The Giddings Star (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 14, 1957 Page: 2 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Giddings Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center.
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Texas in Review
COURT HOUSE NEWS
2 - THE GIDDINGS STAR - THURS. MARCH 14, 1957
Chief
Stat Editorials
RABBS CREEK PHILOSOPHER
scissors, pins and sharp tool are
Have you tried a Star Want Ad?
Have you tried a Star Want Ad?
Any erroneous reflection upon the
They start even...
But 33 days later...
new order, of the
Improved Super Startena
Lower-quality starter
years ago that the last man was
Yours faithfully,
J. A.
%
But now everybody votes in
1
9
QUALITY
SERVICE
Decline of Duval Dukedom Shows
Low Publicity Withers Dictators
due to smaller production of these
grains and a larger U. S. corn
crop.
received by us for such advertising
We also appreciate the giving of
any news items, the names of
visitors at your home or the names
of any members of year family
going away on a visit. This will
help to increase the value of your
local newspaper and should . be
given with the thought that it is
a debt you owe to the progress
of your city and community.
Dear editar:
I don’t like to be an alarmist,
but the Supreme Court is about to
i to The Public, Certificate of Arnen- no good plaything for children.
| dment. -----
i.
the
Aft
en
11.
ter
*
er
Mi
a
tai
ha
ser
me
SUBSCRIBE TO THE STAR
FOR MORE NEWS
Improved Purina Super Startena gives you...
Extra growth you can see and feel
SUBSCRIBE TO THE STAR
FOR MORE NEWS
Alex Rethke, et al. to Lee, Fay-
ette Counties Cummins Creek W.C.
I.D. No. 1, Easement. 171.5 acres,
William Winford Survey.
W. C. Woodward, to Lee, Fayette
Counties Cummins Creek W.C.I.D.
No. 1, Easement, 1299.71 acres,
Wm. Winford, Jas. J. Young and "
Wm. K. Paulling Surveys.
W. H. Joiner, to John Knox, ,
Royalty Deed, 149 acres, George
Darr League.
Martha D. Huff and husband, to 1
earn a profit—the margin of inter-
est which the local conservation
districts would pay the state on
their bonds, over the lower interest
rate which the state bonds would
command. And the local districts
would pay off their bonds and pre-
sumably make a profit from the
sale of the "stored water to com-
sumers. However, proponents of the
measure make no positive prom-
ises as to its financial fruits. "We
think the state bonds will be self-
liquidating." said Sen George Park-
house of Dallas, chairman of the
State Water Resources Committee
which recommended the plan.
Under the terms of the constitu-
tional amendment, the state would
have to pay the interest and sink-
ing fund with the first moneys com-
ing into the general treasury. This
is deemed . necessary in order to
make the bonds salable at low
interest rates. Whether this drain
on the treasury would be great
enough to require new tax reven-
ues until the local conservation dis-
tricts began repaying their state
loans in sufficient volume to offset
reality with a name and a face.
When a boss loses his grip on
the purse strings, he loses friends
fast. Those who still stick by him,
and they are few, remain at his
side because they’re in the same
trouble he’s in.
Not all of Parr’s friends-in-
distress stayed with him, however.
County Judge Dan Tobin, long-
time Parr supporter who was
heavily indicted himself by Duval
grand juries, pulled away from
the Duke and in effect joined the
forces opposing him. In the same
way, Parr lost his control over
the Commissioners Court. That,
ago were taken out of his hands,
closed down by the state. His
55,000-acre ranch, bought with
county funds, has gone back to
the county, and another 4,000-acre
hacienda was auctioned off by the
authorities to satisfy tax claims
against the Duke.
Donato Serna, the man Parr
jailed and clubbed with a flash-
light for taking a picture of
Parr’s “deputies” is now County
Auditor, handling the purse
strings, requiring a sworn state-
ment from every county employe
that he did the work for which he
is paid. There are no more ficti-
tious names on the checks. Every
recipient of Duval County funds
now has to be a flesh and blood
three years, after being without
fiscal check-up for decades
All this examing of records has
had results. George Parr’s sun is
setting, and his > iadow stretches
long and thin over the rubble of
his falling empire. Half a dozen
grand juries, no longer hand-
picked and controlled, have hung
hundreds of indictments around M
the necks of the Duke and some
40 of his followers.
