The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 173, Ed. 1 Friday, May 22, 1987 Page: 4 of 20
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4-A
THE BAYTOWN SUN
Friday, May 22, 1987
Jack Anderson
(EDITORIAL
Story held until now
Parole laws
While the Texas Legislature considers measures that
would allow capital murderers to be imprisoned without
hope of parole until they reach age 65 and have served 25
years, several hundred Texas ministers are petitioning
legislators to abolish the death penalty:
Legislative observers doubt there will be any con-
certed moves in the current session to deal with the
capital punishment issue. Recent U.S. Supreme Court
decisions dealing with such punishment indicated it may
be a long time before the court acts to outlaw it.
Under current Texas law, jurors in capital murder
cases have only two choices in assessing punishment.
They can give a defendant life in prison or the death
penalty. Examination of the law is in order.
Rep. A.R. Ovard, R-Dallas, sponsor of the life without
parole bill,, is fighting to get the new law passed because
he is convinced current state parole laws sometimes
allow release of murderers too soon.
"Jk statement • signed by 450 ministers of all faiths
across' the state is being sent to state legislatpr&and
other state officials by Amnesty International, ^e
ministers contend the death penalty is being impose!
unfairly and that it lacks any special crime deterrent ef-
fect.
Legislation proposing changes in state parole laws is
opposed by the Texas Civil Liberties Union and the
Texas Criminal defense Lawyers Association, which-
are mounting strong lobbying campaigns against
passage., ,
Although we oppose early release of convicteojfejims
and support law changes that would prevent or
minimize it, if parole laws are changed, provision will
have to be made for more prison facilities. The current
system is badly overcrowded.
WASHINGTON — President Reagan has
finally released us from our pledge to keep
secret what he told us more than a year ago
about the Iran* arms sale. We can now
disclose the only known taped comments of
the president on the matter before he came
under fire eight months later.
Reagan’s observations in February 1986
confirm his claim that he was pursuing a
strategic opening aimed at potential suc-
cessors to the Ayatollah Khomeini as much
as he was working for release of American
hostages.
We first learned about the arms-for;
hostages deal in early December 1985 —
several months before money was diverted
to the Nicaraguan Contras. Because prinUng
the story would endanger the hostages’ lives,
we sat on it.
But we wondered if the president knew
about the arms deal, or whether it was a
rogue operation by middle-level officials. So
Dale Van Atta asked for an interview with
Reagan, and was ushered into the Oval Of-
fice on the afternoon of Feb. 24, 1986 (within
hours of Philippine President Ferdinand
Marcos’flight into exile)..
Tte president had been told that we were
holding off on the story and that we wanted to
know if he was aware of the arms deal. At the
last/ minute, White House spokesman Larry
"Speakes sat in on the interview. Since
Speakes didn’t know what we knew about the
secret arms deal, Van Atta — and the presi-
dent — did not refer explicitly to weapons
during the .interview. But Reagan still.
year, whom they tortured mercilessly. (The
president nodded his head, ‘Yes,’ to confirm
both the 264 figure and Buckley’s torture-
induced death.)
“I know there are still four hostages there
now and that may preclude you from saying
anything. If that does, and I were to agree
not to run any statement that you would
make until after the hostages were home
safely, what I would like is just your gut feel-
ing on what we need to do about Iran — or
what we should do about Iran. ”
them back. So I can’t comment very much.
But, again, with your protection that this
won’t be done while they’re there
THE PRESIELKNT:'“All right. The Ira
Reagan's observations in
February 1986 confirm his
claim that he was pursuing
a strategic opening aimed
at potential successors to
the Ayatollah Khomeini as
much as he was working
for release of American
hostages, ,
nian situation — we have to remember that
we had a pretty solid relationship with Iran
during’the term of the shah. We have to
realize also that that was a very key ally in
that particular area in preventing the Soviets
from reaching their age-old goal of the
warmwater ports and so forth. And now, with
the takeover by the present ruler (Kho-
meini), we have to believe that there must be
elements present in Iran that, when nature
taktes it eventual course (the ailing Khomeini
dies), may want tqreturn to a different rela-
tionship.
