Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 29, 1954 Page: 1 of 14
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THIS HUGE ALLIGATOR
m. Wednesday. July 21, by T. E. Collin, an*
. The reptile weighed in at 290 pounds ai
FOURTEEN
PAGES TODAY
s-.r
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POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE
HEART OF THE
PINEYWOODS
VOLUME 72
LIVINGSTON, TEXAS, THURSDAY. JULY 29, 1954
NUMBER 45
Two Run-Off flections Develop
For Judge, One Commissioner
Chamber of Commerce News
By w. A. McCARTNET. Manager
Your Chamber of Commode \yith various members of his
and its Manager ready need a tribe at the Aiabama-Coushatta
lot of help. We have 2,500 names Indian Reservation, Mrs. Ger-
of ex-students of Livingston High man, Mrs. Leggett, Mrs. Coch-
School ancf so far, we have got- ran, Mrs. Brock 'and Mrs. Hoi-
the mailing addresses of l^nburger having afternoon tea.
300. Won't you please .write pJfWrry Gtoverr M. T. Potts and
-the names .and, matiing^ ad-pfarshall Traylor supervising
driesses of any of your people Who batting practice of the Little
have tqoved away from Polk League, Baseball Club, John
County, particularly the on?s
who were students? in our public
schools? ’ .v: —......—
Your Polk County,Chamber of
Commerce is working as a coop-
erating office with the United
States Department of Commerce
and, as such, can provide you
wjth a wide variety of business
information, source books, census
poll results, and other govern-
ment reports as well as busi-
ness management information.
Specific business Information
may be obtained from the De-
partment of Commerce through
our offices.
We really got a big kick out
of appearing on “The Livingston
Story." produced by John Moore
i on KPRC-TV Sunday, July 25.
For the benefit of those of you
who did hot have your TV sets
tuned to Channel 2 at 1:00 p. mi,
local scenes included pictures
of “Peto” Peters and Dr. Flow-
ers bai^ecuing an afmadjllo,
“Dynamite" Reaves .and Frank
Fain deep ih conversation on a
street corner, a Sunday morning
worship service at the Central
Baptist Church, Mayor Ernest
Cochran getting a shave at the
Ray Brock's barbershop, Chief
Bronson Cooper Sylestine along
thay had been attar tha 'gator tor a couple or yean.
srirnssi h„is
r.niw. and Curtis Garnar bad plannad to hare the alligator mounted, but lost interest when they
learned It would coat about $400, Collins told he was going - -*-1- ----"
County Given Three Stars in Survey
Of Tax Operations by E' Texas C of C
Polk County was awarded
three out of a possible six stars
by the East Texas Chamber of
Commerce’s tax survey just re-
leased for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 1953,
Stars were given the county for
having an operating fund tax
rate not above the state average
of 75 cents (Polk County’s oper-
ating fund tax rate is 66 cents),
for having a net debt In relation
to its assessed valuation not
above the state average of 2.73
per cent (Polk County’s net debt
ratio was 1.28 per cent), and for
having a net debt per person not
above the state average of $26.05
(Polk County's net debt per per-
son was $16.96).
Stars were not given the coun-
ty for falling to operate within
its original 1953 budget (Polk
County exceeded- its budget by
$122,343.53); for failing to col-
lect at least 95 per cent of the
1952 tax roll or 100 per cent or
more of the 1952 tax levy includ-
ing both current and delinquent
collections (Polk County collect-
ed 91.25 per cent of current taxes
for the year 1952 and 93.87 per
eent of the total taxes assessed
including both current and delin-
quent tax collections), and for
failing to operate on a cash bas-
is (Polk County ended 1953 with
one over drawn fund, that being
the road and bridge fund which
was $58,288.83 in the red).
The 66 cents of the county’s
total 85 cent tax fhte that goes
to the operating fund is shown
in the ^report to be distributed
»as follows:.
