The Rusk Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 1, 1959 Page: 1 of 12
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County Crime, Up or Down? County Officials Answer In New Series
Juvenile arrests in Texas exceeded those in 1957 by 161
per cent! In this nation nearly 2.00,000 adults—126 per ev-
ery 100,000 men, women and children — are in federal and |
state-prisons, a rise of S.7 per cent from last year.
if these figures are alarming, they are intended to be.
But they are statistics, and in this case they cover a large
area. They are worrisome, but it does not mean that Hous-
ton, Et Paso and Rusk each had a 16 per cent rise in juve-
nile arrests. The statistics cannot be applied at face value.
So how should we take them here, in Cherokee County f
Not with a grain of salt. Not even the least affected people
can view impassionately the apparent decaying morals of
our people. Even though Houston may have a crime rate up
SO per cent and Cherokee County's rate dropped by one per
cent, the average—the statistics—still reflect on Cherokee
Countians.
And not a few wonder how long the non-metropolitan
areas can remain aloof from the tragic problems of big ci-
ties.
Still, a survey of Cherokee County may show its amount
of lawbreaJeing runs counter to that in metropolitan areas.
And therein lies a story and a topic of inestimable impor-
tance, one that is at the heart of every study of crime and
vi&mce in America's volatile society.
All Cherokee County can have pride in its record of citi-
zenship. But it can't be left there. Of critical importance is
WHY.
The f allowing discussions incorporate the views, inter-
pretations, analyses and conclusions of the people who know
this facet of Cherokee County society best—judicial and. law
enforcement officers.
Cooperating in this series of articles are County Sher-
iff Allen Dotson, County Judge J. W. Chandler, District
Judge J. W. Summers, County Attorney Paul Cox and nu-
merous others who have a dose knowledge of the subject
from working in this field for many years.
Any conclusions drawn wOl be essentially theirs. |
TOOLS OF THE TRADE—The small arsenal of wtiponi shown
in riw foregteund contains a fow of Hio Homo takon from parsons in
Chorofcoo County in tho post couple of year*. They ranga from ico
pida to homo modo pistols to automatic revolvers. Containers (up*
por loft) hold various intoxicating beverages confiscated by officers
and described by County Sheriff Allen Dotson aa tho root of most
county disturbance*. The department also holds perhaps a hundred
other confiscated rifles and shotguns, taken In connection with erlm-
Cherokee County admittedly has a prood record of citi-
zenship. It is not an oasis oí Golden Ruleism in a desert of
criminal violence, but its citizens have cause to feel safer,
sleep better, and worry less about decadent morals than
many other parts of the state of Texas.
Their county contributes little, comparatively, to the
runaway crime spree indicated in statistics for the state as
a whole.
But what is the contrast to be made between Cherokee
County and the state as a whole? Below are some alarming
crime figures for the Lone Star State in 1957:
A major crime was committed every 3.4 minutes (a
theft was committed every 6 minutes and a burglary every
13.6 minutes).
Every 24 hours there were 2.96 murder and homicides,
3.25 rapes, 7.42 robberies and 6.95 auto deaths.
Major crimes in Texas increased 9.2 peí cent during
1957—to 154,823. This included 1,084 murders and homi-
cides, 1,189 rapes, 2,711 robberies, 33,768 burglaries and 87,-
614 thefts. (Fifty per cent were committed by youths un-
der 17.)
Texas crime cost each Texas family $195 in 1957. The
national figure is $503 per family.
More than one oiit of every 1,000 persons in the state is
in prison.
Now what of Cherokee County? What kind of society
does our 40,000 people live in?
In 1957 Cherokee County had two criminal felony cases
tried with jury, seven without jury and 39 criminal cases
pending.
In 1958, four persona were sentenced to from 2-10 years
in the state penífcemtiary for burglary, driving while intoxi-
cated (repeat offense) possession of narcotics and for "ex-
posing person to child".