Williamson Counties, Texas.
E. J. Hill, to Peter HIU, Warran-
ty Deed, 78 acres, Abner Kuyken-
dall Survey.
. Ed. H. Friedrich, et ux, to Os-
car Iselt, Warranty Deed, 91-%
acres and 12 acres, J. S. Irvin
Original Survey.
J. B. Ferguson, to Clarence Hol-
much as 90 per cent, while the
number of voters has just about
doubled.
County services, meanwhile,
have improved remarkably. Parr
critics whose ranches were all but
Feed grain prices generally are
expected to average slightly higher
than last year for this winter and
continue into spring, says John G.
minutes over country lanes that
it used to take two hours'to navi-
gate.
The Benavides school kids got
one of the biggest breaks of all.
Four Parr men resigned from the
board three years ago when school
records were impounded, and the
new board found the district about
$60,000 in the hole, in spite of a
gigantic tax intake. Many im-
provements had been made and.
paid for on paper, but not in ac-
tuality The new board figured
they could make vast physical im-
provements and undertake major
construction projects and still put
the district back in the black with-
out raising taxes. Like the coun-
ty, the school districts have been
audited and re-audited in the last
Livingston will highlight The Hum-
ble Company's Texas in Review
TV program next week. ,
Chief White Eagle guides the
congregation in a church that was
built entirely wwr the Indians and
is owned and operated exclusively
for them.
Cameras will also spotlight rol-
parasites started resigning. Eloc-
tion costs have been reduced as
On January 29 a jury in New
Braunfels found Parr guilty of
stealing funds from the Bena-
vides School District and sen-
tenced him to five years in prison.
The previous day he was declared •
bankrupt by a Federal court.
Three of his followers, convict-
ed of conspiracy to steal from
the county, have appealed their
cases. The rest have used a dozen
legal loopholes to postpone their
trials, including the hiring of a
Texas legislator as legal counsel.
A legislator, under Texas law,
can’t—be taken away from his
lawmaking duties to try a case.
When the 54th Legislature ad-
journed, the lawmaker dropped
out of the Duval cases without
having been in court.
Right up to the time he finished
his term January 1, Shepperd
kept men in Duval County at the
request of District Attorney Sam
Burris, to work with grand juries.
Men like soft-spoken Willis Gres-
ham, jovial Sam Ratliff, young-
ish Frank Pinedo, and efficient
Ralph Rash. Most important, he
kept bulldoggish Sydney Chand-
ler there, an eternal thorn in the
side of the Duke. Back in Austin . .
a battery of barristers in the At-
torney General's office worked
around the clock many times to
keep ahead of George Parr, who
was nobody’s fool.
All these men have become
price drops, all it menas is that
a farmer has to work twice as
hard and produce twice as much .
to get by. At least that's the way :
I’ve found it.
Maybe a law Keeping big milk
distributors or drygoods stores or
gracery stores from selling below
cost will work, but you apply it ■
to farming and you’ve opened up
a hornpt’s nest of trouble. I know
the experts are always recommen-
ding that farmers keep accurate
records onevery step they take
and every hour of work they do
so they'll know whether they’re
making e profit on any given crop,
but when a farmer doesn’t, he's
not so dumb. It’s bad enough to
work all-year and sell your crop
for less than it cost, without hav-
ing a set of figures laying around
to remind you of it.
All I’ve got to say to the Sup-
reme Court is that if it rules it's
unconstitutional to sell at less than
cost how’s a farmer going to make
a living’’ What’s he going to do
with all that stuff he raises?
iepation sports in Texas — from
bruised beginners to acrobatic ex-
perts. w
Another interesting story will
tell of the daily activities of an
FBI agent in Texas. His rountine
includes daily physical workouts,
instructing local police in the use
of fire-arms, talks to school stu-
dents and conducting investigations.
