The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 24, 1959 Page: 1 of 20
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THE ROCKDHLE REPORTER
Rockdale Messenger Established 1173 A.NI) MESSENOKR Rockdale Reporter Established 1893
Area W elcomes
tlcoa-L nioti Pact
Sec Page 4b
VOL. 87 10c THE COPY
ROCKDALE. MILAM COUNTY. TEXAS. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24. 1959
20 PAGES
NO. 50
★
This is The Reporter's an-
nual Christmas edition.
Fnsidt you will fina letters lo
Santa Claus trom the area
young terv, and you will als«.s
nnd •iMMin's meeting from
niirni rou< merchants and in-
dividuals trom Rockdale and
surrounding towns.
t . RcYiottei also extends to
at a ineere “Merry Chrisl-
■ 1 and our thanks to you,
'hi readers and the advertisers,
toi making this edition and all
other not only possible, but
worthwhile The reporter
W H CiHiki. Henry Tv ter.
It.II t ''oke Helen Soelkc, James
11 ‘iiuii Wendell Myn, Re
land 1 iwson, Mob FciHet.
Edward Rounds Irma Dunning-
011. Hobli' Mounds, Hugo Elli-
son, Dj V1 .
ilamhlina.
•ROUND ROCKDALE *
Merry Chnslmd.
•pilIS 1 ui ii( Th- Rep. iter
being published on Christmas
Eve and it carries a Christina.*,
message to readers trom practicai-
1> every place of business in Rock-
dale.'
It also carries in addition to
regular news ar.d features, the well
wishes of this column, and nil
those associated with me in pub-
lishing The Reporter We want
every one cf you to enjoy a happy
holiday season and we d like' to
think that 1960 is going lu be
good to each of you.
tUliriutmas
{Iraurr
Electron Year
gPEAKING of 1960. you 1 night
remember that it is an .‘it jtio 1
year, and the electn ns have* been
moved up a bit. Fox instance, the
find primary will be held Satur-
day, May 7, and the second pri-
mary Saturday, June 4
That's quite a change th m the
July and August primaries we
have been familiar with in past
years.
Just why this change w«r mad<
is subject to debate and you can
get a number oi answer to a
question like that. One of them
has something to do with trying
to keep the politician from sweat-
ing . . and I suppose that's about
as silly an answer as any.
Be that as it may, the fireworks
should start earlier in 1960. if
there arc going to be any fireworks
of the political variety Here are
a few important dates:
January 21, laH day to pay poll
tax. February 1. R< quest by candi-
date to have name* 1 placed on ballot
shall be filed no later than this
date. February 4, last day to pay
filing tee, candidates for state-
wide offices. Ft bruar.v 8, County
executives committe e mceis to ap-
portion costs of primary among
candidate February 13. last das
for candidates to pay assessments.
() L.ight of the W rid, who c, star shone so many
year- aro. burn brightly in my h* art at this Christ-
mas tune. Fill my life with the joy of which the
Angels sang
O Prince of Peace, imprcv me oe.ce again with
the meaning < f thy coming into our world, and
enable me to spread to others the peace and good
will which we proclaim at Christmas.
As 1 open rn> gifts, let me not forget thy Gift
to the world. And a- the sights and sounds of this
s< ..son pa." away, may the hue Spirit <>( Christmas
remain with me and all people through the coming
yeai This I pray in the name of Chri t Amen
the hey frank neoraifk
Pastoi Mist Presbyterian Church
for the
ROCKDALE MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION
iiiiiitiiiiiiiii:^iiiuitiiutmiiiiiuitiiiiKHimi'.iiiiiiiuitiiiiiittiiiiiitMftiiiititiiiitiiiHmiiiiitiiKiittfliiiiitiiiiiiiitiiitttituiiiiimtiirniiiiifiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiTiiutm
700 at Rockdale Plant Affected
By New Alcoa-USW Agreement
3-Year Contract Ups
Wages Retroactively
Approximately 700 hourly woi krr.s at Alcoa’s Rockdale
Wo: k v 1 I Vi** nlfec'.ed b\ tin* company's new three-vear
agreements reached Saturday during negotiations with two
labor unions in Chicago.
warje increases and employe
Th* contracts, calling for
benefit provisions costing an
estimated 28.5 cents per hour
per employee over the three-
year period, were negotiated
Saturday with iu Untied Steel-
workers ot Aimik.i, which re-
presents Rockdale Work* and tile
Aluminum Woikei In eniatu.iial
Union, AFL-CIO
The . .jreernen s also provi i*
for a po iblc i.-.ax .mum payment.
