If you’re looking for a certain article I wrote in a past issue of “This & That” you might find it faster by doing a “search” with your browser. With Netscape just click your mouse at the top at EDIT and then FIND and type in the word or words you’re looking for. Since I don’t use Internet Explorer, I’m not sure exactly how you do a search there, but I’m sure you can.

Below is January 3, 1998 to present. The latest issue is at the top, and the oldest issue of “This & That” for this time period is at the bottom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, March 28, 1998 (weekly) Vol 2 Issue 49

Really warm weather all this week in Oklahoma. I been walking almost every evening. I like to walk down main street and look at all the memorial and history bricks in the sidewalk. I found one in front of Stolfa Bros Hardware I’ll have to tell everyone about some time. This retired U.S. Marshal was killed there around 1920 by other officers. Sure enjoy my walks downtown…. been doing it for about ten years now.

A friend here in Ardmore, Pete Stout, came to the Courthouse last Saturday and removed this bolt that had been broken off in the base of the Seth Thomas Clock in the dome. No telling how long it had been that way. After he drilled it out, then I was able to put back the brace that goes from top to bottom. The 1928 clock has been running great… chiming on the hour and half-hour. Here’s more: http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/clock.html

I can get involved in some of the most unusual things. A friend told me I can get free scratch tickets everyday…. guess I’m going to be rich… hahahaha. Anyway, if you’re into Scratch tickets learn how to get them free here.

We have a neat personal paging webpage for people who have Chickasaw, Intouch or Arbuckle pagers and live in Ardmore or Oklahoma City. You can even delay the page til later….. http://www.qpager.com Got a few things to tell everyone…. so let’s get going……..

THE CLOCK IS TICKING (continued from last Saturday)

I have been checking computers at the courthouse to see if they will change over to the year 2000. I have found several that will not, so those will have to be upgraded. One thing unusual I found is a couple of computers will not change over at midnight Dec 31, 1999 when turned off three minutes before midnight. But they can be change in the CMOS settings to Jan 1, 2000 and they retain that setting. Strange. Until I learn differenly I would assume those computer will work fine in the new millinium. I turned them off, waited, then turned them back on and they keep their date and time. More next issue.

DOUGHERTY, OKLAHOMA NOW HAS A TOWN HALL
by Joe D. Jordan jdjordan@brightok.net

The Town of Dougherty, Oklahoma (Population 273) has never officially had a town hall, for the last 4 or 5 years they have been using the old school building that was abandoned. Before that the town clerk used an army surplus communications trailer for the office, and before that, all records and transactions were kept and handled in whomever was town clerk’s home.

In 1997 they applied for a $55,000.00 Southern Oklahoma Development Association/Oklahoma Department of Commerce grant for a new Town hall and it was awarded in the fall of that year. Construction was completed March 23 1998. The building is complete with a meeting room capable of holding approximately 90 people, a full kitchen, handicap accessible rest rooms, a Mayors/Clerks Office, Dept. Public Works Office, and the Fire Chiefs office. This 1600 square foot facility was designed By Joe D. Jordan the Public Works Manager and meets all Federal and State Codes, and by cutting out the middle men (architects/engineers ) we were able to use all of the money for material and construction expenses, and build a building the whole community can be proud of.

When it was decided where to build the Town Hall everyone in the community was pleased to hear it was going to be built next to the old town jail, which was built around 1920 it is a 1 room 1 cell jail made of natural sandstone, the jailhouse will remain standing and is in the process of being partially repaired.

Dougherty, Oklahoma is in the Arbuckle Mountains, about 25 miles north of Ardmore, OK.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

There was a light drizzle that Friday evening around 8:30pm when 18 miles northeast of Ardmore the worst air crash in Oklahoma history would take place. The crash of that American Flyers Electra plane would take the lives of 81 people. There were 17 survivors. It was a horrible April 22, 1966 for Ardmore, Oklahoma. The plane was piloted by Reed W. Pigman, founder of American Flyers and based at the Ardmore Airpark, northeast of Ardmore at Gene Autry. Other crew members who died were Wilbur A. Marr, 613 Campbell, co-pilot; Charles M. Gray, 705 Wallace, flight engineer; Anthony A. “Tony” Pica, 512 Oak, Chief Flight Engineer; and Stewardesses Wanda Stonecipher, Stratford, OK and Dyana Duncan, Jacksonville, Texas. Ardmore hospitals began receiving the injured about 11:00pm. Doctors at the E.R. were Frank Clark, John Adair, and David Rose. Bill Lewis, manager of the Southern Oklahoma Ambulance Service here, was on duty the night of the crash. When I worked at the ambulance service, Bill would tell me about that crash, how terrible it was. They set up a temporary morgue at the Civic Auditorium. Anthony’s and Yeager’s department stores here opened up that night, to furnish much needed sheets, at the hospital and at the temporary morgue. During my years at the ambulance service, I worked 5 or 6 airplane crashes, but nothing compared to that crash that Friday night in 1966. I have a yellowed “extra-edition” of the Daily Ardmoreite that was printed the following Saturday. The price on it is five cents. It’s worth much more to me.

LYE SOAP WINNER

julis@tulsa.pfsp.com wins a genuine bar of Ranchman’s Lye Soap! If anyone wants to purchase some lye soap… I will send you one bar for $3 bucks, which includes the $1.50 for postage. A case of 20 bars is $30 plus $4 postage. Just let me know by email, and mail the money to me at: Lye Soap Ardmore, OK

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“I can’t sing worth a hoot, but I remember the theme words of Grandma’s Lye Soap!”

DO YOU REMEMBER GRANDMA’S LYE SOAP?
GOOD FOR EVERYTHING IN THE HOME!
THE SECRET WAS IN THE SCRUBBING.
IT WOULDN’T SUDS, AND IT COULDN’T FOAM.”

———————————————————–

“You are such a wonderful ambassador for Ardmore. I really enjoy reading your work on Saturday. I thought I would mention it to you, in case you want to mention it to your many friends, about all the wonderful things happening in Ardmore on April 4. The Main Street Authority can probably give you more info than me, but I do know there will be a Chili-Cookoff, Kid’s day in the park, and a great Beanie Baby Show at the YWCA. The Beanie Baby Show is what really interests me and thousands of other collectors in the area.”

———————————————————-

“The Handmade Homemade Lye Soap which you mailed to me arrived today. I can remember Lye Soap from visiting my grandfather’s farm when I was a little kid.”

———————————————————–

“This & That is a very interesting news/info letter ! You are very good at writing and keeping it interesting. Please keep me on the mailing list. I don’t know where Ardmore is, and may never go there, but I’m learning a lot about it through your writing !”

———————————————————–

“I was excited to win something–I am usually not on the winning side of life–maybe times are changing for me.”

———————————————————–

“Since somebody mentioned the Oklahoma Alumni Net and the URL for Ardmore High School, maybe these schools could be mentioned too. All schools are not part of the Alumni Net, yet, you have to request that your school be added. But it is free.”

Southeastern Oklahoma State University
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/SOSU

Madill High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/MADILL-HS

Wapanucka High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/Wapanucka-HS

Davis High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/DAVIS-HS

Duncan High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/DUNCAN-HS

Healdton High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/Healdton-HS

Marietta High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/Marietta-HS

Marlow High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/MARLOW-HS

Sulphur High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/Sulphur-HS

Velma-Alma High School
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/VAHS

———————————————————————— —

“I’m writing to you to see if you can give me any info of the old Fort Howiz (I know I didn’t spell that right) near Gainesville, Texas. This camp was used in WW2 as an AirSupport group and a POW camp..it’s named for Col.(Gen.?) Howiz (sp?) for whom the Howizor cannon is named. I do know that much. I’ve done all kinds of searchs on INet and can’t find a thing .. the site goes on forever..it’s huge and goes for miles and miles..”

