The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 6, 1975 Page: 1 of 16
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Volume 126
Number 2
The Cherokeean
Texas' oldest weekly newspaper, established as the Cherokee Sentinel, Feb. 27, 1850
Husk, Texas. Tlmrsriaw March 6. 1975
14* Per Issue
i6 Pages
'Round
Town
With
Mrs.
Roundabout
Spring, where are you?
Wouldn't it be nice if the
weather could be as easily
regulated as Daylight
Savings Time: 'Twereitso,
you would now be the
beneficiary of more
warmth sunshine! Here we
•it with time on our hands
(?) waiting for spring so
that such things as garden-
ing, fishing, boating, horse
•hows, motocross racing
and a multitude of other
desirable activities, can be
enjoyed.
Well, that's life, and it's
called "hurry and wait."
But some of us wait with
less patience than others.
Luckily, there are other
events which are not
limited to the whims of the
weather and which need
attention equally as much
as some of those others
mentioned.
!■ the latter category,
citizens are moving for-
ward with seal to imple-
ment plans for the Bicen-
tennial Celebration, the
annual Junior LiVestoch
Show for Cherokee County,
membership banquet for
the Cherokee Wildlife As-
sociation. the East Texas
Bicentennial Gun Show,
spring production by the
Cherokee Civic Theatre-
play for contest by Rusk'
High School speech stu-
dents and In the Immediate
future, like Friday night,
the All Sports Banquet to
honor RIIS athletes.
Rusk is never idle, to say
the least. Something is
happening on some front at
all times. And this list is not
completely inclusive of all
events and projects which
are occupying the spare
time of civic minded
residents of our commun-
ity. Traditionally, spring is
"Batter Up" time, and that
means lots of baseball
action in the weeks to
come, both at the little
folks level and high school,
as well as the adult
semi-pro play.
On the business side of
the activity ledger, we find
Rusk's friendly merchants
getting their stores in
readiness for this week-
end's kick-off to the
pre-Easter season. Check
this edition for many
values offered in Rusk. All
of us like to save money,
and it Is equally beneficial
to the growth of the area
when dollars are spent at
home! Pennie and nickles,
even!
We understand that the
All Sports Banquet speak-
er, Marion B. Snyder, is a
renowned humorist, and
guests can expect to have a
laughing good time! Heri-
tage Association members
also heard an outstanding
talk Monday night by Dr.
W. A. Miller. He had some
sound wisdom to impart
concerning the need for
citizens to think and act
independently. Most of us
can agree with that, but do
we do it?
In support of Dr. Miller's
stand, we close with this
borrowed thought from
Samuel Butler: "He that
complies against his will is
of his own opinion still."
Housing Group Expects
10,000 W eekend V isitors
I my! Haste ris almost here!
Husk's friendly merchants have good values*' for shoppers. The
anticipated area needs in Easter buying promotion is sponsored by the Chamber's
and this weekend begins some "hopping Retail Trade Committee.
Superintendent Watches
Railroad Park Growth
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Editorials
K-2
Pesl Office Mural
M •
Classifieds
pg.14
Bteeuleulal
pg. 15
HUDFuads
pg-
Co. Wage Hikes
Pg-«
To the casual observer,
the temporary railhead for
the Texas Railroad State
Park may look like a
nightmarish jigsaw puzzle.
But to park superintendent
Ed McLaughlin, the strip-
ped locomotive steam
engines, passenger cars
and stacks of train parts
looks like progress.
This unique park may
have the distinguished
honor of being the longest
and skinniest state park in
the nation with its 24 miles
of track and 50 to 100 foot
right-of-way. It will even-
tually provide visitors with
an old fashioned steam
locomotive train ride
through the East Texas
pine forest between Rusk
and Palestine.
Parks and Wildlife De-
partment officials are
planning the grand opening
to coincide with the bi-
centennial celebration of
the nation. The first train
should "puff" away from
the park's depot by early
summer of 1976.
McLaughlin watches
over the work at the
railroad with devoted inter-
est. He speaks of the old
locomotives as if they were
true friends. The engines
are stripped now, with only
the locomotive hulls stand-
ing on the tracks. All steam
pipes and fittings have
been removed from each
engine. As Ed moves about
the yard, he points out
which pile of pipes and
parts belong to each
locomotive.
