The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 8, 1969 Page: 5 of 16
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THE CHEROKEEAN OF RUSK, TEXAS, THURSDAY, MAY 8,1969-PAOE
"MUST THE YOUNG
"DIE TOO?"
(Continued From
Preceding Page).
excerclse might break his a.
cute alcoholism problem.
'1 have to grin every time
1 think about our first year
on the farm. 1 was almost
too small to remember any.
thing, but I retained a little.
But It was the second year
when I was four that I rem-
ember a lot more. Then the
next year I couldn't forget
a thing. That was the year
we had such good crops. That
old land did itself up right
that year. That and daddy's
hard work.
"That was by far the hap-
piest year of my whole life
as a child. Maybe that's the
reason I remember so much
about it. There was that
Thanksgiving-style turkey
dinner with all the trimmings
and the gifts after that. When
daddy got his checks from the
gin we splurged there for a
while, but they had earned it.
After the meal mother and
dad sprung the surprise onus
children. Maree got the blue
silk dress she had been beg
glng for and Jan got her pink
one and Sue got the yellow
one. 1 got a cowboy suit and
It was the best to be found in
town. It sure made us feel
good to watch mother and dad
exchange their gifts too. I
felt real good and secure in-
side just watching them sitting
in the srwing and hugging and
kissing each other on the
nose."
The gay times at the Scott
home were wonderful while
they lasted, but they came to
a premature end. Ominous
clouds of ill-fortune were rol-
ling up behind the horizon.
They hadn't hidden the sun-
light yet, but the winds of tra .
gedy soon blew them over the
Scott place and left a scarred
farm and family.
'The next year was that
rainy year. Those rain
storms started early in the
winter anJ didn't slack upun-
til May that year. And that
weather wasn't good on dad
either. Seems like he cou-
ghed a lot during those months
and complained of his chest
hurting him."
The fact was that Mr. Scott's
confinement that winter broke
his health down to near tuber-
culosis. And on top of that he
had to work extra long hours
in the late Spring repairing his
\plows, cultivators and plan-
ters. He drove his teams
from sunup to dark trying to
get caught up and the pressure
on the old equipment was ta
king Its tolL
"If the late planting had been
his only problem we might
have done all right that year.
But that old mule got sick and
the hired hand ran off, so
things got worse rather than
better. That was bad too dad
dy rammed his arm Into that
nail at the barn. He was try -
ing to round up the old sow.
That laid him up for a couple
of extra days. It seemed like
ole dame Fortune was working
against us that time.
"On and on It went. One
thing after another went wrong
at our place. Part of the late
crop got washed out |ust as
the tender cotton plants were
peeking out of the ground. So
It was soon evident that we
couldn't meet the mortgage
note at the bank on time, and
maybe not at all.
"Daddy got pretty dis-
couraged after that. They
talked a lot about the good crop
the year before, but that didn't
hold him up for long. That
was a good attempt when mo-
ther tried to cheer him by tel
ling him that farmers don't
expect a good crop but every
third year anyhow, but It didn't
work so well in our case."
Mr. Scott had made the mis-
take of putting too much money
into seed for this year's plan
ting and he wasn't able to get
it In the ground, nor was he
able to sell it. Other farmers
had all the seed they needed
because they were short on
planting too.
''Mother made a mis-
take when she agreed for
.daddy to go to the city alone
to get our bank refinanced.
She ought to have known he
would run Into some of his
old buddies, but she was a
trusting wife. Somehow he
never got to the bank. Thev
got hold of him first and loaned
him enough! money to get by on
for awhile. Later he found
out that the loan was a trap
and that they intended to force
him back Into their shady
business. Of course mother
suspected this the minute she
heard where the money came
from, but there wash' much
she could do then, she had
ready '.pent about half of It.
'Things picked up around the
scott farm for «while after
that. f\ir machinery wus re
paired nr replaced and a new
mule was bought. Finally
daddy got hi planting finished
and t#gan helping mother with
the garden canning, VVechll
dren had a (ly Mme mnnlnf
the fresh vegetable from 'he
garden to th# hou - ^r pro
ce<=«tn| and tannin*. Vtow
enurtly «*r ho>n*iitr re
turnad to normal. It looked
as though we might make out
after alL
"Just when we were sitting
pretty those insects had to
come along. First the boll-
weevll and then the grass-
hoppers. Those hoppers sure
were big that year; they could
Jump almost six feet with,
out much trouble. It was a
hard battle but with the help
of some kind of spray daddy
saved some of the crops. How-
ever, we didn't have much left
after paying all expenses. And
there was that bill to the gam-
blers. Guess mother must
have been awfully upset about
that. She sure dared those
men to set a foot on our
place."
However, Mrs. Scott didn't
do much when the gamblers
drove up one night about dark.
"We come to see your hus-
band, Mrs. Scott," one man
shouted from the car.
'"He's not here. What do you
want?"
"We come to collect some
money he owes us. Do you
want to pay us or shall we
come back??"
"You'll have to comeback.
I'll tell him you were here."