Yet these are not to be taken as true reflections of the
county's crime picture. They do not include lesser violations
for which persons spent time in county jail, or the persons
who committed crimes in the latter year and which are still
pending, and those which have gone unsolved or which were
no billed by a grand jury.
In the case of juveniles (persons under 18), whose of-
fenses ranged from malicious mischief to burglary, many
were returned to their parents without prosecution in the
courts.
Accepted practice calls for giving "another chance" to
all but the more lawless and repeat juvenile offenders.
The interpretation of statistics, their application to a
community of people, and the making of conclusions from a
variety of statements and figures is fuil of pitfalls, but it
appears that all the banditry and mischievousness that can
be counted in Cherokee County cannot rival that for a com-
parable number of people in a metropolitan area.
Why?
Here are some factors listed by the FBI that must be
kept in mind in any survey of this sort. They may help you
to determine just where our county stands in amount and
type of crimes in relation to metropolitan areas:
1.) Population of the city and metropolitan area adja-
cent thereto.
2.) Composition of the population with reference par-
ticularly to age, sex and race.
4.) Relative stability of population.
5.)Standards of policing agencies; policies of prosecut-
ing officials and the courts.
6.) Attitude of the public toward law enforcement
problems.
7.) Climate.
8.) Education, recreational and religious facilities.
While our county is not near a metropolitan area, a..J
while county journalism seldom has cause to wax sensation-
al on a major crime, Cherokee County is not without its law-
(Continued on Page 6)
'Hound . . .
Town
9fttJk Houndaiaut
HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS . .
Roundabout and the staff of both
The Rusk Cherokeean and Radio
Station KTLU take the opportuni-
ty to wish each and everyone of
our friends a Happy New Year . .
BLANKET CIRCULATION
An Estimated 13,000 People Wlil
Rood This Publication, Eased
On Circulation Figures.
The Rusk Cherokeean
TEXAS' OLDEST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, ESTABLISHED AS THE PIONEER JULY 5, 1817
SERVING THE GREATER RUSK TRADE AREA
VOLUME 111
RUSK, TEXAS
12 PAGES
JANUARY 1, 1959
NUMBER 28
Rusk - - An Investment
In "Better Living
James Blanton Named By First State
Bank To Assistant Vice President Post
r : > *.. r>
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RUSK AND CHEROKEE COUN-
TY lose a real friend in Austin ef-
fective January 1st . . . Ottis E.
Lock, who hes served us so well
es our State Senator retires . . <
Roundabout, knowing he is speak-!
ing for the big meforlty of folks
in this area, expresses regrets at
losing his services . . .
WE HAVE A GOOD MAN to
take his place, however . . . Mar-
tin Dies, Jr. of Lufkin become
our State Senator. Roundabout
hasn't had the opportunity to
know Martin, Jr. personally, but
understands that he is an able law-
yer, and will make us another
outstanding Senator,
CONGRESSMAN JOHN DOWDY
was in a few days before Christ-
mas, and dropped by the office for
a brief visit ... He is getting rea-
dy to go back to Washington to
represent the 7th District . . . This
will be one of the most important
sessions of Congress in the history
of our nation, and we are indeed
fortunate to have the services of
John Dowdy . . .
JAMES BLANTON
THE NEW YEAR will bring in
some new programming on KTLU-
1580 . . . The entire program log
has been streamlined . . .
WAS GLAD TO LEARN that
James Blanton has joined the staff
at The First State Bank . . . James
will work In the loan department
aa assistant vke president ... Ha
la a fine young man, and Rounda-
bout knows that he will be an • -
eat to this progressive institution.
