The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 16, 1974 Page: 1 of 12
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The Cherokeean
Texas' Oldest Weekly Newspaper, Established As The Pioneer JulyS, 1847
SERVING RUSK
WITH DISTINCTION
FOR 126 TEARS
VOL. I2fi
RUSK. TEXAS. THURSDAY, MAY 1«. 1974
IJ PACKS
NUMBER 50
Iones Leads | j¡ounc¡| Grants
Delegates | \y¡|cox pay Rajse
To State
Defeated Congressional
candidate Glen Jones of
Jacksonville will lead the
Cherokee County delegation to
the Governor's Democratic
Convention scheduled Sept.
17-18 in Austin. Supporters of
George Wallace controlled the
county convention held in the
courthouse in Rusk Saturday.
Jones ran third in a three
man race for Congress against
incumbent Wright Patman of
Texarkana and Fred Hudson
Jr. of Center.
The Jones appointed
nominating committee refused
to send either State Repre-
sentative Emmett H.
Whitehead or County Demo-
cratic Chairman Bob Adamson
to the state convention. Both
Adamson and Whitehead were
elected by the people to
their respective offices in the
May 6 primary.
An effort by Summers A.
Norman, prominent Jackson-
ville leader, to send Whitehead
to Austin as an alternate
delegate failed 72-60 in a
convention roll call vote.
Norman stated that he would
gladly give up his position as
alternate so that Whitehead
could attend.
Whitehead's decision to
remain neutral in Jones'
Congressional campaign
against Patman and Hudson
had drawn the displeasure of
many of the Wallace-Jones
people.
"I still firmly believe that
one elected official should stay
out of another's campaign. My
job as a State Representative
requires that I work with all
elected officials," commented
Whitehead.
"It will be my desire to work
with Mr. Jones and the
delegates to the fullest extent,"
concluded the legislator.
Cherokee County's 16 dele-
gates include regular dele-
gates Roger Chandler of Mt.
Selman, Frank Howell of Rusk,
Kenneth Collins of Alto, Ron
Matejka of Jacksonville. J.E.
Brown of Jacksonville, Merkel
Hopper of Wells, Crawford
Godfrey of Jacksonville,
Jones, Foster Brewer of New
Summerfield and C. C. Potter
of Rusk and at-large delegates
Lewis Nichols of Jacksonville.
Kenneth Irwin of Rusk,
Chesley Richards of Rusk.
Nathan Smith of Jacksonville,
Bill Paul of Rusk and Mrs.
Betty Pennington of Rusk.
The alternate delegates
include regular alternates
Mrs. Roger Chandler of Mt.
Selman. Robert Moses of Rusk.
J. J. Bowman of Alto. John
Spiers of Jacksonville. Billy W.
Freeman of Jacksonville. G. R.
Williams of Alto. J. N. Mullov
of Jacksonville, Bobby Weddle
of Jacksonville. Mrs. Nannette
Irwin of Rusk, Raymond
Potter of Maydelle and
at-large alternates J. W.
Holloway of Jacksonville.
Jerry Smelley of Jacksonville.
Robert Tarrant of Mt. Selman.
J. L. Hassell of Hudson. David
E. Mims of Jacksonville and
Summers Norman of Jackson-
ville.
Ten delegates and 10
alternates were elected by
caucus from Cherokee
county's voting precincts
which had 300 or more votes in
the last Governor's election.
Six delegates and six alter-
nates were named by the
nominating committee and
elected by the convention.
The convention voted 114 to
71 to endorse the Right to Work
provision in the new Texas
Constitution now being written
in Austin. Rep. Whitehead is a
co-author of this proposal.
The body also went on record
opposing the state's financing
of the cost of primary
elections. They favored
assessing candidates.
Precincts 22, Gallatin and 32.
North Jacksonville were
denied seats in the county
convention. The credentials
committee ruled that neither
precinct had held a convention
in accordance with the rules
laid down by the party
Three Rusk City councilmen.
the only ones remaining in the
more than lour hour meeting,
voted Tuesday night to grant a
S100 per month pay increase,
retroactive to March I. to Fire
Chief L. L. Wilcox.
The action was taken
following a more than :i()
minute executive session.
