This and That Newsletter
Vol 12 Issue 618 Circulation 5,000 November 27, 2008
PO Box 2
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-657-8616 (not a toll free number)
Its Thursday evening and Thanksgiving day is coming to a close. I'm sitting here at my computer typing, and thinking how much we have to be thankful for this year. Since Jill and I neither one like turkey all that much, Jill baked a 6 lb hen I bought from Farmer's Market the day before. I told my friends at Farmers Market this didn't look like a baking hen to me, it looked like a baby chicken. Everyone got a laugh out of my comment. My recollection from those days may be deceiving me, but this 6 pound baking hen seemed much smaller than the ones my family cooked back in the 60s, that came from my granny Miller's chicken yard on H Northeast. Granny Ida Miller at age 90 could still ring the chicken's neck, have the boiling water ready, dunk it in about 3 times, and then I'd help pull the feathers off the chicken. I can still smell to this day that awful wet chicken feather smell that rose from the still steaming, just killed chicken. But the taste of that delicious baked chicken I will never forget. Her backyard raised chickens had plenty of fat on them and sure made for good eating, giblet gravy and all.
We hope all of you have had a good Thanksgiving, with turkey and all the trimmings wherever you celebrated the event. Ernie Wallerstein in NJ sent Jill and I an online Thanksgiving Ecard this morning, and even in his broken English, summed up what we wish for everyone of you.
"Dear Jill and Butch, Hope you’re surrounded by love this Thanksgiving. My wife and I will Thanks God to all our family and to all our friends. Have a Great Day with health and love." -Ernie
Something interesting I found from the 1924 maps. The M.E. Methodist Church South was located in the SE corner of West Broadway and B Street NW. Today if it where still standing, this would put it facing the Ardmoreite Building.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BroadwayMEchurch1924.jpg
This is the 1924 map of where City Hall sits today. I see the police department in the NW corner of that block, and next door to the east, the calaboose. And next to the jail, City Water Works.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/CityHallMap1924.jpg
The 1st Church of Christ Scientist was located in the NW corner of W. Broadway and D Street NW back in 1924. A few years ago, before it disbanded, the Christian Scientist Church was located at Grand and E NW across from Ruth Young Travel.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/FirstChurchOfChristScientist1924.jpg
And on the south side of West Broadway between C Street and D Streets NW in 1924 was located the Broadway Baptist Church.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BroadwayBaptistChurch1924.jpg
I was browsing google maps looking around southern Oklahoma when something caught my attention. It was Battle Springs Lake located about 9 mile south of Lone Grove near Oswalt, Oklahoma. I remember I had a newspaper clipping from the 1920s talking about Battle Springs Lake and Resort, a tourist attraction for many people in those days. When I was reading about Battle Springs Lake in that old newspaper clipping, I thought how I had never heard of such a place in our area of Oklahoma. I hope someone out there can tell us more about this Love county spot, I know its used for fishing. I can already feel another excursion coming on for Jill and I, checking out Battle Springs Lake just over the Love county line.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BattleSpringsLakeDistance.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/BattleSpringsLakeCloseUp.jpg
Sally Gray wrote in last week to make a correction on the Central Wagon Yard we talked about in the last T&T. In the early city directories, she found under wagon yards: E.Z. West and Son, 20 E St. SW and later it was listed as West End Wagon Yard. Central Wagon Yard was located close to Daubes. In Bill Hamm's cemetery records I found a man by the name of Ephraim Z. West (1856 - 1920) buried at Rosehill Cemetery. My educated guess is this is the owner of West and Son Wagon Yard.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/WestWagonYard1924.jpg
I have found out since the last T&T how to, hopefully, stop the deer from rubbing their antlers on our 6 small fruit trees. I took a couple of eggs, and mixed them up well with a little water, and brushed them on the trunk of the trees. Supposedly deer do no like the rotten egg smell and will move on to another tree. While I was brushing on the egg goo, our neighbor's dog, we call Big Boy, came to see what I was up to. He smelled up and down that tree truck, several times, wondering what is that smell. So maybe it does work.http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/DeerFruitTree111608.jpg
Working to help keep updated local gas prices at www.oklahomagasprices.com I noticed the address for S&J Food Mart on north Meridian in Lone Grove was incorrect in every phone book, about 4 of them total. I checked with the E911 Office and the address for S&J Food Mart should be 6533 Meridian. Across the road on the east side is Grove Mart at 6578 Meridian and the Grove Mart is correct in all the phone books. I don't know from what source all these phone books get the info before going to print, but evidently it all comes from one source, and that source had S&J Food Mart wrong. Shelley at E911 said she would submit the correct address to the necessary place. Thankfully we have someone locally like Shelley who can get the needed correction. No telling how much mail and packages didn't make it to S&J because of the phone book mistake.Anyone wanting to go in the trucking business? It looks like First National Bank on Main Street has repossessed a Peterbilt tractor trailer. Its sitting across the street to the north in their lot (where the old Miller's Dairy Freeze used to be).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/Peterbilt112708.jpg
A couple of weeks ago I sent off a vial of our well water to California for testing. Received the results back this week:
pH: 7.0 (perfect, not acidic or alkaline)
Iron: 0.6 ppm (high) Known as "clear water iron" or Ferrous Iron
Manganese: 0.1 ppm (high) High manganese and iron can cause a brownish coating to form on metal such as on a sprinkler head.
