Winkler County News (Kermit, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 13, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 21, 1966 Page: 1 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Winkler County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Winkler County Library.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Brighton* Iowa 53540
Weather
SOUTHWEST TEXAS: Partly
cloudy skies, with widely scat*
tered thundershowers In late
afternoon Sunday. Highs In the
mid. 90’s with cool 70 for night
time temperature.
Vol. 30-No. 13
Kermit, Winkler County. Texas
m
i
■■X JR
Editorial
~WFo Will Pay The
Piper... And How?’
A ridiculous situation developed in the negotiations
for settlement of the recent airline strike which lasted
over 40 days.
Several weeks ago, the President of the United
States stood proudly before television cameras and
announced that settlement had been reached in a costly
and lengthy strike. With him were the President of
t]|lc Union, Representatives of the Airline companies,
aM the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the United
States Government — the men who labored diligently
for many days and nights exploring facts and figures
to arrive at a fair settlement. When details of the
settlement went to members of the union for rati-
fication, they voted overwhelmingly against the terms.
It was suspected by some people that word went ‘down
the line” (through business agents that were appointed
by the President of the Union) for the members to vote,
against the settlement.
So what happens?
The negotiators were brought together again by
officers of the United States Government. Make us a
better offer, says the Union President. Remember that
after exhaustive deliberations, research, etc., ten-
tative settlement had been reached that was consid-
ered fair to both parties. Under prodding and pres-
sure by U. S. Government officials, an additional
twenty or thirty million dollars was added to the prev-
ious three year increased package of sixty or seventy
million dollars to be paid by the airlines (eventually
by the public.)
Of course, in view of {he way the President pro-
poses and Congress appropriates billions, what mat-
tg||s to them that the public must spend another twenty,
tfm-ty or ninety million dollars. They just keep going
their merry way in the deficit spending, inflationary
program of the United States Government. (Inciden-
tally, Bobby Kennedy and his brother, Edward, pro-
pUfi spending another ten or twelve BILLION dollars
per year of U. S. funds to appease the civil riot
leaders. Why should the Kennedy boys worry — their
papa, Joseph Kennedy, has probably set up millions
of dollars in trust for his children and grandchil-
dx*0n«)
In my editorial of last Sunday, there were com*
ments which I think are appropriate to be reprint-
ed, particularly Nos. 3, 4 and 6, which are in bold
type,
1. Practically all Western European nations, with
the exception of England, are strong financially a#
should, in my opinion, pay the entire cost of maintain-
ing necessary military forces in Western Europe.
They are the ones who seem to be afraid of the “Big
Bear” and the “Little Bears” — Russia and its
S&t@lllt€ St
2. Why not reduce our military forces now in
Europe and send these troops to Viet Nam? Let West
Germany, France, Spain and the others replace our
troops.
3. THE UNITED STATES SHOULD TAKE A GOOD
MLOOK AT ENGLAND'S PLIGHT. FOR MORE THAN A
^CENTURY. ENGLAND AND TRIED TO POLICE THE
WORLD WHICH, IN THE OPINION OF THIS WRITER,
STARTED THE FINANCIAL DOWNFALL OF A GREAT
RATION.
“ 4. ENGLAND HAS BECOME SOCIALISTIC BE-
CAUSE OF CONSTANT DEMANDS ON THE GOVERN-
MENT BY ITS LABOR UNION LEADERS. THIS IS
HAPPENING IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY. CON-
GRESS AND -THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES MUST QUIT “PLAYING POLITICS” AND
TAKE CORRECTIVE ACTION NOW TO GET OUR
NATION ON THE “RIGHT TRACK”. IT IS LATER
THAN YOU THINK. IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FU-
TURE WE ARE LIABLE TO FIND OUR COUNTRY
IN THE SAME DEPLORABLE STATE — AND FI-
NANCIAL CHAOS, WHICH IS ENGLAND'S CONDITION
TODAY.
5. We must support our President in the Viet Nam
war, but the leaders of government had better take a
good long look in the matter of doing most of the
policing and feeding of the world. True, we must do
our part in these matters, but it is surely time to
call a halt to the “Good-time-Charlie” role. Let
^very nation do its fair share of this job.