Workers are busy sand-
blasting the locomotives
and passenger cars in
preparation for painting.
An apparent sparkle is
visible in Ed's eyes as he
visualizes a completely
restored, like new, brightly
painted steam locomotive
train coming down the
track.
"But, there's still a lot of
work to be done," says
McLaughlin. "Each part of
the three locomotives has
been inspected and an-
alyzed. Many of the parts
will have to be replaced
and if parts are no longer
available, we'll have to
make them or have them
made."
"That's our movie star,"
Ed said as he pointed to a
locomotive that was being
sandblasted. "Locomotive
number seven was used in
the movie 'How the West
Ws Won' and it has also
been in several TV com-
mercials," he added.
Ed gave a brief history
for each locomotive.
The "star", number
seven, was built in 1917 by
the Baldwin Locomotive
Works in Pennsylvania. It
came to the park from
Superior, Arizona where it
had been used in a smelter
operation for a copper
company before becoming
a movie star. The engine
was originally built for the
Tremont & Gulf Railroad of
Louisiana where it spent
the majority of its life
hauling timber.
The second locomotive
was donated to the park by
the city of Abilene. It was
built jn 1901 for the Texas &
Pacific Railroad and pre-
viously served as both a
passenger and a freight
locomotive.
The third engine, loco-
motive number 2248 built in
1896, is the oldest and last
one received by the park. It
is the smallest of the three
locomotives and was used
primarily for exhibition
celebrations in and around
Los Angeles in its final
days.
Most restoration on the
track has been completed
but work continues on the
remaining miles and brid-
ges. Inmates from the
Texas Department of Cor-
rections are rebuilding the
24 miles of track and
reinforcing the 28 bridges.
The track crosses the
Neches River and num-
erous creeks.
Inmates are also doing
much of the work on the
locomotive and the refur-
bishing of the pas-
senger cars. The major
restoration to get the
+ See RAILROAD, pg. 15
The possibility of Rusk
becoming a community of
10.000 on weekends in the
near future was discussed
in a meeting of the Housing
Committee of the Rusk
Chamber of Commerce
Friday afternoon.
Looking toward two
areas for potential growth-
Rusk State Hospital and
the Texas State Railroad--
committee members re-
viewed needs of the
community in order to
serve such an influx of
people.
Donald Clayton, chair-
man, presided at the
meeting in Community
Room of Citizens State
Bank. Others present in-
cluded Travis McCain,
JoEd Anderson.Dr. Bob
Sheldon, Rep. and Mrs.
Emmett Whitehead, James
I. Perkins, Chamber presi-
dent. and Mrs. Mary
Moore, Chamber
secretary.
At the invitation of the
chairman, Rep. Whitehead
discussed the construction
of new homes for doctors at
RSH from funds to be
derived through the public
sale of land now owned by
the institution.
"A bill which I have
introduced, fnff feel will
pass, would permit the sale
of roughly 500 acres of land
owned by the hospital, and
this money is earmarked
for construction of living
facilities which we think
will help us secure more
doctors for this facility,"
he said.
Dr. Sheldon, committee
member and superinten-
dent of RSH, commented,
"The housing we have is
nice, but we don't have
enough." "We have two
more doctors expected to
report for work in July and
there are a minimum of 10
professional persons in
addition to six more
doctors needed at Maxi-
mum Security Unit. We
don't have homes for these
people."
In looking at the antici-
pated growth of RSH, Rep.
Whitehead said. "It is our
hope that when the budget
for this facility is given
final approval, it will
include funds for an
additional 225 persons.
These job classifications
will range from $478
monthly to the $10-$12
thousand bracket. If these
jobs are authorized, it will
mean somewhere in the
neighborhood of an addi-
tional $100,000 per month
payroll. Housing is critical,
if we are going to locate
new people in this com-
munity."
He elaborated on the
need for housing by saying
that most people spend
their money where they
live. "It is vital that we
have nice homes or
apartments available for
new residents," he said.
Conservative estimates
have placed the number of
visitors in Rusk at 35,000
per year when the train
Rusk Seeks
16 Additional
Housing Units
An application for 16
more units to the Pine
Meadows Addition was
filed last week with the
Farmers Home Admin-
istration by the Rusk
Housing Corporation.