WTVE HAD A GOOD '58, andf
according to Kfplinger, one of this
nation's foremost business oca
mists we can leak forword to ass
bettor 1959 . . . Rusk enioy-
awbstantial growth tho past
seat of this city's bust-
DESPITB THE MILD BOOM In
ama construct ten, good rant
PfBfwTy VS •fill Kww a a a
my friends, reflects a vary
ROUNDABOUT IS GOING to bo
In Johnny Williams' "dag hous«
... Ha had a "hot" rotease on hi*
and somehow, It gat
9 the holidays . . . The
of the newt story was that
Last Rites Held
For Mrs. Guinn
In Lufkin Monday
Funeral services were conduct-
ed last Monday at 3 for Mrs. Stel-
la Cox Guinn, widow of the late
Judge Frank B. Guinn of Rusk, at
the Gipson Funeral Home in Rusk.
She died at her home in Lufkin
Sunday.
Rites were conducted by Mrs.
Sam Read, Jr., Christian Science
Reader, assisted by the Rev. Ed
Mathieson of the Lufkin First
Methodist Church. Burial was in
the Garden of Memory cemetery
in Lufkin.
Born i n Stephenviile. Mrs.
Guinn was a resident of Rusk for
more than 50 years before moving
to Lufkin in 1951 to b« near her
daughter.
Daring these years she was
(Continued on Page 6)
CageTeamsWill
Resume Play In
Two Tournaments
Rusk esge teams will take up
basketball play beginning on the
first dsy of the new year.
Both girls and boys teams are
slated to appear in three-day tour-
naments January 1, 2 ani 8. Boy*
teams will travel to Carthage for
tourney play, while the girls will
enter competition in the Leggett
tournament.
In the week
will entertain the Palestine A
of
Jan. 6.
8, Will
James Blanton of Rusk has join-
ed the staff at the First State
Bank of this city, according to
Lloyd Pipes, executive vice presi-
dent. Blanton will work in the loan
department as assistant vice pres-
ident.
Blanton has been associated
with Dun and Bradstreet as credit
reporter this East Texas area.
A native of Cherokee County,
he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. A.
B. Blanton of Alto, and was grad-
uated from high school there in
1948. He attended Durham Busi-
ness College in Harlingen.
He served two years in the Air
Force from 1951 to 1953.
Immediately after his discharge
from the Air Force, Blanton join-
ed the staff of the Continental
State Bank of Alto and was pro-
moted to Cashier after a year's
work.
He is a member of the Rusk
Lions Club. He is married to tho
former Miss Pearl Wendeborn of,
Rusk. The young couple has two
children, Teresa, age 4 and James,
age 2.
"We feel that the addition o(
James to our staff will enable us
to better serve our friends and
customers," commented Mr. Pipes.
City Will Implement New Refuse Plan
Council Annexes, Orders New Lighting
John McNeese Gets
Bearden Appointment
BUSINESS HOLIDAY
Businesses of Rusk wlil be clos-
ed, Thursday, January 1, in ob-
servance of New Veers Day.
The town will bo open for reg-
ular hours en Friday.
John McNeese has assumed
management of the Bearden Furn-
iture Store in Rusk. Mr. McNeese
took the appointment some two
weeks ago. He comes from Jack-
sonville were he had been affili-
ated with the Bearden Company
for a number of years.
■ o—
SHOP IN RUSK
KTLU Inaugurates New 'Streamlined'
Program Policy To Begin Thursday
Kids Pictures
To Be Taken For
News Feature
Mondav January S is the biff
dsy for the picture taking of yon*
vounffftm! The Cherokeean i*
having pictures taken of all chil-
dren who are brought by their
parents or other guardian to the
Rusk Hotel between 10 a.m. and 5
pjn. absolutely free of charge.
lito Cherokeean wants a picture
of year child to print in its forth*
coming feature, "Citizens of To-
morrow", a series of photographic
studies of local children. The
more we get the better the feature
will be, so the cooperation of the
mothers and fathers is urged.
It often seem* to parents that,
children are little one minute and
the next, so fast
a child's growing
Here is a
catch a li
splendid opportunity to
likeness of your child or
B teams i children at the present stage for
There's good listening in store
for Cherokee Countians who tune
in the right side of the radio dial,
1880, beginning Thursday.
