Jacksboro Gazette-News (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 134, No. 18, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 8, 2013 Page: 4 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Jack County Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library.
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Opinion
Page 4 • Jacksboro Gazette-News WWW.JACKSBORONEWSPAPERS.COM Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Elvis to the rescue
... or not
Well, I’ve wrapped up my first week on the
job as editor of Jacksboro Newspapers and
what a whirlwind of a week it’s been. Pam
Hudson’s knowledge of the operation has
been a godsend and absolutely crucial in my
trying to get the hang of things around the of-
fice.
I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know
my new town. Every person I’ve encoun-
tered, both on the job and off, has been so
very friendly and helpful.
I have not had as much time to visit and
meet as many people as I would have liked,
but that’ll come.
I have one rather memorable encounter I
wanted to share because it’s given me a bit of
a chuckle then and since.
On Thursday, I rushed into the office early to
grab a few items before I was headed to Fort
Worth for a newspaper workshop at TCU. I
came out and sure enough, I’ve got a flat tire.
Kristi, our office clerk, tells me that there’s
a place that fixes flats over by the Jacksboro
Chamber of Commerce.
She tells me, “It’s before the chamber on the
same side of the road and Elvis will be out
front.”
I aired it up and headed that way looking for
a tire shop near some kind of signage with
the King of Rock and Roll on it. Not finding
that, I turn around and on the second pass I
Cherry
Picked
/ -.1
By Cherry Rushin
1
Managing Editor
come to AWB Tire shop with the proprietor
who I’m guessing, must be named Elvis, sit-
ting out front.
I explained my predicament. He assures me
he’ll have me on my way in about 20 minutes.
In no time flat, my tire’s off and headed to
the back of the shop for repair.
The owner, who is not named Elvis, (Kristi
was referring to an Elvis shop that used to be
near that location) rather hesitantly, gives me
a bit of, um, I guess you could say fashion
advice concerning my fly. I sincerely thanked
him for being kind and courageous enough to
not let me continue on with my day further
embarrassing myself.
Then we began talking about the sports cars
inside the shop across the street. Ever the
journalist, I had several questions. He seemed
to be very knowledgeable on the subject and
a feature story idea emerged.
Before I knew it, I was back on my way hav-
ing been saved by this helpful gentleman in
more ways than one.
I am eager to meet many more friendly folks
in the coming weeks and getting down to the
business of making The Jack County Herald
and Jacksboro Gazette-News just what the
community wants its papers to be.
Procrastinating
with plates...
Some things just shouldn’t be put off. Den-
tal cleanings, mammograms, overdue books
... All of these can cause problems, but none
of them will get you arrested.
I don’t know about you, but most of my
friends have never seen the backseat of a po-
lice car, the inside of a booking room or the
big ruler on the wall where you stand and try
to look sober.
The closest I’ve come to this ... is trying to
explain to a policeman in a small town north
of San Antonio that I didn’t notice the speed
limit sign at the edge of town because I was
trying to get to my daughter’s All-State Band
performance.
“She plays the bass clarinet,” I said through
my tears. “I’m so proud of her.” Something
worked. I didn’t get arrested. I didn’t get a
ticket.
Recently one of my former students Billie
Jean got pulled over. She’s a grown woman,
the mother of two lovely children and the
wife of one of our military’s finest.
Although they are both from Texas, they’ve
moved around a lot. They’ve been back in
the Lone Star State over a year, and during
most of that time, she’s kept her “new” Texas
license plates under the passenger seat still
wrapped in their tissue paper to protect them.
For those of you who have not been in this
situation: you can be arrested for not regis-
tering and putting on the new plates within a
reasonable time.
According to the very law-abiding officer,
a year and a half is not considered “reason-
able.” Thirty days is the limit.
He informed Billie Jean that she could be ar-
rested, have her car towed and possibly have
the children put into foster care. That last part
is my own exaggeration, but that’s exactly the
fear every woman imagines with the word
“arrested.” He was serious.
When he asked her why she had not put them
on the car, she blurted out the truth. “Usually
my daddy puts them on.” The officer was not
amused.
Humor isn’t a good idea at times like this.
When Billie Jean related this story to a friend,
she realized it could have been worse.
