The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, October 7, 1977 Page: 3 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Ranger and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the San Antonio College.
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Crystal City endures poverty
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by hal wells
need help. There is no jobs.
“i just draw a little help from the
government. That barely covers
rent, bills, food.”
Martinez directed us to a friend’s
home where the family was
finishing the noon meal while
resting under the mesquite tree and
seeking shade from the sun.
In a town where people dream in
Spanish, we could not rely on
conversation for information. Just
looking around would have to
provide us our story.
Squatting around a wooden fire,
small children were toying with the
pan and spoon their mama had
used to cook their meal. Some of
the children were of school age, but
they seemed to have other things
on their minds on this hot Saturday.
The children, apparently well-fed,
healthy and happy, smeared their .
bodies with dusty, grey Crystal City
soil. They seemed to say that by
washing themselves clean, they
would be taken out of their element.
Perhaps the children considered
taking a cold shower to be some
form of punishment. But without
gas to warm their water, they could
hot do otherwise.
Having observed a portion of the
family life in Crystal City, we
traveled into the dusty, hot center
of action where cantinas and cafes
dominate the business district.
There we met Blasar Aguilar,
owner of Escondida Cafe. The gas
cut-off two weeks ago forced her to
close her establishment. She
showed no anger or bitterness.
Blasar wore a thin smile across her
pudgy face as she explained that
her two-coiled hot plate barely
prepares enough nachos, much
less full meals for her customers.
About half a mile down Highway
83, Martinez showed us the
receiving station for Coastal State
Gas Producing Co. Though the
smell of natural gas permeates the
air, it by-passes Crystal City leaving
only a faint odor. A bit of irony is
injected by Xavier when he notes
that the pipe crossing is well within
the Crystal City city limits.
By this time in the afternoon
Martinez is beginning to feel the
strain of a long hot day. It had been
a long day for the three of us.
After dropping Martinez off at El
Destino Cafe, we headed northeast
for our 114-mile trip home. Just
east of Uvalde on Highway 90, we
noticed farm laborers working in
the fields. Their sihouettes stooped
against the sun as their labor met
you one thing, a lot of people here ' twilight.
Editor’s Note: Photographer
Xavier Garza and Managing Editor
Hal Wells traveled to Crystal City
Saturday to observe, investigate
and photograph what effect the
natural gas curtailment has on its
residents.
CRYSTAL CITY—Drinking a cup
of coffee at El Destino Cafe, Danny
Martinez sat back in his chair,
cocked his straw hat and took a
large draw of his Winston 100
before sizing up the situation in
Crystal City.
“This town is not worth a shit
because there’s no work,” Martinez
said.
Martinez, a Crystal City resident
since 1926, stated the problem
succinctly. At age 62 he finds
himself hard pressed to live on a
$170 monthly welfare allotment.
During the hot summer days in
Crystal City, Martinez has little to
do but sit and drink coffee, washing
the dust from his parched throat.
Wandering the town’s dirt roads,
Martinez finds no odd jobs today.
After we explained to Martinez we
wanted to look at life in Crystal
City, he agreed to give us a tour.
What we found there transcends
the need of natural gas.
Complete with migrant farm
workers, barrios and borrachos,
Crystal City is the “Tortilla Flats” of
Texas.
• Crystal City records one of the
nation’s highest unemployment
rates at 19.4 percent.
• Fifty percent of its 8,100
residents receive some form of
public financial aid.
• Mayor of Crystal City Francisco
Benevides is among the 65 percent
of the city’s families who follow the
crops working as migrant farm
laborers.
• Only 20 percent of Crystal City
workers have steady, local jobs.
• The city owes $800,000 in past
due bills for natural gas.
Cruising at 10 mph, avoiding as
many chuck holes as possible, we
were shocked at the poverty found
in the “Spinach Capital of the
World.”
What any suburban dweller
would consider the “hell hole” of
America, this was home to the
migrant workers of Crystal City.
Martinez provided conversation
as we drove along.
“I’ve never been to school. Myself
learned me that English. But I’ll tell
h
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San Antonio College. The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, October 7, 1977, newspaper, October 7, 1977; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1337636/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting San Antonio College.