Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 36 of 264
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PAOB TWELVE—SECTION A
AMARHX.O SUNDAY NEWS AND GI.OBE. AMARILLO. TEXAS
CK)IJ>EN ANNI VERS An Y EDITION, 1018. • ttOIDEN
Thumbing Through the City's Files
By FRED POST
To thumb through dust-covered
minutes at Amarillo's city hall Is
something like looking at the old
family album.
Aunt Minnie in those "good old
days" took her styles seriously, but
mayor and aldermen of the city of
Amarillo, Potter County, Texas, took
place this, the 11th day of April,
A. D. 1892,, with W. W. Wetsel,
mayor, in the chair and the follow-
ing aldermen being present: E. S.
Wiggins. W. H. Sawvel, T. B. Clis-
few sessions. In fact, there
ONE OF THE FIRST PURCHASES authorized by
Amarillo's city government—"lamp chains for use in
the office," April 19, 1892.
scarcely time for seriousness because
taxpayers carried out a Charlie Mc-
Carthy threat. They "mowed down"
the first municipal government with
an injunction because the corporate
limits took in too much territory.
In May of 1899, when the n/?xt
council came along, Amarillo's first
public nuisance, unless it was "the
matter of A. M. Potter's barbecue
furnacp," which was referred to the
street and alley committee on July
15, 1899, came up for consideration
and M- W. Cunningham, secretary
pro tern, wrote on November 15,
1899:
"The marshal (P. M. Ong^ report-
ed that complaint was being made
to him that one black mule belong-
ing to Mr. Mark Snider (John Sni-
der's father) was causing consider-
able annoyance to merchants and
damage to produce in wagons on
the street. Whereupon Alderman
N. Connally moved that said black
mule be declared a nuisance and
that, the marshal be instructed to
notify Mr. Snider to remove same
from the streets at once."
In the early 90 s a buggy was quite
the thing. None is in general use
now and in fact, Miss Louise Kvans,
preparing for the last Mother-ln-
Law Day parade scoured the coun-
tryside looking for one.
At any rate when Lon D. Marrs,
W. H. Fuqua and T. J. Stratum re-
ported August 31, 1899, as a board
about the first thing they did
was raise thp valuation on H. E.
Hume's buggy to $50. W. P. Stew-
art hart rendered (not literally) two
hogs for valuation. The board
boosted them to $10.
Turner) draw up an ordinance cov-
ering the fare of hack drivers as
follows: for call 50 cent* where hack
has to wait for one to dress; 25
cents for anywhere In city limits
when there is no call to dress. Or-
was dinancr to describe what a call Is."
D. M. Young, proprietor of the
Elmhlrst Hotel, helped along the
passing of the hitching posts In
Amarillo. On January 19, 1915 he
appeared before the city officials
and "asked the city to take some
and there use abusive language to
and in the presence of his honor, 8.
Llghburne, was fined In the um of
$25 for contempt of court."
In FeDuary of 1903 merchant* of
Amarillo petitioned the city council
to signal the closing hour for busi-
ness.
Prom the minutes one read, "Upon
the petition presented from the
merchant of the city of Amarillo
relating to ringing the fire bell at
6:30 o'clock for business houses to
REWARD
A/***!1-1-?.
usance
A
- • ■ ■ V.:
ONE BLACK MULE was Amarillo's No.
nuisance.
public
they look funny now and so it is
with some of the entries in the min-
ute-s.
Even the phraseology seems pe-
culiar.
The first thing you read In the
first minutes book is:
"First meeting of th* board of
bee, J. W. Adams and J. R. Wheat-
ley.
Yet there is a startling similarity
in recording the beginning of com-
mission meetings even to this day.
• * •
There was nothing comic or for
that matter serio-comic in the first
In September of that same year|action toward removing the hitch- rlose, the marshal conferred with
the city council enacted an ordinance posts on Fifth, north of the j clerks of the union and appointed
prohibiting the leaving of teams court house, between Taylor and one or l.wo of their number to ring
unhitched. | Fillmore." j the bell."
"Old Dobbin" and the hacks still At, the rity council room, June 24, • • • •
were with Amarillo in 1902 for on a. D. 1902: But let's turn back the pages
June 12 of that year "It was moved "The honorable mayor's court, be- 'again to the gay '90's!
by Connally and seconded by Nobles ing in session on the above date W., My! How the oit.y has grown.
