Mercedes Tribune (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, March 19, 1920 Page: 1 of 8
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■
Kistesrized • Milk aiitl
Cream
piioduue co. •
RHONE i>l
/
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II /
Order Brick Ice Cream
for Sunday
ItiilliCEEES. PRODUCE CO.
PHONE 91
OLUME VII.
MERCEDES. HIDALGO COUNTY, TEXAS, FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 190
NUMBER 5
'
wi
ISamA
r which were, sold last week
Bonds for the erection of
the new $87,000 high school
building to be erected by
the Mercedes Independent
School district here and
urn
Jill*?
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a,; ?
y. ■ • i
m fw-*r
.
'tat
to the state, were signed by
; the district officials this
Wm
■ : i wcejj and sent to Autsin.
- j Plans for the proposed
building, drawn by Archi-
tect Kuehny of Austin have
been approved by the board
and bids will be asked for
immediately. It is the plan
of the board members to
rush work on the building
iso that it will be ready for
1§:
occupancy next year.
SwRl
VALLEY INTERESTS HOPE
TO END GAR SHORTAGE
Pressure Brought to Bear on Feder-
al Officials and Agencies in Effort
to Obtain Sufficient Refrigerators
to Move Record Crop — Prices
Advance to $50 and $55—I.C.C.
Promises to Do Everything
Possible
Hope that a way would be found
to relieve the shortage of refrigera-
tor cars which threatens to greatly
reduce, cabbage shipments from the
Valley were expressed by shippers
and growers here Friday after a se-
ries of appeals for relief had been
dispatched to Texas congressmen,
railway- officials and to State and
Interstate Commerce Commisions.
Early in the week, on the eve
of what was expected to be the
greatest shipping season in the his-
tory of the Valley, the St. Louis,
Brownsville and Mexico railway of-
ficials notified shippers that it would
be unable to furnish an adequate
supply of refrigerator cars.' Farm-
ers organizations, leading shippers
protests and appeals to every per-
m ea
4-
geveral hundred local baseball en- j being responsible. Two bases on
lusiasts Tuesday sayv the St. Louis
Itional League team give a con-
icing demonstration; of what the
Iwer Rib Grande Valley can do in
lunding out a finished baseball
when Rickey’s Cardinals threw
hooks into the Philadelphia
lierican league team, 7 to 6. The
Irds, after a two week’s training
“iod in the Valley, was in tip top
Ipe while the Athletics, fresh from
jir training camp in Louisiana,
rain and cold had hindered
ts, lacMed the snap and con-
that has always character-
^Connie Mack’s teams,
fhe opening of the first big
jue baseball series to be played
the Valley was a gala day for
Jrcedes and surrounding country,
jarly 200 automobiles filled with
lerested and enthusiastic fans
led three sides of the parade
iunds at Camp Mercedes while
fkachers erected on the north end
jre well filled.
balls, an error and consecutive hits
by Strunk and Walker drove in the
runs that knotted the contest.
The Cards as though they had
m ; bear mar! rug time, ^vent in in
their half and won out. Dilhoefer
walked, the pitcher singled. Shotton
tried twice to sacrifice. Dilhoefer
stole third on a delayed steal. Shot-
ton bounced one over first for the
single that won the game.
Following the baseball the polo
teams of Camp Mercedes and Camp
San Benito met in one of the most,
spirited and bitterly contested games
of the season, the San Benito play-
ers revenging themselves for pre-
vious losses by a narrow margin
victory. «
Colonel Daniel Van Voorhis, com-
mander of the local post was host
at dinner Tuesday night to the man-
agers of the visiting baseball teams,
the San eBnito players, several St.
Louis and Philadelphia sport writers
and members of the local commit-
tee which arranged for the games
here. Committeemen
The sympathies of the crowd ap-, TI'L'I ~in
ie no doubt to the fact that the
irds were regarded more as a
ime outfit because the Valley had
feen selected by their manager for
laining. That his selection was a
lise one was borne out by the snap
lid almost mid-season form dis-
lyed by most of his star perform-
While. the score might indicate
|at the Cardinals were not so far
the lead the rums made by the
Ithletics were due to the generosity
Walter Schultz. With the Cards
kthe lead, five to the good, Rickey
out Haines who had been doing
plain and fancy pitching and
Schultz. He issued five pass-
two innings, allowing a tied
JThe l Cards again demon-
leir' class id the last in-
|tng and shoved over the winning
in.
Neither manager thought their
litchers in condition to go the full
jute and Mack made frequent
ranges in the box. This one fea-
lre prsotiesliy spoiled what was
lerwise a good contest. The line-
js in other res.pects were those
|hich are likely to start the season
the first league game.
