The Naples Monitor (Naples, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 20, 1969 Page: 1 of 8
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Ex-educator to be honored here
The thing P. Y. Gray of Nap? s liked most was
to help youngs? rs and, according to his way of think-
ing, the way to help them was to educate them.
So he spent half of his 82 years of life doing what
he liked most as a school teacher and adminint ator
and a good part of his free time finding other ways to
help.
Gray is now retired and devoting most of his time
to raising a few cattle and working in his Antioch Bap-
tist Church.
That leisurely routine will be broken for a while
Sunday, March 30, when a group of interested Carver
High School alumni and ex-students at the Morris Coun-
ty Training School in Naples will sponsor an Apprecia-
tion Service honoring Professor Gray for his years of
service in Naples and Morris county.
The service will be held at 3 p.m. that day at the
Antioch Baptist Church in Naples. The Rev. A. D. Phil-
lips, a> Carver graduate who is now pastor of the Mt.
Rose Baptist Church at Tulsa, will be the gue s*. i^ak-
e>.
The Rev. Dave Buford II is chairman for the occa-
sion and Mary H. King is secretary.
All graduates of Ms schools, former students and
the general public are invited to attend.
Gray was born near Detroit Oct. 16, 1886, the
las: of five children of a farm couple.
He attended school there until the early high school
level and then went to Marshall to enter Bishop r 1
lege to get his diploma. With that diploma, he too i
examinatioi' lor a teaching certificate and passed it.
He went to Red River county and there at a country
school began his teaching career that was to cover 41
years before he ga^e i: up for retirement.
"I think it was Caney, let's see how did they spell
that," he said in trying to recall that 1908 job. He did
remember that he was the principal —in fact the only
teacher — on the faculty of that five-grade school with
25 or 35 pupils.
The term there lasted three months and so did the
pay. "I got paid $100," Gray said. "That was for the
whole three months — not each month." He kept work-
ing the rest of the year at a sawmill, doing brick work,
farming — anything he could find to do.
After two years at Caney, Gray
went back to college at Bishop to
work toward his bachelor of sci-
ence degree and he was awarded
it in 1912.
That started a trail of teaching
in the primitive schools of those
days in East Texas, Alabama and
Arkansas.
His first stop after receiving the
degree was out in the country from
Carthage and it was quite a step up
frcm his first job.
"We had four teachers. All told
there were nine grades," he re-
calls. He was principal there as
well as a classroom teacher.
Then there was the Wright School
in Red River county 20 miles from
the closest town of Detroit, the four
years in Alabama, back to Texas,
and a year in Arkansas in some
school "right down on the banks of
the Mississippi River."
Then he came back to Texas for
monitoring
<main
street
Yes.
You must have registered before
the Feb. 1 deadline and have a reg-
istration certificate to vote in the
local elections on April 5.
Without a 1969 certificate, you
won't be allowed to help choose
school board members, city offi-
cials nor decide if Naples is to have
a one per cent sales tax.
If you're not eligible, it's your
own fault.
Registration this year was free.
••
Companies quite often offer long-
time guarantees, probably knowing
well that most customers might
be impressed with the company's
faith in the product but not really
interested in seeing that the claim
is made good.
Hampton Builders Supply here
has some water hoses with that
type of guarantee.
They're supposedly good for 15
years of service and if they don't
last that long, take them back
and you get a brand new one.
Some woman took them up on the
offer last week. The hose fell
six years short of the offer.
The woman still had the card-
board holder that came with the
hose with the guarantee printed on
it.
She now has a new hose and 15
more years of service guaranteed
to her.
••
With April 15 just a short time
away, here are some figures to
keep your mind occupied while you
wait for the start of Daylight
Saving Time.
In the past ten years, federal
taxes in the United States have
increased 71.3 per cent.
During that same period, local
taxes increased 120.5 per cent.
And state taxes went up 260.9
per cent.
Ten years ago, the total tax
burden of the average citizen in the
United States was 27 per cent of
his salary.
Today, that average is 34 per
cents — one out of every three
a job at Vandalia out fromClarks-
ville in Red River county, a move
to Jasper, and then to Pittsburg.
His next move was to be his last
one.
He came to Naples "In them'd<:le
of the week on April Fool's day in
1929" to become principal of the
Morris County Training School,
a ten grade institution with four
teachers, an enrollment of 149 stu-
dents, and a seven month term.
The school didn't offer a high
school diploma but Professor Gray
saw that those who wanted one got
o.io.
When his students went as far as
they could go here, "I carried them
to Pittsburg, Center Point, the best
school they had around here."
Center Poiat boarded the stu-
dents who lived that far away.
When Gray came here in 1929,
his pay was "$90 a month and two
jo) s — ag and principal." The pay
was for 12 months but it was in the
depression-years vouchers which
had to be sold in order for the per-
son to get any money.
"The county didn't have any
money," he said. "If I got any, I
had to sell my voucher. If brought
about $85. Nobody wanted them.
We sold them to anybody who would
take them."