Jury fund, lOeents; road and
bridge, 8 cents; roa,d and bridge
Political Calendar
The Enterprise is authorized to
announce the following candi-
dates, subject to action of the
Democratic second primary to be
held August 28, 1954: >
County Judge
W.- & Brame
\ Clayton Malone
County Commissioner, Product 1
Obem Crawford
Bethel Hendrix (re-election)
special, 15 cents; general, 25
cents; permanent improvement.
8 cents.
Of the remaining 19 cents, 7
cents goes to the payment of
road machinery warrants, and 12
cents for the retirement of hos-
pital bonds.
"It is interesting," says the
report, “to calculate the operat-
ing cost per person of the coun-
ty by multiplying the 1953 as-
sessed valuation by the operat-
ing fund tax rate (66 cents)
which results in a tax levy of
$133J928.04 fdr operating pur-
poses. When this levy is divided
by the 1954 population estimate
of Polk County, a result of $8:75
is obtained.
“This means “that the annual
cost of operations for the coun-
ty is $8.75 plr person. The aver-
age county in the state operates
at a cost of $7.15 per person, and
the average East Texas county
operates at $7.22 per person."
---o—-
Burning of Trash
Violates Ordinance
Chief of Police Gus Smallwood
this week reminded city resi-
dents that there is a city ordi-
nance against burning trash in-
side the city limits.
"Some people have been burn-
ing trash lately, and with the
present dry conditions, this
could very easily start1 a serious
fire,” he said.
He urged all citizens to coop-
erate in observing the ordinance
against trash burning inside the
city limits. a
■ ■" -O—-—*-:
East Texas Square
Dance Saturday
At Legion Hall
East Texas Square Dance Club
will hold its monthly dance Sat-
urday night, July, 31st, at the
American Legion Hall of Living-
ston. 1 v
Dancing will start at 8:30 p. m.
Music will be by Pappy Shaw.
We are expecting a good at-
tendance and extend invitations
to dancers and spectators.
No admission charge but will
have kitty for donation. -•
Knight of Segno with a few of
his "hound dawgs,”. and B. C.
and Lois Lively and Louis Ger-
lach fishing in one of the many-
beautiful lakes of our county.
We trust that this program
helped our neighbors become
more familiar with our commu-
nity and its citizens. As for our
performance in the studio. I
think it can be best described
by what was overheard a fellow
say about one of the announcers
Sunday—"We was renl ham."
Reports have just reached our
office that Livingston’s Bill
Smith won third place in the
Tie-Down Calf Roping Contest at
the Fort Bend County Youth
Rodeo at Rosenburg last week.
To Bill we say. congratulations
for a job welt done,
- Water has really gotten to-be
a scarce commodity all oyer
Texas, #and Livingston is no ex
eeptlon. We have been asked to
use this natural resource very
sparingly. However, our Mayor.
City Council, and City Manager
have been working for several
months to provide for us an am-
ple supply of water that we can
afford. We feel that they will
come up with a solution in the
near future.
| All but two races were settled
| in the primary election last
; Saturday.
Clayton Malone and W. S.
? Brame will be in the run-ott
for county judge, and Bethel
Hendrix and Oburn Crawford
will be in the run-off for commis-
sioner of precinct 1.
The second primary will be
held Saturday, August 2S.
The county'-fucl ge"ra(-e run-off
developed when the incumbent.
J. T. Coker, polled 938 votes to
1.148 for Malone and 1,474 for
Brame.
Four candidates were in the
race Tor commissioner of pre-
cinct 1. Hendrix, the incumbent,
got S50 votes to 348 for Craw-
ford, 318 for Woodrow Duff, and
330 for Joe Gassiot,
These figures and those that
rvaton
Is holding the 'ga-
md one inch. B. J. said
lor a couple oi gear*, ana iroaiiy him about 10 a. m. Wed-
■ ttom of the creek where he was known to he"" *"•
his tooth out snapping at ths half-inch steo
_______ «m«» vu.u._______________have the alligator mounted, but lost interest wt
lMraed TTwouTd^tost about MOO.’colUns said he was going to skin him and preserve the hide.___
Variety Store Chain
Is Now In 39th Year
Two generations of progress
. . . that’s the story of a business
venture by five brothers which
began thirty-nine years ago and
which today stands as one of the
largest chains of variety stores
in Texas.
