The Panola Watchman (Carthage, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 1977 Page: 1 of 38
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Vol HM No Mi 4o ,5 Sections Carthage, Panola County, Texas 78633 TIhiimI.in M.u< h u<7< Price 10 Cents .
Firemen Suspect Arson
In DeBerry Grass, Woods Fires
Arson is suspected us the cause of at
least foui grass and woods fires in the
DeBerry area during the latter part of
last week, according to Carthage firemen
and John Hale of the Texas Forest
Service here
"Evidently we've got a fire hug up in
the DeBerry area," Hale commented
Tuesday morning "We can't prove
anything, but it looks like someone must
be setting fires.”
Carthage Fire Marshall Cecil Sistrunk
agreed with that thinking, blaming an
arsonist for six fires in the DeBerry area
recently
Hale said Tuesday that he is
considering requesting a Forest Service
Banger to investigate the fires and said
he would do so if he could get any
concrete evidence
"The only conclusion I've come to, and
I think it's a right conclusion." Hale said,
"is that somebody is setting the fires I
don't know who "
The Forest Service representative said
East Texas theatre goers will have a
rare opportunity to see a variety of plays
this weekend when the Drama Depart
ment of Panola Junior College will host a
one act play festival for Texas junior
colleges
The festival, which will be held in the
(J M Martin Auditorium on the PJC
campus in Carthage, is an annual event
sponsored by the Texas Junior College
Speech and Theatre Association
Eleven junior colleges from across the
state will present plays in the festival
Dr Carl Marder of the North Texas State
University Department of Drama will
serve as the guest critic judge to critique
each play and to choose festival award
winners
Charles Simpson. Panola Junior
College drama director, stated that the
schools will rehearse t.ieir plays on
Thursday. March 3. and the festival will
actually begin at 1 p m on Friday.
March 4 There will be four sessions
during which plays are presented and the
public is invited to attend any or all the
sessions without charge, according to
Simpson
During the first session beginning at I
p m Friday. March 4. four schools will
perform Plays included in this session
are "Butterflies Are Free" by Howard
College at Big Spring. The Crucible" by
Wharton County Junior College. "Schu
bert s last Serenade" by Galveston
College and "The Effect of Gamma
Kays on Man in-thr-Moon Mangolds" by
North Hams County College
Simpson encourages local residents to
make a special effort to attend the second
session of plays beginning at 7 .10 ,, m
Friday. March 4 Panola Junior College s
entry of "When You Comin Back Bed
Ryder'1 will be the first play performed
dunng this session It will be followed h\
Afternoon Tea by Lon Moms College
and Crawling Arnold by Pans Junior
College
The third session of plays will begin at
9 a m Saturday. March 5. when the
Southwestern Assemblies of (kid Junior
College will present Chrtsl in the
Concrete City followed by The
Proposal by Texarkana College and
that several fires had occurred in a small
area around DeBerry within a short
period of time
We had four fires Friday and all were
within a five mile radius of DeBerry
Hale commented "They were definitely
different fires
Hale also said that one fire fighter had
reported finding some beer bottles, still
cold near the spot where one of those
grass and woods (ires was started
Dry. windy weather has plagued local
fire fighters for about a month, and
Carthage firemen have responded to 47
fires mostly grass and woods-during
February They have answered 74 fire
alarms during 1977
From Thursday to Tuesday at noon,
the Carthage Fire Department had
responded to 12 fires and had been
plagued by a number of false alarms,
according to Fire Chief Brodie Akins
Chief Akins said the false alarms
started Saturday and have caused some
concern for firemen The department
Winnie the Pooh by Henderson County
Junior College
The fourth and final session will begin
at l p m Saturday, March 5. when
Kilgore Junior College will present "The
Importance of Being Earnest" Folio
lowing Kilgore s performance, festival
awards will be presented
Simpson invites school groups, as well
as interested individuals, to attend any or
all of the festival sessions, pointing out
that this is the first time in recent years
that such an opportunity has been
available in Carthage It is also a good
opportunity to see the kind of drama
being produced by junior colleges
throughout the state of Texas. Simpson
added
Mrs. Glass
Rites Held
Mrs Merle Hord Glass, who taught at
Panola Junior College for 20 years until
her retirement in the nineteen sixties,
died last week at the age of 76
The veteran teacher was honored by
Panola Junior College when the student
dormitory was named for her after
completion
Mrs (Hass was a native of Callahan
County near Alwlene She earned both her
hachelor s and master s degrees from
Bay lor University
She married Ira (Hass in 1974 and they
lived in the Gatesville area until his
death in MAN Mrs (Hass taught school in
\anous Texas communities for more
than 2« years before joining Panola
Junior College as one of its first teachers
Funeral services were held Fndav
Feb 25 in the Scott s Funeral Home
(Tiapel in Gatesville with the Hex Noms
55 ithorn officiating
Buna I was in the Masonic Cemetery in
Gates* die
Mrs Glass is survived by three
brothers Marvin Hord of Hamilton Boy
J Hord of Temple and Henrv lee Hoed of
Hdlister
responded to only one of those false