New Deep Oil Test
Started: 2nd Planned
March 14, county executive com-
mittee meets to determine hour
and place at which tin* precinct
conventions shall be held on pri-
mary election day 'May 7) . . . and
to decide the hour and place at
which the county convention .--hull
be held on the first Saturday aftm
the primary election. 'State execu-
tive committee meets this date
also'.
April 17-May 3, Absentee voting
for first primary. April 27-29,
period for filiny sworn statement
of campaign accounts by candi-
dates. May 7, first primary elec-
>on. also date of precinct conven-
tions. May 15-31, absentee voting
for second primary. May 7, second
primary.
And those are some of the more
important dates, politically speak-
ing, between now and the first
and second primaries in May and
June. You might want to keep
some of them ir. mind.
In the meantime, have a Merry
Christmas!
Southland Drilling Com-
pany of San Antonio spudded
in a new deep oil test for Gen-
eral Crude about nine miles
southea of Rockdale Tues-
day and wa- drilling at below
300 feet this morning.
It is the first of two pro-
posed holes to be put down by
General Crude in the general lo-
cation of their 12.67l)-foo‘ Smaek-
ovei te t Which W.V- plugged all 1
abandoned early in January of the
year.
Th* present test will investigate
the Petit expected at around HOOD
te<*t. while the next pioposed hole
will go down to the Edwards at
around 6000 loot.
Petit, Fdwards
It was explained thaf in the No.
I Perry unlied by General Crude,
the tirst to go down to the Smack-
over in this area, there was a small
show of oil in the Edwards al-
though not enough for production,
and that this hole found no
Rodcsia or Petit.
Driller hope to find the Petit
in the test now under way In the
n* xt one, drillers will test the Ed-
wards which they hope to find at
a higher level than iri the original
well.
The well now going down is
approximately one-half m I 1 e
southeast of the No 1 Perry of
last year and it is on the same
Perry tract It is 535 foot from the
west line and 560 feet from the
south line in what is described as
tin southerly southwest corner of
the Perry tract. It is on the south
80 aer* of a 254-acre tract.
Following the current well,
General Crude proposed to drill
its third 'second in the current
seri* » hole, a 6000-footer to U st
the Edwards This wiU go down
on tin H H Colin Id 54-acre tract,
660 feet out of In* southeast corner
ol the Hill survey
South of Original
The current test is south of the
original Smacknvor test, while the
next hole will be north of the old
well The well going down is on
'he Milam-Burle on county line
in the I) H. Vanveighton survey.
The two well* will be the .second
and third t>» be drilled by General
Crude in this area which i rough-
ly described as ,u< und nine miles
southeast of Roikdah Then first
endeavoi that started in 1958 and
wound up in January of the year
was a 12,670-foot Smaekovei test
that wa-. watehed with gieat in-
terest bv the oil industry and was
See OIL TEST, page 8
United Fund Only
$1500 Shy of Goal
Shy just $1504.47 of its goal »f
$14,850, the South Milam County
United Fund leaders will meet
n< xt week and formulate plans for
completing the campaign Current
total is $13,345.53.
‘ We arc so near our goal, there
is no use in not continuing -with
a concentrated campaign to meet
the quota we set for ourselves and
1 beli* vc we can do ju t that,”
President W. P Hogan -aid yester-
day. He said that ihe Clin tmns
season the past tew weeks ha
found everybody too busy to give
the campaign the attention need
id. and that next week everyone
will have more tune to give
winding up the driv
Ol the total amount reel i\ed to
date in cash and pledges, $10,221
has come tiorn special gilts, ac-
cord to Mrs S II Curlew, seen tary
for the South Milam UF Th*
house to house drive has brought
in $1795.88 and the coimnumtie:
have brought in $1328 65
Mr Curb**' aid her r< i i i d
show reports from every communi-
ty in the county except Milano
and Da villa, and the e are expect-
ed next week. The community
drives have brought in the follow-
ing:
Forest Grove $78, Salty $62
'Salty special gifts division $45',
Cause $H)6, Watson Mranch $70.
