The Enterprise (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 37, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 14, 1950 Page: 1 of 16
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THE MERCEDES NEWS-TRIBUNE AND
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YOL. XXXVIII—NO. 37 THURSDAY, SEPT. 14, 1950 MERCEDES, TEX., $2.00 PER YEAR—5c COPY
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Wittmann Wins
4":: I
REAL ACTION AT THE PRIZEFIGHTS — Thursday night fight fans saw
a good show when Jessie DeHoyo, left, of Houston, and Juan Amayo,
Mexico City, mixed in one of the main events. Shortly after this Picture
was taken Amayo knocked out DeHoyo with a left jab to the stomach. The
boys were fighting an eight round fight at 120 pounds.—Harman & Howell
Photo, Mercedes. _______
Hidalgo-Cameron Counties Water
District No. 9 Reduces Bond Tax Rate
MERCEDES — An interesting an-
nouncement comes from Hidalgo and
Cameron Counties Water Control
And Improvement District No. 9
this week in the form of a notice
that their bond tax rate on the 1950
tax roll is being reduced from $4.00
per $100 valuation to $3.50 per $100
valuation. W. A. Heller, tax assessor
and collector, also announced that the
district anticipates retiring $98,000
in optional bonds as of January 1,
1951, providing tax collections
normal for the balance of the year.
The present bonded indebtedness of
the district is $1,940,000 as of Jan-
uary 1, 1950.. The original bonded in-
Tiger Booster
Club Elects
New Officers
MERCEDES — At a meeting of
the members of the Tiger Booster
ClUb last Thursday night Wendell
Schwarz was named president to
head the club for the coming year.
There were about 50 present for the
meeting and to watch the team go
through a practice session in prepara-
tion for the first game the next
night.
Other officers elected at the meet-
ing include George Graf, Jr., vice-
president and Walter Hoekstra as
secretary-treasurer. Jimmie Burhold-
er was named chairman of the pi’O-
gram committee and assisting him
will be Ross McCurdy and Jack
Martin. Godby Acker and Bill Baker
were named to the membership com-
mittee and those who wish to be-
long to the Tiger Booster Cl’ub and
help support activities in the High
school should get in touch with either
one of the two -men. Publicity was
Charles BorChelt.
put in the hands of Dean Garrett and
-this meeting to support the football
Plans for the year were made<*at
-team as well as preliminary plans
for the banquet at the end of the
season. Jimmie Burkholder is the re-
tiring president of the group and the
-members of the club give him a
great deal of credit for the success
of the club the past year.
Regular meetings of the club will
be held each Tuesday evening at 8
o’clock at the High school'.
CONDITION IMPROVED
Dr. D. L. Heidrick became serious-
ly ill on Monday but is reported to
and his condition is showing some
be resting easier at the present time
improvement, according to a report
from Dr. E. C. Smith. .
debtedness of this district was $3,-
500,000 when it was organized. The
organization work was done prior to
1930 hut they started operating un-
der the present set-up on January 1,
1930.
In 1933 a refunding program with
teh Reconstruction Finance Corpora-
tion was negotiated and at that time
the indebtedness was reduced to $2,-
450,000. The interest rate was also
reduced from si xper cent to four
per cent at this time.
In 1946 the district found it ad-
vantageous to again refund their
bonded indebtedness and as a result
the interest rates were reduced from
four to three and three and one-half
per cent. The actual savings in in-
terest over the life of the bond issue
totals $422,000 after paying expen-
ses of refunding. Payment of bonds
maturing during the time reduced
the principal to $1,9940,000. The
1946 refunding also included a set
up of optional bonds which could he
paid by the district each five years
and it is that first, group of $98,000
in bonds which they expect to retire
or: January 1, 1951. Similar optional
bonds also come due each five years
during the life of the bond issue.
