The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 86, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 10, 1985 Page: 4 of 76
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THE BAYTOWN SUN
Sunday, February 10, 1985
WSL
(EDITORIAL
Let's keep up
voter interest
While Texas politicians in both parties were patting
themselves on the back for having a hand in the heavy
Jpoter turnout in the 1984 presidential election, the Cen-
sus Burepp was busy compiling disappointing statistics
in that election.
$ Figures revealed the percentages of'voting-age Tex-
2ans who cast ballots in the presidential election were
•smaller than those for the nation as a whole or for any of
<its regions.
jt But this is not to say Texans didn’t post a higher tur-
Jnout at the polls than in several past elections. Apathy in
Selections on all levels of government has been the rule
frather than the exception, a sad commentary in a free
^society ruled by ballot'.
• Census figures are based on a sample survey of about
*50,000 U.S. households taken two weeks after the
^November election. Surprisingly, the turnout calculated
[from this sample exceeds the actual vote count.
A bureau spokesman concedes some people did not
Itell the truth. Such “over-reporting” typically runs 5 to 6
£ percent when people are asked if they voted.But even if
I the totals are viewed as suspect, the survey‘provided a
jgood comparison of voting patterns among population
•groups.
1 * Figures do not show how respondents voted. The Cen-
*sus Bureau is not permitted to ask that question.
| Based on the survey, the Census Bureau estimated
159.9 percent of voting-age Americans cast ballots in the
• presidential election. A research group set the figure at
f 52.9 percent.
? For Texas, the bureau computed a 54.4 percent tur-
•nout. but official vote counts combined with census
*f statistics yielded only 47.0 percent.
Overall, however, the news is good. The 1984 elections
Itnarked the first increase in voter turnout in two
f decades, exceeding the previous low of 59.2 percent in
1976, but still far short of the 1964 total of 69.3 percent
| when Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater in a
l landslide.
jReagan in safe position
£ President Reagan is in a much safer political position
T with his proposed $973.7 billion budget than congres-
| sional leaders opposing it.
‘ Reagan will not have to answer at the polls for the suc-
cess or failure of what he sees as the greatest domestic
challenge facing the nation, a return to fiscal respon-
sibility. But those in Congress who will ultimately make
or break the president’s program will have to answer.
Other than a few programs congressional liberals
would like to see continued, the main bone of contention
among leaders of both parties is Reagan’s reluctance to
reduce national defense spending beyond the relatively
small* amount figure earlier agreed on by the president
and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.
Reagan argues that defense spending is influenced by
the Soviet Union’s,continuing arms buildup more than
his and otherfeaders’ desire for further cuts. But that is
not the way the defense budget is being viewed by
leaders in both parties, which-means that most impor-
tant item in* the Reagan proposals may be in for rough
sledding. -'-'A
Even if the president should be forced to yield and fur-
ther reduce defense spending, that alone will not defeat
his overall goal to curb unchecked federal spending and
stop the nation’s head-long plunge into fiscal chaos. *
There’s not much doubt many Americans fully sup-
port the president’s plan to restructure the government
and reduce it to affordable size. >
Sideline Slants
Every few years there would
be 'end-of-world' activity
By PRESTON PENDERGRASS
Thei€ are several religious
cults, mostly in the South, that
follow unorthodox practices in
worship, such as handling
poisonous snakes.
I have related in this space my
experiences in covering snake-
handling rituals in Tennessee
during my cub reporting days,
but I don’t think I mentioned that
two or three members of the sect
I wrote about believed a North
Carolina preacher knew when
the world would end.
Periodically, this preacher
would deliver a series of ser-
mons, backed by recitation of
Biblical passages he interpreted
to mean destruction of the world
was imminent. Each time they
heard it, some members of the
cult he led would sell everything
they had and go to a designated
spot to await the “fire and
brimstone” conflagration that
would wipe out the planet.
Two or three members of the
snake-handling congregation in
the community where I grew up
would sell their belongings and
meet other believers in North
Carolina. The group, led by the
preacher who was absolutely
certain the end would come, then
journeyed to a mountaintop with
. only the clothes they wore and
bags of groceries.
Sometimes the preacher
would name the date when the
world would be destroyed. At
other times, he would give
himself leeway for error by say-
ing the fiery event would occur
within a 10-day to two-week
period.
Strangely enough, his
followers believed God had told
the preacher when the world
would be destroyed, and if they
went to the mountain they would
be saved from the “unquen-
chable fire.”
When the- time of j
destruction came and
preacher would telfKls foil
he had misunderstood
structions. He would
separate himself from the others
and pray for clarification.
At last, when it became pain-
fully apparent to those who had
heeded the preacher’s advice
that the world was still intact,
they made their way down the
mountain and returned to their
communities to make a new
start.