New Salem $11, Black Jack $29,
Sharp $10050, Bushdale-P.ethl
ol three cent,*, in cost of living
lucre.i-i . bused eii tire Bur* au ■ i
Labor sta istics index, in each ol
the second and third veurs
The economic package involve;
direct w gc mer.*:i es averaging
4 8 cent an hour the in year;
I 1 ». nt the sei and vein an I 8 9
tents m the turd voar The
first vi.ti increase e retroactive
to August 1, when the formet
three-year agreements expired
Negotiations have continued inc<
that time under extensions ot the
old .greements
I'he agreement*, with the two
union, will represent approxi-
ma ely 22,000 employ er at 21'
Alcoa plant locations
Settlement Difficult
Achievement of the settlem* lit
was reported unusually difficult
because each of five aluminum
Inn involved in tin negotation-
h I to dev elop its own upplica ion
of pension, insurance, and other
benefit programs to reflect h<
widt difb n nee in the age and
civile of the winking fori.** . ill
v olved
Alcoa negotia ed with the USW
und' i the direct inn o! W 1! Davi .
Alcoa' manager of industrial i>
latum*. V
Repre entire' ftockd.de Work'
dining bargaining we Fred Wit
cox. industrial relations manager
here Pete Murray, president of
USW local 4895 in Rockdale, re
presented be local
Senior Company
Ale* a. the s< nior company , ha
Ipcn producing aluminum for 71
years, whereas Ormet Corpora
lion and (Jim Ma.hieson Chemical
Corporation are new in the
field with no history of aluminum
industry bargaining
Hi V Holds Mi I i ( 7 Mil| so i v .1
Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical
Corporation are the other corn
pane s who negotiated new * on
trac's.
None of the additional employ-
ment costs called for by the new
contract;-, are reflected in Alcoa
action on December 17 in restor-
ing the price of aluminum to the
level prevailing Iwn yeai ago,
company officials said.
Price Advanced
The pi ice was advariee-l I ;(
i '-rits to 26 cents ,i /round, the pi a
in effect in 1958 when Alcoa and
other domestic produce! were
(Charli** Tayloi Photo)
NKW CONTRACT Union an*l miuui,foment n>piesontativos
Ret toKcthei at Rockdale Work;, to discuss the now. three-
year Alcoa United Steelworker contract signed Saturday.
At left is Fred Wilcox, labor relation: rnanajet at the local
plant Looking ovei the contract with Wilcox is Pete Murray,
| president of the USW Rockdale local 439: Both attended the
many bai Raining sessions that were held since August m New
York and last week in Chicago.
Milam Due Three
Improvement Jobs
On US Highways
The Tex,i Highway Department
will spend $52,100 for improve-
ment' on highways in Milam
('minty during I960. C B. Thames,
Brvari ghwav district engineer,
ha announced.
The • in addition to the regu-
lai construction and maintenance
program, and in addition to the
several larrn-to-market projects
alrcadv planned," he explained.
The highway commission has
approved the appropriation to im-
prove already existing highways
in Milam, and there will be little
or no additional right-of-way re-
quirements.
The '■ .nd will be pent for
■ boulder widening eal coat jobs,
idditional airtaeing. and for wid-
ening ol structure: and the high-
ways.
The following project; in Mliarn
will be eheduled for improve-
ment: during 1960:
1. U. S Highway 79—Additional
- inducing on 171 miles, from Bra-
zos river west.
2. U S. Highway 190—Recondi-
tion and resurface 2 miles be-
tween Braze river and 13 miles
west 'sections',
3 U S. Highway 190 -Recondi-
tion and resurface 2 miles bc-
■ ' 'II lii II County line and Cam-
eron 'sections'.