Total Hardness: 27 grains per gallon or 462 ppm (very hard)
Total dissolved solids: 933 ppm (high by some states)
Explanation of the parameters analyzed:
pH is a scale from 1 to 14; 7 is neutral pH; less than 7 is acidic, greater than 7 is alkaline.
Iron: 0.3 ppm is the maximum recommended level for iron in water; above 0.3 may cause staining of fixtures and laundry and rust deposits in pipes and water heaters.
Manganese: 0.05 is the maximum recommended level for manganese in water; above 0.05 may cause brown or black staining of fixtures and laundry and manganese deposits in pipes and water heaters.
Total Hardness: calcium hardness can cause white spots on fixtures and scale build-up in pipes and water heaters. Less than 8 grains per gallon is generally considered acceptable. 1 to 3 grains is considered soft water.
Over 8 to 10 grains is considered very hard water. One grain = 17.1 ppm of calcium carbonate.
Total dissolved solids: 500 ppm is the maximum recommended level in water although in some states such as California the standard is 1000 ppm. High dissolved solids over 500 ppm can cause white spots on fixtures, and make the water taste alkaline. Over 1000 ppm can cause corrosion problems.tests performed by Gerry Bulfin
Certified Water Specialist CWS-IV
Clean Water Systems & Stores Inc.
Santa Cruz, California
http://www.CleanWaterStore.comAll things considered our water tested ok, ok for drinking. No bacteria or harmful contaminates that would prevent us from drinking it. When I taste it, it has a hint of "asphalt taste" which is a result of the high concentration of iron and manganese. So we will continue drinking our SOWC water and only drink the well water in an emergency.
This year we may have experienced a once in a lifetime occurrence, at least in Ardmore, as gas prices continued to drop in the 7 days leading up to Thanksgiving Day. In the last 30 years or more, it's been just the opposite. By Turkey Day gas was selling at a number of places in Ardmore for $1.66 a gallon. Seven days before it was $1.79.
Ten cheapest places to buy gas in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/gasprices.html
Lots of new postings. Check out the Oklahoma History Boards and join in!
http://oklahomaroots.proboards83.com/
Q. What resource brought immigrants to Oklahoma in the 1800s?
A. CoalQ. Where did the Cherokee people live before removal to Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Butch have read a lot about the old Tiger Hut hamburgers on 3rd and Washington, a Gentleman by the name of Tyler Prince ran it for a few years , and closed it down. I reopen it as a glass shop way before RT's Tires rented it." -Allen Young
"Butch, Maybe I can clear up the mystery of the two story house north of Ardmore High School at the corner of 3rd Ave NW and N Washington. It was the home place of Buck Garrett and his wife Ida May. I know this because my grandmother was Mrs. Garrett’s caretaker at times as I grew up in Ardmore. My Grandfather, Fred Williams, was Buck Garrett’s deputy and my Grandmother remained friends with Mrs. Garrett until Mrs. Garrett’s death in 1958 (according to Rose Hill records). As a young boy I would go and stay with my Grandmother in the house. I remember that Mrs. Garrett took in borders but had trouble keeping them because she was a difficult and demanding landlady. I seem to remember that she rented to players who played for the Ardmore Indians baseball team. I do not recall what happened to the house after Mrs. Garrett’s death except that it was purchased by Ardmore High School at some point after her death." -Sam Williams, Denton, Texas
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/zoom/BuckGarrett.jpg
"Before it was Myers Apartments, it was Cruce apartments. Mr. Cruce was a brother to Lee Cruce the second governor of OK. (I think he was second). My aunt married their son, Lee Cruce. Mr. and Mrs. Cruce had two sons and a daughter, Dorothy DeMoss, who was Dr. C.D. Cunningham's nurse for many, many years. She and her husband lived in one of the apartments for years. I believe they also owned the apartment building behind the Cruce Apartments." -Frances Dunlap
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/MyersApartments.jpg
"J. W. Davis Market and Grocery, 207 C St. N.W. Ardmore, Oklahoma"
"Butch, Reading the piece this week about Carter County buying the Harvey-Douglas reminded of an interesting fact about Cecil and Herbert Harvey. They married sisters. Cecil married Eula May Johnson in 1916 and Herbert married Eula May's sister, Georgia Johnson.
