Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 125, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 11, 2015 Page: 4 of 22
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PAGE 4A
ELGIN COURIER - ELGIN, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2015
Letters
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The Longhorn a symbol of being Texas tough
Recognizing
Veterans
Consider
This...
Texas
Times
Neil
STONE
deavor, he is merely con-
tributing to the evolu-
tion of that thing. There
is nothing that can’t be
improved upon.
Look around at every-
thing you see and try to
remember when it ei-
ther didn’t exist or was
first invented (or cre-
ated). Even this article
originated with the ad-
vent of language, then
the written word, a way
to print it, a way to dis-
tribute it, and finally we
arrive at this point when
you read it. In each of
these steps, a new per-
fection was achieved.
Not only has language
advanced, but mathe-
matics, philosophical
concepts, scientific dis-
coveries, food produc-
Traveling through the
plains in Texas, you’re
bound to see the unmis-
takable silhouette of the
famed Texas Longhorn.
As our state’s official
large mammal, the mas-
cot of our flagship uni-
versity, and a surviving
symbol of the old Ameri-
can West, the Longhorn
is ingrained into our way
of life as Texans.
This time of year in
The Elgin Courier is published weekly by Blacklands Publications,
Inc. at 105 North Main, Elgin, Bastrop County, Texas 78621. Established
in 1890. Periodical postage paid at Elgin, Texas, 78621. SUBSCRIP-
TION RATES: $41.00 per year in Bastrop County; $44.00 per year out-
side Bastrop County; $49.00 per year outside Texas. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to ELGIN COURIER, P.O. BOX 631, ELGIN,
TX 78621. Any erroneous reflection upon character, standing, or repu-
tation of any individual, firm or organization that may appear in the
columns of this paper will be corrected if brought to the attention of the
publisher. We do not hold ourselves responsible for the views of our cor-
respondents.
Send e-mails to elgincourier@elgincourier.com or publisher@elgin-
courier.com. Website is elgincourier.com. Call 512-285-3333. News and
ad copy deadline is Fridays at 5 p.m. Letters to Editor deadline is Fridays
at noon.
The Elgin Courier Letters to the Editor column is an open forum offering op-
portunities to the public to comment on issues of interest or concern to the com-
munity. They should refrain from making personal attacks on the individuals, and
comments which in the opinion of the editors are potentially libelous or in bad
taste will not be printed. Letters should be brief, 300 words or less, if possible. We
solicit and encourage such comment. The deadline for Letters to the Editor is Fri-
day at noon. It is our policy not to print letters with political opinions, ideals or
views. Political messages must be paid for in advertisement form. All letters must
be signed and include the address of the author. The Courier will not withhold the
name of letter writers and anonymous letters will be discarded.
themselves increasingly
in demand. European in-
vestors offered ranchers
gold to expand their
Longhorn operations,
and these ranchers were
even exempt from the
Confederate draft be-
cause of their important
role in providing food
for soldiers.
But not long after sol-
diers returned home
from the war, Longhorns
began to suffer. Once
trade relationships were
re-established between
the former Union and
Confederate states, mass
disease wiped out herd
after herd across New
England farms - except
the Longhorns. North-
ern farmers blamed the
species and began
slaughtering them in
masses. Sadly, what they
dubbed the ‘Texas
Fever’ was actually a dis-
ease carried by ticks, not
the Longhorns, who
were simply immune.
Demand continued to
plummet because Long-
horn meat did not pro-
duce enough tallow, or
animal fat, to be utilized
in the manufacturing of
increasingly popular
items like candles and
soap. Moreover, Long-
Be
HLA
horn meat was hard to
keep fresh absent pro-
longed refrigeration,
and as a result wasn’t vi-
able as a commercial
product in the 19th Cen-
tury. As a result, by 1910,
Texas Longhorns were
almost nowhere to be
found.
And if it weren’t for
Will C. Barnes, a U.S.
Army Signal Corps pri-
vate turned cattle
rancher, Longhorns may
have continued down
the path to complete ex-
tinction. After leaving
the military, in 1887 Mr.