Wilcox was called to the closed
meeting at the request of the
council. Councilman Johnny
Williams left the closed
meeting at 10:30 p.m. Council-
man M. G. Higgins had left
earlier, at 9:15, for his job at
Rusk State Hospital. Following
the closed meeting Councilmen
Lewie Byers, Raymond Cooper
and John Hunter voted to
increase Wilcox's pay and he
was asked to "reconsider his
decision to leave the employ-
ment of the city." Wilcox
stated he would stay with the
salary increase. Effective May
1 Wilcox's salary will be $494
per month in compliance with
the Wage and Hour laws set
down by the Federal Govern-
ment.
The fire chief was denied a
pay raise at the April council
meeting when Councilmen
Williams, Higgins and Hunter
voted against the measure.
Wilcox reported at that time he
was working 60 hours a week
and receiving only $360 per
month.
City Secretary Paul Osborne
was also granted a $50 salary
increase from $600 per month
to $650 per month. "We are
raising his salary in accor-
dance with an agreement we
had with Mr. Osborne when he
was hired." said Mavor Morris
W Hassell.
The council also voted to
initiate a merit pay system for
city office employees only.
Merit pay raises would be
derived on recommendation of
City Secretary Osborne. Mayor
Hassell said, "a detailed plan
will have to be worked out."
The council also voted to
comply with the Wage and
Hour law which would grant
raises to several city street and
garbage department employ-
ees.
Councilmen voted to author-
ize Mayor Hassell to write a
letter saying the City of Rusk
would furnish land and a sewer
system for the Parks and
Wildlife Department mainten-
ance complex for the Texas
State Railroad excursion train
if lhat department chose Rusk
as the site of the complex.
Mayor Hassell will take the
letter to Austin Friday lor a
hearing before P-W officials.
The council also voted to pay
remaining expenses, not paid
by other groups, for the
chartered bus trip to Austin.
A motion to raise the water
deposit fee and water tap fee
was also passed by the council.
Present deposit rate was $10
for residence and $20 for a
business. Water tap fee was
$35. The new schedule,
effective immediately, adopt-
ed by the council is $20 for rent
houses; $25 for apartments (3-5
units); $50 for apartments
'6-25 units); $20 for service
stations and drug stores; $30
for dry cleaning businesses,
+ See COUNCIL, Pg. 11
'Round
TOWN
With Mrs. Roundabout;
What's happening? That's a
question casually asked- by
many today...just as an opener
for conversation. But taken
literally, the answer is.
"plenty!"
Sort of in the order of events,
last Thursday was a good day
for good news! Bad for The
Cherokeean's deadline how-
ever! By now, most of you have
read, or heard, that Rusk
Industries received a $1 million
plus contract to produce
electronic mobile trailers for
the U.S. Army. This will mean
a lot of "plow back" for the
local economy. The newly
organized corporation, with
the approval of the Small
Business Administration's bus-
iness development program, is
launching the first of its kind in
East Texas-a shelter manu-
facturing corporation.
Much praise is due Sen. John
Tower for his assistance in
securing this addition to the
business community. Other
officials who were instrumen-
tal with support include
Congressman Wright Patman
and John Steelman.
With a lot of hard work and a
little more good luck, this
business venture can become
another rung in our economic
ladder of success.
While seeking to grow in
other directions. Cherokee
County is still basically
agriculture-oriented. Testi-
mony of this was the almost 300
persons in attendance at
Friday's Soil and Water
Conservation District banquet.
The entire program was
dedicated to our good friend, A.
W. Coker. who has retired after
30 years service in his office.
How can you summarize words
of appreciation to someome
like Coker? We simply say, "he
is a good man and his work will
live on to the benefit of unborn
generations."
In short, he has made the
world a better place because of
his professional dedication
And we kind of feel that he will
continue to find ways to serve,
even though he says he has
retired!
Now what was happening at
the City Dump Saturday is
another story! Paul Osborne,
our city secretary, saw a
gorilla. Knowing Paul as we
do. we believe him. And
knowing that a gorilla was also
reported missing several
months ago at Seagoville lends
credibility. Anyway, county
and city officials joined to seek
and search after Paul's report,
but to no avail. Obviously, this
is a displaced creature. And
should you see him. he would
not harm you. unless you
attack first. You might
however, like to make your
next few trips to the City Dump
during daylight hours. All of us
are aging rapidly enough...
without the assistance of a
fright like that! lies about six
feet tall, standing. You
couldn't miss something that
big. so be on the look out. And
keep a spare banana in your
pocket...just in case!
Our apologies to Gerald
Chapman, former librarian
here and writer of The
Cherokeean column. "Book
Nook." Last week marked the
first article for Mrs. Julia
Pinson. new writer of the
column and in her inaugural
coments. she praised the
services of Mr. Chapman the
past years. But unfortunately,
the heading fot the column
continued to carry his name!
