The Pine Needle (Kountze, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 15, 1965 Page: 1 of 8
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i
TAX FOLLIES OF 1965
SEE PAGE
SIX
News Stand
Puce
ftpin£N e e d l e
The voice of Hardin County *
DEADLINES
NEWS ITEMS 4:00 P. M. MONDAY
DISPLAY ADVERTISMENT NOON TUESDAY
VOLUME II, NUMBER XXVIII
KOUNTZE, HARDIN' COUNTY, TEXAS
THURSDAY,JULY 15,1965
Bie Thicket
SET BACK FOR PRITCHARD & ABBOTT
m K
f '
<mm
PAST
PRESENT
&
FUTURE
by GERALDINE WATSON
Most everything has been said
pro and con-good and bad, about
the recent Big Thicket Celebra-
tion, but one more comment
needs to be made. The day be-
fore, we went over to prepare
the auditorium for our exhibits
and found the building and grounds
thronged with the local people
working like the ants we spoke
of last week. They really turned
out to help, and it was a fine ex-
ample of community spirit and
cooperation. One person who did
not wait until the last day, but
was in there with his equipment
Last week was Miss Louisiana Day in Silsbee. Lynda Ferguson, daughter
of Dr. and Mrs. W. W. Ferguson of Silsbee who last week won the"Miss
was in there with his equipment |Louisiana" title in Monroe, Louisiana, was honored in her home-town,
time and labor from the begin- ftiday mornlng Chamber of Commerce presented her with flowers
nine was Burton Collins. Burt at het Parents home south of Silsbee- Satdtday morning the Jaycees ho-
°* ■ - nored her with a coffee at the Neches Room. Shown above, left to right
Chamber President, Victor Norvel, Miss Ferguson, and Mayor F. L. Me
Clanahan.... ... Tom Bean. t. Photograph...
deserves to be recognized and
commended.
Now, back to the ant hills! The
ants be long to the order HYMEN-
OPTERA, as do the bees and
wasps, and the family PISMIRE.
They occur in all parts of the
world except the polar regions and
high mountaintops,and especially
thrive in the temperate climate
of the Big Thicket. No one knows
how many species are here for no
study has been made. More is
known about of the South Amer-
ican fire ant,an import, than our
native species due to the U. S.
Dept, of Agriculture's attempt to
prevent their spreading a few years
ago. The U. S. D. A. was at a
slight disadvantage-the fire ant
has had a few million years ex-
perience in preserving his species,
and all our airplanes, heptichlor,
and chlordane didn't even slow
him down.
Everyone is familiar with the
small black or red household ants
and the larger varieties are very
much in evidence anywhere you
camp or picnic in the woods, but
few people are aware that there
is another world beneath their
feet where an earnest struggle for
survival is going on with all the
processes of life, birth, death,
marriage, raising young. Near
my home is a large village of leaf
cutter ants-a cluster of irregular'
mounds a couple of feet high and
about fifteen feet across. Radia-
ting from the village into the
woods is a system of well-kept
roads where the traffic is heavy
with workers going to and from
the hickle berry trees. Let us ma
ke ourselves small, like Alice
in Wonderland, and follow that
ant hurrying along with the quar-
ter-inch leaf over his back. We
enter through a hole about the
size of a mouse hole and descend
deep into the earth perhaps five
or ten feet, frequently meeting
workers carrying balls of earth and
sand to the surface from new halls
and rooms which they are exca-
vating.
Our guide leads us to a large
chamber where the entire floor
is covered with a green paste from
which strange fungi are growing.
A little light penetrates from the
(Continued on page 5)
THE FAIRER SIDE
The Pine Needle's buttons are busting with pride because a Har-
din County girl has won the Miss Louisiana Beauty Pageant. Miss
Lynda Ferguson, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. W, W. Ferguson of Sils-
bee, will represent Louisiana in the Miss America contest this
September in Atlantic City. We here at the newspaper are pull-
ing for her to go all the way. We think she has the right combin-
ation of beauty, charm, talent and poise to win. And we ,are es-
pecially proud that Lynda has emphasized that she is from Silsbee
and Hardin County.