While we're on the subject of funeral homes, there was a casket manufacturer in Ada called the American Glass Casket Company. They produced a solid glass casket that could accommodate a grown adult. Apparently they molded the box from a single sheet of glass and then covered it with a glass top. This company also produced cut glassware and my dad had a piece of it that unfortunately got broken several years ago.
I never saw a picture of one of the caskets, but have always been curious about them. Maybe one of your readers can provide some information. My dad never knew anyone who was buried in one of the glass caskets." -Monroe Cameron
"My grandpa always wrapped his young trees loosely with chicken wire to fend off deer and other critters. It always worked out just fine and allowed the trees to grow bigger & stronger with no problems. When the trunks got to be about 4 to 6 inches in diameter, grandpa would usually remove the chicken wire. By then the tree trunks were large enough that if the deer went to rubbing it didn't do as much damage." -Kathi G.
"I live between Foxden and Plainview Road on Myall Road. And I watch many times beautiful Deer and wild Turkey in our backyard. I also watched the Deer this past spring eat all the new green peaches and leaves from my neighbors newly planted trees. The other subject being Castor Bean plants. I read that the raw seeds contain Ricin, a deadly posion and that the rest of the plant contained small amounts of the same. Be careful with the seeds and keep them away from children for sure. Thanks for the T&T Butch." -Don
From the San Angelo Standard Times
San Angelo, TexasMystery of Indian Hill
My sixth grade reading classes at Ballinger Junior High are reading "Island of the Blue Dolphins." The book focuses on a tribe of Indians living off the coast of California on the island of San Nicolas. This book is based on the true story of the "Lone Woman of San Nicolas."
We have decided that for our project for this book, we are going to investigate and learn about our own unique Indian history in our town. We have chosen the disappearance of the Indian Chief statue that was placed in Ballinger City Park by Elmer Shepherd purchased from Wirt Franklin Oil and Gas Refinery in Ardmore, Okla., in 1939 and titled "A Friend." Our Indian Chief became the victim of vandalism and supposedly was roped and dragged into the creek below. However, the river was supposedly dragged and the Chief was never found. My students are on a mission to find out if ours is still in existence somewhere in Runnels County, but are also hoping to find someone in Oklahoma who might know of another one that still exists.
The students are compiling information on our missing statue and various statues in Oklahoma from where ours was purchased and would ask that if you have any information and/or pictures, please send them to: Ballinger Junior High, C/O Cinnamon Carter, P.O. Box 231, Ballinger, Texas, 76821. Thank you for any help you can offer.
Source: http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/nov/26/letter-students-seeking-statue-information/#commentshttp://www.oklahomahistory.net/zoom/TurnerFallsIndianStatue.jpg
"Oh My Gosh, Butch! You and Jill just have to come see the beautiful lights display in Medicine Park, Oklahoma! And while you are here, come to the Master's Kitchen and for some of my Son-in-law's great Italian cooking! This year is going to be a wonderful time to take a stroll down the sidewalk, the full length of the town to see the reflections in the water, watch the ducks in Bath Lake, and feel the merriment of the townsfolk. Come see us soon!" -Joy Willingham
"Butch, I'm still enjoying the newsletters every week. As for the deer rubbing the tree trunks bare ... maybe preparing some bobbed wire prepared in rows with about 2 inch gap possibly connected with a thin wire and draped loosely around the trunks from the bottom branches downward {similar to a fish net put around the trunks} that can be removed [or added to] as the trees get larger. covering the raw trunks now with paint will keep the bugs out of them [from being destroyed further.] As for the chicken scratch for the deer I would think that plain dried corn would suit them as the scratch would seem to have maze in it, wouldn't it? How in the world did the frog get above the door post? Did one of you put it there and it stayed? I had two little ones in the bottom of a flower planter one time on my front porch that was enjoying the night bugs til I ran them out of the planter. I first thought they were snakes. Many continued wishes for you and Jill."