Our apologies to both Mrs.
Pinson and Mr. Chapman as
librarian and Miss Bill March
is his successor. If you know
"Bill" as she is. you know
without wondering that she will
continue to maintain a first
class library. The history of
this organization is something
well worth writing, too. The
Library Study Club sponsors
this good work, and their
organization dates to the
Bachelors Girls Club, one of
the first women's clubs in
Rusk. A worthwhile and
beneficial service lives on'
One quick word to those
persons who plan to make the
trip to Austin Friday . Am a part
of pnhllcit) tor the Texas State
- See lUAROUT, I'g It
s
WOULD YOU BELIEVE...A RADISH?
And that's what it is! A radish held by Jason Kamey is from the
garden of his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Ramey. The size
indicates that one of these should be ample for a family
dinner-even the Jolly Green Ciant family! Ho, ho, ho!
-staff photo
State Salary Amendment
Fails; New Try Planned
State Representative
Emmett H. Whitehead's
efforts to secure an approxi-
mate $100 per month raise for
employees of Mental Health
and Mental Retardation lost
87-51 last week. Representa-
tive Whitehead proposed a 50
cent per gallon tax increase on
hard liquor to finance the
raise.
"We lost a battle, but we are
lar from losing the war."
commented the Cherokee
County legislator.
"After analyzing the record
vote, and personally discussing
the problems of MHMR with
many of the legislators who
voted against us. I believe we
have an excellent chance to
change at least 18 or 20 votes
when we go into regular
session in January.'' Rep-
resentative Whitehead said.
"This is more than enough to
pass the pay raise." "Many of
the delegates were idealogi-
cally opposed to any additional
dedicated funds in the con-
stitution. They told me they
would support our proposal in
the legislative session." he
continued. A conservative
Representative Roy Blake of
Nacogdoches, was most help-
ful in supporting the MHMR
pay raise, and spoke in favor of
the amendment during debate.
Sen. Bill Patman of Ganado,
son of Congressman Wright
Patman. also gave strong
support to the pay raise. Sen.
Patman visited Rusk State
Hospital in April.
Other East Texas delegates
voting for the measure
included; Representatives
Buddy Temple of Diboll; Fred
Head of Troup; Ben Grant of
Marshall, Forrest Green of
Corslcana; Hill Hollowed of
Grand Saline; Merman Adams
of Silsbee; Lane Denton of
Waco; and Senator Don Adams
of Jasper and Senator Ron
Clower of Garland. The
largest single block of votes for
the amendment came from the
predominantly liberal Houston
delegation.
Rep. Fred Head was the only
House Speaker candidate who
voted for the pay raise.
Rep. Whitehead stated that
he would visit with Governor
Dolph Briscoe this week, and
urge the Governor to include
the MHMR emergency pay
raise in the event a special
session is called later this
summer. The Governor is
expected to call a special
session to consider the
education crisis in Texas.
Bob Gregg
Files Suit
Here Monday
Judge J. W. Summers. 2nd
Judicial District, has set a
hearing for 10 a.m., Thursday,
May 23 to determine whether
or not a temporary injuction
will be issued in the case styled
E. R. "Bob" Gregg Jr. vs.
Texas Democratic Party and
Ray Houston Greene.
Judge Summers issued a
temporary restraining order
against the State Democratic
Executive Committee forbid-
ding certification of Ray
Houston Greene as the nomi-
nee to the State Board of
Education, first congressional
district
♦ See GKKGG. Pg. 11
Delegation Leaves Friday
For P-W Austin Hearing
A delegation of 40 interested
citizens from Rusk and
Jacksonville will attend a
hearing Frida> by the Texas
Parks and Wildiifc Depart-
ment concerning re-location of
the Texas State Railroad
maintenance complex from
Maydelle. A chartered bus
carrying the group to Austin
will depart from First State
Bank at 7:30 a m
Speaking for the Husk
delegation will be State
Representative Emmett II
Whitehead; Mayor Morris W.
Hassell and Walter Voltz,
manager of the Jacksonville
Chamber of Commerce. The
Jacksonville chamber lasl
week voiced support of Husk's
plans for the location of the
complex at this end of the
Texas Stale Railroad.
A recent survey by I' \\
revealed thai the present
maintenance complex al May-
delle was "impractical" and
should be moved to either the
Rusk or Palestine end of Ihe
line.