Barnes led a team of
U.S. Forest Service trail-
blazers across the west
and managed to round
up 27 surviving pure
Texas Longhorns. In
1927, he created a pro-
tected home in the Wi-
chita Mountains Wildlife
Refuge in Oklahoma, ef-
fectively saving the
breed and enabling
them to once again
flourish.
Today, thanks to Mr.
Barnes, Texas Longhorns
roam free in state parks
and graze on private
ranches across our state.
So next time you’re on
the open road in our
great state and spot a
Longhorn, tip your hat
to Private Barnes and
the ever-resilient Texas
icon.
John Cornyn is the sen-
ior U.S. Senator represent-
ing Texas.
ELGIN COURIER
(U.S.P.S. 172-740)
John
CORNYN
• V
3 g
DAN KLEINER - PUBLISHER
PATTY FINNEY - MANAGING EDITOR
MATT MCELHINNEY - SPORTS EDITOR
MARIE OTT - AD DIRECTOR
HEATHER ROMINE - BOOKKEEPER/CLASSIFIEDS
STATE OF
TEXAS
GOVERNOR
Greg Abbott
800-843-5789
LT. GOVERNOR
Dan Patrick
512-463-0001
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Ken Paxton
512-463-2100
U.S. SENATORS
John Cornyn
713-572-3337
Ted Cruz
713-718-3059
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Michael McCaul
202-225-2401
STATE SENATOR
Kirk Watson
512-463-0114
STATE
REPRESENTATIVE
John Cyrier
512-463-0682
BASTROP
COUNTY
COUNTY JUDGE
Paul Pape
512-332-7201
SHERIFF
Terry Pickering
512-549-5100
COUNTY COURT
Judge Benton Eskew
512-581-4277
JUSTICES OF THE
PEACE
Donna Van Gilder (Pct.1)
512-581-4258
Raymah Davis (Pct.2)
512-581-7112
Katherine Hanna (Pct.3)
512-332-7288
Larry Dunne (Pct.4)
512-581-7162
COMMISSIONERS
William Pina (Pct.1)
512-581-4001
Clara Beckett (Pct.2)
512-360-2764
John Klaus (Pct.3)
512-303-6800
Bubba Snowden (Pct.4)
512-332-7267
CITY OF
ELGIN
MAYOR
Marc Holm
512-788-6110
CITY MANAGER
Kerry Lacy
512-281-5724
POLICE CHIEF
Chris Bratton
512-285-5757
FIRE CHIEF
Randy Reyna
512-281-4025
CITY COUNCIL
Chris Cannon (Mayor
Pro-Tem, Ward 3)
512-217-1283
Mary Penson (Ward 1)
512-281-4158
Jessica Bega (Ward 1)
512-653-1900
Edward Maldonado
(Ward 2)
512-297-4258
Juan Gonzalez (Ward 2)
512-285-6499
Craig Fromme (Ward 3)
512-567-5702
Keith Joesel (Ward 4)
512-281-3182
Sue Brashar (Ward 4)
512-689-5692
ELGIN SCHOOL
DISTRICT
SUPERINTENDENT
Dr. Jodi Duron
512-281-3434
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
-22015
U“2°8C33
s.A¥
tion, tools, entertain-
ment, communication,
travel, war, government,
etc., continue to move
forward in the quest for
perfection.
With each advance-
ment, we reach that
state where something
is now, “as perfect as it
gets”... until the next
modification.
Look at any of the orig-
inal “simple tools.” At
first, a crude, round ob-
ject was found to help
move things more easily
and it was the perfect
item to make life easier.
Then someone modified
it to the point where it
became what we refer to
as a “perfect wheel.”
Over time, that wheel
has been modified over
and over again and it is
used everywhere in our
Eves for reasons other
than just moving things.
Without such things as
the wheel, the inclined
plane, the lever, etc., we
might still be living in
kc
)
caves.
Remember, everything
is always perfect until
the next advancement;
and then that’s perfect.
This will go on until the
end of time.
Look back at your first
drawing or the item that
you decorated, or even
the first thing you ever
built. At the time, it was
“perfect.” Today, years
later, you can see how
you might improve on it
to make it “more per-
fect.”
Side note: Beware of
people who refer to
themselves as being per-
fectionists. They use this
term as an excuse to ei-
ther cover their inade-
quacies or to act
superior to others. Have
you ever met a “perfec-
tionist” that completed
anything, completely,
flawlessly and on time?