Hardin County and Silsbee have Dianne Stephens as a represent-
ative in the Miss Texas Contest. We will not be a bit embarrassed
if Dianne is crowned Miss Texas and Hardin County has two rep-
resentatives at Atlantic City.
We've always thought that the Big Thicket Country produced
the best looking women, but we didn't expect to be able to prove
it.
Kountze LL
Will Play
Silsbee
The Kountze Little League Ail-
Stars have been selected and
practice has begun for the game
with the Silsbee All Stars, The
players were picked from the 11
and 12 year olds on the major
league teams.
The Kountze All Stars will be
coached by Preston Carmichael
of the Colts, winner of the first
half and Calvin Norton of the
Bears, second half Champs.
The game will be played Wed-
nesday night, July 21 in Silsbee
Little League park.
The winner of this game will
play the All Stars from the Eva-
dale-Buna League, They drew a
bye in the first round. If Kountze
advances, this game would be
played here.
The K ountze All Star roster:
Wesley Pace, Charles Williams,
Larry Moore, Robert Middle-
brook,. Mike Mitchell, Adlai
Lack, Larry Spears, James Welch,
Steve Martinka, Randy Drake,
David Rountree, Roger Smart,
Allen Eddins, Bob Harbuck and
Roland Mclnnis.
Alternates are Charles Anderson
and Hugh Carmichael.
The members of the Hardin
County Commissioners Court
Monday signed the contract with
the appraisal firm of Pritchard
and Abbott of Ft. Worth and Hou-
ston.
In the new contract the apprai-
sal firm had to take a cut in price
inorder to hold their old job/Tax
Assessor-Collector Willie Bean
had secured a competitive bid on
the job. The Pritchard and Ab-
bott Firm had to agree to do the
job for $9750.00 to get the con-
tract. This was quite a come down
from previous yearly contracts
this firm has had with Hardin Co-
unty. The past yearly amounts
paid for the Industrial Appraisals
( P & A ) have been:
—$ 8,581.10
— 11,441.29
— 16,912.86
— 19,126.22
---- 19,303.77
---- 19,033.70
---- 20,248.62
---- 24,484.95
---- 23,831.72
---- 22,891.82
----25,131.21
---- 21,654.02
1961.......
1962.......
...... 19,237.39
1963.......
......19,136.20
1964.......
...... 17,262.83
The 1964 contract for $17,
262.83 was in addition to the 70,
500.00 paid to this firm for the
B Roll Appraisal. In all Hardin
County has paid Pritchard and Ab-
bott $378,600.56 since 1949 on
the non-bid system.
For years Tax Assessor-Collec-
tor Willie Beanhas urged the Com-
missioners Court to get compet-
itive bids but to no avail. This
year he went out and sought bid-
ders and had them come before
the Court. The Court refused to
hire the competitors but Pritchard
and Abbott groups was farced to
lower their fee to meet the com-
petition.
Tuesday Willie Bean stated that
he hoped the Commissioners Court
would consider his request for
needed office machines and help
in view of the savings he had made
for the County. However, at the
Monday hearing it was indicated
that he would be refused unless
Bean permitted the Court to se-
lect the persons hired to help in
the Tax Department
HARDIN CO. UNITED APPEALS ADOPTS
BUDGET
The Budget of Admission Com-
mittee of the United Appeals of
Hardin County met Thursday July
I, 1965 at 7:30 p.m. in the U. A.
office at Kountze.The committee
is as following J. R. Curlee-Chair
man; Judge James F. Parker, E.
J. Dietrict, Henry Olen Overstreet,
B. A. McMahon and W. W. Howell.
The following agencies were
represented; 1. Boys Scouts of At
merica - represented by Brantly
Judson, Victor Nor veil, and'Alf
Fullingim. 2. Salvation Army -
represented by Larry France, Ce-
cil Cobble, and Robert Neyland.