I’ll get out of here now. Oh, did any of you see Celine Dion sing her song “My Heart Will Go On” on the grammy awards this week? Man, what a song and what a singer. Anyway, guess I will open up a can of Libbys Vanilla Pears (something new I found at the grocer this week) and hit the SEND button. Remember that love is stronger than hate. And tell that special someone you care. See you all next Saturday.

Butch Bridges, Ardmore, Oklahoma – Mailouts: over 400 people

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, March 21, 1998 (weekly) Vol 2 Issue 48

It’s been a wet week here in Ardmore…. creeks are full, the ground is saturated, then some heavy snows in parts of the state. El Nino is still doing it’s dastardly tricks. The Court Clerk received a new update to their KellPro Court Clerk Program. I installed it a couple of days ago…… nice. Among other things, the program will allow the scanning of documents and attaching that photo to a record for later retrieval. Now all that’s left to do is figure out how to find funding for the desktop scanners for each employee and the gigabyte harddrives that’s needed! Does anyone have a scanner I could borrow a few days for demo purposes?

I was listening to a local radio station this week and heard an ad the Noble Foundation was looking for a webmaster and someone with extensive computer experience. I think the starting salary was around $35k. The Noble Foundation is based in Ardmore but world renown. You can visit their website at http://www.noble.org Enough trivial stuff, let’s go to a little This & That…….

CLAUD SMITH HONORED

About couple months ago I mentioned in my T&T that an attorney named Claud H. Smith, 92 years young, still practiced in Ardmore. He is probably the oldest still practicing attorney in the United States. On Friday, March 13, 1998 at 3:30pm the Carter County Bar Association honored Mr. Smith with a reception and ceremony at the courthouse. There were a large turn-out of friends and acquaintances, and it was a fitting tribute to a man who everyone has admired down through the years.

ROBERT DENNEY DIES

On March 16, 1998 former Sheriff Robert Denney succumbed to a long illness here in Ardmore. Denney was in law enforcement 38 years, 20 of them as Sheriff (1970-1990). I remember Denney so well…. a man whose word was his bond, respected by so many. In 1973 Denney authorized me a two-way radio to put in my car since I worked for the ambulance service. In 1975 he commissioned me as Reserve Deputy Sheriff (there was only three other reserves at that time.) I have so many good memories of Denney, memories that will last a lifetime. I can remember in the late 1980s an Oklahoma City television station coming to Ardmore to interview him. He held the honor of being re-elected to office more times then any other sheriff in Oklahoma. Denney was a small man in stature, but he was a giant in this county. He will be missed. Here is a photo of the man-

http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/denney1.jpg

THE CLOCK IS TICKING What will you be doing at midnight December 31, 1999? Or maybe a better question is what will your computer be doing? Well it move into the new millenium victorious? Or will two little zeros send it into a downward spiral? Usually I take you back into the past…. but this time why don’t we go forward in time. I’ve travelled there several times this week. I have been rebooting computers, hitting the DEL key and resetting the date in CMOS to December 31, 1999 and the time at 3 minutes until midnight. I then turn the computers off and wait a few minutes, and then power-up Interesting…… I’ll speak more on this in future issues. If you want to learn how to do this self-test yourself, and even download some free software to help you determine what Y2K will mean to your computer….. just go to http://www.year2000.com Lots of info and great links. If you believe in the gloom and doom predictions…. try this http://www.millennia-bcs.com/casframe.htm

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST
by Dave Ross, Ranchman’s Lye Soap

Making Lye Soap Like Great-Grandma

First we start with the trimmings from our steaks and render out the tallow in big pots. Second we boil the fat with water to take out any impurities i.e. membranes, meat, smell and particles. Then we weigh out 30 pounds of purified tallow and heat it up to the right temperature. We mix lye with water and wait for it to cool down. When everything is at the right temperature we slowly drizzle the lye water into the fat, stirring it all the time. Stirring has to be at just the right speed. If it is stirred to fast it will curdle or too slow it will separate. Also the outside temperature affects how long we need to stir. Sometime I have had to stir for 4 hours or as little as 45 minutes. When the soap is thick enough to make the paddle stand up, it is poured into three large pans and leveled out. In fifteen to thirty minutes we cut it into bars while it is still soft. The next day the soap is put into racks to cure for two weeks. During curing it will shrink some and it will continue to shrink more after that . This is why some of the labels are loose even though we put them on tight.

Working with hot grease and lye is dangerous and we always keep vinegar on hand to splash on our skin in case of contact with lye. Rubber gloves are a must as well as safety glasses. Our manufacturing facility is improving all the time, and we can’t wait for the safety shower and eye wash stand to get here in the mail.

Long ago the settlers made their soap from lard when they killed a pig. Our soap, being made from beef fat, is a little harder but it works just as good. The settlers would make their own lye by saving up hardwood ash from their cookstove or fireplace and put it in a hollowed log angled down towards their soap kettle. The log had a drip hole on the bottom and when they needed lye they poured water on the ashes and seeping through lye water came out the drip hole into their kettle. Their soap was not as white and pretty as mine. Some old timers don’t think my soap is as good because it’s too white and doesn’t smell as bad. Grey and smelly aren’t a requirement for good lye soap.

LYE SOAP WINNER

lonewolf@atoka.net is the winner of a genuine bar of Ranchman’s Lye Soap! If you havn’t sent your name in for the drawings, let me know. We’re going to draw 1 name a week for 1 bar over the next 12 weeks. If anyone wants to purchase some lye soap… I will send you one bar for $3 bucks, which includes the $1.50 for postage. A case of 20 bars is $30 plus $4 postage. Just let me know by email, and mail the money to me at:

And from some of the jokes some of you have been sending me, I think there are several of you who should order a bar real quick…. and wash your mouth out with soap. hahahahaha Right…Helen in England? LOL You know, they would make a great gag gift….. and last longer then the store bought soaps too! (Please….. no personal checks)

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“I just wonder if that Durant bridge was the one that Governor Alfalfa Bill Murray sent the Oklahoma National Guard to when Texas tried to impose a fee for people to cross???”

———————————————————–

“…..There are a couple for Ardmore High School and other schools in the Ardmore vicinity but there is almost no one listed on them. I wonder if few alumni are aware of them and the free service they porvide. The sites I have found are:

National Alumni Directory
http://www.asd.com/

Oklahoma Alumni Net
Ardmore High School Alumni Registry
http://www.infophil.com/Oklahoma/Alumni/Ardmore-HS/Welcome.html

———————————————————–

“….always enjoy getting T&T, as you know I have passed it on and gathered up a few more subscibers.”

———————————————————–

“….. I thought you might know how to get info about the following: On 28 January 1919, The Ardmore Akron Tire and Rubber Company issued one share of common capital stock for $100 per share to Mrs. R.V. Dixon (my grandmother). John C. Harmony signed as President of the Co, and Roy G. Wood as Secretary. The certificate states “incorporated under the laws of the State of Oklahoma.”

———————————————————–

“Within the last few months there has been some discussion of a bridge across the Red River at one time used jointly by automobiles (and perhaps wagons at one time) and the Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. The descriptions of modern day travel across the bridge by car sounded very similar to the bridge you described in “This & That” for Saturday, March 14, 1998.”