St. Louis started in approved fash-
|m. Shotton led off with a double
the right field autos, went to third
[■hen Heathcote singled. Stock, was
lit by the pitcher. Hornsby as the
1130,000 beauty, did the convention-
|l thing, and struck out with the
ises loaded. Fournier forced Stock
second, Shotton scoring. The
lases were again filled when Bo-
nd drew a pass. Janvrin, Ameri-
^eague cast.off rose to the occa-
fand with a Texas leaguer over
drove in two runs. Clemons
fck out. Janvrin drove in an-
Ir run in' the third when he sent
rne single to left, scoring Four-
from third. Bogart was thrown
pit at the plate trying to score from
jecond on this hit.
The prettiest bit- of consecutive
fritting was seen in the fifth. Stock
toubled to right. Hornsby, who up
jo this time had not seen first,
found one to his liking and poled it
lo right center for a trippie. Four-
liier singled but was out stealing,
fanvrin went out, Dugan to Griffin.
The Athletics scored one in the
leeond and then waited until the
right. Three bases on balls with
line out and an error by Hornsby
let in two runs. In the ninth they
i;d it up, the wildness of Schulz
him. Not only did he allow the game
to be played at the camp but he
had the bleachers erected and aid-
ed in having the Sixteenth cavalry
band sent here to play during the
game.
REPRESENTATIVES 01 ASSOCIA-
TIONS IN CAMERON AND HI-
DALGO COUNTIES TO CO-OPE-
RATE IN EFFORT TO MAINTAIN
UNIFORM PRICES AND STAND-
ARD PACK—HILL MEET HERE
WEDNESDAY.
Co-operation between the two sell-
ing agencies representing the truck
farmers of the Lower Rio Grande
Valley will be the first aim of the
Valley organization which was per-
fected at Pharr Monday night. Plans
for broadening the work of the as-
sociation so that by next season a
uniform pack may be maintained by
the Valley farmers and their produce
shipped out under a standard mar-
keting name are already being made
and may be tentatively agreed upon
at a meeting to be held at the Com-
munity House here next Wednecdty,
March 14.
The organization of the Valley
farmers was brought about by rep-
resentatives of the farmers local or-
ganizations of Hidalgo and Cameron
counties and was the result of two
(Continued on page 4)
Propose Canal to Carry
* Off River Flood Water
feasibility of preventing over- W. F. Shaw, vice-president and chief
,.ow Pp '“e Grande by construe- engineer of the American Rio Grande
non Of a canal above Mercedes and Land and Irrigation Company, act-
usmg the flood waters to irrigate mg for the company, has pledged
tne Raymondville and Lyford sec- $1,000 toward the fund. Donna will
!°PS °e investigated by the be expected to donate a like amount
United States Reclamation Service! as will Brownsville, San Benito and
engineers who are to make a flood! McAllen and the Alamo Land Corn-
control survey of this section. While
federal engineers have voiced no
opinion on the proposed project oth-
ers have declared the plan suggest-
ed by C. H. Pease of Raymondville
holds interesting possibilities and
say they see nothing to prevent it
from being carried out.
The flood survey is to be under-
taken by the Reclamation Service
for the Rio Grande Valley Flood
Control and Conservation associ-
ation, the organiation of which was
perfected at Harlingen Monday when
representatives of all the principal
towns and communities in this sec-
tion met there with federal repre-
sentatives. The expense of the pre-
liminary survey, estimated at more
than $20,000 will be bore equally by
the Valley and by the government.
The advisory committee of the as-
scociation, selected at the Harlingen
meeting will meet at McAllen Mon-
day. Emory Lattaner was selected
secretary of the association and has
already obtained pledges of more
than half the amount the Valley
must raise to carry on the work.
TIMELY FARM TOPICS
This is the Best Month in which to Plant Citrus. Soy Beans and
Cow Peas Aid Soil Fertility. Swat the Weevil by
Swatting all Volunteer Cotton
By H. H. H ARRINGTON-
Citrus Trees.
This month is the best time to get
your trees out. They may be put
out next month, but will not grow
off as well. My advice to the farm-
ers on this canal is not to go too
heavy on lemon trees at this time.
Remember they are more sensitive
to cold than either the orange or
grapefruit tree is. In addition, there
is no established market as yet for
Valley grown lemons to outside
points. Express shipments would
hardly compete in the principal mar-
kets with lemons reaching such mar-
kets in carlots from other growing
districts. It will be well to have
a few trees for home use and to
help supply the local Valley demand.