(M. C.) that the city attorney iT. F. T. Skipworth (the marshal) did then At, the second meeting of the first
council (April 19, 1892) the fire
limits extended from the railroad
tracks on Tyler, Polk and Taylor
streets to Seventh Avenue south.
One of the councllmen was au-
thorized to buy lamp chains ior use
in the office.
There was a tax of $6 a year on
a one-horse dray and $12 on a two-
horse dray, "float or other wagon.''
One if the early ordinances, a
health measure, prohibited sleeping
in a basement, and there probably
wasn't a basement In the town.
The first city secretary was paid
$25 a month, but, the first marshal
got three times that much.
Incidentally the first sets ol
books, i'rom which these notes were
taken, were purchased in 1892 from
Clarke Courts.
On May 4, 1899, Mayor R. L.
Strlngfellow, elected April 26, 1899,
appointed a committee "to ascertain
facts relative to obtaining and using
the books purchased of Clarke &
Courts in 1892 for the use of the
then ex.'sting Amarillo city."
The books had been stored In the
First National Bank.
First evidence of the machine age
in the minutes was a county com-
missioners' court order of Novem-
ber 22, 1902, on the city's use of the
Jail ($36 a year). The order was
typewritten. It was not until the
commission-manager form of gov-
ernment, became effective that min-
utes we.'e typewritten.
• • * •
Other evidence of (he machine
age came on January 1, 1907, when
an ord nance "regulating the run-
ning of automobiles and vehicles
similarly propelled'' was Introduced
Mayoe Jack Benny got, his Max-
well from the city of Amarillo. The
cit.v bought one In 1914 and paid
$687.50 for it.
And on November 10, 1914. .the
commission ordered: "The city auto
must not be used for anything but
sidewalks. Property owners were
urged, cajoled and threatened for
not complying with the ordinance
requiring the building of sidewalks.
Ev&i as late a.* May 24, 1914, City
Manager M. H. Hardin was "In-
structed to notify owners of lots on
Polk Strt ct between the Pike Stroud
livery barn and the Panhandle Gro-
cery to have sidewalks put down
immediately."
The city council, on Nov. 29, 1899,
had Introduced an ordinance regu-
meeting condemned sidewalks then
In use. A short time later—Dec. lfl,
1B99—the council voted to gravel
Polk Street. The gutters were
cleaned after rains for 80 cent*.
Nearly two decades ago the cow
town began to have more growing
pains.
Jeff Bartlett, when he resigned
as city manager, effective as of Dec.
24, 1919. wrole In part:
"I regret that this action Is neces-
sary Just at this period when wo
■r%rr
HACK FARE any place within the city limits was
25 cents, but 50 cents when the driver "had to wait
for one to dress."
lating the building of sidewalks on
Polk Street,, Fourth. Fifth, Sixth and
city business, must remain at the : seventh avenues extending from
Fourth Avenue fire station and the Harrison U> Lincoln, and at the next
pure food department has prefer-
ence over other departments."
One of the big problems of city
government in the early days was
are making the start to get sway
from the small town Ideas, small
town methods and small town equip-
ment,."
No 'While You V/ait' in '03
By GEO. D, HARPER
"What is one of the outstanding
differences in cleaning and press-
ing business now, and back in the
early 1900's" I asked Harrison the
Tailor, located in the Amarillo
Building. Without any lost motion
he told me, "About a week!" Puz-
7,led. I requested an explanation.
"Well, in the early days," he said,
"they brought a suit in Monday or
Tuesday, and kindly injuireri if they
might get it back by Saturday. Now
It's 'I've got to have it. this back
this afternoon.' And they call it j ourselves.
poor service if you are 30 minutes | ••The Carson building burned in
late." i 1906, and was sold to the Nunn's
Most of us now have more clothes when rebuilt. Tn the meantime I
than did the average man or woman j had moved to 411 Polk. John Clarity
30 to 35 years ago; but, this is the had a saloon on one side of me. and
machine, age, we are all in a bigger Webster's was on the other. We oc-
hurry—and it seems that a crease cupied frame buildings, the only
won't last out the season anymore bricks were at, the, corners. In 1908
Joe D. Harrison came hero from I moved, to 110 East Fourth,
East Fifth, in the Carson B tilding.
The room was partitioned, and Mrs,
Tyson conducted a millinery shop in
the other half. At that time the
express company occupied the cor-
ner at Fifth and Polk in that block.
• • •
"My first customer for a bench
made, or tailor made suit, which I
made myself, was for Jack Hall, who
was in the commission business then.
