The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, April 25, 1958 Page: 1 of 8
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THE MATHIS NEWS
EIGHT PAGES — NO. 18
VOL. XXXXIII
MATHIS, TEXAS, FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1958
Welcome To Mathis, Dam Dedication
CitySeeksFederalMoney, Replace
Shacks, Slums With New Housing
Why Should ^Mathis |
Have Such A Project?
25 Students On
MHS Honor Roll
Twenty-five Mathis High School
students are listed on the fifth six
weeks honor roll. To be eligible
for the‘honor roll a students must
make more A’s than B’s and no
C’s.
Freshmen: Bob Barber, Ken Pul-
lin, Kathleen Stone, Isabel Nevar-
ez, Carolyn Knolle, Kathy Knolle,
Angelmira Garza, Eleceia Gardin-
er, Ruth Duncan and Carol Ann
Edmondson.
Sophomores: A. W. Knolle, Billy
Curlee, Mary Wayne Koepsel, Pat-
sy Mahoney, Erin Porter, Carol
Ann Winsauer, and Jeanette Nor-
ris.
Juniors: Re Caff all, Jimmy Crou-
ch, E. C. Willmann, and Tim Rod-
riguez.
Seniors: Janet Gregorcyk, Shir-
ley Buffington, Roger Hennig and
Lynwood Jostes.
Why should Mathis have such
a project as a 100-unit public hous-
ing development?
Indeed, the question should be
why shouldn’t Mathis have it.
When it costs the local citizenry
absolutely nothing and might pos-
sibly swell the city treasury with
new money to boot are pretty
good reasons.
But humanely speaking, here are
some even better ones, quoted ver-
batin from a Public Housing Ad-
ministration publication:
Why should any community have
low-rent housing in the first place?
To make decent housing available
to families who cannot afford to
pay what private landlords must
charge for standard dwellings.
The tenants come from over-
crowded or dilapidated houses with-
School Study Committee
Asks Separate School
Migrant Students
The final Hale-Aikin report of
the school programs in San Pat-
ricio County carried no notation
nor recommendation of the press-
ing migratory student problem
which nearly every school district
faces.
However, a special minority com-
mittee in the Sinton school district
did come to grips with that and
other very local problems which
are probably unique—if not just in
this county but in most of South
Texas.
The committee reported, in brief:
1. Each elementary school have,
at least part-time, a teacher in
physical education, arts and crafts
and music (this was mentioned in
the main report as well).
2. Make every effort to avoid
having more than 30 students in
any elementary classroom.
Mrs. Edinburgh
Dies In Houston
Mrs. Dean Edinburgh, 46, of Hous-
ton died in the M. D. Anderson
Clinic in Houston Saturday night.
She was the daughter of Mrs.
Henry Miakotter, and the sister of
Mrs. Robert Lotspeich and Ben
Miakotter of Mathis. Those attend-
ing the funeral from here were Mrs.
Lotspeich and Mrs:-Ben Miakotter
and Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Mia-
kotter of Robstown.
3. Continued emphasis should be
made in grouping according to
out bathtubs, modern toilets, or
decent living space, but with plenty
of vermin. No child gets a fair
chance in a dwelling like that.
In public housing, these families
find a new life:play space for
children; lawns and clean kitchens;
social clubs and civic organizations ;
health programs and study groups.
The new environment gives new
hope to discouraged parents and
children. Many residents get on
their feet after a few years in
low-rent housing and buy or rent
good private housing for the first
time in their lives.
Public housing does not compete
with private standard housing, be-
cause low-rent public housing can
only be built for low-income fam-
ilies and surveys show that private
industry has not been able to house
them in the past and has no pre-
sent hope of housing them at a
fair profit, as it involves risks that
are not attractive to the competi-
tive market.
* Slums are the principal source
of tuberculosis and other contagious
diseases that spread to good neigh-
borhoods. Slums are a school for
bad citizenship, graduating a fresh
class of delinquents every year.
And slums rob your pocket. Tax
assessments are low and taxes
often go unpaid. The deficit is
made up with higher taxes on
business and better neighborhoods.