In planting they should be placed
in among the orange and grape fruit
trees, so that they may be more safe-
ly protected from the cold. The
Kennedy lemon, the parent tree of
which is on the Kennedy ranch, up
at Sarita, Willacy county, is a large
splendid fruit for home use or for
the local market, but it is too large
to meet the commercial demand.
That is to say, on account of its size
there are too few lemons to the
box and they cannot be sold by the
dozen as otheer lemons are common-
ly sold.
All citrus trees should be on sour
orange stocky not on rough lemon
stock or sweet orange stock. There
are many sour orange trees in the
residence yards in Brownsville and
San Benito, as well as in the yards
of some of the older ranch homes in
the Valley, and they have proven
their adaptability to the Valley soil
and the Valley climate so effectual-
ly as to remove any doubt as to the
desirability of this stock foi oui
commercial orchards of citrus trees.
I do not think it advisable to un-
dertake tb secure trees two or
three years old from a nursery. I
would rather have well developed
trees one year old from the nursery
than to have the older trees. In
five years they will be the better
trees of the two classes.
In this connection, I want to give
a word of warning as to the liab-
bility of being misled by the term
“pedigreed” trees. Nearly all fann-
ers know what the term “pedigree”
means, as applied to live stock. It
means that the blood lines of a par-
ticular animal have been kept pure
for several generations; that partic-
ular strain has been1 recorded in a
book for that purpose and that any-
body can trace for at least 5 to 6
generations back, the particular
breeding of the animal. In this sense
there are no pedigreed trees. The
term. is of course loosely used to
mean that the trees, which are be-
ing sold, have been budded from
prolific bearing trees, and it is pos-
sible that in a very few cases this
quality of a heavy bearer may be
traced back to the grandparent o.
the scion being sold.
It is of course desirable to buy
a young tree that has been buddee:
from a heavy bearer, but the charac-
ter and reliability of the nursery-
man and of the agent are t£e best
guarantee for this; so that in buying
trees if you can get those that have
been budded from an orchard of
proven productivity, then you are
that much better off, but after all
you are more or less at. the mere}
of the nurseryman and of the agent.
It is therefore going to be mori
and more desirable as far as prac-
ticable for every man to grow hu
own trees from the seed and as
the orchards in the Valley come inti
bearing, bud from these orchard;
onto your young seedlings.
<$> <$> <S>
Soy Beans and Cow Peas.
If you expect to run the greater
part of your land continually in
truck crops, you must plan to take
care of its fertility. Grow a sum-
mer crop of cow peas, soy beans,
velvet beans, or a mixture of 2 of
these. They are legumes of course,
and there is nothing better to enrich
the soil, unless it is . sweet clover.
The Mammoth Yellow soy bean is
perhaps the best variety; although
there are several new varieties that
may ultimately prove .to be better
than the Mammoth Yellow. Of vel-
vet beans, the Osceola, or the Early
Speckled, is perhaps the best. There
are a half a dozen or more varie-
ties of cow peas that will do well in
the Valley.
Black-eyed peas as they are term-
ed—-which is really a bean and which
are imported in such large quanti-
ties from California, do remarkably
well here. The Whippoorwill is per-
haps the most commonly grown va-
pany.
The object of the survey is to
devise ways and means for utilizing
the natural darinage sources and
for constructing others if found nec-
essary, to prevent a reoccurence of
overflows which have caused heavy
losses to large sections of the Val-
ley and which make the reclamation
of many thousands of low land
acres impossible.
If the plan to construct a canal
tapping the river above here is found
practical the Raymondville-Lyford
section, according to Mr. Pease,
will vote irrigation bonds to help
defray the expense and share in the
general river protection work.
-o-
REPORT NOT CONFIRMED
Nothing to Indicate 16th Cavalry
Will be Sent to San Antonio
The Sixteenth cavalry stationed
here, at San Benito and at Browns-
ville may? go to Fort Sam Houston
for station according to a report
current in border army circles.
The report has it that Major Gen-
eral Joseph E. Dickman, command-
ing the southern department has rec-
ommended to Washington that the
Sixteenth be sent to Fort Sam
Houston, the Fourth be sent from
Fort Ringgold to the Brownsville
district and the Fourteenth from
Fort Sam Houston to Fort Ringgold.
Local officers of the Sixteenth
cavalry say they have heard such a
report and hope that the order
sending them to Fort Sam Houston
would not be issued. The Sixteenth
has been here for more than three
years, the morale of the men is
good and officers do not like the idea
of breaking old ties and forming new
ones.