The Hidalgo and Cameron Coun-
ties Wate Control and Improvement
District No. 9 is one of the largest
districts in the Valley and they serve
approximately 82,000 acres of land
in the eastern part -Of Hidalgo and
the wstrn part of Camron county.
Good management Jj&s been the
prime factor in putting this water
district in the favorable position in
which they are today. A steady re-
duction in the indebtedness along
with improvement to the system has
been the goal Of the men serving
as directors arid managers of the
district.
Officers and directors df the wa-
ter district include: J. A. Henry, pre-
sident; Lewie Hoyt, vice-president;
D. C. Key, secretary; and the other
two directors are R. G. Bell ;and G.
A. Schwarz. W. R. Smith :is the
general' manager; W. A. Heller, as-
sessor and collector and Robert E.
Kirkpatrick is the attorney.
First Again In
National Show
MERCEDES — Bill Wittman of
the Mercedes Frigid Food Bank again
won top honors in the National. Ham
Show held this week in Chicago in
connection with the National' Frozen
Food Lockers Association.
A year ago Wittmann just about
won all the honors in the show and
by so doing he was eligible to enter
only the one class this year. His
lone entry was in the heavy com-
mercial class and he was awarded
first place in the show. A phone
call from Chicago Tuesday morning
relayed the good news to the plant
in Mercedes. Next year he can enter
his hams in the show but they will be
on a non-competitive basis.
Wittmann left here Saturday for
the show and is expected to return to
Mercedes the first of next week.
This is the second year that Mr.
Wittmann has won both the state
and national shows. After winning
the state last year he went on to
win the national' show in October.
Likewise this year he won the state
show which was held in Galveston in
April and his honors there included
first place in heavy commercial,
champion of commercial division and
grand champion award.
The prize winning hams have been
developed over a period of the past
several years at the Mercedes Frigid
Food Bank and they have brought
much favorable publicity to Merce-
des.
A
REAL TIGER BOOSTER - T. W.
McQueen, pioneer resident of Mer-
cedes, is one of the Tiger Football
team’s best boosters. Shown above
are Mr. McQueen and the cage that
he has built on hie scooter which is
seen often on the streets of Merce-
des. In the cage he has the Tiger
and around the top of the cage he
has the football schedule for the
year.
—Harman & Howell Photo, Mercedes.
D. C. Wilson Dies
At Hospital Monday
MERCEDES — Dacotah Carmel
Wilson, 62 years of age, Liberty
Drive, Mercedes, died at the Valley
Baptist Hospital in Harlingen, Mon-
day night.
Born in Kentucky, he had lived in
Mercedes since 1936. He was a mem-
ber of the Church of Christ and the
Odd Fellows Lodge.
Surviving are the wife, Mrs. Bes-
sie May Wilson, a daughter, Patri-
cia, of Mercedes; two sons, Stanley,
of San Antonio, and Boyd, of Med-
ford, Oregon; two brthers, Ruel Wil-
son, New Richmond, IncL, and Hil-
ton Wilson, Green Castle, Ind.; a sis-
ter, Mrs. Etta Widner, of Monticell'o,
Ind., and two grandchildren.
Services will be held this afternoon
at 4:30 from the Stotler Mortuary
in charge of Rev. D. C. Williams of
the Church of Christ. Burial will be
in Ebony Grove cemetery.
Mercedes Public Library-
Box 294 xx
Mercedes, Texas
Horse Racing Will Be Major -
Attraction At Showgrounds
, sppji
MERCEDES — Horse racing, as
one of the Valley’s major sports at-
tractions,
week
________ was assured this
when the Rio Grande Valley Live-
stock Show leased the race track on
its Showgrounds at Mercedes to Har-
ry G. “Pappy” Fisks for the staging
of quarter horse races and harness
horse races.
Fiske, who successfully operated
the Harbenito Speedway for the past
two years will return to the Valley
within the next two weeks from his
home in Twin Lake, Michigan, ac-
cording to President Eldon B. Smith
of the Rio Grande Valley Livestock
Show. He will immediately start
work on the preliminary details in
organizing the racing program.
