The Mercedes Enterprise (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 1967 Page: 1 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Mercedes Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.
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ERCEDES Pv
536 3RD ST
3 L ! C L i 3 R A R Y
Touring New MHS Under
i SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT Robert Villanueva, above left, and Superin-
tendent N. K. Fitzgerald talk about fall opening at office receptionist’s desk
at new MHS building's west, and main public, entrance during weekend tour
of Florida Street structure
THEY PINPOINT FEATURES of vocational department building, which lies
east of administration, homemaking, language, science and other facilities
THEY TALK ABOUT expanded facilities in the new MHS Library; special
study rooms flank the entrance
BOTH CHECK blackboard chalkability in a language arts classroom
The Merce
Mercedes, Texas, 78570, Thursday, July 20, 1967
C I TY
XXX
nterprise
Vol. 52 No. 29 Price 10c
Gin Ratio Doubles As Area
Balers Reach Total of 2,209
ENTERPRISE STAFF PHOTO
LT. HAGER... 'honor system works
Academy-trained Lt.
Set for Radar Duty
Cotton processing totals
for the Mercedes area are
increasing rapidly, more
than doubling the total of last
week. Total bales for the
area had reached 2,209 by
Wednesday morning.
The week's total is 1,412
bales.
Leading the area gins in
bales is the Pealor Gin in
Stockholm. Adding 1,139
bales over the past two weeks
brings its total to 1,335
for the year.
Mercedes gins have added
329 bales with Ross Gin bal-
ing 138 bales of cotton this
week and the Mercedes Co-
A new location for the
headquarters of the Rio
Grande Rehabilitation Dis-
trict, probably at Harlingen
or Edinburg, was assured
this week with announcement
that the building it now oc-
cupies has been leased to
John Dupree, owner of Mid-
Valley Florist.
The District's adminis-
trative headquarters has
occupied the First National
Bank's former business
building on Texas Avenue
the past two years. The bank
offered earlier this month to
Extensive remodelling op-
erations are under way at the
First Baptist Church of Mer-
cedes. Present work is in the
basement. Class rooms are
being removed and reposi-
tioned, and are being con-
structed of hard birchwood.
The Fellowship Hall is be-
ing enlarged. Walls of the
basement are to be panelled
with this birchwood with four
inches of insulation placed
between the panelling and
the walls. The ceiling will
be sprayed with an acoustical
substance and modern light-
ing fixtures will be installed.
New storage space and
choir-robe closets will be
provided.
The Church has on hand a
Building Fund for this pur-
pose and contributions are
being received from the
members for this and other
needed repairs. Nothing is
Construction on a $40,000
Parish Hall adjacent to Our
Lady of Mercy Catholic Chu-
rch will begin in a few days,
according to the Rev. James
Lyons, assistant pastor.
Scheduled for completion
at mid-September, the build-
ing will accomodate 500 per-
sons for community meet-
ings, religious classes and
for Sunday morning mass
observances for young
people of the church.
Funds accumulated in the
annual Fiestas Patrias cele-
bration — September 16 and
17 — will help finance the
construction project.
The building is to be 110
feet in length and 60 feet
wide, fully air-conditioned.
“This will be a structure
of which the community can
be proud**, said Father
Lyons.
The project was discussed
at a Fiestas Patrias com-
mittee meeting Monday
evening. Named at the ses-
sion to a Fiestas Patrias
Queen's coronation com-
mittee are Pete Castaneda
as chairman and Rigoberto
Solis, Amelia Adame, Lena
Hinojosa, Lupita Verduzco
and Mary Alice Torres. Co-
op baling 191. Ross Gin's
total now is 183 and the Mer-
cedes Co-op now has 236
bales.
The Elsa Co-op baled 235
this week for a total of 275
bales for the season. Nichols
Gin in Edcouch processed 77
more bales for a total of 145.
Pealor Gin in La Villa be-
gan operation this week with
15 bales of cotton as its total.
The Progreso Gin baled 11
more bales this week for a
total of 19 bales.