“So our conduct must be motivated on —
while we have to oppose .what they’re doing
and what’s going on — we, at the same time,
must recognize we do not want to make
enemies of those who today —”
VAN ATTA: “The Soviets are making
their enemies there.”
THE PRESIDENT: Yes - could.be
friends.” '■
“Well, as you’ve
managed to confirm our story circumspect-
THE PRESIDENT:
pointed out, I — ”
VAN,ATTA: “I can hold this until after the
hostages are home..’
THE PRESIDENT: “All right, yes, you
hold it, because unlike some of the — and I
can understand their families’ impatience
ATTA: “No, I’m aware you’re doing
Lan uuuci aicuiu uicu icuuiuea impatience
and,thinking nothing is going on because they
flan't^ee it out in front, we’rfe doing —”
VAN" ATTA: “No, I’m aware you’re doing
Here’s the interchange:
VAN ATTA: ‘ ‘This is on Iran. For six years
now, they’ve ^teen waging a terrorist war
against ‘‘ns ahiL^there are at least 264
American bhtiies that they^fan count as be-
ing responsible for, including, as we
reported, (CIA official) William Buckley last
a lot on it.”
THE PRESIDENT: “Yes. We’ve been
working every hour —”
VAN ATTA: “Very close at different
times, too.”
THE, PRESIDENT:'“Yes - and in-
vestigating every possible opportunity to get
MINI-EDITORIAL: The congressional in-
quiry into the Iran-Contra mess has, as ex-
pected, opened upj^fantastic world of inter-
national-intrigue populated by many strange
characters. But surely no member of The
Gang .That Couldn’t Spook Straight was as
bizarre as that Swiss businessman who woke
up one day and found $10 million from the
sultan of Brunei in his bank account. He
claims he thought nothing about the sudden
infusion of moola — which had been
deposited by error- to the wrong numbered
account — and prudently invested it in cer-
tificates of deposit. Would he, we wonder,
have been equally lighthearted if $10 million
had mistakenly been withdrawn?
Servi
Huy low.
SultmJi
Mel hot
I rank (
Long
An ei
came
years J<
Ins law
>'ears.0
' I he J
Cretin
mimero
Lions (
anti die
,Uui
member
Li rsl A
member
Me! hod
served o
Chh
United Feature Syndicate
Wanda Orton
Depot gone but memory of
trainmaster-dgent lives on
A few months ago, the demoli-
tion of a small, wooden,
nondescript structure stirred a
surprising wavea*Ls£i»timentali-
ty and yes, indigtjation, among
the townspeople.
' Most of us didn’t miss it until it
was gone — the Southern Pacific-
depot, at Texas and Commerce.
After the depot bit the dust,,
several people called The Sun of-
fice, saying tney resented it-be-
ing torn down and, if they’d
known it was going to be torn
down, they would have tried to
stop it.. ’ *
didn’t look impressive, but it did
play a part in the formative
years of this city.
I wish noW that I'd done more
research on the depot.
Although a native, lifelong
Baytonian, I believe 1 was inside
that building only once. The oc-
casion was to interview William
Madison “Pappy” Knowles
when he retired from Southern
Pacific in 1962,.
What a wonderful person he
was. The fact that the SP depot
was Pappy Knowles’ workplace,
in itself, gives it a special place
in Baytown history.
Forerunner of Southern
Pacific, here, the Goose Creek-
Dayton Railroad had been
established by Ross S. Sterling
in 1917 to serve the Humble
Refinery. As people began to set-
tle in the Goose Creek area.
Sterling saw a need to build the
depot there.
Pappy was already an ex-
perienced railroad man when he
came here in 1925 as a clerk for
Sterling. Twenty years later he
became the second trainmaster-
aptit m the ferrrimals history,"
out of Baytown every 24 hours
back then.
Actually, Pappy Knowles’'
greatest claim to fame in
Baytown came from his tireless
work in the community.
