The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985 Page: 284
476 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
I spent a long hot summer deciding which door to enter. From my
Adalia community in Caldwell County, Lubbock was four hundred
miles away. Austin, a big country town only thirty miles distant, I had
always known. I decided to remain near home.
In the 192os detractors leveled harsh criticism against the Univer-
sity. It was a "party school" where unending poker games ran from
semester to semester. A hotbed of radical politics, it taught evolution
and failed half of its students. Praising the school, my high school
teachers were a shield against these arrows of rumor.
One problem stood in the way-hard cash for fees, deposits, and
books. Though in debt and with a bank note due, Father found a
solution. When he ginned the first two bales of cotton, we went to see
John T. Storey, president of the Lockhart National Bank.1 Like a
diplomat, Father explained my situation, mentioning scholarship and
job. He asked for an extension on the note, which Mr. Storey granted.
After selling the cotton, Father handed me ninety-six dollars. We
went to Rosenwasser's Red Front Store, where I bought a twenty-
dollar suit, a shirt with broad green stripes, and a two-dollar suitcase.
Riding home in the wagon, we celebrated by eating a loaf of fresh
bread from the Lockhart bakery.
Early in September Mr. Mullins dropped me off at 2211 Speedway,
where a cracker-box cafe carried a big electric sign, "Eats." Here I met
a kind gentleman, Mr. Tilmon D. Childre, the proprietor. I agreed to
work for thirty-five cents an hour and pay thirty dollars a month for
room and board in his two-story home. His blind son, Truett, man-
aged the cafe. Several upperclassmen roomed in the big house.
I quickly adjusted to the new surroundings. I shall never forget rising
on cold mornings at 5:30 (not unusual in farm life) to shave in the
bathroom, which smelled of fresh paint and fumes from the gas stove.
Before registration Mr. Childre and I had time to pitch horseshoes
under trees near the sidewalk, for business was slow. A few customers
came from the press building, the power plant, and a pressing shop
down the street.
Visiting The Daily Texan office in B Hall, I met Jimmie S. Payne,
editor-in-chief, and Bob Cantrell, author of the daily "Sport Talk."
1John T. Storey was a descendent of pioneer business and professional families who
settled in Lockhart before Caldwell County was organized. Leonidas Jefferson Storey was
lieutenant governor of Texas from 188o to 1882. See Laura J. Irvine, "Sketch of Cald-
well County, Texas," American Sketch Book ... ,VII, no. 2 (1882), 143; Walter Prescott
Webb, H. Bailey Carroll, and Eldon Stephen Branda (eds.), The Handbook of Texas (g
vols.; Austin, 1952, 1976), III, 522.284
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985, periodical, 1984/1985; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101210/m1/332/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.