The friend was driving a hearse. The new
license tags were on the dash of the vehicle
clearly in view of the motorcycle patrolman
who was leading the procession.
Suddenly he stopped the line of cars and
walked back to the hearse. When threatened
with arrest, her friend thought she’d add a
little humor.
The officer was not amused when she said if
she were arrested the guy in the back wasn’t
going to drive himself to the cemetery. Al-
though not incarcerated, the internment was
delayed while he wrote her a ticket.
Billie Jean was relieved to find out that it is
“reasonable” to have only a picture of your
insurance card on your phone.
It is also “reasonable” to assume the of-
ficer did not take her word or the picture at
face value. He went back to his car where he
stayed for a long time.
He checked her record for warrants, pre-
vious arrests and whether she’d ever taught
chemistry and run a meth lab in Albuquerque.
In the end, she did not take a trip to the pok-
ey. She did however get out on the edge of
the freeway and change the tags.
It’s funny what one can accomplish with a
broken nail file when a two-hundred pound,
uniformed man is standing over ones shoul-
der.
She was glad the officer was a metropolitan
policeman and not her Air Force Colonel.
Jacksboro Gazette-News
212 N. Church St. • (940) 567-2616 • editor@jacksboronewspapers.com
a iaMediaNews Group newspaper
USPS 271-720
The Jacksboro Gazette-News is published each Tuesday by Lake Country
Newspapers. Periodicals paid at Jacksboro, Texas.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Jackand adjoining counties - $26.99; elsewhere
in Texas - $35.99; outside of Texas $50.99.
ERRORS & ADJUSTMENTS: Please check your ad the first day it runs to ensure
all the information is correct. We must limit our financial responsibilities, if any, to
the charge for the space and cannot be responsible for incorrect ads after the first
day of publication.
ADVERTISING DEADLINE: Ads must be submitted by noon the prior Thursday.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Jacksboro Gazette-News, P.O. Drawer 70,
Jacksboro, TX 76458-0070.
Cherry Rushin
Managing Editor ' "*
Robert L. Krecklow
Publisher/Vice President
William Dean Singleton
President
TEXAS PRESS '
ASSOCIATION
BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST
Award Winner u
4^1--- -2008''--•
Donna Jones
Advertising Manager
Pam Hudson
Staff Writer
Kristi Jones
Office Clerk
Member Texas Press Association, West Texas Press Association, North and East Texas Press Association and Newspaper Association of America.
Captured children
recovered
If it were possible for children captured by
Indians to recover from the trauma, James
“Bud” Ball, 9, and William “Willie” Ball, 7,
seemed like two of the likeliest candidates.
The two cousins were snatched by a Kiowa
raiding party in Wise County on Sept. 20,
1865, after the Civil War. The boys had gone
to a neighboring ranch to borrow an ax handle
and had no idea Kiowas were raiding horses
nearby in broad daylight. Both the Indians
and boys were surprised to come face to face,
and the Kiowas wasted no time snatching
them. Fortunately, the two little boys survived
the three-day ride from their ranches near De-
catur to their Indian camps in southern Kan-
sas. If a child (no matter how young) cried,
whined or became too weak or sick to travel,
the Kiowas usually killed them. Ultimately,
the Indians separated the two cousins to make
it harder for the military to locate and recover
them.
Willie Ball was taken to a Comanche camp,
and his cousin, Bud, ended up in a Kiowa
camp.
The soldiers at Fort Richardson didn’t re-
ceive word in time to track the Indians, but
the U.S. Army began the process of getting
the Ball children released. A military com-
mission of the U.S. Army met for a peace
council with Kiowa and Comanche chiefs,
who were warned that the Balls and three
other Texas captives must be returned or the
Indians would receive no reward.
Besides wanting to increase their numbers,
both allied tribes benefitted financially by the
large ransoms parents paid to get their chil-
dren back. Even more enraging to the mili-
tary, if an important tribal member such as a
chief didn’t want to part with a child, war-
riors captured and sent other captives in their
places.
North
Texas Tales
By Gay Sehlittler
ii
Storms
_
When the peace council met in October
1865, the Indians showed up with five cap-
tives, but Willie Ball was not among them.
Red Feather, chief of the Nokoni Comanche
band, was bonded to the boy and wanted to
raise him as his own son. After a year of re-
peated pressure by the military, Willie Ball
was finally returned to his family in 1866.