———————————————————–

“If you ever put up a picture of the Johnston county courthouse, the old Chickasaw capitol, I sure would like to use it, or if you know where there is one already online.”

———————————————————–

“The “Glimpse Into the Past ” reminded me of my father. He was born with an explosives license…. He has also set off explosives at air shows to simulate the bombing at Pearl Harbor.”

———————————————————-

“I am now the coordinator of the Johnston County, OK OKGenWeb project page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~okjohnst/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week my T&T was a little longer then usual….. I try not to let my T&T get too long. I have some great pics from around 1905 that my friend Ann Randolph gave me to scan. They’re photos of the past in Cordell, Oklahoma. I’ll try to share those next week. I hope everyone is enduring El Nino. Make the most of each day, we just dont know what tomorrow will bring. Remember, a smile is contagious……. See everyone next Saturday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, March 14, 1998 (weekly) Vol 2 Issue 47

I noticed that four weeks ago, I miss-numbered my T&T, so I was off one number. This issue corrected to be Issue 47.

The phone company still has us messed up here in Oklahoma as far as the new 580 area code goes. I left a message the other day on an answering machine in California, with my phone number, gave them our new 580 area code. Well, he tried and tried to call me, but the call wouldnt go through. He finally called the old 405 area code and reached me with no problem. So, all I can say is when calling a 405 or 580 phone number try both area codes… you may get through. Of course, then you may not 🙂 The other day I heard about a courthouse in Oklahoma that ending up paying $1,500 to restore their data from a tape backup that was bad. The backup was bad, so they finally had to send their hard drive to a company to get the data back. If you have been sending email to ardmore.com something has been wrong for over a week. All my messages (about 30 of them) came back after 5 days of trying. So much for the bad news, let’s hear some good news for a change…..

ONE LANE BRIDGE SOUTH OF DURANT, OKLAHOMA

About 27 miles south-southeast of Durant, Oklahoma on Highway 78 is the Red River and an old bridge. I’ve been told the bridge was built before statehood (1907). The bridge is iron and only wide enough for one lane of traffic to travel between Oklahoma and Texas at a time. One can only imagine the history that has travelled between Oklahoma and Texas via this bridge. Here are two views of the bridge, one looking south toward Texas, the other looking north toward Oklahoma.

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/karma1.jpg
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/karma2.jpg

THE MAIL MAN COMETH

If you have more than one e-mail address, or if you need to stay on top of your incoming messages, try Cyber-Info E-Mail Notify. Sound effects, a task bar icon, or a pop-up message instantly alert you to incoming messages. At the click of a mouse you can view, delete, and send messages without having to launch your slow, resource-gobbling e-mail application. There are even spam filtering options available, along with several handy system utilities. Best of all, it’s free!!!

Cyber-Info E-Mail Notify 3.2c, Windows 95/NT Freeware: http://www.softseek.com/files/review?INEMTO14181sw

SULPHUR, OKLAHOMA NEWSLETTER

Diana Simpson and some others at the Sulphur PC Users Group is just starting a “Bits and Bites” newsletter. This group has been meeting on Wednesdays at the library, helping others with computer problems and newsy stuff that’s coming out. So, I know you’re going to enjoy their new publication. Just drop Diana a line and asked to be placed on their mailing list. Email: dsimpson@brightok.net

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

American Glycerin and American Torpedo Co
224 11th NW Phone 218 Ardmore, Oklahoma
An Ardmore business around 1937
Submitted by: Leroy “Mac” McDaniel

Before WWII the United States was trying to locate and have in reserve all of the oil, rubber and some other commodities it could get hold of. Nearly all of the major oil companies had “land” offices in Ardmore. These offices were staffed with petroleum engineers and geologist. Their job was to contact people in certain locals and buy their mineral rights. Every few months a different oil company seismograph crew would arrive in town. Their job was to drill small holes in the ground and set off explosives and record the data about rock structure and sand structure in the ground. This information could pretty much tell the experts exactly where they could drill for oil or gas.

There was a man that was transferred into the Ardmore area by the name of “Ace” Swoap. He was an employee of the E.I. DuPont Company, in the explosives division. He operated out of his residence. His wife took all phone calls and listed them on his service board. He had a warehouse out in the country away from all farm houses, business and live stock. He was the one that handled the nitro-glycerin. He would go to his warehouse and load the “torpedoes” with nitro and place the torpedoes on his truck in an inverted channel iron rack. The amount of nitro in each torpedo would vary depending upon the requirement by the oil company. They would be strapped down for the transportation to the well site. When he would arrive at the seismograph well site he would very, very gently lower the torpedo by an electrical cord down into the ground. The seismograph crew would tell him how far down into the ground they wanted the torpedo lowered. The electrical cord was measured and when the torpedoes was at the desired depth the cord would be tied off and hooked into an electrical charger. Then the charge would be detonated and the seismograph crew would get their data from a bank of machines on the big truck they all had.

It became a standing joke around Ardmore that when you saw a cloud of dust coming, you would get off the highway and give “Ace” the “right-of-way”.

WINNER OF A BAR OF LYE SOAP

jmaxwsell3@juno.com is the winner of a genuine bar of Lye Soap! We will draw for some more bars as soon as I get some in. If you havnt sent you name in for the drawings, let me know.

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“This is pretty neat….you put in your birthday and it tells you what was going on in the world on that day, or any other day. Try it…it works! http://dmarie.com/asp/history.asp?action=process

———————————————————–

“I am adding that little tit-bit about R.V. and the “Bailey machine guns” in my “book” I call (so far) THE BRIDGES OF OKLAHOMA. If I visited Ardmore, could you get me an invitation for breakfast like that with the McDaniels?”

It been a very productive week for me, hope your’s has been too. We have made some giant steps forward this past week at the courthouse. I’ll tell you more as soon as things are final. I mentioned a couple weeks ago how much advancement we made there, electronically speaking. That could have been an understatement. I’ll share some of the good things that have come our way, thanks to a company here in town, in future issues of T&T.

But let’s not forget the pain and suffering around the world caused by El Nino. So much record cold, floods, storms, drought…. I know there are vitual friends out there that wonder if any more bad can happen, they been through so much. If we are in our homes, warm and dry, unscathed by mother nature, we need to give thanks. We need to pray for those, those who have lost everything. Tell those close to you how much they are loved….. it can mean so much sometimes. We never know what just a few words of encourgement can bring to someone, someone who seems up against the world.

I better quit talking here, and hit that SEND button. I just bought some Cain’s Tea Bags, so I think I’ll fix a cup of hot tea, play a little Celin Dion, and remember, “there are people around the world, different faces different names, but there’s one true emotion that reminds me we’re the same.”

See everyone next weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, March 7, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 46

I am still in awe sometimes at the friendships I’ve made from my little news column. Last Saturday morning I had just sent my T&T out, the phone rang, and it was Mac and Jimmie McDaniel here in Ardmore. They asked if I had eaten breakfast? Nope, (I usually dont eat breakfast), and they invited me to come over and eat with them. Jimmie had fixed bacon and eggs, some gravy, biscuits, and coffee. Believe me, I am always ready to eat, so off I went to the McDaniel’s house. Not only did we have some great down home cooking, but we talked about a lot of things from long ago. Jimmie and Mac have placed on their Home Page a wealth of info on cemetery inscriptions for Mannsville, Oklahoma. You can find it listed at http://www.brightok.net/~lwmac Also Mac is going to shed some light on that mention I made a couple weeks ago about “torpedoes” being made in Ardmore as listed in the 1937 phone book. I will pass it along to everyone as soon as he gets it to me. Good friendships, even those made through cyberspace, mean so much. Now, for some This & That!