He still buys his suits from me, al-
though we no longer make the suits
Amarillo
1926.
Building was erected In
"When I came to Amarillo we
knew nothing about, dry cleaning,
or cleaning with gasoline. If a suit
wasn't very dirty, we had a soap
solution that we used to spot It out.
before pressing: that was $2. If the
suit was pretty dirty we scrubbed
it inside, and out, with soap and wa-
ter before pressing; that was $2.50.
Hats were cleaned and blocked for
$1.50—and they were all Stetsons.
"One day in 1904 a man brought
me a pair of grev trousers that he
hand, but it was quite a while be-
fore we got the drying and deodoriz-
ing machines. As the automobile
came into general use, and the grade
of gasoline cheaper, the clothing
smelled worse, and worse, even If
you let It hang out 24 hours. Of
course, now we use solvents, and an
almost odorless cleaning solution.
"After we had left the clothes on
the line from one to two days, owing
to the weather, we pressed them
with a 'tailor's goose,' a large 20-
pound Iron which we heated on a
gasoline stove. In conjunction with
Mumble-Peg Range Came
r
wanted spotted. We had just start- ; (he iron we pressed over a heavy
ed using gasoline to spot with. Well, cloth, dampened with a sponge,
every place that I spotted looked so "The cleaning and pressing busl-
bright and clear, that it made them ness started with a few tubs, a
look almost as bad as before I de- clothesline, an iron, a press board
cided to dip the whole thing into and a table. Now the Investment
the gasoline and see how it worked, j runs into thousands, but, our volume
You know the results. I hung them has increased in proportion."
in the wind to dry, then pressed -There are two things of which I
them and was I proud ol that think I can bp pardonably proud:
' 1 have never had a fire, ar.d I am
'I found out, later that, they were still serving customers for whom I
Oklahoma in May 1903 Just whv anri while at this location I started already doing this back East, but it made suits 32 years ago."
he picked Amarillo even he Isn't a bicycle delivery service, not only | was new out here. From then on —-
quite sure, but. here he has been ! nf m>' *'ork. but for anyone, at 10c a we washed the clothing In tubs of E. V. Graham of Odessa says that
since that, date, cleaning and press- 1 package. Harry Holland, and an- gasoline, instead of scrubbing with Tom Ketchum, known as Black Jack,
Ing soiled clothes for fastidious other young fellow were the capable soap and water, then having to rinse was a peace-loving cowboy In Ector
Amarilloan's. From the skin-tight, cyclists. them through four tubs of clear wa- County before he went to Arizona
high-water pants era, through the f "At the time I came to Amarillo j !Pr- You. can imagine what scrub-j and turned robber. When he. re-
peg-top pants, boxed-coat period, to there were only two clothing stores: '1inK would do to some of our cloth- turned about 1896 or 97, he held up
the present mode, he has spotted Harris Connlev, located at about 'nK today! Five or six years later a train between Odessa and War-
and cleaned enough dirt- from cloth- where the Hub store now Is. and the *nme one invented a gasoline clean- field, and although hp escaped for a
ing. he believes, to dam the Palo Famous, In a brick at. 406 Polk. :ine machine which was op-rated by Uime, he was finally tracked down."
Duro Canyon. Stapleton did all the alterations for
"I didn't enter the cleaning and the Famous Store, and that was my
pressing business by premeditated main Job
"Shearin' the mule," "Rtickln'
the pig" and "findin' the guinea's
nest" were quite common ex-
pressions on the range, even
among rough cowpunchers who
would gamble a month's wages on
one turn of a card. Those terms
mean mumble-peg to today's
small boys, just as thev have
meant, the same to boys for no one
knows how many years back.
Originally, mumble-peg was
mumble-the-peg, so called because
the loser had to root out with his
teeth a peg driven Into the ground
at the start of the game. The old-
time cowboy played it that way,
and a frw players still cling t,o the
original rules of the game. How-
evpr, (hp lospr's penalty has been
somewhat modified in recent
years.
Olher amusemenls of the cow-
hands were horse racing, roping,
riding broncs or gambling.
The cowboy who had won the
right to drive the peg Into the
ground with so many licks, would
drive it as deep as he could. Some-
times they succeeded in driving It
beneath the surfare, so that It was
covered by a layer of dust. The
loser then would have to root the
dirt, away with his na-c bpforp he
could grasp the peg in his teeth.
Many cowpunchers became quite
proficient, at the game, and fre-
quently they could run it straight
through without missing.