Relatives often took care of
the believers, bereft of worldly
goods, until they could find jobs
and places to live. They also
received public assistance, even
though they caused their own
problems.
I haven’t heard of the world’s
end scene being-re-enacted in a
long time, but it used to happen
every four or five years in Ten-
nessee, the Carolinas and
Virginia.
I was an eyewitness to several
snake-handling rituals, both as a
curious spectator and as a
newspaper reporter, but I never
witnessed the handling of red-
hot stovepipes practiced by at
least one sect in East Tennessee
many years ago.
An old man who hung around
the courthouse told me he
witnessed a stovepipe session in
a mountainous area where he
lived. He said cult members
heated the pipes red-hot on an
outside wood heater and used
long strips of wood to pass them
through an open window to
handlers.
“I could smell flesh burning,"
my informant said.
Pmum Ptndertraa is /orawr ewcuiiv*
editor o/The Sun
From Sun files
Alva Brown
gets son's
medal, '45 J
, From The Baytown Sun fllefrj
this is the way it was 40 and
and 20years ago:
FEB. 10,1945
Alva Lea Brown of GoosP
Creek receives the Distinguish^ J
ed Service Cross for her son, Sgt,’*
Durwood H. Brown, 24, who died!
a hero on a battlefield in Franc*. *
He was killed on June 12,1944.
Johnny King’s Orchestra wilt
play for a Jaycee-ette danc*
tonight at the Community,
House. ;
-Wf?; M.A- Miles marks her |
V4th birthday at ^ party in the
home of her soh.X.H. Miles, in
Channel view.
.nW members of the Mont .
'Belvieu Lions Club are J.H.
Gray, W.E. Best, F.L. Ginn, J.P.;
Maoess, R.C. Bird, H.A. Scar-
borough, O.E. Bagent, C.D.
Clanahan. Fred Chittyand Jack
Crympler.
Ronnie Lyons takes office as
president of the Lamar Elemen-
tary School Student Council.
Sammie CasSidy is vice presi-
dent and Katrinka Kelley,
secretary Special guests at the
installation ceremony are Bar-
bara Whitesides, president of the
San Jacinto Elementary School
Student Council, and Martha
Anderson, president of the Stu-
dent Council at Baytown
Elementary School.
FEB. 10,1955
Former Baytonian Paul Max-
well is among Texas artists
whose works will be shown in the
Lee College art gallery. Spon-
sored by the Baytown Art
League, the show is provided by
the Houston. Museum of Fine
Arts.
Julia Swilley becomes presi-
dent of the Baytown Pilbt Club.
Odena Childers will be first vice
president; Evelyn Badgley, se-
cond vice president; Louise
Laughlin, treasurer; Lucilp
Puderbaugh, recording
secretary; Helen Jackson, cor-
responding secretary.
FEB. 10,1965
Rufus McShan. a Seaman from
Baytown, is killed in a car wreck
on Highway 75 near Spring
Services are held today for
John Qregersen, 72, of
Highlands.
Jim Kyle
Trick played on
Patty was ratty
Berry's
World
Ned
-AND ANOTHER PECULIAR
RULE OF MATURE IS BiAT-
TH1 CUp THAT DROP? AN1
BREAK? AIN’T EVER TH'
ONE THAT? CRACKED.
Z\ie Hap.toton §un
Leon Brown...
f red Homberger
Fred Hprtmon .
on do Orton
McAnoll
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Editor ond Publisher
.........Assistont to Publisher
Editor ond Publisher. 1950-1974
When Valentine’s Day is
around the comer, I always
think of my sister Patty.
She loved candy more than
any kid in the world.
, Thoughts go back to the time I
helped give her the cure.
Mom always made sure we
had candy on Valentine’s Day
and we kids at home knew to get
our share and hide it where Pat-
ty couldn’t find it.
She would watt like a fox wat-
ching a crippled rabbit for us to
hide what we didn’t eat and then
she would attack.
Usually when we returned for
a morsel of our hidden treasure
we would find nothing but empty
wrappers.
Something had to be done to
help my sister kick her addic-
tion.
Since she was tricky as a fox, I
knew when Mom set a trap it had
to be well-camouflaged.
Mom didn’t mean to, but she
hit on an idea that would have
never been thought of.
One day right after all of us
had eaten our candy Mom said,
- “Jimmy, we have some mice in
the attic and I wish you’d take
your BB gun and go up there and
kill a bunch; They are keeping
fftyour Dad and me awake at
night.”
Up in the attic I went, armed
with a Daisy, 200 BB’s and a
flashlight Dad brought home
from the firehouse.
I cleaned out the whole pack in
two hours. The piece of raw
bacon brought those little dudes
out like flies.
Now I had my bait for Patty.
Searching around the house I
fouiyi an empty Valentine heart
box. about the size of a small
paper saucer. Very neatly I laid
those dead mice on top and at the
side of each other until the box
was packed.