DESKTOP ATLAS

Instead of fumbling with the atlas on your book shelf, navigate around a world map on your desktop with Amiglobe. You can choose from four map projections, and zoom in on any area to display cities, rivers, and main peaks. It includes a handy drop down list so you can quickly locate a city or country on the map. Amiglobe offers a wealth of information about 200 countries. Not only can you play each country’s national anthem, but you can learn about their geography, history, people, government, economy, transportation, military, and more. And best of all, Amiglobe is free!

Amiglobe 1.00, Windows 95/NT Freeware: http://www.softseek.com/files/review?EDGO16025sw

ENTER A PHONE NUMBER, GET A NAME

I found a database on the Net call AnyWho. If you enter a phone number, most times it will return the person’s name who that phone number belongs to. Interesting. But if you’re concerned about privacy, you can remove your phone number/name online. Give it a try at: http://www.anywho.com/telq.html

ANOTHER COOKBOOK WINNER

khodge@brightok.net is the winner of an Old Timey Cookbook! Next week we’re going to draw a name for a genuine handmade, homemade bar of Lye Soap. The bar of soap is made in Ponder, TX. I love things from the past, and lye soap is a vivid reminder of my past. I remember as a child back in the late 50s, going to my great grandmother Ida Miller’s house just across the street east of Washington School here in Ardmore. She would have that big old cast iron pot boiling from a wood fire, in preparation for making lye soap. You had to mix the ingredients just right…. too much lye and it would eat your skin!!!

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“How about that Wilson Girls Basketball Team, doing great this year. I was raised at Dillard, Oklahoma and our party line number was 259J. I haven’t thought of the old phone number in many years until your column. Still enjoying hearing from you every week. Thanks for taking the time.”

—————————————————–

“Just wanted to tell you how much we all look forward to “This & That” on Saturdays. It is amazing how quickly we can read three pages, click on all the new web sights you have found for us, then wish for more. We do appreciate all the long hours and hard work it takes to bring this to us each week. Thank you again friend, and keep that smile!”

—————————————————–

“I won an Oldies tape! Nothing personal, right? ha Thank you and KVSO Radio, been listing to it all day.”

—————————————————–

“Always enjoy reading the articles. As a transplant, some of your articles show us the history of this town. I know it must take a great deal of time to run your articles but let me assure you they are enjoyed.”

—————————————————–

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

Monday, September 4, 1933 in Ardmore, Oklahoma, a car chase took place that would make headlines across the country. Harvey Bailey, outlaw, was being held in jail at Dallas for kidnapping Oklahoma City oil man and millionaire, Charles F. Urschel. The Dallas county jail, constructed in 1914 in the southwest corner of Main and Houston streets, was consider escape proof. But somehow, a gun was slipped to Harvey Bailey, he took a jailor captive, and the two fled in the jailor’s car. Bailey was associated with the mob. It was on his farm that police arrested one of the key murderers of the Valentine Massacre in Chicago. Machine Gun Kelley and Bailey were the suspected kidnappers of oilman Urschel. Washington DC anti-crime administrators had even sent 6 Army airplanes in search of Bailey.

After fleeing the Dallas jail, Bailey took back roads to Oklahoma. Love county Sheriff Sam Randoph received a tip that Bailey was in the Ardmore area. Soon afterward, Bailey stopped his car to get gasoline and was noticed immediately. Ardmore Police Chief Hale Dunn, and detectives Bennett Wallace and Raymond Shoemaker gave chase to Bailey, leading them on a wild chase through Ardmore. At the corner of North Washington and Second Street in front of the Mulkey Hotel, Bailey lost control of his car, hit the curb, and broke the spokes away from the tire. He was immediately surrounded by police and taken into custody. Jailor Nick Tresp, a hostage, was unharmed in the crash.

I remember my Dad, R.V. Bridges, telling me that he was in the Army Reserves at the time. When they moved Bailey from the city hall jail, my dad and another Army reserve was posted on top of the old Coca Cola building across the street (where the County Detention Center is now located) with a machine gun. He felt kind of silly being posted up there with two machine guns. There were spectators all over the area when they came out with Bailey, and he said there was no way they could shoot without hitting a lot of innocent bystanders.

As if a glimpse right from the past, I received a call last week from a man in California who collects old newspapers. He has in his possession a September 4, 1933 San Bernardino newspaper with big, bold headlines telling of the Harvey Bailey capture in Ardmore, Oklahoma. He said the newspaper was in near perfect condition and was willing to sell it to me. I haven’t taken him up on the offer yet but it is tempting (price is right)…… since I love old stuff like that.

So much for this week. Time to fix a cup of hot tea, pour in just a little bit of French Vanilla creamer and hit the SEND button and hope it all works okay. You never know about computers. Anyway, everyone be careful, tell someone close you love them, and I’ll see you all next weekend.

Butch Bridges, Ardmore, Oklahoma

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, February 28, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 45

Oh brother…… I sure hope your week has gone smoother than mine. I been fighting computers and networks all week long. And guess what? They won. Oh well, I’ll hit it hard and heavy again start Monday, and who knows, I may win next time! Last week I mentioned about the movie Titanic and that Celine Dion sang the Theme Song. You might want to check out http://www.titanicmovie.com They have some great screensavers! Anyway, lots to pass on this week, so here we go….

OKLAHOMA’S ELECTRONIC CAMPUS IS ONLINE

This month over 600 undergraduate and graduate courses were offerred electronically by Oklahoma’s 25 state colleges and universities. Take a peek at http://www.okhighered.org and look under “Information for Students”.

ANOTHER COOKBOOK WINNER

We’ve got another winner for an Old Timey Cookbook! They are LDavis0221@aol.com Guess we will give away another Oldies tape next Friday compliments of KVSO Radio here in Ardmore.

MADILL, OKLAHOMA CHILD STILL MISSING

Twenty five miles east of Ardmore is Madill, Oklahoma. Ten year old Thomas Billy Lee Tillery left his home on September 19, 1994 to go to the grocery store two blocks away. Billy has never been seen again. If you know any information about his missing child, please contact your nearest law enforcement agency.

Here is a pic of Billy as he might look today- http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/tillery.jpg

ARDMORE CEMETERY RECORDS

Found a place on the web where you can search for people buried in cemeteries in this county (Carter). I did some looking, and did not find some names that should be there, but it is still a great place to look for lost kinfolk, a wealth of information. Give it a try at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ok/carter.htm

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“Got the Old Timey Cookbook–but I thought you were going to include an “old timey cook” with it! Oh well, thanks so much anyhow!!”

————————————————————-

“I look forward to getting This & That on Saturdays….. My wife is thrilled about you drawing my name for the ‘Old Timey Cookbook’, she is a fanatic about cookbooks. I can’t thank you enough.”

————————————————————

“…..funny I find your “bits and bobs” much more rewarding and interesting! I know I always call This & That your bits and bobs but they are like the expression “odds and sods”. And bits and bobs sound better! he he!”

———————————————————–

“….. you are right, we need to share more smiles with everyone. I was diagnosed with cancer in July, and I love to share smiles with people and get them in return. Thanks again for your time and trouble, we read your notes every Saturday.”

———————————————————–

“Received your last This & That…. took it to work and everyone thought it was just great. I was having a hard time loading Win95…. you came to the rescue with an install disk…. so thanks for the computer help.”