Texas in Review can be seen
Monday (March 18) over KPRC
TV, Houston. 9:30 p. m.
On Tuesday (March 19) Texas In
Review can be seen over KTBC-
TV, Austin, 8:00 p. m. and KCEN.
TV, Temple, 8:30 p. m.
Alarmed Over Law That Might Keep
Him From Selling at Less Than Cost
Editor's note: The Rabbs Creek
the depletion of the state treasury,
is a question which has not yet worry, not ours.
, -...——----, anuose, while
chopped off the payroll by Serna, the Duke’s faithful marched to
Be
Ka
Diet
19
ity that fall to the bottom and •
are kept there. But when the
shake-up comes they rise back to
the top. Before Shepperd had
been in the county a month, citi-
zens had formed the Duval Coun-
ty Clean Government League and
started a campaign for reform
A hundred or so Duval women .
who said they were fed up with
locking their doors at night and
wondering if their husbands
would come home alive, organized
the United Mothers and Wives of
Duval County.
In stories to follow, we’ll take
a closer look at the "new" Duval
County, and at the proposed laws
which will help prevent another
"Dukedom" from springing up
within the borders of the nation’s
largest state.
irr used to deliver 100-to-1
m jorities at the polls. That’s why
I val was his county. The district
jure, the district attorney, the
grand juries, the sheriff—every-
body took their orders from the
Boss. But not any more. There’s
a new slate of officeholders, men
whom the Duke did not choose.
The hundreds of gun-toting
"deputies" are gone The Commis-
sioners Court and the ‘school
boards no longer take orders from
Parr He doesn't sign the checks
anymore, or keep the records.
There’s no more easy money, no
handouts, no payoffs.
County officials don’t charge
their personal household expenses,
n odical bills or gasoline to the
county any more They don’t car-
ry their daughters on the payroll
as teachers while they’re away at
college They don’t get their deer
rifles at county expense, or charge
their kids’ cough medicine and
castor oll to the school district
Things are different in Duval.
They’re different for the Duke,
too His two banks, depositories
of county and school funds, long
* . , The presence of the Law in
Duvalans long .■•,!<,st count Duval has changed even the con-
duct of the county’s decent citi-
By-FREDERICK HODGSON
SAN DIEGO, Tex.-What was
it that finally pulled the props
from under George Parr’s politi-
cal dictatorship? The people? The
State? The Federal Government?
The newspapers?
• They all had a hand in it!
There were also the Texas, Ran-
gers, and a lot of freedom-hungry
Duval residents both “Anglo” and
“Mexican." And there were some
Texas newspapers and newspa-
permen who risked life or libel,
or both.
Without them, former Atty.
Gen. John Ben Shepperd’s assault
on the iron-clad county of Duval
might have been a -grand and
valiant flop. He knew that when
he started.
As it turned out, the news-
papers were eager to print the
facts about George B. Parr, if
they just had some facts to print.
When they had the facts, they
pulled all the stops. That's when
the machine began to come apart.
There was a spunky newspaper
r o and there that had been
I was deciding whether to plow or
think — it sometimes takes me
longer than a court to decide such
things and if I didn’t do any more
thinking than I did plowing this
morning, a half day was sure was-
ted — one big milk company is
suing another for selling milk be-
low cost, and the Supreme Court
is going to decide whether it’s
against the law to sell at below
cost.
I tell you, let the Supreme Court
rule it’s unlawful to sell below cost
and it’ll wreck agriculture.
Ever since farming started, one
of the inalienable rights of a far-
mer has been to sell below cost.
I know there Is one theory out
in Washington now that the way
to eliminate the surplus is to low-
er the price to where a farmer
can't make any money growing
whatever is in surplus, but who-
ever thought up that idea just ain’t
familiar with farming. When the
TEXAS’ Betty Crocker Home-
maker of Tomorrow is 17-year-old
Willie Mae Addison of Plains
High School, Plains. Texas. She
will receive a $1,500 scholarship
from General Milla fee gaining
the highest score in the state in a
written homemaking examination.
size. Heft one or. two of the
chic ks. Feel the solid, chunky
weight of those Super Startena
birds. Livability's another big
thing. Records from farms all
over the country on more than
i damages further than the amount
ler skating - one of the top part- Personals =*a
Mr. and Mrs. Pete Meschke and .