Valley cotton classed this
week and for the season was
of a very high quality, re-
ports the U.S.D.A.'s Con-
sell the building to the Dis-
trict, but the District's board
of directors decided against
the proposal at a meeting last
week. They split, 4 to 4, on a
motion to move the office to
Harlingen. A committee is
studying feasibility of mov-
ing either to Harlingen or to
Edinburg.
First National and Mr.
Dupree have signed a five-
year lease-purchase agree-
ment for the building and Mr.
Dupree said Mid-Valley Flo-
rist will be moved into it as
soon as it is vacated by the
Rehabilitation District.
planned beyond what the
church raises in the way of
cash gifts. Last year the Ed-
ucational Building was re-
roofed, and two years before
that the Church auditorium
was re-roofed.
Don Hoffman has charge of
the construction. Work got
under way Monday of this
week with a delivery of a long
trailer load of materials.
MFB to Discuss
Labor Problems
Mercedes Farm Bureau
members meet at 8 p.m.
Thursday, July 20, at El
Sombrero Restaurant for
their regular monthly ses-
sion. .A discussion of labor
problems is the program
topic listed by president Bil-
ly Gene Pemelton.
ronation program is planned
for October 1.
sumer and Marketing Ser-
vice in Harlingen. The desi-
rable micronaire readings
and the strong fiber, togeth-
er with the large percentage
of 1-1/16 staple, are rea-
sons for a strong and active
market.
Hot, dry weather most of
the week accelerated cotton
harvesting, but it will be sev-
eral weeks before farmers
move into irrigated fields on
a large scale. While some
irrigated cotton was har-
vested, most of the ginnings
were from dryland areas.
Based on samples classed
this week, 85 percent were in
the white grades, with 8 per-
cent Strict Middling, 48 per-
cent Middling, 1 percent
Strict Low Middling Plus, 27
percent Strict Low Middling
and 1 percent Low Middling.
Light Spotted grades repre-
sented 15 percent, with 10
percent Middling Light Spot-
ted being the predominant
grade.
The predominant staple
length classes was 1-1/16
inches with 58 percent.
The micronaire readings,
which indicate fineness and
maturity of the fiber, show-
ed 95 percent in the 30 points
premium range of 3.5 to 4.9.
In cooperation with the
Cotton Research Committee
of Texas, the Cotton Divi-
sion's weekly figures of the
Pressley test results re-
flected strong fiber, with 100
percent of the cotton testing
80,000 pounds per square
inch and above.
Valley cotton, because of
its high quality and the ear-
liest production in the Unit-
ed States, always finds an
active market. A large per-
centage of the cotton has been
contracted on an entire gin
community basis. While all
buyers in this market have
not become active, the gin-
nings are selling briskly.
Averaged prices paid for
predominant qualities with
mike readings of 3.5 to 4.9
were as follows: Strict Mid-
dling, 1-1/32-26.05; Strict
Middling, 1-1/16-27.25;
Strict Middling, 1-3/32-28.
45; Middling, 1-1/32-25.65;
Middling, 1-1/16-27.25;
Middling, 1-3/32-27.9;
Strict Low Middling, 1-1/32-
23.85. Strict Low Middling,
1-1/16-25.20, and Strict Low
Middling, 1-3/32-25.75.
Cottonseed price was $50
and $51 per ton to farmers
at gin points.
Cotton throughout the area
is said to be generally past
danger of insect damage ex-
cept late-planted and some
irrigated cotton. There is
some tobacco budworm ac-
tivity in late irrigated cot-
ton. The principal chemical
activity is defoliation.
by ALAN SMITH
Enterprise News Staff
Second Lt. Hoyt Hager III
began planning for a career
in the US Air Force while
still in high school. Now he is
a commissioned officer
fresh from the Air Force
Academy in Colorado and
home on leave after taking a
vacation trip to Spain.