———————————————————–

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

Last week we talked about the 1932 phonebook that belonged to my mother and some of the strange phone numbers listed in it. One was W.C. Wright NW of City 9515-F-2. Several readers wrote in to give some insight on those strange numbers….. here are those messages:

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Numbers like these were used for rural magneto lines (turn the crank to call the operator). Often, perhaps usually, the lines were owned and maintained (or not maintained) by the people in the rural areas who were on the line. There were often many parties on the line. The 9515 identified the line, the F indicated it was a rural magneto line, and the “2” meant the operator rang two short rings to signal W.C. Wright’s phone (but everyone on the line heard the ringing and could, and often did, pick it up).”

“There were various ways to indicate combinations of long and short rings; I don’t remember the exact format now. There could be as many as 20 or so parties on a rural magneto line. Often they were noisy lines, and if several people picked up it degraded the transmission further.”

“You needed to turn the crank on your phone to signal the operator when you wanted to make a call, and she would answer “Number, Please.” You were supposed to turn the crank again to end the call, since the operator did not get any other signal as to whether the line was in use.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Reference the dial system, I recall our phone number was 4453-R, and the dial system went in when I was in the second or third grade, 1957-58 remember it was a CApitol 3 prefix I don’t remember when it changed to the numerals 22 instead of CA. There was a meeting held at the school auditorium when the folks from the telephone company explained about this new fancy dial system”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“When I was a small lad back in Gene Autry, Oklahoma in 1955 we picked up the phone and it was answered by Noble and Lena Hardy. This husband and wife ran and owned the Hardy Telephone Company (which turned into The Chickasaw Telephone Co.). On Christmas Eve we could pick up the phone and call SANTA and tell him what we wanted for Christmas (isn’t it amazing what kids believe in) but you could not tell me that Santa did not exist. Because I could hear sleigh bells in the background. Now I wonder how those people ever went anywhere together and ran the phone switchboard. But they did. What a wonderful group of people to have been raised up with. I will never forget those times. By the way the Hardys were in their 70’s back then.”

Even with a bad week, I did get a change of pace Friday night. I went to a Tracy Lawrence concert here in Ardmore. I will admit it was great! He was a fantastic entertainer and the music was awesome. The crowd, especially the younger people, loved every minute, and was sharing the moments with someone close.

Let’s close for now… it’s been such a long week to me….. think I will just rest up some…. listen to some Oldies music…. play on the computer a little, and enjoy the weekend. I hope all of you do the same…. life is short…. we need to enjoy it while are still alive…. with each passing day, time becomes more precious. See you all next Saturday.

Butch Bridges, Ardmore, Oklahoma

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, February 21, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 44

We been busy this week. Some new and promising developments too. One is the Ardmore Telecommunications Coalition approved the courthouse for Internet access using the OneNet system. This means county officials will soon be able to access the Internet from their Windows 95 Desktops. We’re truly proud of this…. it’s going to be a giant step forward for us. The Carter County Courthouse has made some tremendous accomplishments, technology wise, the past few months. Anyway….. let’s get on with some This & That…….

Internet Explorer 4 vs Netscape 4

We’ve talked about this before, but below is the latest data. I think you are going to be surpised who the winner is. http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reviews/Compare/Browsers4/?dd

WE HAVE ANOTHER WINNER

We’ve drawn out another name for an Old Timey Cookbook! It’s pete@so-ok-realestate.com If you’ve sent in your name to me, you’re still in the hopper, and who knows, we may draw again for something this Friday at 5pm!

THE TECH CORNER

Lot of you are getting these humongous hard drives…. 2 gigs, 3 gigs, 4 gigs and even bigger. With a zillion or more clusters, it’s very important to keep it optimized. Use the DeFrag in your Windows 95 program to do this. If may say “Drive C: is less then 1% fragmented and does not need Defrag….” but remember, 1% of a 4 gig hard drive is a bunch. So, run Defrag anyway. And do it often too. It will keep down problems and make sure your hard drive is running it’s fastest!

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“The Roman Lupercalia, a celebration of fertility began on February 14th. The date was later borrowed by the early Christians to celebrate a martyr by the name of Valentine. Source: Oxford Classical Dictionary”

———————————————————-

“Very good this week Butch. The best part to me was You talking about the theme song from the “Titanic”. It does speak to ALL of us. A walk in the past was good too. Keep up the good work.”

———————————————————-

“Hi, I was wondering how you got your clock on your home page. I love your homepage, it’s very informative. You can visit my home page at http://www.brightok.net/~meljoy/cd.html

———————————————————-

“this is more like a network — people getting info from a hub that is managed by someone with interesting bits to pass on.”

———————————————————-

“We enjoyed your plug in T & T this morning. We have had 1 e-mail response from a person that looked at the web page after reading about it in your T & T”

———————————————————-

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

I happen to have an Ardmore, Oklahoma telephone book that was owned by my mother. It was printed in August 1937. It is only about 30 pages in length including a yellow pages section. Some of the phone numbers are very unusual. They are the listings of people out in the country, for instance, W.C. Wright NW of City 9515-F-2 Mr. Wright was the father of a friend of mine in town, W.C. Wright, Jr., we call him Cliff (he’s an accountant). Then there’s Stroman Motors 224 West Main who’s phone number was 445. Ray’s Office Supply 15 A SW phone 387. If you wanted the police department you asked the Operator for 248. For fire, just ask the Operator for “Fire Department”. The yellow pages has some unusual listings too. For instance, under Torpedoes there is American Glycerin Co., 224 11th NW and American Torpedo Co. 224 11th NW (same address). Now what in the world is that in Ardmore, Oklahoma? And Haberdashers – See Men’s Furnishings. But they did have one thing I like in 1937, BBQ at the Green Frog Sandwich Shop 511 West Main. Think I’ll call them at 66 and place an order for some sliced beef! I remember when I was about 12 years old, Ardmore switching from the Operator assisted calls to the rotary dial. Guess that was around the early 1960s? They installed our rotary phone a year in advance, then on a Sunday morning at 6am we finally got to try it. I set my alarm clock for 6am and got up, and called the Time and Temperature. No Operator was needed… you just used your finger to dial a number…… amazing.

This is a picture of the front cover of the 1937 phone book

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/pbook37.jpg

And here is the inside cover with the phone pricing information

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/pbook$.jpg

Guess I will fix a cup of hot tea with some sugar and cream, and scoot out of here….. several things to do today, and it’s suppose to be beautiful here in Oklahoma. Everyone share a smile with someone. You never know who may be having a bad day, and your smile can bring a ray of happiness and hope.