However, Willie Ball had not seen the last
of the stubborn chief. He and his Comanche
warriors raided the Ball Ranch once again.
Willie ran and hid under a wagon, but he
made the mistake of darting toward his father,
James. As the terrified 10 year old ran for
safety, none other than Red Feather himself
grabbed Willie. His mother screamed for the
men to shoot the chief before it was too late.
The child was saved by a barrage of bullets
directed toward the Indian stalker, and Red
Feather fell lifeless to the ground. The abduc-
tion came to an abrupt halt as the Comanche s
quickly dragged their chief’s body away so he
could be properly buried.
Ironically, according to federal policy, James
Ball Jr. recovered $465 for the loss of his
horses and oxen, but families never received
any compensation for family members who
were injured, captured or killed by Indians.
Both boys died young according to the book,
“A Fate Worse Than Death: Indian Captivi-
ties in the West, 1830-1885,” by Susan and
Gregory Michno. The historians discovered
only the barest details that Bud died before
Willie Ball, who died in his 20s. James Ball,
Willie’s father, was the only person of either
family who commented upon his son and
nephew’s lives or fates, saying only, “They
died young.”
Steering in the
right direction ...
A half-century ago, cigarette companies
flew on the wings of advertising that blitzed
the nation like June bugs in Mr. McGregor’s
garden. Chesterfield took on Benson and
Hedges, claiming its smokes were “a silly
millimeter longer.” That meant 101 millime-
ters to B&H’s 100.
Granted, the government has since inter-
vened, inflicting rigid advertising restrictions
and reducing exposure more than the smoke-
filled air that limited visibility of cigarette-
laden billboards.
The campaign worked for awhile. At least
the “silly millimeter longer” catchphrase
caught
what it is,” and a favorite in sports—
“taking one game at a time.”
today.
on, like some tossed about excessively
Included are “at the end of the day”—
Maybe word of mouth endorsement from
the nicotine crowd drowns out the pleas of
doctors and patients lamenting their fate in
physicians’ waiting rooms. Some figured ad-
limiting laws would smother the industry to
its last wheeze.
Smokers are still at it, despite the difficulty
in finding spots where “lighting up” is per-
mitted. Back when, they’d “walk a mile for
a Camel,” perhaps whistling the Phil Harris
hit, “Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette.” They
guarantee it to be worth it, even if the camel
questions whether they know what day it is.
All this to say—following my longest di-
gression ever—catchphrases worth their salt
can hang on until they’re beyond stale. Who
can forget the 1959 novelty song, “Does Your
Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost
Over Night?”
You might counter by citing Clara Peller’s
demand, back in the ‘80s, to know the exact
location of the miniscule beef patties on all
burgers competing with Wendy’s.
Or what about the old TV show, “Laugh In,”
which made us laugh weekly with “Sock It to
Me” vignettes? We wore the expression down
to a nub.
Sometimes sports writers introduce statisti-
cal data that become humdrum catchphrase s.
Revealing “this and that,” the obscure stats
sometimes are buried so deeply in para-
graphs, they’re destined to be lopped off by
space limitations.
In a piece about Oklahoma State’s shock-
ing loss to West Virginia, one scribe wrote of
OSU’s top rusher averaging just 2.4 inches
per try on 15 plays. In a stat category usually
based on yardage measurements, can “silly
millimeters” be far behind?
Such an obscure stat likely inflames OSU
fans. It may rankle T. Boone Pickens greatly.
This donor has poured hundreds of millions
into the Cowboys’ athletic program. And
the other Cowboys in Dallas-also anemic in
rushing yardage-may face the prospect of us-
ing this kind of measurement.
Not all catchphrases are universal. Some-
times regional ads strike us well and hang on.
One slogan has found its way into Hoflpauir
Auto Group’s ads for decades. Lee Hoflpauir,
with several Hill Country dealerships and al-
most 50 years in the field, makes this simple
claim: “We couldn’t have stuck around this
See IDLE, Page 6
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Rushin, Cherry. Jacksboro Gazette-News (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 134, No. 18, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 8, 2013, newspaper, October 8, 2013; Jacksboro, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth707940/m1/4/?q=Flat: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library.