In the staging of quarter horse
races,, Fiske will be associated with
The horsemen of the Valley, upon
whose encouragement he is launch-
ing this racing project.
Just when the first races will be
held will be announced by Fiske
soon after his return to the Valley.
Work on completing the half-mil'e
oval and the quarter-mile straight-
away race track on Showgrounds at
Mercedes will get under way soon
by the Rio Grande Valley Livestock
Show under the direction of Presi-
Start Paving Work
On Texas Avenue
MERCEDES — Preliminary work
has been started on the paving of
Texas Avenue from Hidalgo Street
north to the gate of the Show-
grounds. The contract was let to So-
mers Paving and Roofing Co. of La
Feria.
Completion of these few blocks
will mean a great deal to the city
and to the people who attend the
many events staged at the Show-
grounds.
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PRIZE WINNING GILT — Ralph Numbers, Rural Route 1, Mission, and
his prize gilt, weighing 185 pounds, which won first place in county and
area contests at the swine show held here on Saturday.—Harman & Howell
Photo, Mercedes.
Good Fight
Card Next
Monday Night
MERCEDES — Fight dates in
Mercedes have been changed from
Thursday night to Monday night and
the next event will be held on Mon-i
day night, September 18, at 8:30 p.m.
This is being done to avoid con-
flicting dates with other sport events
in the Valley and Mercedes.
Scheduled for a return bout are
the two girls, Cuea Garcia and 'Mer-
cedes Contreras, who put on such a
good show two weeks ago and were
so popular with the fans. While no
extra round is promised, as the girls
put on the last time they appeared
here, it is hard to predict what might
happen. The last fight ended m a
tie decision and both were so provok-
ed that they staged an extra round
of fighting, not on the card.
The balance of the eard for Mon-
day will feature all Valley hoys as
Joel Longoria of Pharr1 meets Raul;
Reyna of Matamoros in a six round;
bout at 145 pounds. Next bout is
between Raul Botello of Harlingen
and Joe Amayo of Monterrey, fight-
ing si xrounds at 120 pounds. Juan
Terranova, McAllen also meets Gene
Longoria of Pharr in a four round
bout at 130 pounds.
There will also be a four round
curtain raiser. Prices for the Mon-
day show are $1.25 for ringside.
$1.00 for reserved seats and genera]
admission is 75 cents.
Last Week’s Fights
The DeHoyo brothers were the
main attractions at the fights held
last Thursday night and the brothers
•won one bout and lost the other.
Rudy De Hoyo won over Tony Gon-
zalez with a knockotu in the third
round while Joe Amayo of Mexico
City landed a knockout punch on
Jesse De Hoyo in the fourth round of
their match.
W. W. Holmes Named
Legion Commander
To Succeed Chapman
MERCEDES — W. W. Holmes,
first vice commander of Mercedes
J. A. Garcia American Legion Post,
was elected post commander at the
meeting of the post Monday night,
to succeed James Chapman, who has
answered a call to the service.
Do nWenger was elected first vice
commander to fill the vacancy caus-
ed by the resignation of Holmes.
Ed Sanders, Noe Sisk and Holmes
reported on the recent Legion De-
partment Convention held at Gal-
vesto, stating that it was the best
convention they had ever attended.
Mr. and Mrs. J. C, Deyo and
daughter, Betty, are at home after
a trip to Chicago, and Caldwell, Ohio,
where they visited relatives.
New Officers
Named For Men’s
Bible Class
MERCEDES — The Mercedes
Men’s Bible Class has elected new
officers for the year 1950-51 and
named to head the group as presi-
dent was J. S. Copeland. Other offi-
cers include Paul Maddox, vice-
president; J. L. Bates, secretary-
treasurer; and A. W. Thornton, as-
sistant secretary-treasurer. Rev.
George Wheeler is the teacher of
‘the class.