See you all next weekend!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, February 14, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 43

I thought last week went fast, but this week was running at Mach 2. I’m still amazed at the power of email. Help has come to me from people I’ve never seen or talked to. Also please bear with me on emails…. I’ve been getting around 50 a day… and sometimes it takes me time to answer everyone. But I love it, so keep writing! Now for some This & That……

HEALDTON, OKLAHOMA BEGINNINGS

My friends Leroy and Jimmie McDaniel have add some new history to their home page on Mannsville, Boggy Depot and Healdton, Oklahoma. They even have an old photo of the man that Healdton, Oklahoma was named after. He was Charles H. Heald (born in 1843). If you have interest in these towns, or havent visited their home page, then by all means do, it has some good reading. http://www.brightok.net/~lwmac

OKLAHOMA PURSUIT DRIVING HELP

For law enforcement officers and those interested in pursuit driving, there is a Home Page in Oklahoma maintained by an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman. The purpose of the unofficial site is to provide training information and to establish a site for pursuit information on the web. He would like to eventually obtain information on pursuits and emergency vehicle operations for officers and departments to reverse the negative press emergency vehicle operation has been getting. The link below will take you to this unique website. http://members.aol.com/ohprabbit/index.html

ADOPT A SEARCH COMPANION WITH WEBFERRET

Hunting for information on the Web can often be a hit-and-miss affair when you use a single search engine. WebFerret lets you quickly perform simultaneous searches across popular engines. The interface closely resembles the Windows 95 “Find” utility, with the results returned in a nicely-formatted list. Double-clicking on any result launches your Web browser and takes you to that page. There are options to limit the number of hits that are displayed, and you can choose to have only “fair”, “good”, “close”, or “strong” matches displayed.

WebFerret 1.30, Windows 95/NT Freeware: http://www.softseek.com/files/review?INWESE7709sw

SONGS FROM THE PAST

This week we drew a name for an “oldies” tape compliments of KVSO Radio 1240 AM here in Ardmore. The winner is: bjones@brightok.net Not sure what will draw for next weekend but we will draw for something, so if you’ve sent your email address in, then you’re still in the hopper! How about another Old Timey Cookbook? Friday evening at 5:00pm is drawing time.

SOME OF THIS WEEKS MAILBAG

“I noticed in a recent issue of “This & That” some comments on the availability of Dr. Pepper in certain parts of the United States. When I arrived in Australia late in 1995 Dr Pepper was not to be found down here. It has only recently become available in the land down under. First there was a media advertising campaign to explain what Dr. Pepper was and then it began appearing in the local supermarkets. Initially it was only available in the large plastic bottles. It recently started to appear in cans and in its diet version as well. The Aussie Dr Pepper is made right here in Tullamarine, Victoria. The label on the bottle says “Product of Australia. Made to the authentic recipe of the Dr Pepper Company Dallas, Texas 75265″. I thought you might find this bit of DP trivia interesting.”

———————————————————–

“I’ve just begun a Master’s program at OU in Journalism and Mass Communication. My term paper this semester is to be on the history of an Oklahoma newspaper, radio station, etc….. I’d like to do my paper on the Daily Ardmoreite. (Fortunately, no student has covered it since 1973, but prior to that it apparently was someone’s topic since 1893!) If anyone out there worked for the paper, wrote for the paper, or has any interesting tidbits or thoughts about the Ardmoreite since 1973, I’d love to hear from you. Please e-mail me at jacfrock@aol.com”

———————————————————-

“Your T&T might brag about Ardmore being in the semi-finals this year for being declared the “All American City.”

———————————————————–

“Can’t believe I won something. This is great. I’m in Kansas but why don’t you send the cookbook to…. my Mom’s address and she retired from the courthouse in Ardmore and will enjoy it until I come down next time. I am printing out a lot of your “This & That” to mail to her because she really enjoys the history of the area. Thanks again.”

———————————————————-

“And another thing for your T&T message on Saturday. Brag about Ardmore HS 1970 grad Michael Schwab, who designed the USPS stamp of a downhill skier for one of the Olympic Stamp series.”

———————————————————-

“I’ve been browsing through your home page, as I do frequently, and thought of something you might be interested in. Do you have a 35mm camera? If so, log onto http://www.filmworks.com That’s Seattle Filmworks home page and if you request it, they’ll send you 2 free rolls of film and a copy of their PhotoWorks software.”

———————————————————-

“I found this sight interesting. http://www.scamwatch.com

———————————————————-

“You’ve been entertaining me and helping me stay in touch with things “back home” for a while now, and I thought I’d like to see if I can help you (or someone you might know)… did you know that Oklahoma University has a surplus property “department” that has stuff available for free to state and local government agencies? They have public auctions when they get full of stuff, so the best time to “go shopping” is a couple of weeks before an auction. I realize that it’s something of a trip up to Norman, but they have a lot of computers, monitors, office equipment and furniture, and lots of odds and ends. If there’s something in particular you’re needing, they can also keep an eye out for you and call you if it ever comes through. If you’re interested in this, or want to pass the info on to someone else either in the local government offices or the school system, I can put together an information package so they can get all the paperwork done before they head up, then all they have to do is pick out the stuff, sign for it, and haul it off.”

———————————————————-

“I sure do enjoy your web page and visit it often. I especially like the pictures of the clock in the courthouse. Back in the late 70s when I worked for the County Treasurer, Mike McComber was always taking people up to see the clock tower and I could never go see it. Now, thanks to you, I can see what I missed back then. Thanks!”

———————————————————-

“Everyone must visit this site.” http://junior.apk.net/~jbarta/idiot/idiot.html

———————————————————-

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

Between the years of 1914 and 1917 there were several public drawings held in Oklahoma for land on Indian reservations. This photo is owned by Ann Randolph here in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Many will remember Ann from her work here at the Ardmore OSU Extension Office the past 19 years.

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/draw1914.jpg

This is a photo of a parade in Cordell, Oklahoma in 1924. The original photo is owned by Ann Randolph of Ardmore, Oklahoma. Ann was born in Cordell and still calls it home.

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/cordel24.jpg

I hope cupid has visited everyone this special time of year. I think we need some love spread around right now. The drums of war are pounding and let’s pray our world leaders make the right decisions. If you’ve seen the movie Titanic, the theme song is by Celine Dion. What she sings in the song speaks to everyone, everywhere.

“Everywhere I go, all the places that I’ve been,
Every smile is a new horizon on a land I’ve never seen,
There are people around the world – different faces different names,
But there’s one true emotion that reminds me we’re the same.
Let’s talk about love, Let’s talk about us, Let’s talk about life,
Let’s talk about trust, Let’s talk about love.”

See everyone next Saturday……

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, February 7, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 42

This week has been fruitful for me, hope your’s has been too. When I mentioned the cookbook givaway last Saturday I didnt know how many of you would respond. Well, it was fantastic! I appreciate everyone’s email, over 40 of you asking to be added to the drawing. I’ve been searching all over for some good stuff this week, so now for some This & that…….

DENTON COUNTY TEXAS LEADS THE WAY

Denton County Texas has taken a giant step forward in making public access of judicial records just the click of a mouse away. They have on their website the criminal, civil, bond records, and even the jail records so you can see who’s in jail! You can do a search by name or case number, limit the results to certain dates, etc. I will make a prediction that Oklahoma will soon follow suit. Oklahoma has been implementing a statewide internet access for some time now, connecting schools, higher eds, votechs, libraries, city-county-state governments, and hospitals are just a partial listing. Visit the Denton County website and get a taste of the future at http://www.co.denton.tx.us/

OLD TIMEY COOKBOOK DRAWING

Last week we announced a drawing for three Old Timey Cookbooks. The following three people have each won a cookbook:

sadie@terraworld.net

hpd@writtle.ac.uk

BobF327631@aol.com

Each of you send me email with instructions so I can get those cookbooks in the mail!

Some of you wrote asking for more info on the Old Timey Recipe book. I have just talked to the man and wife who prints them, and if you still want the info, send me email again. Or call them direct at 1-336-724-3512 and tell Bob I sent you!

Next Saturday we will have a drawing for an “Oldies” cassette tape, compliments of Ardmore’s Oldies Station KVSO and DJ Al Hamilton. If you’ve not emailed your “add me” and want a chance at this oldies cassette, let me know by 5pm Friday 13. If you have already sent me your name, then you’re still in the hopper!