™ 6. THE DEFICIT SPENDING PROGRAM THAT
OUR GOVERNMENT HAS ENDORSED FOR YEARS
MUST STOP OR THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN
WE WILL HAVE TO “PAY THE PIPER.” WHEN
CONGRESS APPROPRIATES MONEY FOR ANY PUR-
POSE — CIVILIAN OR WAR — THERE SHOULD BE A
PROMPT CHANGE IN OUR TAX STRUCTURE TO PRE-
VENT DEFICIT SPENDING. IT IS TOO BAD THAT THE
AUTHORS OF OUR CONSTITUTION DID NOT MAKE
SUCH PROVISION, BUT WASTEFUL, SPENDTHRIFT
CHARACTERISTICS WERE NOT IN THE MAKEUP OF
OUR FOREFATHERS.
7. Private citizens and corporations are willing
to support worthwhile programs in behalf of the health
and welfare of our people, and they don't mind appro-
priate tax increases based on equity of values to pay
for those programs. They do not want waste or wild-
eyed, money-spending dreams that are impractical.
What is said here applies to city, county and state
as well as federal. Sometimes, local office holders
will not take the time to make the effort to initiate
programs and prepare- the material to properly ex-
plain these matters to the private citizens and corp-
orations that are concerned.
Winkler County is a very wealthy county and
there is no reason why it should not be moving for-
ward in all programs beneficial to the people who
live in this general area.
—M. M. DONOSKY
Private Showing Afforded Dealers
A private showing for Chry- previews are scheduled is one
sler • Plymouth dealers and at Fort Worth on Aug. 25 for |___ _____ ____
salesmen of Kermit this week dealers and salesmen of the company the past 35 days,
will give them their first look southwest. Thursday the amount of gas
at the new 1967 Plymouths, Invited to the preview are escaping daily was calculated
Chryslers and Imperial s. the sales and management per- at 129-million cubic feet, with a
Among the 14 cities in which sonell from McGuire Motors. vajue 0f $30,000 per day which
HA
Sunday, August 21,1966
Chief Operator
Named AtKermit
Miss Karen Jean Berghoff a water in 1963, moving to Kermit
group chief operator for the two years later.
Southwestern Bell Telephone
Company, in Dallas, has been
promoted to chief operator for
the local plant.
Miss Berghoff succeeds Mrs.
Dorothy Cradduck, 315 South
Avenue B, who has been trans-
ferred to Fort Worth. Miss
Berghoff joined the telephone
company last January in
Dallas, as a traffic manager
assistant. She was appointed to
group chief operator there in
June and held that position un-
til her appointment here. Mrs.
Cradduck, moved to Kermit last
year from Sweetwater where
she served as chief operator.
She began her telephone
career in Breckenridge in 1949
and in 1952 was transferred to
Abilene where she served as an
operator and service assistant.
She was appointed to assis-
tant chief operator in Sweet-
KAREN JEAN BERGHOFF
III
8
COUNTY-CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, officials, Judge W. E.
Cook, and Roy Davis marvel over the luxurious growth of
Lehman Love grass predominate in the above picture. Jay
Dee Amburgey is at left in the photo. The grass is over waist
high in most areas over this 400 acre pasture, known as
Amburgey ranch. SUN-NEWS Photo
Hospital Visitation
Discouraged by Staff
Conservation Impresses County,
Chamber of Commerce Officials
11 There is no job too tough for
man," that is the opinion of Jay
Dee Amburgey, who learned the
various advantages of a sturdy
contafrvation program many
years ago., His first actual ex-
perience with Conservation was
in the arid Arizona climes
where he spent 11 years of his
life, in overcoming problems
for ranchers.
Likewise, he has a similar
phrasing, there is no area too
tough to grow grass, not if you
get the right kind of grass.
From earliest recordings,
grassy plateaus, and herders
have had deep significance in
their relation to man. It is
only natural that the followings
of the “Shepherds of olden
times” would have great bear-
ing on man through the ages.
After 11 years reaping re-
sults in Arizona, Amburgey re-
turned to Texas, determined to
bring something worthwhile in
the way of ideas, that he intend,
ed to try first on his own land.
A few of his neighbors are ac-
cepting his conservation pro-
gram, but the one idea, that
spells success “is going that
extra step,” Amburgey cau-
tioned.
