Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 93 of 264
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GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION, 1938.
AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS AND OLOBE. AMARILLO. TEXAS.
SECTION C—PAOE FTVB
Water Vendors Wrote
Colorful City Chapter
By ROY RIDDLE
Mr. Water Customer turned
through the gate and walked over
to the two barrels standing in his
front yard. Gingerly he lifted a
somewhat battered old tub from the
first one and helped himself to a
cooling drink. He smacked his lips
and sighed in evident satisfaction,
replaced the cover and walked on
into the house.
Inside, he retrieved the newspaper
from Junior and sought comfort and
relaxation in a Morris chair beside
a window where, so to speak, he
read with one eye while he kept
the other on his precious water
supply.
That Is hardly an exaggerated pic-
ture of Mr. Water Customer in the
IROO's or early MOO's. No telling
when some thirsty stray cow or
horse would come along, nose the
lid off one of those barrels and
help itself. Water was scarce, in
those days; at least, it cost enough
and entailed no end of bother in
keeping a sufficient supply on hand.
Mr. Water Customer of that day
now is surrounded by more plumb-
ing than he would have believed
existed in the whole of Texas then,
and water costs him about
one-tenth as much and is seldom
ever more than ten steps from
wherever he might be inside his
short-lived; he sold out to J. M.
Fields in 1305. He died soon after.
Fields lived on South Lincoln, ac-
cording to Frank Abrahamson, vet-
eran Amarillo mail carrier, who
purchased a route from Fields in
1908. Abrahamson also remembers
an old man by the name of Carter
who sold water to Amarillo resi-
dents, but not much is known of
Carter or his operations.
Fields hauled for a time from a
well on the old Puckett place on
Lincoln Street, but when he moved
over on East Fifth he drilled a well
of his own.
Sometimes, Abrahamson said, they
bought from the "city." This "city
waterworks" was the plant or well at
Third and Fillmore Streets, owned
by the light company of that day.
After that, he said, wells were dug
all over town, and ere long the
water business entered a rapid de-
cline. Fields retired from it in
1909, selling his route to George
Gulp. Where several men had
formerly been hauling water, it
now evolved into a one-man busi-
ness, so Abrahamson also sold to
Culp. As the veteran postal em-
ployee recalls, Culp was- the last
of the regular water vendors.
So much for the history of Ama-
rillo's first "water system." Let
Abrahamson, whose memory of that
work is vivid, give you a few high-
•- --=• ,, , | , . , , , .. lights on his career as a water
fancied hold-up by the city the trackless plains, bound for the , vrndor IncidentalIy hp came to
C. G. Landis, one of Amarillo's
first county and district clerks,
bought a "waterworks" from one
Ed Golather or Golither, in 1893.
This waterworks at first consisted
of no more than a well and a tower
reservoir which had a capacity of
about 400 barrels. Murphy and,
later, W. E. (Water) Jackson, filled
their wagons, or the barrels in their
wagons, at this plant and hauled
to their customers, dipping with
buckets to fill in turn these private
reservoirs. This well was near the
site of the old courthouse, bounded
by Bowie, Travis, Fourth and Fifth
Streets in Old Town, which still is
country property.
In time a few residents laid pipe
to this well from their residences
and thus began Amarillo's first un-
derground water system.
Along about 1895 two other men
were also hauling water from Lan-
dis' waterworks—Don Turner and
Tom Armstrong, son of Marion
Armstrong, one of the earliest men
to arrive and settle in the Pan-
handle.
Mrs. Jackson, the widow of "Wa-
ter" Jackson, recalls that shortly
after they came to the Panhandle
in 1893, Mr. Jackson went with a
Turkey Track trail herd to Mon-
tana and was gone six months,
leaving her with five small chil-
dren. She and her husband had
house. Yet occasionally, like an ; been married at old Fort Belknap,
apoplectic old gentleman denouncing ; and from there they came across
some
fathers, he mops his brow and , ranch country of New Mexico. Mr. |
thinks "wistfully of that hallowed Jackson had already made the trip
barrei, j the year before, driving his cattle
'•Bv' cracky," he says, "it even ; before him. That was in 1887. But
tasted better than this stuff they're j in New Mexico disaster overtook
robbin' us for today."
Amarillo on his birthday, January
5, 1907, "looking for a winter's
work." He found it, had no re-
turn ticket to Iowa, whence he
came, so here he has been ever
since.