The radio voice or the Rusk
Cherokeean, KTLU, inaugurates a
new, streamlined program policy
for 1800, the management has an-
nounced.
While the basic music and news
format will continue the ssme,
many new features are being add-
ed to each day's schedule in order
to better serve the listeners and
clients of the station.
The new, modernized version of
the KTLU broadcast dsy will fea-
ture more local features. The man-
agement of KTLU said "We want
to make it more interesting and
more fun to listen to our station
continuously, regularly."
"We're expanding our Chero-
kee County News Coverage, add-
ing special daily programs, and in
improving the efficiency
of our programming," the man-
agement said.
"The radio listening habit of
the people in our area has chang-
ed as have the listening habita of
m
SFA Prexy To Address Chamber
01 Commerce Banquet Tuesday
Jacksonville Man Gets Year In Jail
After Pleading Guilty To Assault
Grand Jurors
Summoned For
Duty Monday
Sixteen countians have been
summoned to serve on the Grand
Jury for the January-July term at
Cherokee County District Court.
Twelve Grand Jurors will be se-
lected from the following persona
summoned:
From Rusk, Lloyd Pipes, J. P.
Acker, Emmett Whitehead.
From Jacksonville, J, O. Ross,
Sam A. Cobb, Jr., L. L. Bobo, J.
A. Pepin (Rt. 4), George Griffin
(Rt. 2), R J. Butaud, L. L. Dover,
Kelton Purifoy, Frank Speary.
From Alto, J. H. Pearman, F. E.
Weimar, Jr.
From Forrest, Hubert Latham.
From Wells, William Bailey.
Commissioners
To Hold Called
Meeting Friday
County Commissioners will
meet in a called session Friday,
three days before the regular
court meeting on Monday.
Commissioner* expect to dis-
pense with a number of routine
matters and discussions, leaving
the regular meeting open for oth-
er business.
Activities Next
Week At Methodist
Church Announced
The WSCS of First Methodist
Church will meet Monday. January
IMh, 3 p.m. at the church
Members of the Wesley an Serv-
ice Guild wilt meet Tuesday. Jan-
uary 0th 7 p.m. at the church for
a regular meeting.
Events slated Wednesday, Janu
try 7th are, choir rehearsal at
(Continued on Page •)
A Jacksonville man Monday
pleaded guilty to a charge of ag
gravated assault in Judge J. W.
Chandler's County Court and was
sentenced to a year in county jail
The man, Ronald Gene Kirby,
was reported to have committed
the offense against a Jacksonville
woman in October, 1958.
Earlier Bobby Gene Luttrell en-
tered a plea of guilty to a charge
of possession of liquor for pur-
pose of sale. He was fined $!00
and costs of court.
A charge of driving while intoxi-
cated was entered on the county
criminal docket against Buford
Harris Chambler.
Meanwhile, in District Court,
two men were ordered to appear
before the court on January 17 to
show cause why they should not.
be punished, for contempt after
failing to comply with previous
orders of the court to pay child
support and maintenance.
Ordered to appear were John
Monroe Bass and C. W. Thomason.
A judgement in District Court
swarded recovery of $3,630.64 to
Homelite, a division of Textron,
Inc., from O. H. Dawson, individ-
ually, and d/b/a Dawson Sales and
Service, defendant.
Filed with District Court were
the following suits:
W. R. Powell vs Texas Employ-
era' Insurance Association, com-
pensation; Harry Lee Carter vs
Zelvin Cantley, Sr., and Zeivin
Cantley, Jr., damage; Walter D.
Johnson vs Martha C. Johnson, di-
vorce; S. B. Simpson vs Farrell
Simpson, et al, partition; Charlie
Lee Tallant vs Maggie Tallant, di-
vorce.
Marriage licenses issued by the
County Clerk's office in the past
week include the following:
Lawrence Levon Tatum and Ivey
Maryean Box, Dan Logan Gatti*
and Frances Janeen Puekett, WU
liam Kenneth Kern and Virginia
Sue Sessions, Ernest D. Lively
and Norma Jean Berry, Larry
Sherrill Kolb and Murial Rhodes,
Thomas Edward Skinner and Bar-
bera Gayle Pirtle.