When the ground was too hard
to drive a peg into, the players
on the range would cut a*"ay a
"Devil's Head," a flat pulpy specie
of cactus sometimes called the
"Devil's Pincushion." The "Devil's
Head" would be cut level with the
ground to form a playing surface.
Tank dumps overgrown with Ber-
muda made a good place to play
mumble-peg, too.
e *
Business...
Opportunity.
Life...
has been good in Amarillo for tlie 3 I years we've been
here.
II looks better for ihe future.
May we serve you .
T. M. BRUNER
UNITED REALTY COMPANY
I.anri* and City Prnpct-ty
Property Management anil Appra.l>ail
206 West Sixth Avrnii# Amarillo, TejM
intent," Mr. Harrison says, "but be-
cause I needed a job. When seven-
teen, I was standing on the street
one day In South McAllister, Indian
Territory, I noticed a fellow com-
ing up the sidewalk, with his head
canted on one side, closely peering
into the face of everyone he passed,
as if he were a nearsighted detec-
tive looking for a culprit. Reach-
ing me, he stopped.
"Kid, did you want * Job?", he
asked.
"Yes. I do," I told him.
" Well., he said, come on, I need
a boy. We'll go up to my place and
I'll show you what it is, and see if
you like it.'
"Well it turned out to be a four-
tub, all-water, cleaning and pressing
"It seems to me that it was just
as dry and windy the first few
years I was here, as it has been for
the past four or five. When a
stranger's hat blew off, there wasn't
any tall buildings to stop it then
We'd tell them not to chase it,
there'd be another one along in a
minute.
"From 1905 to 1908 I had a second
shop at Dalhart. There were lots of
train crews there then, and for most
of that three years I employed seven
tailors, cutting and making bench
clothes."
"My 110 East Fourth location was
a popular loafing place and head-
quarters for the town band, I stay-
ed here until 1918 when, thinking I
was going into the army, I sold to
plant. I nearly wore out my only , Bob Aten. After drifting around two
suit using it in learning how to years I returned and repurchased
my old shop. In the meantime
j Stapleton had removed his shop to
109 East Fourth, in the Cain Build-
ing. Mr. Stapleton himself had not
j been active in the tailoring business
i for some time; my step-brother,
| Tom Campbell, had been conducting
press. I received $3 50 a week for
liking the job. and have been at it
ever since. I stayed there for a
year before drifting north and east.,
where I became a full-fledged tailor,
cutting and making suits."
"When I came to Amarillo I went,
to work for George Stapleton, who j it for him. In 1924 they remodeled
owned the first, tailor shop here He
was located at 404-A Polk Street, the
only shop here at that time. In Sep-
tember of that year a Mr. Neilson
opened a shop upstairs in the Blvins
Building, but his business was tha'
of making bench made clothes. I
stayed with Mr. Stapleton for one
year and then bought out Ed Roark
who had Just opened a place at 111 1
my location, and wanted to more
than double my rent, so I went over
to the Stapleton shop. This was at
the time that Mr. Stapleton become
permanently connected with the
Masonic order. Tom Campbell was
with me for a short time, and we
were known as Harrison and Camp-
bell, until the California bug bit him
I remained at this address until the
Con gra tulati ons to those who are celebrating
their 50th anniversary
from
Crescent Body Works
Sine# 1920
310 W#.t Fourth
Phon« 2-4251
Builders of
TRAILER COACHES
COMMERCIAL BODIES
METAL BOATS
General Body Repair
WE ARE PROUD
... of the
privilege of doing
a general real
estate business
here the past 20
years.
OUR TRIBUTE
... to those
who helped make
the Panhandle
great.
Tom W. Gotten
Company
822 Amarillo Building
Sincere Congratulations
fo those who have made this 50th anniversary celebration
possible. We honor too those early day pioneers whose
effort it was that made Ihis celebration possible.
Real Estate Titles
of Fifty Years Ago
were short—without complications.
4- 4~ 4- 4~ '4" 4~ "t" "4" 4- 4- 4~
TODAY they are long and require painstaking
research by an expert.
WE HAVE MADE OVER 30,000
—— TITLE SEARCHES
We Issue Title Policies of the
Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation
of Richmond, Virginia
Capital Funds Over $1,200,000.00
Guaranty Abstract & Title Co.
A. B. JONES, Mgr.
109-A West 6th Ave. — Amarillo — Phone 9020
Oldest Established Company in Potter County
(
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Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/36/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.