Started by the five Perry
brothers, Roscoe. Frank. John,
Hollis and C. W. with the pur-
chase of one small store in 1915,
the number of stores has been
increased to 65 in 1954.
Offered the opportunity to buy
a small variety store in Center,
Texas, the five brothers "pooled"
their total assets, $300, plus some
borrowed money, and bought the
store in September, 1915. The
growth of the company was un-
derway.
The rise of the Perry organiza-
tion fits the popular American
picture of Horatio Algers’ fiction-
al hero’s. The first Perry store
was managed by Frank wfa.0 was
assisted by his brothers from
time to time. The other brothers
worked in different jobs at the
time, and as a new store was
bought or opened, each brother
in turn gave up his job to be-
come manager.
In the first few years follow-
ing the purchase of the Center
store, additional stores were op-
ened Jn Navasota, Lufkin, and
surrounding East Texas towns.
As the number of stores in-
creased, additional employees
were acquired and Home Offices
Were established in Lufkin in
1920. and these offices are today-
housed in the magnificent store
and office building erected in
Lufkin in 1950. <“»
Over the years the number of
Perry’s stores has continued to
increase and improvements have
beeri -made tp existing stores to
keep the company abreast of the
times, modem and up-to-date.
J. B. Perry, Jr., son of co-foun-
der and chairman of the board
of directors, John B. Perry, Sr„
today presides over the Texas
wide activity of the company,
and follows the same progressive
business program Conducted by
the founders.
Water Use Restrictions Tightened
As Acute Water Shortage Continues
The continuing acute shortage
of water In Livingston caused
the City Council this week to
call for citizens to cease all wat-
ering of lawns and shrubbery
and washing of cars.
Previously the council had
akked that use of water for
lawns and car washing be alter-
nated from day to day between
residents on the east side and
west side of Highway 59.
The drying up Choate (’reek
north of the old Woodville Road
worsened the situation and
brought about the call for a halt
to all non-essential uses of wa-
ter.
The creek Is furnishing very
little water from south of the
old Woodville Road to the city’s
Intake, City Manager W. C. de-
Cordova said Wednesday.
"We’ve got about a two days’
supply of water on hand now,
and will be able to keep It at
this level If everybody continues
Revival Begins At >
First Baptist Church
Sunday, August 1
The First Baptist Church of
Livingston will hold revival serv-
ices for eight days beginning
Sunday, August 1.
Services wlli, be twice each
day, morning and evening. Good
singing is in store. Richard
Smith will be in charge of the
singing. He has been, for some
time music director of the Cen-
tral Avenue Baptist Church' in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He
has accepted the position of head
of the music department at Jack-
sonville College starting this fall.
He holds a music degree from
college.
The preaching will be by Dr.
D. N. Jackson, who is no stran-
ger to Polk County. He has been
here in three or four meetings
with Dr. Wadsworth, and is na-
tionally known as a debator,
pastor and evangelist. He is edi-
tor and owner of the American
Baptist Paper, a national Bap-
tist paper, and is the author of
several books.. He has been un-
til recently,, president of the
Conway Baptist College in Con-
way, Ark. You are Invited and
.urged to attend and hear him.
The First Baptist Church’ is
having prayer meeting each eve-
ning this week for the meeting.
The evening service will begin
at 7:30 and the morning services
at 10:30. You will miss a bless-
ing if you miss this meeting.
Rev. R. C. Vance.
to cooperate," he said.