Lying there on that soft paper
inside the; box, they kinda made
me feel sorry for them.
Mom wasn’t in on my trap and
wouldn’t have let me follow
through, but I was determined.
I hid my mouse casket under
my bed! The next morning all of
us had breakfast and I waited
until everyone had gone to
school but Patty.
When she went into the
bedroom to get her coat, I
sprang into action.
In seconds I had the candy box
mouse trap set in the middle of
the table and started to the front
door.
I stopped and shouted back
loudly, “Mom, I left you some
candy in the middle of the
table.” *
Before I could open the front
door there came a blood-
curdling scream from Patty.
I ran all the way to school
thinking’Mom was on my heels,
but she wasn’t.
She never ever said a word to
me about my meanness and Pat-
ty never stole ahymore of our
candy.
An Kjte b ftaun editor of TV Sun
"When I'm a single parent, will I 'have my hands
full,'too?"
Dave Sorter
Spotlight shines
on top scholars
4>iM Cornwell.....
Gory Dobbs ...., ..
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
CIRCULATION
Managing Editor
.....News Editor
Today in history
Advertising Oirector
. Circulation Monoger
Entered as second class motie or'trie Boyttjwn.Texos Post Office 77522 under the Act of Congress o* March 3,
187? Published uftemoons. Monday through Friday ond Sundays at" V30I Me mortal Drive m Baytown. Texas 77520
PO Bo« 90. Baytown 77522 Suggested Subscription Rotes By Carrier. $4.85 per month. $58 20 per year, single
caprone*. 25 cents Ooi»v. 30 cents Sunday Moil rotes on request Represented nohonolty by Coastal Pubflcahons
mmm m tm uncutb pub
* The Associated Press «s entitled exclusively to the use for repubhearion to ony news dispatches credried to it or
qot otherwise credited in ibis paper and toco! news of spontaneous origin published herein Rights of repubteotior.
n ore oise resenod The Baytown San retains nationally known syndicates whose writers’
fhtoughot* the newspaper There ore times when these orricies do not reflect The Sun**
- ——
S for good ond sufficient
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Today is Sunday, Feb. 10, the
41st day of 1965. There are 324
days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On Feb. 10, 1962, the Soviet
Union exchanged captured U-2
pilot Francis Gary Powers for
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, a Soviet
spy held by the United States.
On this date:
In 1763, France ceded Canada
to England in the Treaty of
Paris, which aided the French
and Indian War.
In 1840. England’s Queen Vic-
toris-married Prince Albert.
Bible Verse
The law of the Lord is perfect.
—
This is going to sound funny
coming from a former, and still
occasional, sports writer, but it’s
about time brains got some of
the publicity the athletes get.
I was quite happy when I saw
that the Robert E. Lee Academic
Decathlon team.earned a trip to
the state tournament, While the
REL and Ross' S. Sterling
athletic teams’ ventures are well
documented, it seems that we
often lose sight of why people ac-
tually go to school; To learn. 1
Of course, it’s hard to tell of
everything that happens in a
class, and honor roll listings are
often buried somewhere deep in
the paper. But when academics
becomes a varsity sport like the
Decathlon that’s when math,,
science And English can start'
getting the same play as foot-
ball, basketball and track.
The notion of academic com-
petition is not new at all. The
University Interscholastic
League has dfelrict, regional
and state meets for drama, jour-
nalism, music, debate and other
subjects. One of the most
popular television game shows
in years past was “College
Bowl,” in which teams from
various universities faced off by
answering questions most PhDs
couldn’t handle. Itt fact “Collage
Bowl” was nicknamed “the var-
I
sity sport of the mind.’ri
When I was growing up in
Chicago, there was a Saturday
afternoon quiz show modeled
after “College Bowl” called
“It’s Academic.” The form4
was similar to "College Bowl”
except high school teams pair'
ticipated. • l
One year the two schools par-
ticipating ih the finals were to®
same schools that ha|i pldyed, 6
week before, for a regional
basketball championship and a
berth in the state tournament
The winner of both was ThoC-
nridge High School. The star erf
the basketball team was Quinn
Buckner, now of the Bostofa
Celtics, the star of the “It’s
Academic" team faded into oblH
The athletes wqck^ard in ajl
extracurricular .! activity and
deserve all the supjj&rt they getj
But the top scholars deserVt
equal support, and maybe noli
that the REL team Iras prove*
successful, they’ll get it'. It'S '
been awhile since an REL cl
RSS team — in anything — hgf
been to a state final.
Besides, one of the REfc
Decathletes plays on the softbaj]
team I coach, t’ll gladly let hini
off practice the weekend of th*
state Decathlon
Dr*« Sorttr It aHrt tditor •/ TW Saul j
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Brown, Leon. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 86, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 10, 1985, newspaper, February 10, 1985; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1099924/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.