Rusk is well underway with
eonr.ii'iu üiiii .'■! .i paik It;
compliment the tourist train.
v,'i i'. !'-! i1 '-y ¡or íh¡
construction ol three buildings
• > d camping parking
lav ilitics w ill also Ik included
in Phase I of the park plans
The park is under the guidance
of the Rusk City Park Board
headed by Gene Kelley,
chairman.
The Rusk delegation will
base its bid on support already
given to Ihe PW Department's
restoration of the state
railroad, coupled with
acquisition of additional land
on which lo house the
maintenance complex.
"Our community has worked
as one lo develop a city park,
and cooperate in every way
possible to complete a project
which we see as a great
potential for !hr entir; :;!al<
Texas," says Hep. Whitehead.
"We '.vil! present informa-
tion to the department's
officials Friday," he said
Parks and Wildlife Depart-
ment officials will recommend
to the Board of Commissioners
which end of the track should
have the maintenance com
plex-and thus set the starting
and ending point of the Texas
Stale Railroad excursion train,
which is scheduled for opera-
tion Summer '75.
A delegation from Ihe
Palestine Chamber of Com-
merce will also appear at the
meeting to request thai Parks
and Wildlife Department
"construct equal facilities at
both Ihe Palestine and Rusk
ends of the tourist railroad,"
according to a report from that
city's chamber.
A news release in the
Palestine Hearld-Press for
that city's Chamber of Com-
merce reports, "We are
presently devising a presenta-
tion for outline at the Friday
hearing as to what the
Palestine community would
provide in the way of tourist
attraction at their end of the
line."
The release said lhat "on the
drawing board, principally,
would be a museum centered
around Ihe steam engine era of
railroading. II would be
housed in an old depot which it
is currently being negotiated lo
have re-located in Palestine."
In Ihe article, which ap-
peared in the Sunday edition of
Ihe Ilerald-Press, Palestine
Chamber of Commerce
Manager Carroll Pouncey was
reported as saying, "it was the
feeling of the board (Chamber
of Commerce Board of
Directors) thai the community
has responsibilities toward
development of the tourist
railroad and that, as a matter
of pride, Ihe city (Palestine)
should provide some at-
tractions for tourists at the
western terminus of the
railroad."
Hep. Fred Head will lead the
Palestine delegation.
Rusk Industries Receives
$1,120,050 Military Contract
Sen. John Tower, R Tex., has
announced that Rusk Indus
tries has been awarded a
$1,120,050 contract by the
Department of Defense , Elect-
ronics Command, Ft. Mon-
mouth, New Jersey. The
contract was made available
through the Small Business
Administrations (8A) Business
Development Program
Rusk Industries is a newly
formed small business cor-
poration which manufactures
mobile electronic equipment
for military field use. Tower
states lhat the contract is for
the production of 57 AN ASM
190 Electronic Mobile Trailers.
The entire contract production
will lake approximately 14
months to complete, he says.
Rusk Industries expects to
employ 30 people from the
Rusk area. In addition, Tower
savs Ihe city of Rusk expects to
receive a $250,000 income
increase resulting from this
contract and related business.
Husk Industries is the first
shelter manufacturing cor-
poration in this area and will
be considered for future
Government Procurement
contracts of this nature* Work
is expected to begin within
60-90 days al the plant site on
U.S. Highway 84 west, near
State Crossing.
Chief officers of Rusk
Industries are Morris Hassell,
president; Marlon Watson,
vice president of operations;
Joe Terrell, secretary-treasur-
er and James I. Perkins, vice
president of administration,
other officers and directors
are Emmett H. Whitehead,
Irvin Conley and William
Meador.
INSIDE i:
TIIE CHEROKEEAN $
•¡¡Editorials, Columns Pg. 2¡;¡;
¡:¡ Little League Candes Pg. )(•:•
¡."¡Classifieds
Pg. I0g
¡¡¡Celebration Plans Pg. 11
MAYOR BUYS KIHST BO'TTI K-Hnsk Little
Leaguer Bill l'inle> sills the first bottle of
Drlv an ull-piirpoM' cleanci to Rusk Maxor
Morris Hassell Front is Marty Campbell,
w ho w ill |ila\ I arm I «aune baseball Ihis \ ear
for the first time. Rusk youth participating in
the summer baseball program will he selling
the cleaner In raise money to buy equipment
for the season which begins Monday night.
••staff olioto
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The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 16, 1974, newspaper, May 16, 1974; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151070/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.