'Tell him to come in to see
us tomorrow or we'll be back
tomorrow night, see?" With
this the thugs whirled the
car around and sped down the
dirt road to the highway leav-
ing a large cloud of dust
behind.
"The next day the bamblers
told daddy they had been los-
ing heavily In their opera-
tions and wanted their money
then---wlth interest. They
were told that they could have
the 15% interest now, but that
the principle would have to
wait awhile longer. So they
refinanced his loan and the
interest rate went to 20%.
Daddy knew he was at the
mercy of these men but he
didn't know how to keep from
getting In deeper with them.
"Then carne daddy's big
mistake. What ever pos-
sessed him to think he could
win at the gambling tables'
Anyway he went back to town
with all the money he had left
arid lost It all on the roulette
wheel. And as if that wasn't
bad enough these men cor-
nered him and demanded full
payment of our debt to them.
When they found out he coul
dn't pay they surprised him
by Inviting him to have some
drinks with them"
When Mr. Scott arrived home
early the next morning he was
on the verge of derangement.
His last attempt at a solution
to their problems had failed
miserably and now the syn-
dicate In the city was going
to file suit against him for
their money. They told him
they would have a judgement
against his farm in a few
days.
"After this daddy began
to stay away from home a lot.
We never knew where we went
or what he did, br le was
never the same aftt; that. I
guess he had given up. That
was the contrast between him
and mother. She vs still
in there fighting. It looked
hopeless, but she kept trying
tu figure out something. Now
I know that it was only through
her efforts that the family
had stayed together this
long. I don't know what they
said In that later discussion
they had, but it didn't seem
to help us out much.''
When the discussion between
the Scotts was over, both
new that little had been ac
complished. They talked
throughout the night and
though several things were
agreed upon, nothing lasting
w .s In sight. As a las: re-
sort Mrs. Scott tried to en-
force a reform program on
her husband. She knew the
chances of it working weren't
great. She had to act as his
will now -since he had none
left. Some agreements had
been made, such as his pro-
mise to try harder to make
the farm pay Itself out. Too,
they agreed to try to maintain
a better atmosphere around
the house for the children's
sake. Rut the contract was
superficial at best and was
doomed for certain failure.
With the basis for genuine
respect lietween the two al-
most gone, it was evident
that some drastic changes
were due in the Scott house
hold--soon.
"We kids sure did feel sea
red when matna and daddy fin .
ished their talking that morn
lng. It was dark and misty
all day which made everything
seem even wor e. The fog
rolled In a little after dawn
and the dark clouds hung low
until mid afternoon when the
torrents of rain begain to fall.
Since the atmosphere wa-
chilly we children tayed
in our room mo> t of the '.tv.
I guts everybody in the hon e
was depre sed, It wa' then
that our home started lipping
badly.
'The wor'-t part of It rarrie
two 'ays later. The men from
the city came out an f tooV
daddy into (own with them.
Hr •• >ed gone all nornln,
and ie>rl> got buck oo Itt.
for 'Inner, "... '¡ -.-r
part 1ldn*t matter.
gully In front of our house.
Mother was at a neighbor's
house to borrow some baking
powder and was just leaving
when she saw daddy struggling
to get up our front porch steps.
She started running as soon as
she saw him but she was to
late to stop him from coming
Into our bedroom. He busted
in and asked us where we kept
our butter and egg money.
Mama let us save a little mon-
ey out of the produce we sold
sometimes. It was ours and
we" were saving it to buy
Christmas presents in De-
cember. Daddy had the wll.
dest look in his eyes and we
got real scared of him. I re-
member I wanted to get under
the bed quick, but I was afraid
he would come under after me.
I guess I didn't do anything
but just stand there with my
mouth open.
"Daddy was rummaging
through cxir dresser drawers
when mother rushed Into the
room. She suspected what he
was up to and was determined
that he would not get another
penny of our money for liquor.
Finally daddy found our sav-
ing in a drawer."
"Albert Scottlput that money
back where you got It I" Mrs.
Scott demanded with great de-
termination.
'Now you stay out of this,
Lona," he said, "I'm dry as a
bone and gotta get something
to wet my whistle. Just a
little is all I need. Go way and
leave me 'lone."
"Mother charged at daddy
like a tigress defending her
cubs against a panther. 'Give
me that sack of money! Turn
loose of it Albert.' and with a
quick motion she wrested
it from his hands."
'Now listen to me. Lona, I
come to get this money ana I
alms to have it. I made it.
Its mine, so git away. And give
me my money!"
'Twice daddy lunged at the
p.ij>er sack containing our
money; and both times mother
was too quick for him. Now
his temper was rising and he
doubled his fists and struck
mother a crushing blow In the
face. She fell limp and hit the
floor hard as blood began to
run out of her nose and
mouth."
"Oh God, I pray thatl'Ml
never have to go through ano-
ther experience like that. All
of us kids were terrified! We
saw it all. I think the girls
ran out of the room after that,
I don't remember. I was so
scared I couldn't think. I
thought he had killed my mo-
ther and I hated him right
there. I made up my mind too.