“We should have this program
moving by pring,” Thames said.
“We believe the money will go a
long way toward bringing these
hnpiways up to date”
I’he highway department has al-
r' ldy mnounced three F'M road
xlf'emn in Milam ( on illy and
■ lso eight improvement projects
on pi e a nt F'M roads.
Ross Home Wins Top Award
In Home Decorations Contest
.....- . forced to drop prices two rent
j hem $112. Dunc an $28.60, ( onolcy j pound becau < a foreign producer
$108 50, Lilac $59.30 'Lilac penal i educed 'in- price b. that much
gifts $50', San Gabriel $38 50, 'San in the world mar k* '
Gabriel special gift $250'. Trae.v Seven a nth ol nr ! ''.<
See UNI TED FUND, page 8 I See NEW CONTRACT, page 8
A cathedi al n ne, complete
with pipe organ eiiou irn inhn s,
and organist, ook to|> honor.; in
the home decora lions contest * pon
sored m Rockdale by the Chamber
of ( omrncrce
The first place prize ol $20 wen
to the Robert Ho home, 1118
I Iighlan I treet ,I n r a diffb lit,
four-hour judging •< ion Monday
evening, repored Sam IVeble
a j local chamber firesidcnt.
Three judges from Caldwell
del die rated tor more than an
hour between ’tie firs' and second
place winners before making final
decisions, Peebles said
Hord Home Second
Second place wnt to the j
( hat h Hord Horn*'. 311 Calhoun j
dr ve The Hord horrn wa last:
yi ar's winner.
Third prize went to the L. F’ ;
John; to i horn**, 2008 Alcoa drool.:
and the J. C D.vei home, 1400
! I ipi'.ind ■ 1 nr', took fourth-plaec I
iii mi n s
I In addition, iiidg* named five!
honorable mentions. They arnj
; the Leroy Schultz home. 528 Evo-
i I v ii I hi Jo n S( ia( iiot'ie 2408 1
po, ; * ijp. ■ i)«i i\r !io McKinnon 1
horn* in the Piai- *• 1 addition the.
!! G. Jobes home, 50.5 Calhoun;
.aid tin Buck Henry home, 436
Ackerman.
Caldwell Judges
J i j id u* were Gene Horuk, man-
ager ut the Caldwell Chamber of
Commerce, and Mr. and Mrs.
Harold (Jit,din of Caldwell. The
ludgi' toured ‘he town by auto-
mobile beginning at 7 p.m., and
leached their decisions shortly
h« lore, midnight.
The Ross home decorations, in
addi ion to tire organ and choir,
included background window dc-
'■iii itions in cathedral design. An
out id< pcakei played Chris mas
TOW VS EARLY DAYS RECALLED
LOCAL STORES
WILL TAKE TWO
) I LE IIOI.ID n .s
Miwf Pru IrHaln ill t:4Un :i
two-day holiday Christmas, ac-■
cording to a survey made Wed-
nesday afternoon by Mrs. S II '
Curler, secretary, Chamber of \
Commerce
The Rockdale State Bank, the
dry goods stores, furniture arid j
supply stores, men's shops and '
all places contacted by Mr.
Curler said they would (lose
Saturday. Exceptions are the i
groc**ry stores, which will re-j
main open, and the drug stores I
which w ill observe regular Sun- j
day and holiday hours
Rockdale Colorful' Town Prior to 1900
(Editor's note: In the past
10 years, Rockdale has enjoy-
ed liemf uuOus .JTC V.* t k .’.ri- 2
near-tripled population. The
comirg of indusliy brought
thousands of newcomers to
to Rockdale.
The following story is a re-
print of a story lhai appeared
in ihe December 22 1949 issue
of The Reporter. It :s a copy
of a speech made by the late
J. W. Garner to members of
the Lions Club thaf year.
Mr. Garner, who died last
month at the age 39, practiced
law in Rockdale for 57 years.
Few men knew, and remem-
bered, more about ibis cuy s
early days than did “Judge”
j u; r-*rr.*r.
