Cooper Review (Cooper, Tex.), Vol. 136, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 14, 2010 Page: 2 of 8
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Cooper Review - Page 2
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Bob Bowman's East Texas
_By Bob Bowman_
Babe Ruth in East Texas
Imagine, if you can, baseball
slugger Babe Ruth walking around
a field and shoveling cow manure.
In 1923, Ruth joined fellow baseball
players for a series of exhibition games in
Texas, including three which were played
at Corrigan, 22 miles north of Livingston,
in a pasture owned by Mrs. P.B. Maxey.
Corrigan was chosen, according to a story
in the Corrigan Times, because it had
railroad transportation, hotels, saloons and
other amenities for the players. It was also a
convenient midway point between other towns.
Mrs. Maxey’s field was chosen because it
was one of the few open areas in town. When
promoters of the games offered to rent the
field, Mrs. Maxey refused payment, asking
only that her family be allowed free admission.
Other baseball fans watched the games from
wooden bleachers, which accommodated
about thirty people, or stood around the infield.
At the time of Babe Ruth’s exhibition games,
cows, sheep and other livestock were allowed
to run free and before each game members
of the teams cleared the field of manure.
Nell Braziell, 98, of Corrigan, then the
sixteen-year-old granddaughter of Mrs.
Maxey, remembered seeing three games.
“I didn’t pay much attention to Babe
Ruth. He was a big, husky guy and I
thought he was a good player,” said Nell.
After his games in Corrigan, and his ensuring
fame with the New York Yankees, Ruth’s
career was watched closely by Nell. Each
time she found a newspaper story about the
legendary hitter, she clipped it and stored it
away. On the days of the exhibition games,
early automobiles lined the road leading
to the Maxey pasture. Those who did not
have a car would come afoot or ride horses,
which were tied to trees around the field.
While most of the baseball players arrived
by train, Ruth may have driven his own
car, a black Moon manufactured in the
1920s. Ruth bought the car for $2,350 with
a grill attachment reading, “San Antonio,”
a gift from San Antonio Mayor John Tobin.
Ruth’s career was a legend in its infancy
in the 1920s and he went on to build a
home run record that stood until the 1970s
when it was broken by Hank Aaron.
Meanwhile, another link to Babe Ruth’s visit to
Corrigan exists in Polk County. Greg Ogletree
of Livingston bought the slugger’s black Moon
vehicle in 1975 and still owned it in 2006.
(Bob Bowman of Lufkin is the author of
almost 50 books about East Texas. He can be
reached at bob-bowman.com)
Cooper High School Class of
1956 Celebrates 54th Reunion
The Cooper High School
Class of 1956 celebrated their
54th Reunion on Saturday,
September25,2010. Reunions
held by this class of 34 (11
girls and 23 boys) graduating
seniors have been: 9-Year on
September 4, 1965, 20-Year
on June 5, 1965, 26-Year on
June 26, 1982, 30-Year on
June 14, 1986, 35-Year on
June 29, 1991, 40-Year on
June 28-29, 1996, 45-Year on
June 15-16, 2001, 50-Year on
June 10, 2006.
The 54th Reunion of
CHS Class of 1956 was held
from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at
Cooper Jr/Sr High School.
Richard Roan, Asst. Principal
of Cooper Junior High
School, gave a tour of the
school building before lunch
was catered by Murray’s
Barbeque at 1:00 pm.
A. W. Shelton presided in
the absence of Larry Freeman,
Class President. Marion Roy
McClain gave a memorial
prayer for the following
eight class members who
have passed away: Junior
Thompson on February 19,
1983, Edgar Morris Balentine
on August 1, 1990, Jerald
Boles on June 15, 1991,
Hiram Daniel (Danny) Clark
III on March 8, 2003, Brenda
Cain Carrington on March
21, 2004, Barbara Shaffer on
December 24, 2004, Nina Sue
Wicks Hamilton on October
24,2008, and Billy Earl Blount
on November 17, 2009.
The forty-seven present
included twenty-four
class members and guests:
Morgan and Jo Ann Baker of
Farmersville; Nancy Blount,
Nelda Sue (Little) Winnie of
Enloe; Owen and Carol Sue
(Bolger) Hooten, Barbara
Lynn (Wright) Mason, Billy
and Allyne Harris of Dallas;
Jack B. and Maxine Brantley
of Kemp; F. H. (Sonney) and
Carolyn Choate of Kerens; E.