Cover the right half of the lower
picture with your hand. The
pullets on the left don’t look
bad at all, do they? Now un-
cover the Super Startena-fed
birds on the right! Same age . ..
33 days. Same amount of starter
...only 2 pounds. But what
a difference in growth!
Legislature Assures Election On
$200 Million Water Bond Plan
At long last, the Texas Legisla-
inaccessible because county ma- ... ...., ........ ... ...o, amp, .
chinery wouldn’t grade their the natural leaders of a commun-
roads now are getting home in 30 ‘ *
ture has laid the foundation for a
statewide plan of water conserva-
tion. Now it will be up to the
- people—the voters—to give the
"go" signal for carrying ,out the
program.
Both houses have voted to sub-
mit the proposed constitutional am-
endment. Only details remain to
be treshed out by a joint con-
ference committee, including the
setting of a date for the election.
At the election the people will
decide whether or not the Legisla-
ture shall be authorized:
1. To issue 8100 Million of bonds,
at no more than 4 per cent Inter-
est, to create a revolving fund to
be lent to local governmental sub-
V divisions in exchange for their wa-
ter bonds, to help them finance
water storage projects;
2. To issue an additional 8100 Mil-
lion of state bonds, after depletion
of the first issue. Authorization of
the second 8100 Million bond issue
would require a two-thirds vote of
- the Legislature—100 representatives
and 21 senators.
Theoretically this plan would not
cost the state anything, but would
More children under 14 are kill-
ed by home accidents than by
any single disease. The Texas
Farm and Ranch Safety Council
warns that all medicines should
be labeled and placed out of reach
FEED PURINA... You CAN DEPEND ON THE CHECKERBOARD
WALTHERS FEED STORE
Phone 61Giddings, Texas
MWWWAWIAA
A pulpit pow-wow with
White Eagle, pastor, of the First
Indian Baptist Church on the Ala-
bama-Coushatta Reservation near
c ping away at the foundation
: I along, within the bounds of ‘e-
L. ity and discretion.
The Alice Daily Echo wasn’t
ea aid of the Boss. And when the
is began to emerge the Echo’s
proof-reader, a little woman _ ___________________________,
: ned Caro Brown, turned re- plus a half-dozen elections Parr
ter and won herself a Pulitzer couldn’t control, lined up the coun-
Prize. But rot without having her 1
NEWS FROM ...
MANHEIM
By MRS. HERBERT MITSCHKE
On Recovery List
Mrs. W. E. Faske has been sick
last week, but is feeling much
better again now.
Wilbert Birnbaum underwent a
serious operation Wednesday, Ma-
rch 6 at Lee Memorial Hospital.
A complete recovery is wished
for both. —
Manheim Club Meets
The Manheim Community Agri
cultural Club met Feb. 28.------
The meeting was opened by the
president after which a prayer was
read by teacher Heintze. Hereafter
the meetings will start at 8 p. m.
instead of 7:30 p.’ m. Erwin Arldt
gave a report on the Rural Neigh-
borhood Progress Contest, which,
will end March 31. It is sponsored
by the Farmers Stockman. A com-
mittee was named who will help
the secretary complete the com-
munity report. ,
Mr. Spivey urged everybody to
have their record sheets ready
for the next meeting. Slides were
shown on preparing farrowing
pens, having good pastures, and
pig brooding.
Mr. Spivey showed a homemade
pig brooder. Then a film, “Pulse
of Time," was shown.
Mrs. E. A. Arldt, Reporter •
been answered.