RIAD THB CLASSIFIIOt
Dr. Ralph W. Steen, newly nam
ed president of Stephen F. Austin
State College, Nacogdoches, will
deliver the principal address at
the Rusk Chamber of Commerce
banquet here January 8.
The banquet will be held in the
Junior High School cafetorium
Some 200 persons are expected to
attend.
It will be the occasion for of-
ficial installation of the Cham
ber's newly elected officers and
directors.
W. H. Hanna, program chairman
for the banquet, Tuesday announc-
ed Dr. Steen as speaker1.
Dr. Steen assumed the SFA
presidency early in the fall semes-
ter of 1958 following the death of!
its long-time president, Dr. Paul
Boynton. He came to SFA from.
Texas A&M College where he had
been head of the history and gov-
ernment department for a number
of years.
Dr. Steen is considered an au-
thority on Texas history, having
written a number of books on
that subject. He has also taught atj
the University of Texas.
Tickets to the affair are on salei
now at S2 per plate, according to
ticket chairman John Lester.
Serving will begin at 7 Tuesday;
evening. Mrs. Metz He a Id is in.
charge of the meal.
Lions Club Cancels
Thursday Meeting;
The Rusk Lions Club will not
meet Thursday, New Years Day,
its regular meeting day, but will
resume meetings on the following
Thursday, January 8.
In a special meeting Tuesday
night, Rusk's city council in effect
left residence garbage fees as pre-
viously announced and left the
city water superintendent to work
out a practical and equitable as-
sessment from city businesses.
Although there was no formal
move, councilmen indicated as-
sessments of $1.00 will be attach-
ed to every residence water bill
in Rusk as a fee for the new twice-
weekly pick up service.
The fee was set in an ordinance
passed earlier this year. Fees will
also offset the cost of the new dis-
posal system inaugurated by the
city that is designed to alleviate
conditions termed the worst in the
state.
The garbage ordinance states
that businesses m a y be assessed
from $2 to $50 per month for the
daily business district pick up ser-
vice, but the superintendent is ex-
pected to work out assessments
for each business that will fall be-
tween $2 and $7.50 per month.
The new pick up schedule is set¡
to start on Monday, January 5,
with pick ups on Monday and
Thursday each week for residenc-
es.
According to the ordinance and*
council discussions, there is no
provision for exemption from the
new service fees that will appear
on water bills in February.
In other action, the council ap-
proved a letter to the Southwest-
ern Electric Service Company au-
thorizing the company to install
14 additional mercury vapor lights
in the following locations:
North Henderson Street.
On the right hand side of High-
way 89 leading un to the State
Hospital entrance.
One light on East Fourth St.
Councilmen also passed the an-
nexation ordinance, taking into
the city a large area along High-
way 60 south. Property owner* in
the area had previously signed a
petition for annexation.
Kiwanians Install New Slate Officers
And Directors In Chib Meeting Tues.
-ta
¡4*
Dr. Cari B. Case was installed
Tuesday as the Rusk Kiwanis Club
president for 190 . W. E. Davis is
the new vice president.
Reelected and installed also
were E. B. Musick, Sr.. treasurer,
and W. W. Finley, secretary. Di-
rectors installed were C. Met*
Heald, C. J. Hagler, Dr.
Woodward. Morris W.
A. McVicker, Ide
W.
£
of the Rusk State Hospital.
Outgoing president was Ralph
ravis.
Blake Campbell of Palestine, Lt.
of Kiwanis District 14,
* di-
Installation was followed
rief addresses by the
dent and outgoing
ceremonies were held in
tion with the club's
day noon luncheon.
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Whitehead, E. H. The Rusk Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 1, 1959, newspaper, January 1, 1959; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth150268/m1/1/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.