No Local Tax Money Involved
As 100-Unit House Deal Eyed
ability in separate rooms through-Whether you own your house or
out the entire school system.
4. Serious consideration should be
given to starting a separate school,
later in the year, for the migratory
worker’s child with the term to
continue as long as the children
stay in school.
5. Phonic training should be pro-
moted in all first grades a^d con-
tinued progressively though'out all
grades.
6. Schools should hire extra cler-
ical help to relieve the teacher
of non-academic red tape.
7. Pave a play area around each
elementary school.
8. Provide room on each campus
for visual aid use.
9. Provide science lab in junior
high school and separate biology
labs in the high schools.
10. Start now on an improved
counseling program by providing
a counseling room and later, as
soon as possible, provide a qualified
counselor.
01. Reduce the high school coach-
ing staff (see another story in this
paper for details).
12. Eliminate competitive athle-
tic practice during classroom day.
13. A study should be made of
the physical education and coach-
ing staff in order that the most
effective use be made of them.
The notation is made that these
are local problems which the local
school board should consider.
2,000 Cars New
Storage Assured
It now appears certain that over
2,000 cars of new grain storage will
be ready in San Patricio County
when the 1958 sorghum grain crop
is ready to harvest.
Construction work is well under
way on storage totaling 1929 cars
with one or two more elevators
still considering the construction
of additional space.
Last year the A.S.C. had a total
of 2,800 cars of grain under loan
in this county which represents al-
most the total capacity of the ele-
vators in the county. Add the new
storage to this and San Patricio
County will have well over 5,000
cars of commercial storage avail-
able to receive the new crop.
Rumors were current this week
that the Commodity Credit Corp-
oration had sold another big block
of grain but no confirmation in in-
creased orders has been received
by local elevators. Most elevators
are currently busy leading out
part of the grain that they have
on hand. Optomistic predictions
call for the removal of approximate
ly 30 to 35 per cent of the old
grain out of the elevators. With
this much grain removed and over
2,000 cars of new storage available
indications point to enough storage
space to take care of the 1958
crop.
Elevators having storage under
construction at the present time
are as follows:
Mathis Grain 500
Southern (Edroy) 400
Edroy Grain 200
Sinton Grain 200
Golden Grain 100
Taft Grain 80
Louisiana 214
Midway 100
Gregory Grain 135
Total 1,929
Rosson Grain and Eastern Seed
in Taft both are contemplating the
construction of additional storage.
Mr. Rosson said this week that
he hoped to be able to start his
next week.
rent you are paying part of this
subsidy burden to the slums.
Slum and blighted (semi-slum)
districts comprise about 20 per cent
of a City’s residential areas, but
they account for: 33 per cent of
the population, 45 per cent of the
major crimes, 55 per cent of the
juvenile delinquency, 50 per cent
of the arrests, 60 per cent of the
disease, and 35 per cent of the
fires.
This means that slums swallow
up almost half of every tax dollar,
or 45 per cent of the City Service
Costs. Despite this tremendous
drain into so limited an area, they
return only 6 per cent of the tax
revenues. (Real Estate)
To those elderly who have work-
ed hard and are now in need, and
to those we believe that want better
jobs and to live decently, a low-
rest program provides the environ-
ments for just such aspirations.
Joe Wyatt Joins
M. B. Covington
Insurance Agency
M. B. Covington announced the
association of Joe Wyatt in his
insurance agency this week.
The Covington Insurance Agency
has been in Mathis since the late
1930’s.
Wyatt, a native of Nixon, is a
graduate of Southwest Texas State
Teacher’s College in San Marcos
this year. He is the husband of the
former Miss Mary Virginia Cov-
ington.
The Wyatts moved to Mathis this
past week from San Antonio.
The Covington business has
changed its name to Covington and
Wyatt Insurance Agency. It is loc-
ated in the Mathis News building.
Little League
Opens Tuesday
Little League opens its 1958 sea-
son in Mathis Tuesday night when
the Dodgers take on the Athletics
at 8 p.m. at Edmondson Field.
In Odem the same night the Red
Sox will play the Indians at 6:30
> and the Cardinals will play the
Yankees at 8 p.m.