"I had about 250 customers on
'and we tried
back lo the Panhandle, settling near ! and usually did«get, around to them
where Dawn is now. In 1894 they about twice a week. Most of our
moved to Amarillo. Mr. Jackson | patrons kept two barrels, often in
freighted, and then in 1895 he bought
out Landis.
them; they lost their stock during
one severe winter when for six
months the snow lay in drifts from
one to 25 feet deep. They came my route." he said
One day the reservoir, a huge
wooden tank tumbled from its
supports, ancr there was a sight for
you!
Whv the water got a foot deep
He does not, however, bother to
explain that the fact that he kept
his- water in a charred barrel per-
haps contributed greatly to its
taste and quality, just as it did to
other liquids he sometimes quaffed;
nor does he dwell on its compara-
tive cost or frugal use.
The story of Amarillo's water sup-
ply and the manner of its distri-
bution is as involved as a plumb-
er's nightmare at the height of a
protracted blizzard. It began simp-
lv enough -with the water vendor
who twice a week filled the bar-! in my house. Mrs. Jackson chuckled
rels placed in front yards by his ; at the memory of this; temporary
customers. set-back. And mud 1 Mud every-
• • • where!'
It is believed that the first wa- j W. R. Hess Purchased Jactson's
ter seller in Amarillo was John business about I9"4 T^f: Ja";
swr s: !Frv£? ££ ■£
toS ifff?thalTwas what !.£at! lather" had six or seven wagons
enterprising pioneer woman had in hauling from the well, and he also
mind when she arrived, alone, on recalls that E. J. Wit laid pipe
the site of the new town. : from his residence to the well at
Murphy, it is thought, continued that time. The senior Hess o^,nca
to supply'the residents of Amarillo one well and leased several others,
with water until about 1895—that At the home place he had a gaso-
iiiil!ii
mm
WfemmZWrn- i* w. W ' k l
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m.
pi
mm
... ?&■
V.v
are on inn noi
of the Canadian
so rum
House Boom
Practically every real estate or-
ganization in Amarillo made money
during the great building boom of
1925-26-27, but the San Jacinto
Realty Company is probably the
only one that had its best year as
a result of the depression.
G. W. K'.rcher, manager of the
company, came to AmarUlo in 1928
on a 30-day visit from Wheeling,
W. Va. He didn't return to Wheel-
ing from this ''visit" until 1938.
The country iihpressed him so
much that in 1929 he founded the
San Jacinto Realty Company.
At that time the depression was
beginning to demoralize the con-
struction business in Amarillo. Yet,
during this first year of business,
he sold 32 houses for one lumber
company alone.
Associated with Mr. Kircher in
the San Jacinto Realty Company
is his wife, Mrs. G. W. Kirchner.
The firm is at 3312 West Sixth.
Fireproof
HERE ARE FOUR VIEWS of Casino Plaza, on Ca?ino Creek.
the front yard where we could fill > had cisterns, and for them we ] shrubs.
them easily, but sometimes on back : hauled by the wagonload. "For that service we got the maxi-
porches or in the kitchen near a ' One of our best sources of reve- mum rate. $ 1.50 a month. We
window so we could drive alongside j nue," Abrahamson related, "was ; charged SI a month lor service
the house and punch our hose ! old Llano Cemetery. Bereaved fami- ln the centra, par' of :ov • . t • for
through to the barrel Occasional- lies maintained barrels there which j outlying sections we got the higher;
lv they would plaep them in ce - wre filler! when needed, and as a r!"e also
lars, near a window asain. A few ' rule we watered the flowers and' Sometimes, the former water .t-
Indicative of Amarillo's progress
during the past decade Is the fact
that although the city today is con-
sidered among the most modern in
the state, it was not until 1927 that
the first completely fireproof apart-
ment house, Talmage Place, was
constructed.
Amarillo has just experienced a
great civic awakening caused by the
oil boom, several successive bumper
wheat crops, and a gradual increase
of industrial activity when Talmage
Place was completed Its erec-
i tion by H. E. Smith, a native Ken-
tuckian who had moved here in
1915 and witnessed the city's growth
from a struggling little frontier cat-
tle town, was part of a great private
.ted, they got emergency b,ulldlnB P^grajn *'hich
- skyscrapers and business buildings
calls. They were sent by runner, ,a downtown section and many
as there were few telephones In homes to the residential sections.