In the long run, this program
is calculated to provide the means
for building darns and reservoirs
on waterways throughout the
state to save sorely needed water
now running off into the sea. And
the cost is expected ultimately to
be paid by, those who use the w*-
ter. The plan is not guaranteed
as a complete answer to the water
shortage in Texas. Its results will
depend largely on the extent to
which local subdivisions of gover-
nment avail themselves of the op-
portunity it offers. Given a general
participation, it would go a long
way toward solving the most seri-
ous riddle now conforrnting the
state. It is the best solution that
could be devised by those who have
given the problem the most in-
tensive study.
—The Houston Post
character, standing, or reputation
of any firm, corporation, or indi-
vidual published in the columns
of this paper will be cheerfully cor-
rected when brought to our atten-
tion. We do not hold ourselves
responsible for the views of our
correspondents. In case of error or
omission in advertisements, we do
not bind ourselves liable for
of reach - of youngsters;
of children; firearms kept unload-! MeHaney, extension economist,
ed and stored in a safe place; I Prices of oats and grain sorghums
matches and knives should be out! are expected to continue higher-
loway. Release of Oil and Gas
Philosopher on his Johnson grass Lease, 122-1 acres, Everton Kenn-
farm probably is unnecessarily | erly Survey. * •
worried this week, but that’s his . /
1 Stanolind Oil and Gas Company,
1 ize. But not without having her ty and school district offices
< n life and that of her teen-age against the once-mighty Duke
daughter threatened. who used to give orders to them
Y nere was also Santos de la Paz all. ,
o .• in Corpus Christi. He ran a The biggest change, though, is
le bi-lingual weekly called La in the names on the county and symbols in Duval County. Sym-
Verdad, the Truth, and that's just school district payroll#—the many bols of the new order of the
' at he tried to print about non-elective employes who can democratic process, of the Con-
♦ orge Farr. Before it was over either serve the county or rob it, stitution, of the law of the land
I wound up holding a giant libel depending on who's in charge. I as opposed to the law of the pis-
I . besides going to jail for The Duval County government is tol and the whip
I ting over-eager and printing no gravy train any more. The presence’ of the Law in
t -s he couldn’t prove about Duvalans long ago lost count Duval has changed even the con-
■ of P rr’s friends. The libel of the more than 150 hangers-on, duet of the county’s decent citi-
suit turned < ut to be a legal trick parasites and "co operative" em-zens. The old fear has been lifted,
to force Paz to reveal what he ployees who have either resigned Election day used to be the day
1 w in a court hearing. The suit their jobs in panic or have been everybody staved indoors
was later dropped. . chop a Go the payroll by S
just about all .the newspapers Hig budget trimming knife in ta- the polls to- vote as instructed by
in exas were as eager to jet the zorsharp. The Parr supporters the pistoleros who patrolled the
i 11 out of Duval County as who UE ed to be carried on the polling places. You didn't go near
t 8 close to the scene, and books as "road consultant” and them if you wanted to avoid ser-
* n't afraid to print it, "hide inspector" at two or three ious unpleasantness. It was tong
Eat kind of spotlight withers a hundred a month, some of them years ago that the last man was
C torship the way a hot wind I the wealthiest men in the county, killed at the polls on election d v.
an orchid. And that, com-have been relieved of their duties, but maybe that’s only because the
I d with more than 400 separate I pointed out in an earlier arti- | machine’s opposition got sm rt
• t actions all over Texas, is cle that Duval’s tax rate used to and quit showing up to vote
t r asdn George Parr’s empire be the highest in the state. It But now everybody votes in
i it the same old empire it used began to come down when the Duval, and they vote the way th -y
Heel The-impounding of the bal-
lots after each election to assure
an honest count is standard oper- •
ating procedure. People know t it
every ballot is now secret, and it
makes a powerful difference in
the way Duval voters mark the
little square.
In any well-run dictatorship it’s
W. H. Joiner. Warranty Deeds,
231- acres, William Johnson, C.
B. Emmons and Berry Doolittle
Original Surveys.
Vic Marek, et al, to Leonard
Mikulin, et ux, Warranty Deed,
38 acres, Stephen F. Austin Four
League Grant.