Next Friday the double-header
will be in Mathis and the single
game will be here. Each Tuesday
and Friday nights throughout May,
June and most of July will the
Little League games continue.
In Tuesday’s single game here
Gordon Cabaniss will coach the
Athletics against Charley Caddel’s
Dodgers. Last year Cabaniss was
a coach in the farin league while
Caddel is a veteran Dodger coach.
A major step forward to eliminate
the slum and shack dwellings that
surround Mathis was taken this
week when the city commission
made application for a Federal
Housing Project.
The entire project will not cost
the city nor its tax payers a penny,
but could possibly increase city
revenues.
If the project for Mathis is ap-
proved, approximately 100 dwell-
ing units will be constructed to
house low-income families.
In theory, there will be a decent,
modern dwelling built for every
shanty or shack in Mathis -that is
torn down.
In 1956 some 110 cities just in
Texas alone had Federal Housing
Projects,- providing dwellings for
30,000 people who had been living
in slum areas.
Tuesday night Mathis commis-
sioners appointed Bennie Curtis as
chairman of the Mathis Housing
Authority, the group that will take
the ball and start the project going.
On the authority committee are
Fernando Lopez, Paul Conrad, I. S.
Butler and Adolph Bomer.
Clifton Berry, city secretary,
was named temporary director of
the authority.
The project will be, probably,
low-slung one-storied buildings
either designed as single or duplex
dwellings. The buildings will be
of brick.
The amount of money involved is
currently unknown. The city is ad-
yertismg its intent to enter into
a public housing project in this
week’s paper. Following completion
of such technicalities, exact details
of when and where will be learned.
Here are some details of the
plan:
1. Who owns-the housing project
units?
The Mathis Housing Authority
will be the' owner. It is a public
agency (headed by Curtis), con-
trolled by a board of five unpaid
commissioners appointed by the
mayor. The citizens of Mathis are
part-owners in the Mathis Housing
Authority, just as they are part-
owners of the public schools.
2. Is the project built and operat-
ed by the federal government?
No. Construction and operation
is a local responsibility. The Pub-
lic Housing Authority acts as a
banker, advancing the money,
which the Mathis Housing Auth-
ority spends on the project. Every
family living in the project will
pay its rent or face eviction, The
rent is roughly 20 per cent of the
family income, but the percentage
is less when several children are
in the family. The government pays
the Mathis Housing Authority what-
ever costs exceed the rental in-
come.
3. The local authority is in con-
trol of the housing. An executive
director (now temporarily filled by
Clifton Berry) is paid for his work
out of the rents.
4. It is up to the local authority
whether or not the housing is
segregated.
5. Where will the project be
built?
Only One Arrest
Reported By Beall
Deputy Sheriff Sam Beall report-
ed a quiet week with only one
arrest as of Wednesday. He picked
up a man working near Mathis
for an oil company, on a child
desertion charge filed in Hondo.
Where needed, mainly, as deter-
mined by the Public Housing Ad-
ministration. Every effort will be
made to construct the new build-
ings where the slums are now,
but the locations depend upon the
individual sites in each town.
6. Will local taxes be raised?
No. Rather, the city gets extra
money as the housing authority
gives the city money in lieu of
taxes.
7. How is it^all financed?
The government advances all
funds. It contracts with the local
authority, guaranteeing to pay the
principal and interest on the 40
year bonds which the authority
sells to private investors.
New Lake Mathis
32 Miles Long,
1 0 Times Bigger
Here are some vital statistics
on Lake Mathis.
The new lake will be 3?2 miles
long and contain some 306,000 acre
feet of water. By comparison the
old lake contained only 35,000 acre
feet of water.
It will be the largest lake en-
tirely in the state of Texas.
Around its shores are a Boy
Scout and Girl Scout camp, a Bap-
tist encampment, five established
subdivisions which will have both
resort and private residence at-
tractions, a state park, camping
leases and some of the best fishing
holes in the world.
Snow Seems Far
Away As Mercury
Climbs To 106
Mathis paid sort of penalty for
enjoying snow and a long, wet
winter Wednesday.