VISIT OKLAHOMA THIS SUMMER

Summertime and vacations is just around the corner. It is not too soon to start planning a getaway. Oklahoma has some beautiful places to visit. If you would like more info on vacations sights in Oklahoma call the department of tourism hotline toll free and ask for their 125 page vacation guide at 1-800-847-OKLA

THE TECH CORNER

For several weeks my CPU fan motor was making a noise when I first turned it on. After deciding it was getting worse I took the cover off to investigate. I removed the CPU fan and there was a black plastic material like tape over the part where the fan motor bearing is located. I peeled the “tape” back and there it was…. the fan bearing. I put just a very little, and I mean oh so little, touch of oil on the bearing. I replaced the “tape” and re-attached the fan motor to the CPU, turned the computer back on, and presto! No more noise, ran smooth as silk. This is probably only a temporary fix mind you, but it may work in an emergency. Also I found the fan to be VERY dirty, so I took a brush and cleaned it. Remember, if the CPU fan does not cool the CPU properly, your computer is going to start doing all kinds of flakey things, believe me. The faster the CPU the more cooling it needs. And dont forget in the hot summer if the room temperature gets to warm, the CPU will start acting up.

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“Like you, I never win anything, but I sure would like to have that Old Timey Cookbook, since Sue & I collect cookbooks. Can you tell me where I can buy a copy?”

———————————————————–

“Butch, I believe you are incorrect about that date. Harold and I were married by a Justice of the Peace in 1968 in downtown OKC! 🙂

———————————————————–

“Interesting that you mentioned you can only buy DP in 7 states. I’ve found a work-around. In the east (specifically D.C. & Charlotte) I never can find DP in restaurants but street vendors nearly always have them. Hummm, is that a black market in Dr Pepper? 🙂

———————————————————–

“Check this web sight out. It is an excellent place for women to start on the web.” http://www.cybergrrl.com

———————————————————–

“Sorry about the tree. I felt that way too once. We bought a beautiful blue spruce for Christmas one year. Paid an arm and a leg to have a “living” Christmas tree. It was doing beautifully, then the next spring someone we had spraying the yard came out and sprayed. The spray blew on the tree and it was dead in two weeks before we even figured out what had happened to it.”

———————————————————–

“Your recent KVSO pictures were great and took a look at the site too. Reminds me of days in 1947 when at the urging of Bill Lauderdale I did my own commercials there for Hilltop Grocery. And no matter where you went in town, the Line Riders were on the air. Thanks for the memories.”

———————————————————–

“From the March/April 1998 issue of American Handgunner magazine. Denny’s issued a corporate policy that no concealed guns are allowed in any of its restaurants. You can call Denny’s customer relations department to voice your opinion. The toll free number is: 1-800-733-6697.”

———————————————————–

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

My friend Ernest Martin (retired Oklahoma state senator) brought to me a brochure this week he found in one of his mother’s books. He estimates it was published around 1927 and gives a pictorial view of sights around Ardmore. Let’s see…. there was one looking down main street, one of the old First National Bank, the Ardmore Hotel, the convention center where the present day Civic Auditorium is located, Woerz Brothers Florist, central park, a tourist park, several of the magnificent homes in Ardmore, and many other photos. But one caught my eye in particular, the courthouse. It shows the dark brown copper clad dome with its spire and cupola. I’ve got all 23 pictures scanned but not written into an HTML screen yet…. I’ll let everyone know when. But here is the pic of the courthouse-

http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/courth27.jpg

Last Saturday I mentioned that the Justice of the Peace officials here in Oklahoma were abolished in 1967. Come to find out, the legislature established the district attorney office during their 1965 session. In 1966 the people of this state voted for their first DA and he/she took office in January 1967. The Justice of the Peace were repealed in the 1968 legislature and the effective date (no more JPs) was January 13, 1969.

Well, time to get out of here. Seems like the weekends are too short and the weekdays too long. I have a lot more old photos to share in the weeks to come….. so be watching. Until next Saturday, remember the eyes are the windows to the soul. Be kind to yourself and to others. See everyone next Saturday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, January 31, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 41

This week I had a tree cut down in my front yard. I sure hated to do it, but it died, mostly from the misletoe in it. I may plant back a Sugar Gum Tree…. enough sadness. Let’s talk about some This & That.

NETSCAPE 3.0 vs NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR

I installed the new Netscape Communicator, what a mess. It would not accept my address book or mail folders. I had over 110 megs of old emails dating back several years. I still have them but will have to put them on another machine I guess. Netscape Communicator did accept my bookmarks. And you know, with the new Netscape Communicator I don’t do one thing more then I did with my older Netscape 3.0 version. And Netscape Communicator is MUCH slower too. All I want to do is surf the net, and send and receive email. And if that is all you want to do too, then take a hard look at the Netscape Communicator. The trade-offs are just not worth it in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, Netscape Communicator has some nice features. But unless you’re going to use them all the time, it’s just not worth the sacrifice.

ADOPT A SEARCH COMPANION

Hunting for information on the Web can often be a hit-and-miss affair when you use a single search engine. WebFerret lets you quickly perform simultaneous searches across popular engines. The interface closely resembles the Windows 95 “Find” utility, with the results returned in a nicely-formatted list. Double-clicking on any result launches your Web browser and takes you to that page. There are options to limit the number of hits that are displayed, and you can choose to have only “fair”, “good”, “close”, or “strong” matches displayed.

WebFerret 1.30, Windows 95/NT Freeware: http://www.softseek.com/files/review?INWESE7709sw

OKLAHOMA SCHOOLS ON THE MOVE

In January some new help came to the schools in Oklahoma. All schools in the state can apply for 1 to 5 phones lines paid for to allow calls to the school through an 800 number. It is to make sure students who do not live with the same exchange do not have to make a long distance call to reach the school. Also the schools in Oklahoma can get one free phone line for internet connection. This is to assure every school in the state is able to provide to its students at least one phone line for accessing the internet. Want more info… email me.

LET’S HAVE A DRAWING

Lots of people like to take a chance on getting something free. I have decided to have a drawing! I’m going to draw three winners and send them free the “OLD TIMEY RECIPES” book! It’s a 64 page booklet with way over a 100 recipes from the bygone years. Like, poor man’s fruitcake, burnt sugar cake, hog jowl & turnip greens, watermelon rind pickles, kraut salad, sweet patoto pudding, and many many more. Just email me your email address before Friday, February 6th at 5pm and say “include me in the drawing”. I’ll announce the three winners in the February 7th issue of “This & That”. Who knows, we may do this type of thing a lot. I love winning stuff, just seems like my name is never drawn… hahahaha.

TALK ABOUT FREE STUFF!

Just check out the link below! http://www.thirdage.com/cgi-bin/rd/emtw2/freestuff/

THE TECH CORNER

ODIN? Dont know what that is? It is a battery that comes installed on some motherboards. I had to replace a motherboard the other day that had one… and the motherboard itself was fine. But the battery would not hold the CMOS settings, so that rendered it worthless. Conclusion? Do not buy a motherboard/computer with an ODIN battery…. you may end up paying through the nose. Make sure the motherboard is comes with the small round “hearing aid” type battery or the rectangle one, which has two wires coming off it, and plugs into two prongs on the motherboard. Even an ODIN battery that just pushes in a socket is much more expensive then the hearing aid type batteries. And like my friend’s computer, that ODIN was soldered onto the mother- board and could not be replaced. We learn as we go on a lot of this stuff…. ODIN was an expensive lesson.