Amarillo then Miss Ernestine Smith, daughter
After Culp, the story of the city's of H. E. Smith, manages the apart-
water supply becomes a municipal ment hotel, which offers guests a
affair. A record of that is found choice of 57 apartments and is
el;rwhere in this issue. .located at 1401 Van Buren Street.
ret
is, he was the actual vendor, barrel
by barrel and house to house. Two
other names enter the picture here.
line engine, and, as Joe says, he
pumped that well day and night.
Hess' tenure in the water game was
FRONTIER BOY
By MRS. J. M. WINCHESTER | on the bank an hour or two, then
Sam Lancaster came to the Pan- j drink again.
handle ln 1869 from near Cleburne | As the herd P'^'Msed nun -
I ward the wolves followed it ron-
with a herd of 2,000 cattle, which stant,iy, and once when young Lan-
belonged to Tom Yarborough. j raster brought the last of the herd,
Sam Lancaster has always lived thev rushed in and tried to ham-
a life of excitement. string his horse He managed to
, . ., ..... , , ! shoot one and the pack stopped
When he was nine, the little trad- ]Qng enough tQ pat ,t beforp catch_
Ing post which was run by his inR up wjth him again. But by
parents was burned by hostile Arap- j that time he had caught up with
aphoes, and all of his people perish- j the rest of the held.
rd during this fight. While the Snow would drift into the Mon-
Indians were attacking the post, tana ravines 40 to 50 feet deep,
he saw a chance to slip out of the | and the cattle who had drifted in-
log stockade and. catching his pony, to them before the storm would be
lode away for help. Neighbors were ; covered with snow. The little can-
quickly organized and hurried to yons were full of shrubs, and the
defend the Lancasters, but found snow falling on top of these marie
only the bodies and burned trading a wonderful protection for the cat-
post. tie, who would eat the grass and
Sam lived with one of the settlers tend"r shoots of the trees until the
until he was 13, then he got a job
driving cattle, He was large for
his age and Yarborough needed an
extra hand. This first herd was
wintered in Tule Canyon, and ln
the spring the Spur Company
bought the cattle and leased the
dugout headquarters. Lancaster
continued to work for the Spur out-
fit. Although still young, he was
better acquainted with the country
and conditions than the other rid-
ers, so was made an outside man.
His work took him from Endee, N.
M., to Tnscosa and Clarendon. It
took almost a year to make the
rounds bark to headquarters again.
That first winter, there was a
great blizzard. As he allowed his
horse to drift before the storm
with the cattle he had gathered,
he wondered why they had shown
signs of fright. Finally, he heard
the peculiar noises which he had
come to know as a buffalo herd,
which were on their way to the
canyon also, and before them ran
frightened deer and antelope. They
Start With a Dollar- EndUpWithaHome!
snow melted. Bobcats and panthers
would get so hungry in the winter,
they would try to scratch through
the log and dirt roofs of the riders'
dugouts when they scented the fresh
beef which always hung from the
rafters.
The cowboys would wait until a
panther had scratched through the
dirt roof, then they would locate
his position by the dirt that fell
through the logs and shoot at that
spot with their six-shooters. Some
of the cowboys became quite expert
in picking them off the roof.
When riding the range they would
not always be able to get back to
headquarters every day. Lancaster
used to take a sack of dried prunes
along with him. One night, while
using the sack for a pillow, he
awoke to find a couple of coyotes
trying to pull the sack out from
under his head. He always slept
with his head covered up after one
of his companions had had his
nose bitten by a skunk.
In camp the cowboys played
traveled many miles with this herd.' poker, until one day the boss came
crossing one section of land on j j,y and said he would fire the next
which Amarillo now stands.
After a year or two on the 'out-
side,' he helped to drive eight big
trail herds north to the Spur steer
ranch In Montana, on the Little
Missouri. The company found it
most profitable to send their year-
lings and 'coming two's' to this
ranch, as they would grow a third
larger in the same length of time.
Recause of wolves and severe win-
ters, the northern ranches were not
desirable for breeding. The drive
from the Plains to Montana re-
quired about six months. The hard-
est part of the drive was a two-
night stretch without water. This
part of the drive required careful
handling as the thirsty cattle be-
came nervous and excitable.