3. Muscular Dystrophy-represent-
ed • by Robert Neyland. 4. Texas
Rehabilitation Center-represent-
ed-by Robert Neyland. 5. Red Cross
represented by Mrs. L. G. Jordon.
6. Texas United Appeal Fund-
Bears Clinch Last Half Title
represented by Geo,N. Chnstfan,
7. Hardin County Health and
Welfare-represented by Dr. Sam
P. Copeland.
A budget of $27,528 was a-
dopted for 1966.
ELUS TO PREPARE
STUDY ON COUNTY
EDUCATION/
\
ODD FELLOWS
FISH FRY
AUG.6TH
The 2nd Annual Sour Lake Odd
fellows Fish Fry will be held Fri-
day, August 6 at 6:30 p. m. The
Fish Fry will be at the Sour Lake
Texaco Picnic grounds. $1.00
will entitle you to some good
food.
The Odd Fellows are trying to
raise money to put new flooring
and carpet in the building. A
special invitation to all Odd Fel-
lows and ex-Odd Fellows in
Kountze and Silsbee to attend the
fry. Those planning, to send 1.00
per person payable to the Sour
Lake Odd Fellows °Jo Charlie Lam -
bert, Ticket Chairman, Box 550
Sour Lake, See Form, Page 8.
Everyone is invited to attend
and no intoxicating beverages
will be allowed.
Last week Hardin County’s new-
est organization (Economic Pro-
gress) met; and Gene Barrington,
Chairman of the organization,
gave the Pine Needle the details
of the happenings.
. Mr. Barrington reported the
following Resolution was made .
" The Economic Development of
Hardin County cannot be consid-
ered without high regard being
given to the problems existing in
our school systems, of providing
maximum opportunities of higher
education, and of developing our
greatest resource, the youth of
our County. For instance, the
question of adequate school facil-
ities involves all of us, vocational
and special education are of con-
cern to our community, and the
problem of financing an except-
ional school program within the
framework of reasonable and fair
taxation must be considered by
everyone concerned with progress
and our future."
2
SHERIFF OVERSTREET FEEDS KOUNTZE LL WATER MEL- ~
I'ty] _)NS—Both the Major and Minor League teams and their
^ managers ate as Deputy Asa Hickman kept cutting water
melons for the boys. Several boys said they weren’t hun-
gary but kept getting ahead of this reporter in the line for
seconds.
THE PINE NEEDLE
IpDITOR....................JAMES C. JENNINGS
PICTURE EDITOR................THOMAS BEAN
tESS ASSOCIATION
Published every Thursday at Kountze, Hardin County
Texas, by the Pine Needle Publishing Company
Second Class Postage paid at Kountze,- Texas
SILpBEE
I Box 38 - EV 5-4872
[Subscription Rates:
In Hardin County——
lOutside Hardin County
KOUNTZE
Box 127 - CH 6-3979
•$2.00 Per Year
•$3.50 Per Year
Tom Bean Photographs
Moores Super Market Bears
clinched the first place spot for
the last half of the season by
easing by the Kountze Pharmacy
Colts 9-8 Tuesday night and the
second place Allen's Dept. Store
Tigers were scalped by the H &
H Cash System Braves 13-4.
Steven Martinka of the Colts
knocked his second homer of the
year over the right centerfie.ld
fence.
In Thursday nights games, the
Tigers shut out the Bears 3-0
and the Colts stampeded the
Braves 13-0.
Allen Eddins of the Colts hit
his first homer of the season over
the center field fence. It was
the longest ball hit out of the
park this year it was said.
The playoff game for the sea-
(Continued on page 5)
Uponrecommendation, die or-
ganization appointed Mr. Pete
Ellis as chairman of a special
committee on education to gather
information on this critical pro-
blem and to make all suggestions
believed necessary from the com-
mittee's study. Mr. Ellis is with
the Silsbee School System; his
wife is also an educator; and he
and his family have been prom-
inent educators in Hardin County
for nearly half a century. He was
authorized to choose as many
persons as necessary to work with
him; and it is believed that the
findings and recommendations of
his committee will be beneficial
to all of us. A report is to be
made available to every person
in the County at the earliest pos-
sible time; and it is hoped that
guidelines will be furnished to aid
every interested citizen to parti-
cipate in meeting the challenge
of ' progress through unified
effort', "__
B&E DRIVE-IN NOW OPEN
it ii
K
B&E DRIVE IN--North Hwy 92, Silsbee, is owned by
Bob Armour and Ernest Stephens. The B&E was form-
erly the J & H. After complete remodeling, they are
now open. They specialize in charcoal grilled steaks.