Temperatures rose to a very
sweaty 106 degrees at 2:30 p.m.
in the shade, according to H. E.
Baugh’s thermometer.
Delayed Onion Harvest
Hits Full Swing - - Will
Last Through May 15th
Onions moved into and out of
Mathis this week as the delayed
harvest finally got underway in
full swing.
The various sheds in Mathis and
Tynan were working around the
clock drying and sacking what all
the experts called “a good crop.”
The prices for onion, while good
last week had dropped some by
Wednesday, but could still be
termed very fair. On reason for the
drop was that' the market—short of
onions until last week—was up pro-
.bably above average.
In Mathis the Katz, Vahlsing,
Henderson and Tobin sheds were
all busy as the bulk of the onions
began to move in.
No estimates of how many cars
had been shipped were available,
but from Mathis alone it was not
over 100 yet. Howard Ayers is ship-
ping from the Tynan area.
Another shipper was expected
to 'open later this week and another
firm gave noticfe it would be in
the shipping business by May 1.
The Mathis area onion crop was
about two or three weeks late,
judging from previous years. This
year’s crop is not expected to sur-
pass the record year of 1952, but
is expected to be considerably
better than last year.
Laredo and the winter garden
area are also marketing their on-
ions at the same time with Mathis,
but this is that area’s normal mar-
keting season.
Unless heavy rains start again,
the onion crop is expected to keep
sheds busy until May 15. Rains
Mrs.WayneRouse's
Grandmother Dies
Mrs. Sarah Jane Terry, 92, of
Dale died Thursday morning, April
17 at 6:30 at the home of her son,
A. C. Chambliss in Dale.
She was the grandmother of Mrs.
Wayne Rouse of Mathis. Funeral
services were held Friday in Dale.
Burial was in the Bunton Cefe-
tery.
Mr. and Mrs. Rouse attended
tl?e services.
of course would change that date,
depending upon the condition of
fields.
25-Year-0ld
Successful As
Suicide Victim
A 25-year-old man who apparent-
ly went to a great deal of trouble
to commit suicide, was successful,
police officers discovered in the
state park Monday morning.
The body of Jerry B. Greer was
found locked inside his automobile
which was nearly hidden in the
lush mesquite thicket near the lake.
A black rubber hose was attached
to the exhaust pipe of the car and
stuck through the trunk into the
back seat. Blankets were arrang-
ed along the crack in the open
trunk to prevent air circulation. In
addition, there was a box of dry
ice in the back seat.
A sales slip found in the car
revealed that the rubber hose had
been purchased in Corpus Christi
on Saturday, April 19. Greer appa-
rently drove his car, a 1952 Ply-
mouth, into the brush Sunday
night or early Monday morning.
He had been dead from four to
six hours when discovered by State
Patrolman P. J. Ischy of Beeville.
Immediately on hand after the
body was discovered about 11:30
a.m. Monday were the state pa-
trolmen, park managers, Sheriff
Frank Hunt and Deputy Sheriff
Sam Beall.
Justice of the Peace C. D.
Caffall was on the scene to rule
a temporary verdict of suicide.
The death certificate had still not
been signed Wednesday morning.
Inside the car in the open glove
shelf were cup cakes and other
picnic food.
It was Beall’s duty to inform
the parents, by phone, of the death.
/ Dobie Funeral Home sent the
body to Great Bend Kan. for ser-
vices. His parents live there.
Papers on the body revealed a
Corpus Christi address for the
'young man, a major oil company
employe. He made $510 per month,
papers revealed.
WITH $10,000 PIECE OF EQUIPMENT
Engineers Can
Needed For
Land
Plant
Engineers, taking a second look
at Mathis’ proposed sewage dis-
posal plant to reduce the amount
of land needed, found the city
would not have to condemn as
much land as they thought they
would.
By adding a piece of equipment,
costing approximately $10,000, thd
city would not have to condemry
about 17 acres on the Sehmectf
property, but only pay for about
20 acres, which they already have
a lease on.