This Bible class is one of thm
largest in South Texas and was
organized in September of 1947
with only 12 members, including
Rev. Wheeler who was the teacher
of the class.
Each Sunday morning at 10
o’clock they meet in the City Hall
auditorium and close their meet-
ing at 10:45. They now have a
membership of 132 active members
with 'new members being added
nearly every Sunday.
The new officers were installed
at three o’clock Sunday afternoon.
September 10 In the I.O.O.F. Hall
at Fifth and Ohio streets. This was
the third anniversary of the found-
ing of the class.
Won Opener
I
From Laredo
Friday Night
'MERCEDES — A good crowd was
on hand for the ' opening football
game against" Laredo Friday even-
ing on the Tiger field when the lo-
cals dfeated the up-river team by a
score of 13 to 0. It was also the first
game -of the season for the Laredo
team.
Highlight of the game was the 78-
yard run by Jackie Graf in the sec-
ond period. Through right tackle
and cutting back sharply to the left
after clearing the line of scrimmage,
Graf outsprinted the Laredo second-
ary for the first score of the game.
Jimmie Steer made the score read
7 to 0 when his kick for the extra
point sailed through the uprights.
The second score came in the third
period when Dean Groves recovered
a Laredo fumble .-on Laredo’s 26 j^ard
line., Joe Velasquez went over center
to the Laredo 6 and Do nNewmann,
on the next play, passed to Groves
in the end zone for the score.
Steer’s attempted conversion was
wide but the score stood 13 to 0.
Laredo missed scoring opportuni-
ties in the fourth quarter when they
recovered Mercedes fumbles on the
12 and again on the 13-yard line.
They also threatened late in the sec-
ond quarter.
Laredo has nine first downs to six
for the Tigers and gained a total of
181 yards to 178 for Mercedes.
Laredo_____—____ 0 0 0 0— 0
Mercedes___ 0 7 6 0—13
Tomorrow night the Tigers meet
Elsa-Edcouch on the local field at 8
o’clock. The Delta team will be open-
ing their season with the Tigers and
Jiey have a number of freshmen and
sophomores in their line-up.
Joint Meeting
Held To Discuss
Tax Evaluation
MERCEDES — City officials,
school district officials and members
of the water board met in a joint
session at the City Building Monday
evening. Purpose of this meeting was
to hear P. L. Marquis, representing
a tax appraisal firm of Wharton,
Texas, tell of the advantages of hav-
ing an independent appraisal made
of properties for an equitable tax
assessment.
The firm represented by Mr. Mar-
quis has made similar appraisals in
Raymondville, San Benito, Donna and
Falfurrias and it is thought by most
interested people that this is the only
way in which a fair and equitabl'e
evaluation for tax purposes can be
made in any community.
Representing the Mercedes Inde-
pendent School District at this
meeting were Henry Lauderdale and
Ernest Marchant. Members of the
Water Board present were C. B. Ray
Gallaway, H. L. German and W. M.
Frank Garibay, G. E. Watson, L. L.
Waterman.
The 1950 city t^x evaluation shows
a total of $4,024^993 of which $2,-
910,105 is in real estate and $1,114,-
888 in personal property. This is an
increase of approximately $100,000
in real estate and a $300,000 increase
in personal property.
At this meeting an 8-inch sewer
line to take care of the Bentsen Block
and the new Anthony building was
approved.
Tiger Booster Club
Signs 43 Members
MERCEDES — Next meeting of
the Tiger Booster Club will be held
at the High school Tuesday night.
A program of motion pictures, which
will show the highlignts of footb? '!
games in the Southwest conference
last year will be shown. The public
is invited to this meeting.
A membership drive has been on
during the past week and to date
43 have signed up for the 1950-51
club.
The members to date are as fol-
lows: A. G. Acker, Grant Morrison,
Dick Glover, H. B. Rodgers, Red
Purl, L. W. Clifford, W. H. Kizzia,
Jack Martin, Walter McNeil, Hugh
Norris, Fred Johnston, Bob Frix.