Neil Stone is a colum-
nist for the Elgin Courier.
Contact him at neil@el-
gincourier.com.
3
particular, we’re re-
minded of their storied
history. Ranchers have
just finished showcasing
their best stock at the
annual Texas State Fair’s
Longhorn Show, and in
the midst of football sea-
son, the orange Long-
horn silhouettes seem to
be everywhere.
But only 100 years ago,
Texas Longhorns were
nearly extinct.
When the first cattle
set hoof in the New
World more than 500
years ago, they surprised
the Spanish settlers who
brought them by over-
coming the challenging
terrain and thriving. The
previously domesticated
cattie from Europe be-
came tough enough to
survive droughts and
floods, sweltering heat
and bone-chilling cold,
while grazing easily on
whatever land they oc-
cupied.
As more European set-
tiers made their way to
Texas, Longhorns pro-
vided a stable source of
meat and income no
matter the conditions. A
German traveler making
his way through Texas in
1848 remarked, “In
Texas, cattle live for the
sake of man, but in all
other countries man
lives for the sake of his
cattie.”
Longhorns continued
to thrive throughout the
19th Century and found
Dear fellow Texans:
Since 1927, the
Texas Veterans Com-
mission has been
leading the way in
Veterans services.
We were there 70
years ago after World
War II to assist the
thousands of service-
members who re-
turned to Texas after
fighting in Europe,
Africa and Asia. We
were there 65 years
ago, when the Korean
War began, to help
those who were fortu-
nate enough to make
it home after serving
their country in de-
fense of freedom.
The armistice which
ended World War I
occurred at 11 a.m.
on Nov. 11,1918, end-
ing hostilities. In
1919, President Wil-
son designated No-
vember 11 as
Armistice Day to
honor the Veterans
who fought in the
Great War.
The Texas Veterans
Commission was cre-
ated in 1927 to advo-
cate for those
Veterans and help se-
cure their benefits.
We were there 50
years ago, when the
Vietnam War began,
guiding our Veterans
to the benefits they
earned while fighting
in conflicts overseas.
We were there 25
years ago, following
Operation Desert
Shield in Iraq, advis-
ing our brothers and
sisters in arms on
how to receive their
earned benefits.
We are still here
more than 14 years
later for the men and
women who deployed
in support of Opera-
tion Enduring Free-
dom and Operation
Iraqi Freedom.
For almost nine
decades, the Texas
Veterans Commission
has progressively pro-
vided more support
for the now 1.7 mil-
lion Veterans in
Texas. Our services
have modernized and
evolved as the needs
of our Veterans also
evolved. Our respon-
sibility to Veterans
throughout the state
will always be our top
priority.
Making Veterans a
top priority for Tex-
ans could not have
happened without
every Texan’s sup-
port, which speaks of
the high caliber of in-
dividuals who make
up our great state.
President Abraham
Lincoln once said,
“Honor to the Sol-
dier, and Sailor
everywhere, who
bravely bears his
country’s cause.
Honor also to the citi-
zen who cares for his
brother in the field,
and serves, as he best
can, the same cause.”
We continue that
tradition in Texas and
at the Texas Veterans
Commission. Our tra-
See “MAIL”, Page 15A
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282622
V Perfection is that
—— state of being
- where a person,
place or thing is exactly
the way they are, not the
way they aren’t.
Therefore, you are per-
fect.
Seeking perfection is a
seemingly noble goal.
The truth is that every-
thing and everyone is al-
ready perfect. Any
(regardless of how
minor) alteration or
change does not make
something closer to per-
fection, but merely
makes it a new thing
that is also perfect.
Of course, there is al-
ways room for improve-
ment in anything, and
when done, an advance-
ment has been made. As
we improve on some-
thing, the entire uni-
verse advances into a
newer state of perfec-
tion.
Man is always seeking
to make something even
more perfect. In this en-
Opinion
m Email the Editor at elgincouner@elgincourier.com
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28
Perfect is the way you are
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Finney, Patty. Elgin Courier (Elgin, Tex.), Vol. 125, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 11, 2015, newspaper, November 11, 2015; Elgin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1555309/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Elgin Public Library.