Officers here pointed out Friday
that there had been no orders issued
tending to confirm the rumor of ah
impending change.
■-■—o>--
OPEN HOUSE EACH SATURDAY
Civic Committee of Woman’s League
to be Community Hostesses
(Continued on page 5)
Members of the civic committee of
the Woman’s Council of Mercedes
held their first meeting Wednesday
and outlined a program of civic and
social activities. The initial step
of the committee and one which is
expected to meet with widespread
approval was the decision to keep
open house each Saturday after-
nion at the Community House. While
local women will be expected to at-
tend, the open house plan is de-
signed particularly for the benefit
of the women living in the neighbor-
ing towns and adjacent territory
who may com© to Mercedes on Sat-
urdays.
It was pointed out art the meeting
that large numbers of women came
here each week-end and that there
is no place for them to go while
their husbands are engaged in busi-
ness affairs or after they have com-
pleted ■ their shopping. A hostess
will be in charge of the Community
House each Saturday afternoon, com-
mencing this week. Light refresh-
ments will be served and a cordial
welcome assured everyone.
and commercial clubs began to send
son and agency that might afford
relief.
Friday morning E. J. Pennell,
manager of ihe Mercedes Produce'
Company wired the Interstate Com-
merce Commission at Washington a
petition which had been signed by
local farmers, business men and
bankers asking for immediate relief
and advising the Commission that
the railroad authorities were blam-
ing federal control for the lack of
cars.
The railway officials declared,
however, that they had done every-
thing possible to obtain more cars
and that solid train loads of emp-
ties were now rolling from northern
points. It was predicted that at
least 1500 cars would he available
for Valleys shipments within a week.
This claim was made here Thurs-
day by General Manager Shoat and
Superintendent Nolan who declared
the government in returning the rail-
way lines to private ownership had
not released control of the refrige-
rator cars and that their line was
powerless to supply a sufficient
number of such cars.
It is estimated that the Valley
must have between 8,000 and 9,000
cars within the next 30 days unless
the cabbage growers are to suffer
heavy finanical losses through ina-
bility to market the largest crop
ever raised in this section. While
shipments have been heavy from all
Valley points since November the
peak of the movement is just about
to begin, the big majority of the
13,000 acre crop having been planted
for harvesting between March 15 and
April 15.
Growers and shippers also com-
plain bitterly of what they call an
unjust method of distributing cars.
It is claimed that some points have
received more cars than needed and
that they have stood idle for days,
while at other points growers have
been forced to talae their wagons
back to their farms because of the
lack of cars.
The shortage is made increasing-
ly aggravating and costly to grow-
ers and shippers because it has come
at a time when the cabbage market
is rapidly advancing. Prices ad-
vanced this week from $35 and $40
to $50 and $55. State inspection,
brought about by farmers organiza-
tions of the Valley increasing the
grade of the produce, and increasing
demand on northern markets and
the car shortage are all given as
factors in the advance. Growers,
however, believe that approximately
the present average price of $50 will
he maintained even if sufficient cars
are obtained.
Word has been received from Con-
gressman John Garner that the In-
terstate commerce commission has
promised to use every effort to af-
ford relief. Mr. Garner was appeal-
ed to by the Mercedes Progressive
League and the business organiza-
tions of Pharr, Mission and other
Valley towns. Following the re-
ceipt of these messages Mr. Garnler
called on the commerce commission
officials and later gave out this
statement:
“The commission assured me that
every effort possible will be made to
furnish cars, and I believe they will
succeed in taking care of the Valley
business, though the supply of .re-
frigerator cars is not sufficient to
meet the demand of that character
of traffic.”
ENGINEERS FORM FIRM
Vann, Caruthers and McKercher to
do Engineering and Contracting
Vann, Caruthers and McKercher
is the name of a new engineering
and contracting firm that was form-
ed here this week and which has
Opened offices on the second floor of
the Mercedes Bank of Commerce
bnuilding. The firm is composed of
W. W. Vann, II B. Caruthers, Jr.,
and Charles McKercher. All are
among the most experienced en-
gineers in the Valley and are widely
known throughout this section.
Mr. Vann is one of the veteran
engineers of the Valley while Mr.
Caruthers until this week was chief
field engineer for the American Rio
Grande Land and Irrigation Com-
pany. Mr. McKercher was also for-
merly connected with the company.
The firm will specialize in irrigation
engineering and construction work
incident to irrigation projects and
farming but will also carry on a
general contracting business.
N-
_jk
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Rector, J. F., Jr. Mercedes Tribune (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, March 19, 1920, newspaper, March 19, 1920; Mercedes, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1018964/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.