Ernest Stephens is the manager. See Ad Page Three.
Tom Bean Photograph
Philosopher
Editor's note: The Village
Creek Philosopher on his Fire Ant
farm on Village Creek considers
the economics of lawn-mowing
in his letter this week.
Dear editar:
On an average weekend during
the summer I estimate there must
be at leasi; 20 million lawnmowers
running in the United States, and'
while it’s no concern of mine, the
noise doesn't bother me, I can't
hear it from out here on this Fire
Ant farm, and I don't own one
myself, I let a cow do the mow-
ing, it's cheaper, no breakdowns,
requires no fuel and you can do
it while sitting in the shade on
the front porch, still I was inter-
ested in an item {read in a news-
paper last week while my cow
was cutting the grass.
According to it, some scientists
have developed a new lawn grass
that grows solid but only three in-
ches tall, Stays the same height,
no matter how long you let the
sprinkler run.Never have to mow
it.
I was discussing this with a fri-
end of mine in town who mows
his lawn every week and is good
with figures and sells lawnmowers,
"Look, "he said, "say there are
20 million lawnmowers >m. 1 js..
country and they average about
$50 each.That's a billion dollars
worth of lawnmowers. Also, they
must use at least $100,000 worth
of gasoline a week, parts are al-
ways needing replacing, blades
have to be sharpened, lots of boys
earn $2.50 a lawn or more mow-
ing for other people, hospitals
get business from lawnmower ac-
cidents, insurance companies sell
accident policies, take it all in
all, those grass scientists are fix-
ing to wreck a two-billion-dol-
lar industry, right when the Pres-
ident is banking on an expanding
economy t6justify morcotax cuts
to open the gates to the Great
Society. Those scientists ' ought
to destroy that new grass and start
working on one that grows twice
as fast and requires mowing two
times a week. Make two blades
of grass grow where one grew be-
fore, each twice as tall, and
double the lawnmower business
and keep this country moving
forward."
After listening to a speech that
long, I didn't argue, but he has
a point, although an application
of modern thinking can get a-
round it.
Let the scientist go ahead and
get the grass ready,but don’t sell
it. Rent it.
Big business half the time
doesn't own its big electronic cal -
culating machines. Thejfre rented.
You don’t own your telephone,
do you? Of course not, you just
rent it for so much a month. When
you get down ta it, most people
just rent their automobiles.
Get one of those rented calcu-
lating machines to figure up what
the average man pays for mow-
ing his lawn, then rent him this
new grass on those terms. Add- it
to his tele phone bill. Two billion
dollars worth of lawn mowing
money will still flow into the e-
conomy, -nobody will be hurt,
the economy index won’t waver,
and people can sit on their lawns
on weekends and enjoy their tax
cuts. yours faithfully,
J. A._
The Inside News
Dr. H. E. Munden
RETURNS FROM
SEMINAR
Dr. H. E. Muhden of Silsbee
just returned from Fort Worth,
(Continued on page 5)
THEATERS
Gay Theater, Kountze
Thur & Fri
SHENANDOAH
Sat, Sun, & Mon
LOVE HAS MANY FACES,
Kountze Korner....»...........
Virgil L. Caraway’s Report.......
Ole Snoop & the Courthouse Gang.
Sour Lake Party Line...........,
Honey Island Antenna ..........
Saratoga Chatter Box...........
Page 5
... 9 • 6
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Jennings, James C. The Pine Needle (Kountze, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 15, 1965, newspaper, July 15, 1965; Kountze, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth662658/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.