That problem was a common
one for all Texas teachers during
those trying years.
Gray nursed his school up to 11
grades by 1932, the name was
changed to Carver School, and it
v,us able to award diplomas.
There were about four in the
first graduating class. Gray re-
members.
One of the boys Gray took to the
Center Point school is a source of
pride to him.
He is Methodist Bishop N. S.
Curry, headquartered now in Dal-
las who went on to get his bache-
lor s degree, his master's, and
then his doctorate.
Carver School continued to im-
prove under Gray's adminis: i-
tion and it won accreditation in
1937. .t was the only such institu-
tion for Negroes in the county and
it served students from Cason,
Daingerfield, Marietta and other
areas.
Professor Gray left the system
in 1954 when the new Carver School
was opened at its present loca-
tion, went to Ithaca, New York to
enter Cornell University.
They called me in the middle of
the night and asked me if I would
come back and help them pass the
consolidation and bond issue," he
said.
He came back, worked seven
days and "not a single Negro vot-
ed against it."
Gray took a job as county super-
visor in the 1950's and was dean of
men at Bishop College for three
years before he left Marshall for
Dallas but he wasn't quite through
in his home town.
When Principal Loy A. John-
son died, Gray was asked to come
back and serve in the job until an-
other man could be hired. He took
the job as a favor to those who
asked him.
The Naples Chamber of Com-
merce thought so much of Gray's
work and cooperative spirit, it
presented him a watch in 1954,
a gesture the organization had not
made before nor since to anyone.
Gray gave up his school work for
good in 1960 and now devotes his
time to his own interests and his
church.
One of his ideas to further edu-
cation for those who want it has not
yet retired but is growing.
"We had a child in the church who
wanted to go to Bishop College but
didn't have the money. A man told
me the president of Bishop had told
him that the college would give as
much as the church would give,"
Gray said.
So Gray rounded up $200 in do-
nations from the church members
and the college matched it, setting
up a scholarship fund.
The Cypress District Associa-
tion of churches joined in and the
scholarship fund began a growth
that is continuing.
The sponsors of the Apprecia-
tion Service expect a huge crowd
of friends and ex-students to return
and help honor him.
Bomb found in Lone Star cafeteria
An unexploded bomb was discovered in the Lone Star
Steel Company plant cafeteria Tuesday ten minutes
before it was set to detonate.
More than 200 employees were eating when the bomb
was found and removed by cafeteria personnel.
Officers then transferred the device to a safe place
and disconnected the wiring. The bomb consisted of a
clock and and power source connected to several sticks
of dynamite. It was concealed in a coat.
The device was set to detonate at noon when the
cafeteria would have been operating at maximum capa-
city.
L. W. moore, vice president operations, said it was
evident that whoever planted the bomb intended to
cause the maximum loss of life. "Thank(goodness
it was discovered in time," Moore said. "We would
have been dealing with far more than pro|>erty damage
here."
Volume 83
Naples, Texas
32 years old and NEW
Thursday, March 20, 1969
Number 33
Chili supper
planned at Omaha
The Omaha Chamber of Com-
merce will sponsor a chili supper
next Thursday night at the Civic
Center.
Chili, dessert and drinks will
be served. The admission will be
$1 each.
Randy G. Moore, president of the
Chamber, said entertainment will
be furnished during the supper.
Proceeds will go to the center
to pay utility bills and for thv, up-
keep of the center.
Serving will start at 7 p.m.
PTA will hold
cake sale
A cake sale will be held here
Friday as a Pewitt PTA benefit.
The sale will be held in the
Welch building starting at 9 a.m.
Omaha members of the PTA
held a similar sale two weeks ago.
The PTA is using the sales as
a way to raise money this year
since the annual Fun Fair at Hal-
loween time was cancelled.
Burning diesel
Fire threatens tanks
All of the ingredients were here
for a major catastrophe last Friday
morning but it didn't happen.
A diesel engine pulling a long
freight train on the Cotton Belt
tracks caught fire and the train
stopped in Naples — the burning
engine stopped right near three
overhead tanks used for gasoline
storage and an oil storage house.
Similar tanks in Texas have
exploded in recent months, caus-
ing several deaths and extensive
property damage. .
D. W. Betts, a Naples volunteer i
fireman, alerted the train crew to
the danger Friday morning and the
engine was uncoupled and moved
a safe distance away until the fire
could be put out.
All of the railroad crossings
in Naples except the two at the east
end of town were blocked from
about 6:45 a.m. until about 7:30
by the parked freight train.
The overhead tanks are owned
by the Sinclair Oil and Refining
Company.
They generally are considered to
be unsafe with leaks and high grass
in the area which could catch fire
and ignite them.
An open ditch leading from the
area near several houses could re-
sult in a major tragedy if they ever
caught fire.
Trustee won't run
L. E. Loffer has withdrawn as
a candidate for re-election to the
Marietta school board.
The only remaining candidate
for trustee of the common school
district now is Willie James Wall.