C. and Gloria Evans of Waco;
John and Carolyn Hickman,
Landis and Wandalene
Mobley, Curtis and Suzanne
Walker, L. C. and Lulla
(Landers) Hill of Cooper;
Marna Beth (Johnson) Bates
and daughter Stephanie Bates
Peters of Stigler, OK; Jo Jon
McCarty and Dan Cockrum
of Grapevine; Marion Roy
and Jane McClain of Ft.
Worth; Loretta (McCormack)
Sellers of Bells; Billy
McGaha of Plano; Tahlie
(Morgan) Carter-Stirling and
her mother Mrs. Willie Mae
Morgan of Garland; A. W. and
Margaret Shelton of Petty;
Baxter and Claudette St. Clair
of Arlington; Ralph and Lorna
Vaughn of Corsicana; Eddie
and Panzy (Wakefield) Powers
of Canton; Gary and Sandy
Wester of Clarksville; Bruce
and Marilyn (Whitlock) Cox
of Ft. Worth. Special guests
were Laura Lynn Carrington
and Mrs. Thomas (Nelda)
Skinner.
Cooper Seuieui
Owners - Jim and Sally Butler
JimB@Cooperreview.com
Publisher/Editor - Roger Palmer
Roger@Cooperreview. com
Office Manager/Staff Writer - Kimberly Palmer
Kim@Cooperreview. com
THE COOPER REVIEW (UPS 131940) is printed weekly, except the
fourth week in December. Second Class Postage is paid at Cooper, Texas
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MEMBER
2009
TU
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
Yea
On The River
With ET
ALABAMA SUPPLEJACK
Seems like all my life I’ve known about
poison oak/ivy and their hairy, tree climbing
vines. Occasionally I would see a smooth,
green vine, much different from poison oak.
While hog hunting with Floyd Payton near
Tira and Sand Hill years ago we ran across
some of the vines and he asked me about
them. Now, here at our ten acres, Two Tails, I
plan to make a nature trail and label as many
plants as possible. I know most of the trees
but recently asked Roxton’s Syd Newman to
walk the trail with me and identify some of the
grasses, shrubs, and such. Before Syd arrived
I tied plastic ribbons on the items for him to
identify. One of them was the aforementioned
smooth, green vine. Syd said it was a Rattan
vine, also called Alabama supplejack.
After talking to Papa about the Alabama
supplejack I also mentioned the other name,
Rattan vine. He just hollered out in surprise.
Said Uncle Ruth McGuyer had cut a small tree
for his sister, Papa’s grandmother, Cynthia
Oats to use as a walking stick. The small tree
had a vine wrapped around it. The vine twisted
around like colors on a barber pole. Papa still
has the Rattan vine and the small tree that never
was made into a walking stick. I remember
seeing it many times over the years.
Some of the other plants identified had
names almost as wild. Here’s a few of the ones
now labeled with a ribbon and marking pen:
wood oats, parsley hawthorn, Virginia wild
rye, farkleberry, coral berry, purpletop triden,
littlehip hawthorn, Japanese honeysuckle,
rusty blackhaw, beaked panicum and boneset.
Many other plants such as trees will also be
labeled. Any science classes or other groups
are welcome to visit and walk the trail which
is about a half mile long. Zack and I walk it
often and sometimes see box turtles which I
mark. I have used a hacksaw blade to put a
small, permanent, and painless mark on the
edge of the shell on twenty five of the turtles.
Over the entire Charleston area 220 have been
marked with individual “names” since 1989.
Just one of my hobbies instead of golf. We are
learning how far they travel and how long they
live. To set up a tour of the Two Tails Nature
Trail you may call 903 439 8110.
While on the subject of identifying things,
Jean twice saw an animal last week near our
house. When she got back she described it
to me and I gave her three choices, ringtail
cat, coatimundi, and lemur. After searching
those on the internet she declared she had
seen a coatimundi. After relating the story
to carpenters at our house they said several
coatimundis and wallabys had escaped from
a zoo type farm near Peerless. As I said many
times before, it would not surprise me to see
a gorilla or giraffe walking beside the dam at
Cooper Lake.
Trivia questions of the week: Why did
the Lone Ranger wear a mask? From what
was the mask made? Who made his mask?
Answers next week.
Did you know there is a shortage of bees
and other pollinators? Farmers may spend
thousands on seed and fertilize only to have
a disappointing crop yield simply because the
bee population has decreased dramatically.