Wendell Schwarz, George Graf, The
Shack, Vernon Adams, Robert Davis
Mercedes Harware & Supply Co., C
A. Ripley, Bill Condon, Joe Bailey.
dent Eldon B. Smith.
The dirt fill-in of the half-mile
oval track and the quarter-mile
straightaway track was built when
the Showgrounds were developed two
years ago. The track will now be
finished to the proper grades and
conditioned for fast races. A fence
will he constrorted around the track.
Seating capacity for several1 thou-
sand people will be provided by
moving the grandstand and bleach-
ers from the softball field to the
race track. This grandstand is port-
able and each bea easily moved.
After completion of the track,
Fiske and his associates will main-
tain the track in first class condi-
tion. A starting gate and other ne-
cessary equipemnt will be installed.'
In addition to quarter horse rac-
ing, Fiske is contemplating the
bringing of harness horse races to the
Valley during the winter months.
“We have repeatedly been contacted
by harness horse owners in Tegard
to winter training in the Valley’s
mild winter climate,” Carl Blasig,
manager of the Rio Grande Valley
Livestock Show said in pointing out
that Fiske would, no doubt, be suc-
cessful in establishing harness horse
racing in the Valley. Fiske has been
contacting harness horse owners on
the big tracks np north this sum-
mer. The Rio Grande Valley Live-
stock Show can provide good winter
facilities for quite a number of hor-
ses. Several harness horse owners,
who compete on the big tracks np
North, live in the Valley during the
winter months and have found the
Valley an ideal place to train their
horises.
There are many good quarter hor-
ses Jn the Valley and some excellent
racing events can be expected. As
the quarter racing program develops,
horsemen from other sections of Tex-
as and other states can be expected
to bring their horses to the Valley
for winter training. In addition to
Valley racing events, Fiske is plan-
ning one or two big race meets a
year in the Valley in which the best
running horses from Texas and oth-
er states will compete.
What about car racing in which
Fiske has been quite successful in
the Valley for the past two years?
“We do expect to race a few big
car events”- Fiske states. He is ex-
perienced in Urn staging of both horse
and automobile races.
The Horse Racing Committee of
the Mercedes Chamber of Commerce,
which originally initiated the horse
racing project for the local Show-
grounds, worked out the preliminary
details and recommended “Pappy*
Fiske to the directors of the Rio
Grande Valiev Livestock Show. This
committee consists of C. A. Ripley,
chairman, Dan Logan who for sev-
eral years owned and raced one of
the best quarter horses in Texas,
A. G. Acker, Clyde Hollon, and
Ernest Marchant president of the
Mercedes Chamber of Commerce.
The directors of the Rio Grande
Valley Livestock Show, who belive
that horse racing will be a popular
Valley sport and provide good enter-
tainment for winter tourists, are
President Eldon B. Smth, W. H.
Drawe, O. E. Vanberg, Shelley Col-
lier, J. R. Wade, Jesse Dudley, Steve
Gallaway and Bill Heller.
Local Farm Bureau
Memberships Will
Reach Total of 300
i
MERCEDES — Latest reports
fiom the Mercedes Farm Bureau
membership drive indicate that before
the drive is officially closed at the
end of the month that there will be
something over 300 members. The
count up to and including Tuesday
was 263.
Reports from the county drive
show that 1410 members had been
signed up to Tuesday and the coun-
ty membership is expected to exceed
1900.
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FIRST IN FAT HOG CLASS IN HIDALGO — Henry Janvier of Elsa worn
first place in Hidalgo and third place in area with this fat hog weighing
185 pounds.—Harman & Howell Photo; Mercedaa.
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Kilby, E. G. The Enterprise (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 37, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 14, 1950, newspaper, September 14, 1950; Mercedes, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth987241/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.