Jack Cates, architect,
submitted preliminary
plans for 10 two-bedroom
units and six three-bed-
room units to Charles Hart,
FHA county supervisor.
Construction cost is esti-
mated at $239,030.
The two-bedroom resi-
dences are to rent for $96
per month and the three-
bedroom unis for $116 per
month.
Cates' plans included an
operating budget, cost
breakdown and blueprints
of the layout for the
proposed housing project.
"We are optimistic that
our request for a loan will
move forward rapidly,"
commented Morris W.
Hassell. president of the
housing corporation.
begins operations, pointed
out the state represent
ative. "We are going to
need about 300 people here
just to serve their basic
needs of food, lodging,
gasoline and auxiliary
services for those on
vacation," he said. "These
potential business people
will also need a place to
live."
"We could have as many
as 10,000 guests in Rusk
over the weekend when the
tourist train begins opera-
tion. We must begin plans
now to prepare for this
influx of people," he said.
The quality of housing in
Rusk was discussed at
length, with emphasis on
the sub-standard level of
some rental properties.
The possibility of seeking
aid from the Texas
Department of Health to
+ See HOUSING. pg.
Marion Snider
RHS Athletes
To Be Honored
RENOVATION BEGINS~Ed McLaugh-
lin, park superintendent for the Texas
Department of Parks and Wildlife, is
busy at work on the interior of one of the
■ cars to be used ea the Texas
State Railroad when It begins operating
in the summer of I ITS.
•staff photo
Marion Snider of Dallas,
humorist, will be the guest
speaker at the Annual Rusk
Quarterback Club All
Sports Banquet at 7 p.m.
Friday in the Fellowship
Hall of First United
Methodist Church.
Snider, Mr. Piano, as he
is known from coast to
coast, has a varied and
professional background of
stage, radio and television
performances, and a wide
experience as producer in
all three fields. He was
pianist and arranger for
the BC Shown on CBS for
two years, organized and
directed the Imperial
Quartet for Imperial Sugar
Show on Texas Quality
Network for seven years.
During the war years,
Snider performed as pi-
anist for Judy Conova and
in variety shows with
Tyrone Power, William
Holden, Norma Shearer,
Ink Spots, Count Basie,
Eddy Arnold, Robert Tay-
lor and many other stars of
stage and screen. He is
currently producer and
pianist and MC of a
television series on KXTX,
Channel 39, "Songs of
Inspiration."
Snider has been a
member of the Lions Club
for 27 years and is past
president of the Oak Cliff
Liohs Club; past District
Governor, District 2X1,
Dallas and North Texas;
past president of the Past
District Governors' Associ-
ation of Texas. He has
received three Interna-
tional President's Awards
and "The Ambassador of
Goodwill," highest award
given in Lionism.
He was appointed official
pianist of Lions Interna-
tional in 1968, a position he
still holds. He has appeared
in Tokyo before the
Emperor and Empresses,
New York, Chicago, Atlan-
tic City, Las Vegas, Mexico
City, Miami Beach and San
Francisco.
+ see Banquet, pg. 15
Candidates
Announce
The race for two trustees
on the Board of Education
of the Rusk Independent
School District has picked
up momentum this week
with two additional filings
for two places on the board.
Filing this week were
Sam Florian, station man-
ager for Radio Station
KTLU and Dr. James
Hunter, staff physician at
Rusk State Hospital. Mrs.
Margaret Perkins, incum-
bent had filed earlier and
Bruce Stovall, employee at
Rusk Federal Savings and
Loan Association filed last
week. The terms of Mrs.
Perkins and Dr. W. E.
Gabbert expire this year.
One new candidate filed
Wednesday morning for
the Rusk City Council. Mrs.
Edna Wilcox, wife of L. L.
Wilcox, has filed for a two
year term on the council.
Mayor Morris Hassell and
Councilmen Raymond
Cooper and Johnny Wil-
liams are seeking re-
election to two year terms.
Two candidates are seek-
ing the one year unexpired
term vacated by M. G.
Higgins, who resigned the
post. They are Kenneth
Peloquin. Rusk business-
man and Rusk State
Hospital employee and
Fred Lunsford, retired
Rusk postmaster.
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The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 6, 1975, newspaper, March 6, 1975; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151113/m1/1/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.