ularms. however, merely declining to
answer calls when the caller was unable
to properly identify himself
The rash of grass and woods fires had
resulted in the loss of more than 1.000
acres in Panola County since the first of
the year and more than half that loss has
been in the past week, according to fire
department records
Surrounding counties have been
suffering the same problems and fire
officials throughout the East Texas area
have been warning against burning
outdoors
In Panola County, more than 500 acres
of grass and woods have been lost to fire
since Feb 24
The biggest fire reported in the county
to date this year was Friday in the Ml
Ziort Community east of DeBerry
That blare, reported at 7 p m Friday,
consumed an estimated 400 acres before
Carthage firemen and fire fighting crews
from the Forest Service, International
Paper Company and Southland Paper
Company could put it out
Property involved in the wildfire was
owned by the Andersons. Paynes and
Furrhs, according to Fire Department
Kecords
Fifty acres were burned off in the
Shady Grove Community in a fire
reported at 4 50 p m Friday Again, the
Carthage Fire Department responded
along with the Texas Forest Service and
International Paper Company 1-and
burned in that fire was owned by Joel
Gales. W II Carter. W II Bellamy Jr
and the Troy Williams estate, fire
records indicate
Other fires during the Thursday Tues
day period included a small area of
grass burned at 10 40 a m Thursday,
Feb 24. on U S Highway 50 north of
Carthage on property owned by Diana
Womack
Two acres ow ned by Fred Whitaker of
Carthage burned on Spring Street at 1
pm Thursday Feb 24.
-A grass fire was reported at the Ixiis
Hill home, 405 Amencus. at It 30 a m
Thursday.
Some 15 acres of grass and woods
owned by W H I^iwrence burning along
Texas Highway 31 north of DeBerry at
930pm Friday
A grass fire claimed to acres of land
along U S Highway 79 in DeBerry in a
fire reported at I 15 a m Saturday.
■One acre was burned in a grass fire
reported at 3 40 p m Monday on I S
Highway 79 east of Carthage on land
owned by a Mrs Blalock and the Texas
Department iU Highways and public
Transportation
And. at 4 to pm Monday a grass fire
on propertv owned by Wayne I^Grone
along Texas Highway 31 humed off 15
acres
Firemen also answered an alarm to a
shed fire at the Cecil Dison residence on
Phifer Street at 4 40 p m Monday and
quickly extinguished that fire
Cause of the Ware was blamed on
Dison children who had reportedly
rigged some type of healer in a small
shed ham Damage was minor
At 8 45 pm Monday the fire
department responded to a grass fire
alarm on US Highway 79 west of
Carthage hut discovered that blare was
controlled burning
A false alarm was answered at 3 55
p m Saturdav to the Hill Top Gulf
Service Station in Carthage
TJC Play Festival
Slated At College
1 Jyte.
l *
4H Hit OtT—Carthage luMptm firemen qxnckfv
extinguish a small fire that broke out Mondav afternoon
in a storage sited ham at the Cecil [km readme e on
Phifer Street TV rtnatme fire was the test of C
alarms answered tn Carthage firemen dwnr* the
month of Febrnar* Most of the alarms were to grass
and wxmds fires that Saxe homed off mere than 1 M0
acres
NEW SPUR—Felipe laipez Jr. left, and Larry
Eickenhorst. both employes of Santa Fe Railroad, work
in perfect rhythm to drive spikes along a new industrial
spur being laid to Carthage Cup Company here The
new spur starts just south of the Santa Fe Depot.
$97,000 Higher Than In '76
branching eastward toward the local industrial plant,
shown in the background to the left The additional rail
spur was needed to handle increased business caused
by expansion at Carthage Cup
Building Rate Ahead Of Pace
February 1977 became the second
largest February for building in Car
thage when six permits were issued for
nearly $200,000 in construction costs
It marked only the third time since 1964
that February construction costs topped
the $100,000 mark and was second only to
February 1972 when permits were issued
for $307.300 in construction locally
Last year the city issued six permits in
February for a total of $131 000 in con
st ruction costs
Boosting this year s monthly total for
February was the issuance of a permit
for the construction of the Sid Baker
Turner Memorial Chapel at Panola
Junior College
That permit, issued to Lovetl Kelley
represents construction costs of $64 .WO
for a wood and brick building to be
erected in the northwest comer of the
campus
Three new houses were started in
Carthage dunng February at an average
cost of $42,000
Permits were also issued for one
commercial addition and one residential
addition
The February construction figure of
$199,360 brings the 1977 construction total
in Carthage to a whopping $26*.360 some
$97,160 more than the record setting pace
of last year
The commercial addition for which a
permit was issued in February allows the
construction of a 159-square-fool waft in
cooler at the Carthage Locker Plant
Albert Boren us listed as both owner and
contractor for that job
The three new houses being built in
dude
A hock home at 1006 W Garrison for
Mr and Mrs Curtis Denrurd with MAM
Construction Company as builders
A bock home at 713 W Ray St with
Pace Hardware both bulkier and owner
Beckville Falls Short
Of Willing Candidates
The deadline for filing for school hoard
and city cirri ions m Panola Count v was
Wednesdav March 2 but only one
candidate had filed for the Beckville City
Council vacancies TUesdav morning
The two mcumheniv Bill I angles and
Johnnie Hughes both indicated they will
not run for re eWtior.