Conservation men all over
the United States and other
areas know about the soil prac-
tices, they know about grasses,
and know which grass is adap-
table to a certain area. Am-
burgey found that as long as he
limited his operations to the
plans designed by the remotely
associated conservationist, he
was “always in trouble.”
With an expenditure of $135,-
000 on his own ranch, rather
than going out and buying ad-
ditlonal ranches, (because
someday we are going to run
out of ranches) hephilosc §>hlzei>.
“why not make what we have
better,” was his thinking, Due
to his experience on his ranch
in Arizona, he decided to de-
velop the original Amburgey
Ranch, a project actually
started in 1960.
After getting the project well
underway, and figuring his total
cost of improvement per acre,
he figures any rancher can de-
velop his own ranch into one
of the utmost grazing productiv-
ity for $23.50 per acre. >
Reclamation is the term-
inology used by soil conser-
vationists, on the project Am-
burgey has undertaken. He has
reclaimed his own land, and the
cost of reclamation is far be-
low what it would have taken
to buy additional ranch land, and
he would still “be facing the
same problem, grass short-
age.”
Discouraging factors dogged
his footsteps at most every
turn, during the first year or
two, and at one point in his
operation, “water, became the
crucial need.”
“It cost me $20,000 to put
down one well, to prove to the
Railroad Commission and the
State Water Board, that there
was a method of getting through
and taking water from Santa
Rosa level at 670 feet, that
would be pure.” Not only was
his project a worthwhile im-
provement to his ranching ef-
fects, it also turned a tide in
“water production” for our
own immediate area. The well
which is 800 feet deep, takes six
Jays to pump a huge dirt re-
Si^Vcir on the ranch full, and
which a year of sufficient rain,
fall,\the service of the well is
not needed, It takes many a 3-
inch rain like the Amburgey's
had on the ranch last weekend
to keep it filled, with hundreds
of head of cattle grazing on the
ranch, and the natural absorp-
tion and evaporation due to the
elements.
The story of the life of the
Amburgey well, is almost a
story in itself. With the aid of a
crew, he had kept drilling and
casing the area levels drilled,
and running tests on the water's
purity, but it was not until
the Railroad Commission sent a
specialist from the water labor-
atory to the Amburgey ranch,
who lived with them for a period
of thirty days, observed every
process and every water test,
that Amburgey finally was able
to prove his point. TTiey had tc
drill at the rate of two feet oi
mud at a time in the Santa
Rosa level, stop, and run tests,
all the way, in order to prove
the point. “We didn’t mind
boarding the man for 30-days,
because ranchers are used to
extras all the time,” Mrs. Am-
burgey chimed in, “but it was
the tendency to always present
a rebuttal, in the project that
was so irritating.” Mrs. Am-
burgey lets her husband do most
of the talking about the ranch,
originally from Michigan, many
of the problems facing the South-
west Texas grazer were some-
thing foreign to her when she
came to this area. “I appreciate
the improvements, and what Jay
D ee has done, it used to be such
an unsightly mess here, when
one traveled south off the’Cap-
rock and now it is so beauti-
ful down here,” as she spread
out her hands in a stroking
gesture over the near “waist-
high” tendrils of grass.
Amburgey explained the pro-
cess of the well digging in a
way he has learned of “patience
makes perfect.” Always before
they had drilled deep wells,
and drilled to water. Of course,
the salts, alkalines and chemi-
cals would ruin the water. We
learned that if we cased out
the salt and chemical solu-
tions, and pumped each section
out, that it was the sands we
had gone through that pol-
luted the water. We began cas-
ing as we went along and taking
tests at the end of each perfora-
tion. When I was satisfied that
we had good water, and plenty
of it, I went to the Railroad
Commission and made them
listen to me. The result was the
man spending thirty days with
us and observing every detail of
the operation.”
Lehman Love grass imported
from Africa is the chief strain
that Amburgey depends on for
year round grazing. Blue Panic
is a summer variety and cattle
graze on it through the summer,
leaving the shoots of Lehman
Love which gets as high as a
man’s head.