The manager said about 500
gallons of water per minute were
needed to fill the demand. About
90 gallons per minute is being
obtained from the city well, with
the balance coming from the
supply obtained by building
emergency dams on Choate
Creek.
The city’s plans for building a
1,000-acre lake about a thous-
and feet up the creek from the
old Woodville road had to be
abandoned when a core drilling
disclosed that there were 19 to
32 feet of quicksand under the
surface and extending hack on
either side into the hills.
Another location downstream
op the south side of Highway 190
has been tentatively selected for
the lake. Core drillings, said de-
Cordova, will be started Thurs-
day (today), and the crews will
probably work five or six days.
A hand test down to about 18
feet, at this new location found
good clay to that depth, deCor-
dova said.
If this new site pans put, ev-
ery effort will be made to have
It ready for use next summer,
the manager said,
■*-— " -o- ,
............
Commissioners Set
Tax Equalization
Meeting August 6
Commissioners Court will meet
as the Board of Tax Equaliza
tion aj 9 a. m. Friday, August 6.
The decision was made at the
meeting of the court on Monday.
JUiy. 26.
Purpose of the court meeting
as the board of equalization will
be to hear complaints and make
any necessary adjustments ne-
cessary for those persons who
feel that their taxable property
has been wrongly assessed for
tax purposes.
County Judge J. T. Coker read
a letter at the meeting from the
auditing firm which is press-
ing the county for a settlement
on its,bill for $1,515 for audits
of the county hospitals.
In the letter, the company
agreed to accept $1,200 as full
payment of the bill provided, the
ietter said, that the court give
some evidence In w’ritlng of the
court’s intention to pay that
amount on or before September
15. 1954.
The company had asked at
the last meeting of the court if
It would be possible for the
court to make immediate pay-
ment If they agreed to accept
the $1,200 figure and were told
that it would be September be-
fore the county could pay.
An order was passed by the
court to pay the company $1,200
before September 16.
The company first presented
the county with the bill on No-
vember 15, 1952. It has not been
paid because the court said it
felt that the bill was “excessive."
-"O-
Calendar of
Current Events
(As Reported to tha Cham bos
of Comsws Ottoo)
TEMPERATURES
A. W. Oit, weatherman, re-
ports the temperatures for the
week of July 20 to July 26 as
follows:
Date; Highest
July 20 ........ 96
July 21
July 22
July 23
July 24
July 25
July 26
Lowest
74
...... 96 -
..jiiL 97
97
......102
105
1102
No rain was reported, as usual.
Only .33 of an inch of tain has
fallen this month.. No rain is
expected within the next few
days. But a surprise would be
most welcome.
Scripture Selection
Scripture selections for the
week of J.uly 29th was made by
Dr. Vester Wolber, pastor of Cen-
tral Baptist Church, Livingston.
“But without faith it is im-
possible to please Him; for he
that cometh to God must believe
that He !s, and that He is a re-
warder of them that diligently
seek Him." Hebrew* 11:6.
¥hur*day, Tuly »—
Livingston Rotary Club, regu-
lar meeting, 12 noon, Buford’s
Cafe Dining Room.
Livingston Rebekah Lodge No.
204, regular meeting, 8:00 p. m.,
Cochran Building.
Tuesday, August 3—
Corrigan Lions Clu.b, regular
meeting, 12 noon, Manry’s Cafe
Dining Room.
Livingston Volunteer Firemen,
regular drill, 7:00 p. m.
Eastern Star, regular meeting,
7:30 p. m„ Masonic Hall.
Wednesday, August 4--
Livingston Lions Club, regu-
lar meeting, 12 noon. Buford’s
Cafe Dining Room.
Thursday, August 5—
Livingston Rotary Club, regu-
lar -meetrng, 12 noon, Buford's
Cafe Dining Room.
Livingston Rebekah Lodge No.
204, regular meeting, 8:00 p. m.,
Cochran Building.