At a Goose Creek Chamber of
Commerce board meeting in
1946. he made the motion to con- •
. solidate the Goose, Creek and
Baytown chambers and the Pel-
ly Civic Club into the Baytown
Chamber of Commerce. This
proved to be one giant step
toward consolidation of the Tri-
Cities.
succeeding another well-known,
pioneer, W.W. Sloan.
In the early days passenger
train service was brisk. Loading
passengers.on the daily train go-
ing to Dayton from here, Pappy
usually was the last person peo-
ple saw when 4hey left and the,,
first' one they saw when they
came back.
j A-year lutei llEf Chaired ffilT
commission that formulated our
As was the case in nearly all
railroad depots, the busiest time
for SP here was during World
War ,IL Seven trains ran in and
city charter.
That’s the kind of man they
had working in the old Southern
Pacific depot.
Next time you drive by Texas
and Commerce and see where
the thriving depot used to be,
think ahout Pappy Knowles.
His contribution toward con-
solidation will never be
demolished. Here was one
railroad man who helped to put
the whole town on the right
track.
”,,. AND REMEMBER, YOUR DIPLOMA MEANS MORE THAN JUSTfHE KEYS TO A BMW'’
From Sun files
Berry's
World
Readers' views
Business in 'obscure' part
of city on Garth Road, '47
Today in histpry
To The Sun:
Our 50th Robert E. Lee class
reunion was made complete with
your pictures and news
coverage.
All of our out-of-town and out-
of-state 1937 graduates .were building a
astonished that our own ~‘~:J r'
From The Baytown Sun files,
this is the way it was:
55 YEARS AGO , “7 ■**
Four homes are under con-
structidn or will be under way
this week on New Jersey Street.
J.P. Hardy, contractor, is
five-room frame
residence for J.R. Read. Within
hometown Baytown Sun was so a few days he will start building
thorough and special. a four-room house for J.L. At-
May 2, *1987, will always be a chison. W.L. Staner is finishing a
“You must be the folks who are here to talk
about a defense contract.
ie Paptoton &un
Leon Brown.....
Fred Hornberger
Fred Hartmon . . .
...........Editor ond Publisher
.......... Assistant to Publisher
. Editor and Publisher, 1950-1974
E0IT0RIAL DEPARTMENT
Wondo Orton
Ramona Merrill
........Managing Editor
. Associate Managing Editor
CIRCULATION
Gory Dobbs
. Circulation Monoger
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Wt im'twi in.el.th. V»i ..—i it*.** i. ww> j
fond memoryJor us. Thanks!
Dorothy Harrison
publicity chairman
— 4^1 Price, Suite 100
. ToMarySatterwhite:
Again, thank you for the super
job you did for the home tour for
the Bay Area Heritage Society.
The descriptions of the homes,
the layouts, pictures — all were
excellent and enjoyed by all. We
couldn’t have a successful home
tour without the excellent
cooperation from the Dimension
department at The Baytown Sun
It is always a pleasure tcf work
with you.
Anna Haley
Home tour chairman
414 S. Burnet
To The Sun:
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post
912 and Auxiliary want to thank
the parents, guardians and con-
stables for their excellent
guidance they gave the. eighth-
grade Gentry students' party, on
May 9 at the post, and the
students’ good behavior; - We -
wish we could have more like
them.
Beatrice Emerson
President. Ladies Auxiliary
1616 Elm
fiv&room home for Joe Ander-
son and will soon start oh a five-
rooA home for H.J. Kloesel.
Financing is being handled
through Humble Oil & Refining
Co. ” “
Melvin Parker becomes presi-
dent of .the Hi-Y Club at Robert
E. Lee High School. James
Nelson is vice president ; James
Ferney, secretary; Jack
Strickler, treasurer; Jim Ecfd
Massey, reporter.
Mrs. Frank Lockhart teaches
the young women’s ■ Sunday
school class at Baytown Baptist
Church. *
50 YEARS AGO
Memorial Day services will be
held next week at the Hill of Rest
cemetery by the Veterans of
Foreign Wars, Robert Tuck Post
912, with District Attorney Dan
Jackson presenting the main ad-
dress. The program is being held
at the grave of Clyde Williams, a
World War I veteran who died
this year.