The last of the grass-seed-
ing operation was finished last
See CONSERVATION, Page 4
Wolfe Unit No. 1 Sleeping,
According To Roden Producer
“Just tell them we gave it
a sleeping pill” was the wry
comment made by Bob Crit-
tenden, producer, Roden Oil
Company, Friday. Thursday, it
was a tale of woe, and dis-
couragement and “licked
again” was the comment made
by the Roden producer, after
they had poured tons of ground-
up rubber tires in the opening
to stop its flow.
“A break in the line some-
where near the 9,250 foot level,
which had to be plugged be-
fore any further operations,
was causing the discouraging
factor Thursday,” Crittendon
added.
Late Thursday night the plug-
ging with 25-pound to the gallon
mud, began to slow down the
surging gas which has baffled
the crew and Parker Drilling
it had flowed the entire 35-days.
Efforts were being made
Thursday to bring the pressure
down to the point the 5500
pound capacity casing could
stand the “beating” it has been
taking since Wolfe No. 1 ex-
ploded into a night and day
terror July 15th.
Thursday Crittendon said, “if
we would shut it down for as
much as five minutes it would
break the casing and no telling
where the pressure would force
the gas to go.”
Friday, and yet Saturday
morning, Crittendon was
slightly happier, for if they can
get a casing down through the
current perforation without it
erupting again, they will have
it under control. He was doubt-
ful whether it would remain
caged, the “wild lion that it has
been, and just hoping that every-
thing would hold until they can
run their 4-inch drill pipe
through the existing cavity.”
What the outcome will be is
indefinite at the present time.
Whether the gas well which re-
quired 80,000 pounds of mud to
curb it will remain quiet, or not
is anybody's guess.
The crews have been main-
tained night and day to offset
this underground creature, with
the productivity of millions and
millions of cubic feet of gas to
Catering services have sup-
plied food to the crews through-
out the 35-day operation, which
is “something better than they
had in the old days.”
Potential for Wolfe Unit No.
1 should the “sleeping pill” re-
main in effect, is uncertain,
However, it could become a sup-
the United States, or it could
be hampered for a time while
Parker Drilling Company re-
sumes its 22,000 foot explor-
ation project. Whatever the out-
come, “we know its there,”
Crittendon concluded.
say nothing of the thousands of plier of natural gas throughout
barrels of oil which issued
daily,
“It is the most gratifying re-
sponse we have had thus far
in the activity of Wolfe Unit
No. 1” Crittendon stated, with
a sigh of relief.
A former College professor,
Crittendon said “it sure made
me think rn°re than once about
going back to the good old col-
lege days,” when he was an en-
gineering director. For the past P“ce
six weeks
grind and
Water from the Cheyenne De-
velopment Corporation north
well has been supplied us for
“what we term a reasonable
We made the deal with
the ’'night* and"day Mr. Avery Midland mayor,”
the uncertainly, Crittendon added. Some reports
sometimes completely hope- of the tremendous^ water fee,
less have plagued the crews, we3fe eased off by Crittendon s
who have endured its onslaught statement, It s a fair price,
for as much as 36 hours with- considering the thousands o.
out stopping to rest. barrels of water we required.”
According to Administrator
Ralph Lennon at Winkler Me-
morial Hospital, the doctors and
administration of Memorial
Hospital are becoming quite
concerned about the many visi-
tors in the hospital. Fifteen
years ago a patient could anti-
cipate a long confinement. Hos-
pitals were both medical cen-
ters and hotels for convales-
cents, Daily routines were leis-
urely and patients had little to
do, At that time visitors were
urged to stay because of the
patient’s boredom,
Today the situation is dif-
ferent. The average length of
stay of a patient in our hos-
pital is five days, When a pa-
tient is headed toward a safe
recuperation, he is quickly re-
leased and sent home, He can
usually heal there just as rapid-
ly and at less cost than in a
hospital room.
During his stay in the hos-
pital, the patient is genuinely
sick, much too sick to apprec-
iate an abundance of callers.
The hospital routine of doc-
tors and nurses administering
to this patient takes a lot of
time. Too, when the patient
is not receiving medical atten-
tion, he should be resting.
Doctors now encourage the
public to delay any visits un-
til their sick friends go home,
where they can relax in fa-
miliar surroundings.
While the patient is still in
the hospital bed, flowers, cards
and gifts are much more ap-
propriate than personal visits.