"Hi Butch: This is for Jill, concerning your Mexican petunia. Several years ago, after admiring my neighbor's Mexican petunias, I went to the nursery and acquired six plants. When my neighbor saw what I had done, she said, "Oh, honey, one plant would have been enough to cover your whole yard." And she was so right! They are the most prolific, invasive plant I have ever met. They not only spread from the roots, but also each flower produces a million tiny seeds. When I moved 10 years ago, I brought one plant with me. Now they fill a bed alongside the house, part shade, part sun. They bloom best in full sun, and nothing seems to kill them. The tops freeze and look dead, but come Spring, the dead top falls off, or I pick it off, and they green up again and put out a million babies all around. They will take root in a thimbleful of dirt in a tiny crack several feet from the plant. I sometimes wonder how it ever got that far away. I diligently keep the unwanted plants pulled out, leaving one about every 18". If unchecked, they will fill the bed so tight that they don't bloom well. When spaced apart, they bloom beautifully. I do enjoy mine, but it is a constant battle keeping them corralled. I hope you enjoy yours as much." -Nell in Plano, Texas
"Butch, If you have not come into Ardmore from the east on Highway 199 and P Street at the new First National Bank, you have missed a great sight, the huge American Flag is on a pole about as high as the highline poles. It was blowing in the wind one day this week as I came into town and it made me want to stop and say the pledge. It was just beautiful." http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/Flag199East.jpg
"Butch and Jill, The information on the Ada hanging of 1909 has always interested me. Jim Miller requesting to keep his hat on for the hanging and stepping off himself always stuck in my mind (not to mention "let her rip"). Anyway, I seen you had a high quality negative scan of the hanging and decided process it in Photoshop. (Over 1 meg in size.) Thanks for the great website and information." -Dan Poeder, Greenville, Michigan http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/AdaHanging1909Retouched.jpg
"The next time you are in Ada you should really try the best hamburger in Ada. Hamburger King located in the 200 block of West Main has an awesome hamburger." -Wade
"I was wondering if anyone knows what happened to the old school bell at Wheeler ?"
"Elvis Presley singing with Celine Dion in front of a LIVE Studio Audience. This is absolutely unbelievable how they have done this. Even after seeing how they did it, it still makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as it really really does look for all the world that Elvis is actually standing there live on stage singing along side Celine Dion in front of the live American Idol audience. Watch and listen to the audience going berserk, as they themselves think they are actually seeing Elvis right there in front of them. A truly amazing use of modern day technology brings Elvis Presley back to life in front of your own eye's."http://thehumorzone.co.uk/Videos/elvis_celine.wmv
Spectacular Conjunction: Nov. 24, 2008: This story ends with the best sky show of the year--a spectacular three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/24nov_skyshow.htm
Chicken Little - 1943 (a hidden meaning in '43)
One day Chicken Little was walking in the woods when — KERPLUNK — an acorn fell on her head "Oh my goodness!" said Chicken Little. "The sky is falling! I must go and tell the king."
On her way to the king's palace, Chicken Little met Henny Penny. Henny Penny said that she was going into the woods to hunt for worms. "Oh no, don't go!" said Chicken Little. "I was there and the sky fell on my head! Come with me to tell the king."
So Henny Penny joined Chicken Little and they went along and went along as fast as they could.
Soon they met Cocky Locky, who said, "I'm going to the woods to hunt for seeds."
"Oh no, don't go!" said Henny Penny. "The sky is falling there! Come with us to tell the king."
So Cocky Locky joined Henny Penny and Chicken Little, and they went along and went along as fast as they could.
Soon they met Goosey Poosey, who was planning to go to the woods to look for berries.
"Oh no, don't go!" said Cocky Locky. "The sky is falling there! Come with us to tell the king." So Goosey Poosey joined Cocky Locky, Henny Penny and Chicken Little, and they went along as fast as they could.
Then who should appear on the path but sly old Foxy Woxy.
"Where are you going, my fine feathered friends?" asked Foxy Woxy. He spoke in a polite manner, so as not to frighten them.
"The sky is falling!" cried Chicken Little. "We must tell the king."
"I know a shortcut to the palace," said Foxy woxy sweetly. "Come and follow me."
But wicked Foxy Woxy did not lead the others to the palace. He led them right up to the entrance of his foxhole. Once they were inside, Foxy Woxy was planning to gobble them up!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_GaYdae4j0
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Oklahoma Bells: http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter county schools, past and present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
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