In his 1949 talk to the Lions
Club, Mr. Garner reviewed
Rockdale prior to 1900. The
story should again carry wide
reader interest in this city,
both to long-time citizens and
to relatively "new” Rockdal-
ians.)
Gentlemen of the Rcokdale
Lions:
A« we arc all Rorkdaliaii , I
du riiA think i‘. tmmod< t to
taik aixmt ourselves and a* we
do not know the future, and he
present is well known to all. we
wiii link ifioui iiii pa i Lmk-
aaie, pi ioi to 1900.
Wi ; !<■ it i il.nl. imi< nit* rial
except to how ttint I am a
native of this section, I wa>
born on a farm in Burleson
county, Texas, about 14 miles
S E of Roekd ile, and have
lived in this section since my
birth, with th< exception of th*1
time I was awav a school, and
a short iialf-year, while em-
ployed iri west Texan.
No Railroad
At my earliest recollection of
this section of our *'1at*', *heie
was no railroad and no town
in Burl* von, Le«', vtilam, Wil-
1 jam son and Bell Cu.n'ie.;
there were several sniail vil-
lage' 'h«'V being Lexington,
Caldwell, Cam<ron, D.ivilla,
Georgetown arid Mi Ron. I think
Lexington wi< th* metropolis,
with oine 150 irihabi >rit'
We tiiid no improved road
our most popular public road
wa from Lexington, via DaviL
la to Hdton, iiut 'hi our most
used road, had no bridge s • . rr
the streams, except a rick* y
old toll bridge u ros Brushy
('ii i'p at the old Mend* i on
C’r esing We had ne> hurlH'd
wire for fencinng, no automo-
biles, trucks, buses or air planes.
und oui on! ■/ mode <*! tiav *'!
and transportation, wa1- by
hoi i back, horse and ox-drawn
wagons, hor: e-drawn s t a g <■
coiiehex, iin<i now and then a
ho < drawn hogg -
Wilderness
The country wt ■ almos a
wilderness; the land except
mall farms, was unfenced, and
** most part, was very
grew heavy crops of wild
<, tpid suppoi ed nvuiy
cattle and horses, and
wild game. The country
thinly settled, with i v
i i * * +1 led a I ong
ms, who had poor non ’
for t.r
fertile
gra - e
Texas
much
i,ii
times wilt
ii\ wagon
nearest ra
The fan
hood by th
fi d
wild game
the count.r
This, m
I' ot log*, .uni some-
lumber, hauled by
from Bryan, and then
iroad town
ne!" gamed a liveli-
•ir -canty crops, their
liv s'oek, and the
which alxjundcxi in
in brief, j . the setting
for the founding of the Town of
Ho* kdale. in what was then,
; he frontier of Texas.
About thi year 1872. tin* In-
terna ional Railroad Conipany
trmlt it- line of railroad from
S' .• *)I,D K(>CKDALE, pa ;e f<
am&wcmstmasamm&
carol'., accompanying the chon'
scene.
The second-place Hord home
a eol ation- included a giart , white
. * Iiii.s'um card enscribed in old
F riglivh Glory to (7od in tho
:gh( t md on earth peace, good
will toward men." Large red
letter* ii-ad 'Merry Christmas” at
toe doorway, decreed with grecn-
j cry. \
Theme, Lighting
T :. J*'i.ii t.a. Tiorr.. , which won
third place, included stained-
i.. window declarations, with a
piel'ir* - wind*)'.', scene of the angel
■ Bethlehem Judges, com-
,.l' "Tit* a tin overall theme and
! lighting,
Th* fourth-place Dyer residence
included a front-yard Santa
' Ians cene. with Santa sitting ir.
hig arm chair while elves cor-
; i alt <1 he reindeer. Rudolph, '.he
■(hno-cd reindeer, was presented
hh hrightl.v blinking nose.
I’eebl* aid that the judg*-s
'•I*- impressed with the originali-
tv of all home decorations in
Rockdale. Se<end prize was $15,
third prize >10. ind fourth prize
Season's
Greetings
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Cooke, W. H. The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 24, 1959, newspaper, December 24, 1959; Rockdale, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth694205/m1/1/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lucy Hill Patterson Memorial Library.