Most patients themselves show
similar preferences. They had
rather endure their discomfort
in private, especially if it lasts
no longer than a few days. The
patient does not want to be
forced to ‘play host’ to along
string of callers, when he
neither feels nor looks his best.
Playing host can be exhausting,
particularly when you are sick
in a hospital.
Doctors often notice that on
Mondays, a patient’s condition
has deteriorated after a week-
end crammed with visitorg.
There are many ways people
may show their concern for sick
friends. In addition to flowers,
cards, books and gifts, you
may weed a garden, do some
chores around your sick
friend’s home or wash his car
or mow his lawn.
A mother taken ill may leave
a house without a cook, if so,
her family would welcome a
dinner invitation or even a hot
dish delivered to the door.
Children need watching when
the mother is in the hospital
and the father is at work.
Small favors, and their num-
ber is limitless, may take less
time and less inconvenience
than a trip to the hospital.
When the patient hears of your
helpfulness, he will appreciate
your effort substantially more
than if you visited him in the hos-
pital.
The doctors and nurses at Me-
morial Hospital would apprec-
iate this also. On those occas-
ions when you do make a hos-
pital visit you should carefully
abide by the rules and observe
all visiting hours and various
signs that are placed on the pa-
tient’s door. Sometimes a phy-
sician has reasons for ruling
out visitors entirely, or limit-
ing them to members of the
family only.
One caller at a time is plenty.
You are asked not to smoke,
eat, or sit on the patient’s
bed, Try not to talk about the
patient’s illness if you can avoid
it. Don’t dwell on dismal sub-
jects and try to be optimis-
tic. Hospital patients in bed
have troubles enough already,
keep your personal troubles
to yourself.
It is all important that
visitors be limited, and above
all, if you must visit in the
hospital, stay for a SHORT
period only, To a sick person,
a visit of five to ten minutes
is enough, Lennon continued.
The hospital personnel and
doctors are doubly concerned
about the influx of children in
patient’s rooms, and being un-
attended in the hallways and
lobby areas; Most parents do not
realize that small children are
much more susceptible to dis-
ease than are adults. When a
child enters a hospital consi-
der, or a patient’s room, the
chances are greater of them
contacting a disease. For this
reason, the hospital staff asks
that children twelve years of
age and younger not be allowed
within the hospital. This, of
course, is for their own pro-
tection. Also, smaller children
are inclined to be noiser than
most adults, Lennon added.
Registration
Schedule
Announced
Registration schedule for all
students of Kermit Schools has
been announced byD, M, Mayer,
director of instructional ser-
vices for the school system.
Regular classes, with buses
running on schedule and all stu-
dents reporting to class, begin
Aug. 31.
Registrations are to be on the
announced dates from 8 until
12 noon and from 1 until 4 p.m.
Mayer also announced that
high school students wanting to
buy school insurance may do
so at the time they register.
This insurance is available at
$4 for regular school hours or
$10 for 24-hour protection.
Registration schedule is as
follows:
EAST PRIMARY
Grade 1 — Monday, Aug. 22,
plus 2nd grade students new to
the system.
Grade 2 — Tuesday, Aug. 23.
PURPLE SAGE
Grade 1 —Monday, Aug. 22.
Grade 2 — Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Grade 3 — Wednesday, Aug.
24.
Grade 4—Thursday, Aug. 25.
Grade 5 —Friday, Aug. 26.
INTERMEDIATE
Grade 3 — Wednesday, Aug.
24.
Grade 4—Thursday,Aug. 25.
Grade 5 — Friday, Aug. 26.
JUNIOR HIGH
Grade 8 — Monday, Aug. 22.
Grade 7 — Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Grade 6 — Wednesday, Aug.
24.
HIGH SCHOOL .
Seniors — Monday, Aug. 22.
Juniors — Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Sophomores — Wednesday,
Aug. 24.
Freshmen — Thursday, Aug.
25.
BUS STUDENTS
Grades 1 & 5 — Purple
Sage.
Grade 2 — East Primary.
Grades 3 & 4 — Intermedi-
ate.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Parsons, J. Arthur. Winkler County News (Kermit, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 13, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 21, 1966, newspaper, August 21, 1966; Kermit, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth910359/m1/1/?q=%22Places+-+United+States+-+Texas+-+Winkler+County%22: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Winkler County Library.