Skelly Oil Company, to Sunray
Mid-Continent Oil Company, Assi-
gnment of Oil and Gas Lease, 140
acres, Albert Nantz and William
Nichols Surveys —in Lee and
Williamson Counties, Texas.
Skelly Oil Company, to Sunray
Mid-Continent Oil Company, As-
signment of Oil and Gas Lease,
140 acres, Albert Nantz and Wil-
liam Nichols Surveys, in Lee and
. Published every Thursday by the Giddings Printing Company, 223
West Austin Street, Giddings, Texas. Address all communications to
The Giddings Star, Giddings, Texas.
Durwood L. Fuchs •.........— Owner and Publisher
Mrs. Woodrow G. Weidemann ............-...........Society Editor
Albert B. Miertschin ........._.......Mechanical Superintendent
%52-2
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lee and adjoining counties, $2 per year;
elsewhere in the U.S.A., $2.50 per year. Foreign postage extra.
Entered as second class matter April 5, 1940, at the Post Office
at Giddings. Texas, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
Member: Texas Press Association, South Texas Press Association.
Texas Gulf Coast Press Association, National Editorial Association
and relative to corn than in 1955-56,
DEEDS, RELEASES, oft
AND GAS LEASES, ETC.
John Knox, To The Public, Aff-
idavit, Lot 6, Block 86, Town of
Giddings.
Milton York, to W. Patton York,
et al. Warranty Deed, Lots 12,
13, and 14, and North 47-44 feet
of Lot 15,-Block 46, Town of Gidd-
ings. _
J. C. Loeser, et ux," to Clifton
A. Tucker, et ux. Warranty Deed,
------acres, Thomas - Morrow
League,
Fred O. Placke, et ux, to Lee,
Fayette Counties, Cummins Creek
W.C.I.D. No. 1, Easement, 566.17
acres, J.D.G. Varrelman, Wm.
Winford Surveys.
Marie Winter, to Lee, Fayette
Counties, Cummins Creek W.C.I.
D. No. 1, Easement, 280-% acres,
J. W. Whitehurst Original Survey.
Odes T. Adkins, io Lee, Fayette
Counties, Cummins Creek W.C.I.
D. No. 1, Easement, 154-one-third
acres, John H. Whitehurst Origin-
al Survey. ,
Ernest J. Fischer, to Lee, Fay-
ette Counties Cummins Creek W.
C.I.D. No. 1, Easement, 130 ac-
res, J.D.G. Varrelman League.
daughter visited Sunday with Mr.-»
and Mrs. Ernst Meschke and son.
Mr. and Mrs. ’Leonard Faske
and sons spent Sunday with Mr.
and Mr. Chas. Faske ans sons.
Mrs. Walter Markert and Rufus
visited the Richard Urbans awhile
Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Isdell Birnbaum
and family spent the weekend with
his parents, Mr. and Mrs Chas.
Birnbaum and other relatives.
Mr. and Mrs. Monroe Kieschnick
of Houston spent the weekend with
relatives.
Edward Mitschke of Houston
spent awhile Saturday with the
Herbert Mitschkes.
two million Purina-fed chicks
showed an average of 97.3%
livability!
There is a live-chick demonstra- . The same feed that produced
- tion at our store right now. . ready to work
That’s where you can see and surds likethese * readyto work 5
feel, in the flesh, the extra for you. Ask us for Purina’s im-
growth Purina’s improved Super proved Super Startena ... and
Startena puts on chicks. While get that extra growth you can
you’re here, check their age and see and feel.
decide on an issue that could____. 1
mean life or death to the far STORY NO. 9—in a series of articles on Duval County by Frederick Hodgson and Franz
mer. ' Rosenwald, New York i owspaper and magazine writers who visited Duval County and
According to an article I read wrote the series exclusively for Texas readers.
In a newspaper this morning while-
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The Giddings Star (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 14, 1957, newspaper, March 14, 1957; Giddings, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1615659/m1/2/?q=%22Texas+Press+Association%22: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center.