
1.30
.75
1.00
2.00
—
1.64
—
2.28
.25
2.40
.05
.20
Dec.
.25
1.25
2.80
.20
2.35
.40
2.90
2.95
1.20
3.72
—
2.63
.10
.05
.10
.96
Totals
7.12
22.77
37.28
13.76
29.95
19.25
16.55
23.00
11.21
24.26
34.48
48.24
18.42
18.22
32.24
32.73
fective January 1, Wade Barnes as-
sumed the duties of District Con-
struction Engineer in District 21.
Barnes served in the U. S. Navy
during World War II and has been
with the Texas Highway Depart-
ment for the last 18 years. He has
been Supervising Resident Engineer
in charge of the Hidalgo County
Residency for the past two years.
He and his wife Pat have four chil-
dren and live at 1712 Hibiscus in
McAllen.
H. E. “Bud” Cannon, Senior Resi-
dent Engineer who has been work-
ing as Barnes’ assistant, assumed
responsibility for the operation of
the Hidalgo County Residency. He
is also a veteran of the U. S. Navy
and has worked with the Highway
Department for more than 25 years.
He and his wife Fay reside at 1002
West Ninth Street in Weslaco and
have three children.
Dec. 30th report.
MOTHER OF MRS. KILLIAN
DIES IN AMARILLO
Mrs. Margaret Gray, mother of
Mrs. Guy Killian of Pharr, died in
Amarillo on Dec. 29th. She was 80.
She had lived all her life in either
Amarillo or Potter County.
Mr. and Mrs. Killian were in
Amarillo for the Christmas holidays
visiting her and other relatives
when she died.
Funeral services were held De-
cember 31st with burial there.
RAIN RECORDS WANTED
Those who have kept rain records
for 1971 or previous years are in-
vited to send them in for publi-
cation. Those out of the City of
Pharr are especially wanted.
Month by month tabulation is best
but not necessary.
NEW CPL OFFICE AT PHARR — Here is the architect’s sketch of
the new Central Power and Light Company building now under con-
struction at the corner of South Cage and West Kelly. Wilson Construc-
tion Co. of McAllen is the contractor for the 2,200 square foot build-
ing. The building will have a drive-in pay window. Construction is
expected to be completed in March of 1972.
Produce Shipments
Continue Steady
Vegetable shipments began the
new year in considerable volume,
with cabbage still the leader with
close to 50 carlots on January 3rd.
Lettuce was in second place with
16, while carrots numbered 9 and
mixed vegetables totaled 8.
The market opened the year a lit-
tle weaker, probably due to the
build up in the major distribution
centers over the holidays. Cabbage
was weaker with 1% bu. crates $2
and 50 -lb. mesh sacks $1.50. Red
type, same size, was steady at $4.50
and savoy type was strong at $3.
Broccoli shipments were light but
the price was strong at $3.25 . for
cartons of Lis’. " v
Beets were short in quantity too
with two dozen bunches $2.75 to $3.
Demand on lettuce was fair with
carton of 24s $2 and some $2.50.
Carrots were slow with market
unsettled.
Greens of all kinds were steady
with collards and kale, two dozen
bunches, $2.50; turnip tops and mus-
tard $2.50; dandelions $2.75; kohl-
rabi $3.50, and dill, four dozen $4.
Parsley was $4 for five dozen \
cuily type. ^ ! the income for Pharr for the quar-
Spinach was m short supply and ! ter just comp!eted It w0lVt be a
the price was $2.50 for bu. baskets. | Capri car ,ike the Ea les
Green omons were $4 for four doz- away (attn Kenneth WaIters) „
the newspaper is not going to sell
any chances. The paper will give
several small cash prizes. It may
point out the value to all what the
sales tax means from a tax stand-
point. ... Of interest to animal lov-
ers may be this little scientific rev-
elation: The armadillo is being used
in experiments in finding the cure
for Hansen’s disease. They have
found out that this little animal that
carries its own armor is one of the
i most unusual of all. Somewhere on
this earth is a cure for Hansen’s
disease. . . . After a very quiet holi-
day, the New Year started with a
bang in Pharr with one death by a
traffic accident (January 3rd) and
an armed robbery (January 4th).
See stories. . . . FRED McCALEB,
JR., the developer of the condomi-
nium complex which will be called
“Tiny Town,” doesn’t believe in
waiting ’round for something to
happen. He is going to break ground
on his project next week. This is
the fastest start for any project in
this area for some time. Purchase
of the tract for the site was consu-
mated only six weeks or so ago. . . .
JOHN VENTRELLE, owner (or ma-
jority owner) of Valley Builders
Supply, has retired and has built a
home here. . . . The Texas METH-
ODIST, official publication of the
Methodist Church for Texas, and
several other states, was to publish
a “black paper” giving all the facts
on the Meth. Church involvement
with the United Farm Workers,
Volunteer Workers grants, the con-
troversial fund for reconciliation,
in early January. Two editors came
here in early Dec. for two days of
interviews. One of the editors,
MISS JUDY WEIDMAN, returned
this week for additional facts and
the article is scheduled for publica-
tion now sometime in Feb. Sec. Op.
33, in to talk about this and other
matters, says he hopes it is not
TOO HOT for the presses to run!
If they tell all the facts, some Meth-
odists are going to be shocked be—
yond redemption.
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Glover, Lloyd H. The Pharr Press (Pharr, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 6, 1972, newspaper, January 6, 1972; Pharr, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth714972/m1/1/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Pharr Memorial Library.