Originally the engineers reported
the city would need 18 more acres
for the enlarged sewage disposal
plant. By adding the special equip1
ment to the approximately $100,000
plant, a lagoon no larger than the
present one of 15 acres is needed.
Action on the sewage plant has
been hanging fire for nearly a year.
The federal government has agreed
to put up $31,500 if the city would
pay the rest.
The city's present sewage dis-
posal plant was built to service
161 connections. It now has over
600 connections. The state health
department has recommended the
city to bring its sewage plant up
to modem standards.
$
Shirt-Sleeve
Jobs Near As
Big Barbecue Set
Mathis stood on the threshold of
its greatest opportunity this week-
end as thousands of South Texans
planned to gather here for' the
dedication of Wesley Seale Dam.
Scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Satur-
day, the ceremonies will follow
weeks of committee meetings and
hammer slinging as various cham-
ber of commerce and government-
al leaders decided a Texas-size
sendoff was indeqd in order for
the greatly enlarged Lake Mathis
and new dam.
Although the dam is the property
of Corpus Christi public interests,
Mathis by virtue of geography
stands to gain much from its com-
pletion.
The increased lake has already,
brought the beginning of four upper-
bracket subdivisions within a five
mile radius of the city. The Zephyr
Baptist Encampment, a magnet
that will draw thousands of youth
this way every year, is dedicated
and construction is starting. Sever-
al new small businesses have open-
ed or are planning to open to
service the lake visiting traffic.
The Boy Scout and Girl Scout
camps, already established, have
been expanding.
Is absence of chamber of com-
merce to handle such affairs, the
city hall has been beseiged by
letters and inquiries as to the op-
portunities and facilities here in
the way of housing, vacation di-
versions and property evaluations.
On the deficit side of the lake
picture are the unpleasant condem-
nation proceedings to land and
houses that will be covered by the
new lake. Land belonging to fam-
ilies living here, some for nearly
a century, faces a lakebottom dea-
th. Relatives of Mathis people,
fellow church members and all
substantial, independent ranchers
will see acres and acres of river
bottom farm and pasture land sub-
merged in the wake of progress.
Mathis also faces the loss of the
Lagarto Road, an ancient thorough-
fare that has led Lagarto ranchers
to and from Mathis across the
Nueces River since the turn of the
century will probably be washed
under and not replaced. Its status
has been upheld in local courts,
but the edict to rebuild the road'
to a higher level was reversed on
an appeal. The final decision is
still hanging fire.
Some of the condemned land will
have to be erased from the Mathis
school district tax rolls.
Somewhere between 8 and 9,000
pounds of meat will be barbecued
to serve the dedication day crowd.
Firemen from Mathis, Ingleside and
Aransas Pass will join professional
barbecuers in doing the mammou-
th task which starts Friday. There
will be a truck of slaw, heaping
pots of beans, a bread truck and
trucks for various colors of soda
pop.
It will all be for free, the same
as the ground breaking ceremonies
for the dam.
The speech-making, featuring for-
mer secretary of defense under
the Republican administration of
Dwight Eisenhower, Charles E.
Wilson, will start at 10:30. Also
here will be the incumbent gover-
nor of Texas, Price Daniel.
The dedication and eating site
See WELCOME Page 8
Engler Bros,
Buy Out Grant
Lumber Firm
Engler Bros., well-known build-
ing contractors in Mathis and this
area, announced this week the pur-
chase of Grant Lumber Co. on
Front Street.
The Englers' will change the
name to Engler Bros. Building
Supplies. The Grant company, part
of a chain of lumberyards, has;
been in Mathis since about 1925..
The Englers, Roland and Hugo
C., have been in the building busi-
ness for a number of years. Dur-
ing their operations here they have
constructed some of the finest and
most attractive, showplace-type
homes in and near Mathis.
In making the formal announce-
ment of the ownership change this,
week, the Englers invited their
friends and, cutomers to visit
their new setup where they are
now building suppliers as well as
builders in the hope of being better
service to their clients.
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Haden, John. The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 43, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, April 25, 1958, newspaper, April 25, 1958; Mathis, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1045714/m1/1/?q=yaqui: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Mathis Public Library.