18 Dec 1955
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 23 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Mexia Daily News
Location
Mexia, Texas, United States of America
Date
Dec 18, 1955
Page
1
Harold Cook, 25, washed overboard from the trawler Denton two miles off Grimsby in a dawn incident. After three hours of fruitless search, he crawled ashore exhausted but alive two days later. The rescue defied expectations as he cannot swim.
Donations exceeding 2400 have been received by the Mexia State School and Home to repair television sets for wards. Wards now own 34 sets, with two spares, donated by individuals across the state after letters from Superintendent Ver non Jones. All aerials bought with cash contributions. no state funds used. Sets praised as beneficial for boys girls and the elderly. in near constant operation.
Texas authorities flew to Syracuse to recapture Howard Merit Pierson an escaped double murderer who killed his parents in 1935 and fled a mental hospital. Pierson aged 40 had wandered city to city since escaping in 1938 and was finally trapped at a psychiatrist's office after visiting a lawyer in Syracuse. He had connections to Texas and had lived in Philadelphia Rochester and Buffalo before surrendering.
A fragment notes corduroy derives from the French corde du rei meaning king’s cord and once linked to the royal ivory or outdoor attendants. The text hints at early class associations and fashion value, though details are sparse and stylistic.
Four Mexia men Macon Smith Buddy Taylor Nelson Isbell and J W Smith employees of McKenzie Motor Company delivered eight new trucks to Mexia then sent them to Houston for export to a seismograph crew in Arica They crossed the Red River into Texas during a severe northern snowstorm driving one truck and towing another They faced icy highways and distant overnight accommodations before returning home noting Texas climate felt like spring or fall compared to the north.
Mexia State School Choral Club presented two programs in Limestone and Freestone counties this week. On Wednesday the girls performed at the Baptist Church on Prairie Hill and received Christmas gifts after the show. Music directors were Mrs W A Phillips and Mrs Clyde Keeling with Lindsey Moore as educational director. Thursday the group performed for the Pem-Rn Teacher Association at Dew, with additional arts awards and gifts presented.
Miami Beach police chase ends with the capture of a man identified as Eurens Russ of Beaver Falls Pa after he forced his way into a car driven by Albert J. Gilson of Chicago. Frank DuBois the taxi driver signaled the pursuit with his radio and alerted six squad cars.
A jury acquitted Ed ward E Higgins, 29, who steers his car with his feet, of speeding accusations claiming pursuing officers drove 106 miles per hour to catch Higgins. The verdict said officers were behind and not due to his 60 mph limit.
United Press reports eight Texans died in fires at Mission and Beaumont on Friday and Saturday. Four women and four children perished in a quonset hut farmhouse near Mission, the hut fully consumed by an explosion and fire. Residents, including two mothers, escaped or were rescued from a two story Rest Haven convalescent home in North Beaumont where six others were saved by firefighters and neighbors.
Joe Cannon son of Mr and Mrs Barnett Cannon of Mexia attended the Student Conference on World Wars in College Station conducted by Texas A and M students. A North Texas State College sophomore and president of the United Students, he represented North Texas at the conference and arrived in Mexia Saturday evening to spend Christmas with his parents.
Weather notes report a warming weekend for North Central Texas with clear to partly cloudy skies and a forecast of higher temperatures. Miss Josie Newman records lows around 30 and highs near 50 on Friday with frost in the Panhandle and subfreezing readings in Dalhart Amarillo Wichita Falls and Lubbock. Arctic air in the north pushes south with 4 below in Dickinson N Dakota and 5 below in Minot N Dakota, drops from Friday.
A 58 year old man identified as Joseph A Ferrill died from exposure in Houston during the coldest weather of the season. Police say he had been dead about 12 hours when found beneath a bridge over White Oak Bayou after temperatures fell to 29 degrees.
Jacksonville awards contract to construct an earthen dam creating a 1,300 acre lake with a capacity to supply 11 million gallons daily. Projected cost is 300000 dollars and completion is expected within two years, providing water even during drought.
Coldwater Michigan ad reads an attractive gal who gets paid on Friday and is broke by Tuesday wants to meet a man who gets paid on Tuesday and is broke by Friday. The cheeky classified item reflects local humor in the Friday edition of the Collwater Advertiser.
Mexia High School invites the public to an open house this Sunday from 3 to 8 pm at the new six room homemaking cottage. The project cost about 22000 dollars with architect Bob Langston of Mexia and supervisor O L Robinson. Futorman Furniture of Texas donated living room furniture. Attendees include homemaking staff Miss Sadie Jo Black and Mrs Gene Womack, school board members, and local officials.
A fragmentary account notes the Parthenon in Athens serving as a Greek temple for centuries before being repurposed as a Christian shrine around the year SPY, reflecting a long religious transformation of the ancient structure.
Hollywoods famed anonymous Santa Claus, despite funding cuts and a lean year, donated about 20 thousand dollars to help the needy. The benefactor, who since 1945 has kept his identity secret, supported families including a Colorado farm family, a Texas waitress, a Riverside mother, and a Los Angeles mother with three children facing foster care risk.
Groesbeck Groesbeck Spl reports 900 head of cattle sold at the weekly live stock sale. Prices were weak to 50 cents lower for most butcher cattle while best calves held firmer. Stocks included butcher calves 16 to 19.50, cows and calves 80 to 720, dry stockers up to 11. A near dozen springing cows brought 83.
Singer Gordon McKay slipped into court Friday for a drunken driving case. He paid a $300 fine to Municipal Judge Juthan Beck after a car crash with four vehicles, following a sobriety test the singer failed to pass and denied intoxication.
Continental Copters proposes twice daily helicopter air mail to 24 towns within a 100 mile radius of Dallas Fort Worth. The plan, filed with the Civil Aeronautics Board, lists Denton Gainesville Pottsboro Durant Denison Sherman McKinney Garland Rockwall Greenville Commerce Sulphur Springs Mineola Athens Terrell Waxahachie Corsicana Mexia Waco Hillsboro Weatherford Mineral Wells Stephenville Cleburne, with Love Field and Amon Carter Field handling 1171 inbound and 169 outbound flights daily.
The First Methodist church choir will present a Sunday afternoon program of Christmas songs at 5:00 p.m. The lineup includes Christmas anthems by the choir a soprano solo by Mrs Joe Pike and a soprano contralto duet by Mrs B M Davis and Mrs John Bennett. Mrs Wyatt Hayter directs and plays organ. the public is invited.
In Los Angeles a seven year old girl named Ada Lopez hanged herself using a clothes loop imitation of a trapeze act seen on television. Police reported the victim was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Hiram Lopez. a woman on TV had swung by her chin on a trapeze.
Jimmy Hinton aged 43 died in a Houston hospital from burns after a car gas tank exploded while he was dismantling it with an acetylene torch. He worked as an auto mechanic and was injured Friday night.
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