After graduating from
Mercedes high school in
1963, Lt. Hager sought ap-
pointment to the Academy
from former U.S. represen-
tative Joe Kilgore, as ap-
pointments are made to the
Academy by U.S. Represen-
tatives, Senators or in some
cases the President. He
competed with other boys
from the area in tests to win
the appointment.
Purpose of the Academy
is to train second lieuten-
ants who will be capable
of advancement and who pro-
bably will make the Air
Force their careers, ac-
cording to Lt. Hager.
The Academy itself is
much like any other college.
College courses are given in
anything from music appre-
ciation to electrical engin-
eering and military science.
A semester of P.E. is re-
quired each year and intra-
mural sports all year round
keep cadets in good physical
shape, but no special drills
are given.
Other extracurricular ac-
tivities, such as the chorale
in which Lt. Hager partici-
pated, are also offered. The
chorale including Lt. Hager
appeared on the Ed Sullivan
Show earlier this year.
The honor system of the
Academy sets it apart from
other colleges. “The honor
system really works," says
Lt. Hager. "The system is
not forced on cadets but they
accept it. The system is ad-
ministered by cadets so it
is ours and we don't want to
live without it. The tolera-
tion clause in the Air Force
Academy honor system
makes it unique because
other academies do not have
it and reporting frequently
is done by officers instead
by the cadets themselves."
The honor system wouldn't
work anywhere else but in
a military academy, ac-
cording to Lt. Hager, be-
cause there is a different
kind of discipline at the aca-
demy than in public systems.
After graduation from the
Academy earlier this sum-
mer, Lt. Hager and a friend
set out for a trip to Europe.
Upon reaching the East Coast
however, the friend had to
return and Hager proceeded
alone. He spent some time
in Madrid, Spain, and May-
orca, a vacation island off
the coast of Spain, before
returning home to Merce-
des.
His 60-day leave that came
upon graduation will be over
when he reports toHanscome
Field, Massachusetts, out-
side of Boston, August 11. He
will work in electrical en-
gineering on the AW ACS,
an experimental airborne
radar system. He received
his B.S. degree in the Basic
Sciences with his commis-
sion.
His parents are Mr. and
Mrs. Hoyt Hager Jr. of Mer-
cedes.
Sewer Gas
Takes Life
A 43-year-old San Benito
man, Bruno T. Sanchez, died
here Monday afternoon when
he was overcome by sewer
gas while working in a sewer
at the Texas and Cameron in-
tersection attempting to un-
clog a sewer line. He was an
employee of the Coronet
Construction Company of San
Benito.
Three co-workers were
hospitalized after being ov-
ercome by the fumes. They
were pulled out of the sewer
with ropes, as was the dead
man.
The specially-equipped
Weslaco Fires Department
rescue squad was called and
assisted with the rescue, al-
though Weslaco fireman
Dean Davis was overcome
by the gas and required oxy-
gen treatment. He was wear-
ing a misfitting oxygen mask.
FIESTAS PATRIAS
QUEEN CANDIDATE.
Gloria Lopez,
Catholic
War Veterans
Gloria Lopez, 17-year-old dau-
ghter of Mr. andMrs.Gilberto Lopez,
is Fiestas Patrias Queen candidate of
the Catholic War Veterans.
The junior student at Mercedes
high school has launched an active
fund-raising, vote-raising campaign
to earn the Queen's mantle at the
September 16 and 17 Fiestas cele-
bration of Mexico's independence
from Spain.
Gloria sponsors a bingo game
each Saturday at the intersection of
Texas and Hidalgo streets and she
and her friends are selling hot-dogs
all day long each Saturday at Salinas
Food Store.
At her church she is a member
of the Sodality of Mary organization
and at MHS she is a Future Home-
maker of America.
ENTERPRISE STAFF PHOTO
Bank Building Leased
For Mid—Valley Florist
Baptists Are Remodeling
Their Church Basement
New Parish Hall
For Catholic Church
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The Mercedes Enterprise (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 20, 1967, newspaper, July 20, 1967; Mercedes, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1105512/m1/1/?q=war: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.