If he had killed my mother I
was going to do something aw-
ful to him for it,"
'The girls came back into
the room with a wet towel and
began to bathe mother's face.
Daddy just stood their
hump-shouldered and glaring
down at mother. To our re-
lief she finally regained con-
sciousness."
"Get out of this house, Al-
bert! Get out of here and don't
ever put your foot on this
place again. You don't de-
serve a wife and kids. You
couldn't take care of a home
if you had one. Now get out
of rny sight!"
"A twent pound hammer
couldn't have hurt daddy worse
than those words from mo
ther. I looked Into his eyes
and I cried hard. He was the
most pitiful-looking man I
ever saw. 1 saw hurt in his
eyes_-he was hurt bad. After
that he fell down by mother
and begged her to give him
another change. He promised
to quit drinking and stay on the
place more and treat us chil-
dren better, but mother's ears
were deaf to him. I turned my
head when he got up and stum-
bled out of the house. We nev-
er saw him again. We never
knew what happened to him,"
"'Mother filed for a divorce
the next time she went to town.
She got It in a few months
and tried to settle down on
the farm making us children
a living. Out it wasn't long
until it was evident she coul-
dn't. The hired help wasn't
efficient and she couldn't
manage the far and do all of
her house work too, so she
soon realized that something
else would have to be worked
out."
"I've done everything I can
to keep us together, she told
us, we just can't make it this
way. Now I've arranged for
Maree and Jan to go to Uncle
Rob's In Oregon and Sue,
you're to stay with cousin Ru-
by In North Carolina for a
while."
''I frowned when mother tur
ne 1 her attention to me. I
was afraid - lie wouldn't tell
me I was going with her, and
sure enough she didn't 1
was being sent to my Grandpa
• nd Grandma Honor'
place,"
"You'll llkeCrntervlll, Rop
er,' she re i ■ tired me,'Gran
dp* Morton ha orne hor ••
and cow and you ranrl leand
play about tile place ¿r 1 the
be t tlrm
"Hut I lon'i a mt to go tn«
•nal I don'- wa 'o go my
here1 I wa o w.o aim vtHi.
plan,"
"Honey, I knows it's a heart-
breaking experience for you
right now, but mama will come
for you soon. Now you be a
good boy on the train and
Grandma and Grandpa Hor-
ton will meet you at the sta-
tion this afternoon. Now re-
member, don't get off the
train at any of the stops."
So I was put on a train also.
"Mama, I don't want to go.
I don't want to go without
you. I'll do anything, but
don't send me away. Please
don't mama, please don'tl"
But my please went unheeded.
Mother was sobbing as she
turned loose ot my hand, but
she felt that this was best for
me."
"That was another episode
in my life that I've never got-
ten over. I was so lonely
and depressed that leaving
mother was more than I could
stand. I think after that I
just burled my face in my
hands and cried and cried."
(To be continued next week.)
Ki
essesstr
rol'
trer
''if *
Mrs. Pan! Cox
Joins Howell
Realtor Firm
Mrs. Paul B. (Del) Cox is
now associated with Frank
Howell, Realtor as a licensed
saleslady.
A well known member of the
Rusk Community, Mrs. Cox
has served In numerous ci-
vic capacities. She is a past
president of the Rusk PTA;
a former president of the Daf-
fodil Garden Club; served two
yers as Home Service Chair
man for the Salvation Army; a
former president of Beta Sig-
ma Phi; and she belongs to the
Rusk Lioness Club and is a
member of First Methodist
Church.
Prior to moving to this city,
she was engaged in theinsur
anees business. Mrs. Cox
is the wife of Attorney Paul
B. Cox. -pd. adv.
Nursing Home
Week Noted In
Proclamation
Citizen support and partici
pation in the Texas and Am-
erican Nursing Home As.so
clations Better I ife Program
was urged when L. H. White
head, Mayor of Rusk, signed
a proclamation urging all re
sidents to visit a nursing
home on Mother's Day, May
11.
"Many nursing home pati
ents are alone in this world,
having survived family and
friends," the Mayor's pro
clamation reads. "I urge all
residents to participate ac-
tively In observance of Texas
and National Nur-ing Home
Week by visiting a nursing
home and nursing home pat
ients on Mother'' Day," Ma-
yor Whitehead said.
The American Nursing Home
Association, ponsor of Na-
tional Nursing Home Week,
represent some ",200 nur^ .
ing homes with approximately
400,000 bed , The associa
tlon represent both proprie
tarv and non-proprietary li
censed facllirie interested
in improving the institution-
al care of the aged and the
convalescent an.! the chroni
cally ill of all age .
Theme of Texa and Nation
al Nursing Home Week Is
"A Better I Ife Through Com -
mimity Concern". Hie theme
was chosen to highlight the
nur ln£ home patient's nee1
for community Involvement,
for without it, aTN HA poke' -
man commented, "We r.i-rot
convince our pa'lent- ■:i,.it the
community ar¡ th it the
community «•>■« r 'ornet .*
JtotMay
n '
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The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 8, 1969, newspaper, May 8, 1969; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth150808/m1/5/?q=EARTH: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.