Loffer, a longtime member of
the board, issued a statement Mon-
day saying, "I have given written
notice that my name be removed
from the April 5, 1969 ballot of
the school board election for the
Marietta School District in favor
of Mr. Willie Wall, a good man, a
good citizen, and a man I think
will make a good board member."
SWEP changes local managers
Vanoy Boozer of Hughes Spring s
will replace James T. Welch as
local manager for the Southwestern
Electric Power Company effective
April 1.
Welch will become local man-
ager at Mineola in changes which
will shift at least five of the Mt.
Pleasant division personnel.
George Stone is being made
property tax agent and William H.
Owsley, presently the local mana-
ger at Mineola will succeed him
as division sales manager.
Woodrow Hodge, who has been
serving as office manager for the
company at Mt. Pleasant, will move
to Hughes Springs to become local
manager.
The shifts in management posi-
tions were announced by J. D.Saw-
yer, Mt. Pleasant division mana-
ger.
Boozer has been employed by
the company since 1954 and has
been local manager at Hughes
Springs since 1964.
Before going to Hughes Springs,
he was employed in the stores de-
partment in Mt. Pleasant and as a
relief cashier there.
Welch came to Naples as local
manager in 1961 to succeed the
late Noah Ellis when he retired.
He has been employed by the
company since 1950 when he first
began in the Texarkana office. He
worked in Shreveport then moved to
Mt. Pleasant where he served as
office manager until he moved to
Naples.
In his new job, Stone will serve
as company representative in mat-
ters pertaining to property taxes
in all of the Texas area in which
the company operates. He has been
with Southwestern since 1939.
Hodge, who has filled in as a re-
lief manager for the Naples office
and relieved cashiers and other
managers for vacation, began his
employment with the company in
1962.
Pewitt entries win in calf show
dollars you earn.
Pewitt boys had a grand cham-
pion and a reserve champion in
the annual Morris County Junior
Calf Show Saturday at Daingerfield.
Larry Johnson, a peWitt FFA
member, won the-grand champion-
ship in the heifer division, and
Nathan Nash, also of the Pewitt
FFA chapter, showed the reserve
champion steer.
Johnson, who received a blue
ribbon and placed third in the
records competition, won his calf
last fall at the Four States Fair
calf scramble in Texarkana.
He will take the heifer to the
1969 Four States Fair to be enter-
ed in the competition there. He
bought the animal from L. T.Camp.
Johnson received $25 for the blue
ribbon and $5 for the third plaQe
in the records contest.
Nash also bought his calf from
Camp and sold it after the show
Saturday to The State Bank of Om-
aha for 45 cents a pound.
The calf brought Nash $297.45.
He also won a blue ribbon
Pewitt boys won seven other
blue ribbons and five red rib-
bons.
Bill Carlile won a red ribbon
with a calf purchased later by the
Ben Franklin Store of Naples for
41 cents per pound for a total
price of $277.98.
Robert Cook's calf won a red
ribbon and was bought for 40 cents
a pound by the Randy Moore Ranch,
which paid a total of $268.80.
Don Forrest had a blue ribbon
winner which sold to Redbud Re-
treat in Naples for $317.08, and
Bimbo Frost won a blue ribbon
then sold the calf to Naples Farm
Supply for 40 cents, the calf bring-
ing $305.60.
Darrell Frost sold his blue rib-
bon calf to Hampton Builders Sup-
ply for $302.66, David Harrodsold
his red ribbon steer to Brabham
Coin Laundry for $253.80, Leslie
Huddleston his blue ribbon steer
to Irvin Hardware of Daingerfield
for $218.40, Greg Jordan his red
ribbon steer to Naples Farm Sup-
ply for $211.64, and Tommy Knight
got $251.23 for his red ribbon
steer from William Connor.
Jimmy Parker's blue ribbon
steer sold to Broseco Ranch for
$233.60, Larry Wright's red rib-
bon steer to Irvin Hardware for
$215.56, Dee Frost's blue ribbon
winner sold to Brabham Insurance
of Daingerfield for $319.80, and
Ricky Frost's blue ribbon calf
which won fifth place sold to The
Morris County National Bank for
$20r,94.
i .e total purchase price of the
14 calves was $3,764.45, and the
total investment was $2,851.71,
making an average profit of $64.66.
The grand champion steer of the
show was shown by Sheila Justiss.
The Bowie-Cass Electric Coop-
erative bought the calf for o5 cents
per pound.
Others who bought calves at the
show were the National Bank of
Daingerfield, Smith Clinic, Glass
Chevrolet, Star Drug Store, Bud
Howard and Morris Unsell of Dain-
gerfield, the First National Bank,
Chamber of Commerce, and the
Hughes Springs Locker Plant, and
Moore and Harmon at Hughes
Springs, and the State Bank at
Avinger.
Vanoy Boozer (seated) with James Welch
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Narramore, Lee. The Naples Monitor (Naples, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 20, 1969, newspaper, March 20, 1969; Naples, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth329595/m1/1/?q=a+message+about+food+from+the+president: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Atlanta Public Library.