American Legion,
monthly meeting..8:00 p. m
gion Hall,
American Legion Auxiliary,
regular monthly meeting, 8:00
p. m„ Legion Hall.
—,, . o —
follow are unofficial, but are be-
lieved to be correct.
District Clerk A. L. Reaves was
successful in his re-election cam-
paign. defeating his opponent
M. D. YVagstaff, by 2,166 to 1,290,1
L. W. Parrish commissioner of ]
precinct 2. was re elected ove,
Oscar Shoubrouek 'by 420 to 121
Justice of the Peace of precinct
1. Hugh Milllken, failed in his
bid for re-election. He was de-
feated by 898 to 681 by W. B.
Bloomfield.
Precinct 6 Justice of the Peace
N. L. (Levi) Turner was re-elect-
ed over Sam Shepherd by a vote
og 336 to 243, and the position
of constable of precinct 1 went
to J. Robert Rash by a vote of
603 to 540.
Coming as a surprise to many
Polk Countians was the carry-
ing of Polk County by Ralph
Yarborough, candidate for gov-
ernor against Governor Allan
Shivers.
Yarborough received 1.675
votes to 1,563 for Shivers.
A total of 264 absentee votes
were cast in the first primary;
In other offices, the incum-'
bents had no opponents and were
returned to office. "’1
A crowd estimated at 350 per-
sons packed the courthouse lawn
Saturday night to watch the re-
turns postal on.the boar<! on the
west side of the courthouse
square.
It was about 10:45 p. m. before
all the returns were in. posted
and totaled.
The board remains standing, "
and will be used to post the re-
turns In the run-off races. The
Polk County Enterprise erected
the board and arranged for the
posting of the returns.
Hospital By-laws
Control Functions
(This is the first In a series of
articles Intended to give the pub-
lic a better acquaintance with
the county hospitals In Living-
ston and Corrigan. The first ar-
ticle will deal with the provisions
of the by-laws under which the
hospitals operate.)
The by-laws under which Polk
County’s hospitals In Livingston
and Corrigan operate, and which
were adopted August 10, 1953,
provide for a "board of manag-
ers" consisting of six members
who have been picked and ap-
pointed by the Commissioners
Court.
Each member of the board
serves for a two year term. Half
of the members’ terms expire
each year. This ia because of the
fact that at the time the first
appointments were made, half
the members were appointed tor
only one year, and the other half
were appointed for the regular
two year terms. ,
When the terms of the one-
year appointees expired, their
posts were filled with two-year
appointees. Under this system,
there Is always on the board
three members experienced In
the management of the hospi-
tals.
None of the members of the
board receive any pay for their
services. In some instances they
are reimbursed for what the by-
laws refer to as "actual neces-
sary extraordinary expenses In-
curred In the performance of
their duties."-----------
Not So Fast!
Clayton Malode says he may
be aging fast, but not so fast
as it would sum judging from
a recent poltical advertisement
appearing In tire Enterprise.
Through an error, his age was
shown as, 39. Actually, he is only
30.
Members of the hospital board
are John H. Carter of Corrigan,
president: W. M. (Pete) Weems
of Camden, secretary treasurer;
and members Mrs. August Mul-
ler and Frarrk Jordan, both of
Livingston; Lester Smith of Leg-
gett, and Kirby Walker of Mos-
cow.
As president, Carter is general
supervisor over all affairs of the
hospitals and presides at all
meetings of the board,
regular The sectary-treasurer keeps
the minutes of meetings of the
board and standing committees
appolnterj by the board, notifies
members of meetings and the
nature of the business to be
handled, takes care of the
board’s .correspondence, and has
custody of all documents.
He shares with the Commis-
sioners Court the duty of being
custodian of the securities and
money of the hospital, and is re-
quired by the by-laws to keep a
record of all receipts and ex-
penditures always open to the
(Coattaoed on poo* S)
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Lewis, John W. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 29, 1954, newspaper, July 29, 1954; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth762310/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.