-.Baccalaureate.......service (or
REL graduates will be held
tomorrow night at Elms Field.
40 YEARS AGO
R.M. Wrlghl and B.H. White
are partners In the successful
meat market, the Wright Pack-
ing C6., located in the most
obscure places in the Tri-Cities
— in the woods on the hill at the
left of Garth Road just past the
gully about a half mile north of
Morrell Park.
Services will be held tomorrow
for Irene George, pioneer Cedar
Bayou resident. She died yester-
day at her home.
■■ 20 YEARS AGO
Sgt. Dennis *Ray Fenley of
Baytown receives the Air Medal
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Forty years ago, on May 22,
1947, the “Truman Doctrine”
was enacted as Congress ap-
propriated -military and
economic aid for Greece and
Turkey.
In 1868, the Great Train Rob-
bery took place in Indiana as
seven men held up the crew,
detached the locomotive, and
made off with $98,000 in cash.
In 1935. President Franklin D.
Roosevelt went before Congress
to explain his veto of the Patman
Bonus Bill to pay World War I
veterans the remainder of their
1924 bonuses.
In 1939, Adolf Hitler and
and the Army Commendation? Benito Mussolini signed a “Pact
medal for his action as
helicopter gunner in Vietnam.
Sandra Kay Busby, Winner of
the VFW’s Miss Baytown con-
test, become^ Miss VFW in
district competition in Houston.
She will compete for the state ti-
tle in Corpus Christi.
D.L. Tyer, Mont Belvieu
postmaster, died this morning at
his home.— *
Martin D. Smith receives the
Jake Burkett Memorial Scholar-
ship. „-.!
Baytown is represented in
Anahuac at a meeting to discuss
a proposed high-rise bridge
across Galveston Bay from
Smith Point. Pictured on the
front page are Chambers County
Commissioner H.H. McCollum
of Mont Belvieu, Chambers
County Judge Oscar Nelson Jr.,
Baytown Chamber of Commerce
manager Dave Moore and Fred
HartmaiL......who heads ihe
Baytown Chamber highway
committee.
Services are held today for
lifelong Baytown resident Brown
Magness. 64 He retired ttm
of Steel” committing Germany
and Italy to a military alliance.
-In 1972,- the- island nation of
Ceylon became the republic of
Sri Lanka with the adoption of a
new constitution.
In 1984, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that law firms may
not discriminate on the basis of
sex, race, religion or national
origin in promoting young
lawyers to the status of partner.
Five years ago: Britain con-
tinued to send reinforcements
onto the Falkland Islands,
widening its beachhead against
Argentine troops to 10 square
miles.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor
Lord Laurence Olivier is 80.
Movie reviewer Judith Crist is
65. Singer Charles Aznavour is
63. - ' '
Bible verse
For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
Romans 10:13
AT&T...
Amoco..
Armco..
Ashland.
Atlantic E
Beth.,Ste(
CG&E ...
fchevron .
Dow Chen
Dresser I)
DuPont..
Empire o)
Ethyl Cor|
Exxon ...
Ford.....
General E
General M
GTE.....
Gordon’s.
G.R......
Greyhoum
GSU.....
Halliburto
HCA .....
.Houston in
Humana .
InterFirst
IBM
Kimberly i
Kmart...
Kroger...
Maxus Em
Mobil....
Monsanto
National D
Occidental
Phillips Pe
Royal Duf<
Schlumber
Sears....
Southern C
Sun Oil ...
Tenneco
Texaco....
Texas Easl
Unilever ,
Upjohn. ..
USX Corp.
Walgreens
Wal-Mart.
Woolworth
Xerox.,
Dow-Ind-iA
Dow Chans
Sliver
Gold.....
Exxon's d!
paid quartc
years ago as an electrician
Humble’s BavlownRef inert
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Brown, Leon. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 173, Ed. 1 Friday, May 22, 1987, newspaper, May 22, 1987; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1052341/m1/4/?rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.