They would get up from the bed-
ding ground about 4 o'clock ln the
morning and trail briskly for some
time, then stop to graze, The last
few hours before they came to the
Arkansas River on this stretch, the
(taunt, thirsty animals would sum-
mon all their energy and would
> run Into the breaks of the river,
Jumping over the four-foot bluff
Into the water. After they had
drunk their fill, they would stand
one he caught playing. The gam-
bling instinct was too strong, so
they took a tin plate, warmed it on
the stove and caught a couple of
lice and bet on the one that would
get across the plate first. When
the bos-s came by again and saw
their new game of chance, he said
no more about poker playing.
Young Lancaster Joined the Rang-
ers after leaving the Spur Ranch,
serving with them eight years.
Much of this time lie spent ln the
Panhandle. Finally, he bought a
ranch of his own, later leasing a
place also in New Mexico, where he
lived for several years.
In 1918 his wife and daughter
died with the flu, and mast of his
500 cows perished in the great
blizzard of that year. For the last
20 years he has lived in Amarillo
with his three remaining children—
J. P. Lancaster, Joe Lancaster, and
Mrs, Emma Queen,
Beth Henwood, Higglns: "Timm
City was on the Kiowa. Inside of
what is now known as the Leonard
Light Rjinrh . Dominion was in
the Box T headquarters." (Both
are ghost cities).
&
:.V
> i'-
SaVINGS SHARE ACCOUNTS, which, in our Association, have never earned
less than a 4annual dividend, may be started with as little as a $1.00 payment.
This may be added to regularly or as you have additional savings funds available.
Many of our investors are saving to have down payments on homes, the balance
necessary to be loaned by us. This works out wonderfully well! For instance,
$20.00 deposited with us each month for only five years, when dividends are
compounded at 4%, accumulates to the surprising sum of 1.324.80. This ii
ample to finance a home similar to the one photographed above, which is an
Amarillo home built recently on which we made the loan. Such a loan can
be paid off over a period as long as ten years, so that the monthly payments
are quite easy to handle and about the same as rent—except that at the end
cf the ten years THE HOME IS YOURS, free and clear!
For those with $100.00, or multiples of that amount, to invest for regular income,
we offer our Investment Share Account. Dividends are paid in cash semi-an-
nually, and '.ave never been less than 4% annually.
We are a mutual, local thrift institution using sound, t'me-tested financial prin-
ciples. All investments made in our Association are insured up to $5,000 by a
Government insurance corporation. There is a systematic thrift plan here that
it exactly suited to your needs—and you are invited to stop in or write for
additional information,
STATEMENT OF CONDITION AS OF JUNE 30, 1938
ASSETS
First Mortgage Real Estate Loans 843.619.01
Share Loans 945,00
Interest Accrued on Mortgage
Loans 1,560.91
Stock in Federal Home Loan
Bank of Little Rock 9,000.00
Accrued Dividend Federal Home
Loan Bank Stock 37 00
Real Estate Owned .. 2.452.71
Real Estate Sold Under Contract 7,999.78
Home Office Building 20,000.00
Furniture At Fixtures 1.500 00
Deferred Charges 166.89
Cash on Hand and in Bank 27.340 84
LIABILITIES
Savings Share Accounts $ 72,626119
Investment Share Accounts . . 684,254.62
Advances from Federa.1 Home
Loan Bank 107,25000
Undistributed Net Income 20.740 7#
RESERVES:
Federal Insurance Reserve... 3,798.39
Contingent Reserve 10,000.00
Uncollected Interest 1,560.91
Bonus for Installment Share
Accounts 89 3S
Real Estate Reserve 1,307 36
Accounts Payable 616.8S
Loans in Process 1.97
Taxes and Insurance Paid by
Borrowers 12.375.68
TOTAL ASSETS
$914,622 14
TOTAL LIABILITIES
$914,622.14
Member!
Federal Home
Loan Bank
System.
uyiNcj
Chartered and
supervised by the
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT
★ FIRST FEDERAL ★
SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION
406 Pnlk
OF AMARILLO
Thnne 527
GROWTH RECORD: Total Assets, Dec. 31, 1935, $393,484.57; Dec. 31
$637,040.73; Dec. 31. 1937, $824,610.90.
1936,
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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/m1/93/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.