In some places to guard against the shortage
eighteen wheelers loaded with bee hives have
been leased and parked for weeks beside
cropland. Some come from as far away as
California.
As Gary Gross and Dale Elmore visited
recently a few hummingbirds buzzed nearby
at a feeder. Someone told about Rockport’s
huge hummingbird population this time of the
year. As many as three hundred per residence
may be seen. Can you imagine how many
feeders it would take to sustain that many! I
bet it is a traffic jam of trucks bringing sugar
to make enough sugar water for such a high
number. Gary then told his hummingbird
story. Since he works away from home and
doesn’t come home except on weekends, his
shop is closed during the week. One Saturday
he saw a hummingbird flying around in his
shop and for some reason it wouldn’t go out
the door. He just left it there thinking it would
soon fly away. It was still in the shop when he
got ready to lock up Sunday afternoon. Time
for more aggressive measures. Gently he tried
to guide the tiny bird out with the broom but
it seemed to become more confused. Finally
it flew head on into the wall and the long,
sharp beak stuck in the insulation. There it
was, stuck to the wall and its little wings just
a flapping. Gary carefully removed the beak
and carried the little feller outside where it
flew away. Wouldn’t it have been something if
that little confused bird had flown into Gary’s
forehead and stuck there? Yall call all your
local emergency rooms and see if they have
a recorded case of anyone being impaled by a
confused hummingbird.
Tragedy from the past: Last Friday night
the boiler of Mr. Dillard’s Mill at Direct
exploded with terrible consequences. One man
was killed and three more seriously injured.
Direct is in the edge of Lamar County not far
from Monkstown. Since the above was written
we learn that two of the injured have also died.
(Honey Grove Signal - October 25, 1895)
Short ones from Rodney Daingerfield:
My wife and I lived happily for twenty years
and then we met. I asked my daddy if I could
go ice skating and he said wait until it gets
warmer. When I was born the doctors came
out and told my daddy they were sorry and that
they had done all they could do but I survived
anyway. I come from a stupid family. During
the Civil War my uncle fought for the west.
My father was stupid. He worked at the bank
and got fired for stealing pens.
My mother had morning sickness after I
was born. My parents hated me. My bathtub
toys were a radio and a toaster. One year they
wanted to make me a poster boy—for birth
control. I got kidnapped and the kidnappers cut
off one of my fingers and sent it as proof. My
dad asked for more proof. My uncle’s dying
wish was that I could be in his lap when he
died. He was in the electric chair. When I put
on my underwear I can hear the Fruit of the
Loom guys laughing. My wife kisses our dog
on the lips but won’t drink out of my glass.
etra327@live.com
According to the
Thursday, October 21,1965
issue of the Cooper Review:
Jerry Baher of New
Orleans, La., Assistant Chief,
U. S. Corps of Engineers,
spoke to members and guest
at the Annual Banquet of
Delta County Chamber of
Commerce on Tuesday night
at the Delta Country Club.
The speaker was introduced
by Supt. Wade T. Bledsoe.
Mr. Baher spoke on the
Cooper Dam and Reservoir,
giving a history of the project
since its beginning, and told
of plans for the future. He
said “We are proceeding
with the cost allocation for
both Cooper and Texarkana.
Although we have been
delayed by Hurricane Betsy,
storage space in the Reservoir
should be settled sometime
this year. When we have
obtained signed contracts
for storage space, details
and plans will be initiated
by the Corps. This could
be possible early next year.
Two years will be required to
complete the details and the
plans and construction will
probably begin during 1968.
The construction period will
be three to four years but it
is possible that some water
supply will be available one
year earlier. The cost will be
somewhat less than earlier
anticipated. It will be $23 per
acre-foot or per 1000 gallons
at 7 V2 mills.
Over 39, 766 families
of farmers, ranchers and
rural residents in Texas
received Farmers Home
Administration loan services
during 1965. This is an all
time high according to L. J.
Cappleman, State Director
for the Agency.
Maurice Wooley of
Clarksville, owner of Piggly
Wiggly Food Store in
Cooper, has announced the
appointment of Grady D.
Goolsby as manager.
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Palmer, Roger. Cooper Review (Cooper, Tex.), Vol. 136, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 14, 2010, newspaper, October 14, 2010; Cooper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth805044/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Delta County Public Library.