Hare! Akins has one -pc* locked up
since she is the <im\ candidate City
Seoretarv FJorse Flanagan saw she does
not know how the or hr * acanrv will he
filled if no .me file* a? rne last moment
I don t know what * ill happen she
sa*d Thev might have to appoint
face incumbent Norman V5 ilhams
In Eiwaan Fields Rill hefty of F ethanv
filed for place one
There were no new filings during the
pasi week at eilhrr < arfhage Indepen
dent School IhsJnct or the Cgy of
Carthage
Road Work
Slated Here
someone
In the Reck* like lnoependm; school
Ihstnct race twn oew . irddilc filed
durmg the past week ■ me Jackie
Hams atrwadv hofcfc a pos.:»or. on the
city council TV other » Hwgt. Vara
Both mew filed for place four cur Truth
held hv GeavwM Jordan Jordan and
»avoe F.Jtvn the place three mrum
hmt have Noth fibd ‘or re- rtectmu
Gary I ndep* adee • S-. Soot District
reported three new Mujgs dunng The p*<t
week
Place one mrwmhm Reeuwe C»CTff*fc
fiftdfur reekrrtvu and \ wh> langford a
part tune student at Gary Hqft Scbuai.
wig oppose hue.
law Porter hied fur place sax and wvl
lace urum.e iu Jem Mavo Place weveu
ur unbent R4 Keftv Ned for re-etevmw
In Tatum law Dean TVrwkev Jr and
sue Brooks huh Med for place Se W
Twenty miles of Panola County roads
wig he improved under the MC7 Hftftwa*
safer* and Her termer* and Farm m
Market Rond Improvement Program
approved bv V Stale Hgftwax and
Puhhr Traropnrtarvon C---m n
TV snwrhhtumd vanes of C S » from
Martuw Creek re lop 49k Texas 345
from Farm te Marker Rond ;rrw m 67
make Marked l S "9 and FM US frwa FM
34 tn the l.iunui Stare Imr. urR hr
mrhuded m the program
TV prufpmw «t* provide hum ripauj
and agpfcrarum of a went cum lor 47
wefts dl S 4k 74 aufts ft Texas as
And. a bock and wood home at 210
Timber lane. Donald K Bates owner and
Thurman Osburo of Beckville. con-
tractor
A 5 to square-foot addition is bang
made to the Faye Williams home at 714 S
Marker St with S K Smith as builder on
that job
In addition, a permit has been applied
for to allow the construction of a 166.060
haydite block building at MS S Shelby for
the OTASOO retail stare chain.
The permit appheabon caBs for a 7.600
square foot budding la be located on a ISO
by |7« foot tet with Plulhp Crump listed
as both owner and contractor
The FHynan Fields Band Booster dab
is having its annual Chicken and
Spaghetti Sapper on March Hi m the high
wheat cafeteria Sen mg wB begm at
5 ftp to Tickets are available from any
band bumter at a cwsd ft $2 far adoks and
$l fur children Everyone n nmted la ge
out tu Open Hawse dunng Texas Pubftc
Schools Week and have supper with the
Band Browsers
WWW
TV Panola Ceuaty Chapter. Amenciaa
Asaonatno ft Reared Persons, wdl meet
m the Cuwwownty Hawse at Ousts Park
begmsuugstl 3tpto Mandat March7
(Voter Stem wtft prunes* a prxgram an
comer rdne aewst jpenal Irnft manor to
fn Mu wwtnf i SI Patrick s Da v theme
wdl he preaemed and nfriidnainu wvB
he nerved
• • •
Jwuasr CVar and Qwacel (Var Bum dm
Fwrs Cwnrd MithniftiS Church ad hr
hekd kigauug at 7 » pm Tuesday
March X at The Fins t ufted Mrshadnt
< hunch Eirnasu n round to awwd
WWW
Trades Dsn wdl he held SVatdaj m
(ten wdh the Gary Ydnonr Fine
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Stevens, Jim. The Panola Watchman (Carthage, Tex.), Vol. 104, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 3, 1977, newspaper, March 3, 1977; Carthage, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1055036/m1/1/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sammy Brown Library.