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“… thanks again for your newsletter. I have a home page just for people interested in Alaska, only 3 links but very informative.” http://home.att.net/~hartmanh/index.html

————————————————————

“I am sure you will not remember me, I also went to Washington school back in 1956 as i remember you were a mean little boy. HA i would love to be added to your list. I enjoy going over your home page, lots of interesting things. I moved from Ardmore in 1965 to California so i really enjoy things about my home town.”

———————————————————–

“…please add Frank to your Saturday “This & That” mailing list. He is a former football teammate at OKC Central HS and was transplanted to Southern California, but eager to learn about the Okie happenings.”

———————————————————–

…this web page seems to be very good. You may have been the one that told me about it. It’s on managing your health.” http://www.hmri.com/managingyourhealth

———————————————————–

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

In the 1966, the State of Oklahoma did away with Justice of the Peace officials and County Attorney. They replaced the County Attorney with the District Attorney. Here in Ardmore there is an attorney named Claud H. Smith…. he’s 92 and still working! He has an upstairs office down on Main Street and still has a keen mind for his age. He was accepted to the Bar in 1949. He was elected County Attorney first, and then ran for District Attorney in 1966 but he lost his bid for DA. He was at the courthouse the other day… outside picking up pecans on the front lawn, so I stopped to talk. I always pick his brain about history from long ago… he has a wealth of historical knowledge tucked way back in that brain of his. Anyway, I asked him if I could scan the campaign poster of his District Attorney run back around 1966. So, here is his campaign poster from 1966 along with his pic.

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/smithda.jpg

I would guess Mr. Claud Smith holds the title of being the oldest still practicing attorney in Oklahoma. I would not be surprized if he held that title for the entire United States! And to think, he lives right here in Ardmore, Oklahoma!

That’s about it for this week… I think I will open a Dr Pepper for breakfast… I know… not good for me… but. Since there are only 7 states in the Union where a person can buy a true Dr Pepper (not Mr Pib), I think I’m going to open one up.. click the SEND button, and see if everything goes out…. Take care until next Saturday… and tell someone you love them… it can bring a big *smile* and make a better day for two people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, January 24, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 40

Just want to say we are receiving more ‘hits’ to my Home Page the past few weeks then ever before. Maybe this is a good sign of things to come. Requests for “This & That” continue a healthy growth. I appreciate everyone who participates, and if you want to “say” something or a special request, please let me know. “This & That” is going out to a record number of people. I now have a 33.6 modem, and I can rock n roll. Just a few things to pass along this weekend.

MICROPHONE, POWWOW, and ICQ

This past week I got my mic working again (after 6 months) and anyone who has PowWow, I’m ready to chat. I’ve tried to install ICQ but it reboots my computer every time I attempt to run it. I’ve sent several emails requesting help with the problem to ICQ but no response from them. At least with PowWow I received excellent tech support. And guess what? The newest version of PowWow has instant “voice messages” So page me on PowWow and let’s try some voice chat sometime!

INVESTMENT CLUBS CAN BE FUN AND PROFITABLE

With the new year starting, now might be a good time to look at joining an investment club if you don’t already belong to one. Investment clubs can be found all over the country. Just be sure they use the guidelines and principals of the National Association of Investors The NAIC has been around since 1951 and I would recommend anyone interested, to join. Since most investment clubs are limited to 35 members, sometimes you have to look around to find one that has an opening. But I assure you…… it can be worth the wait. http://www.better-investing.org/ Also here you will find a wealth of info on financials http://www.smartmoney.com

THE RUMOR MILL REVISITED by Jackie Bates, Brightnet of Oklahoma

Thanks for the help dispelling the rumors.

In the past few days, I have been sent numerous emails about all of the phone companies trying to lobby the FCC to gain a per minute charge for Internet access. Needless to say, it alarmed a lot of users. Here is the truth of the matter:

In December 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requested public comment on issues relating to the charges that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and similar companies pay to local telephone companies. On May 7, 1997, the FCC decided to leave the existing rate structure in place. In other words, the FCC decided not to allow local telephone companies to impose per-minute access charged on ISPs.

Please Note: There is no open comment period in this proceeding. If you have recently seen a message on the Internet stating that in response to a request from local telephone companies, the FCC is requesting comments to by February 1998, be aware that this information is inaccurate.

The FCC issued an unrelated public notice, DA 98-2, on January 5, 1998 in connection with a report to Congress on universal service. Pursuant to the FCC’s 1998 appropriations legislation, the Commission must submit a report by April 10, 1998 on several issues including the legal status of Internet services under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Comments in response to the public notice are due January 20, 1998, and reply comments are due February 2, 1998. Informal comments may be sent by email to .

Source info at

http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Factsheets/ispfact.html

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“Hey People, Here is a great site if you like to eat…. http://www.keebler.com/kitchen/recipes/recipes.htm”

————————————————————

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery…. today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present”

————————————————————

“….we enjoy This and That. I forward it to four more people back in Okla. It is good to keep up with things from Ardmore and area, I read the Ardmoreite on the net daily. I don’t know whether you remember who I am, I sold parts to you at Trice Electronics many years ago when you had a blue Bug. Keep up the good work and will talk later.”

————————————————————

“Please add me to your mailing list. I enjoy your articles very much… especially when you mention my web site in such nice terms……” Wilton S. Tifft http://www.tifft.com

————————————————————

“I recently found some “Old Indian Recipes” that I would like to share with everyone and you can check them out at the What’s Cookin’ Kitchen… http://paristimes.com/kitchen/indian.html”

————————————————————

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

DJ Al Hamilton of KVSO radio here in Ardmore placed any interesting old photo on their website. It is a band standing out in front of the radio station in 1935. The band member on the left has an old “washboard” for an instrument. The radio station was lacated at Chickasaw Blvd and Northwest Avenue. http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/kvsoband.jpg

I bought Celine Dion’s latest CD but was somewhat disappointed. To me the best of Celine is on her “Falling Into You” CD. How about that song ‘I Love You’? Oh, she’s awesome. Everyone be careful out there, let your conscience be your guide, and I’ll see you all next weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, January 17, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 39

Another week’s gone by and here we are again. After what seems like weeks of rain, the clouds are clearing. One thing about all the rain, it didnt help with a leaking roof up on the third floor of the courthouse. Maintenance has been busy this week trying to get that leak stopped. It’s hard to hold court with a drip, drip, drip, drip coming from the ceiling. I’ve been really busy researching some new software for several of the courthouse officials. Here in this state we have a company in Duncan, Oklahoma that produces software specially for county government. Their software has literally revolutionized the way county government does business here in Oklahoma. Nathan and Josh of KellPro were here last week, we had some great meetings and demonstrations with several county officials. I’ll have much more to say about KellPro Software in the weeks to come and how they have made the jobs of court clerk, county clerk, county treasurer, county commissioner, District Attorney and others all across this state so much easier to do on computer. Anyway, let’s talk a little about this and that….

ARDMORE’S KVSO RADIO WEBSITE

My friend and DJ extraordinaire, Mr. Al Hamilton, has been busy the past few weeks getting Ardmore’s oldest radio station on the Internet. KVSO has been a part of Ardmore for over 50 years. There are other good radio stations in Ardmore, but they will never replace the old standard- KVSO radio 1240 on your AM dial. A good friend of mine helped install the first radio broadcasting equipment back in 1936. Here is a photo he gave me to scan taken just shortly after it first when on the air back in September 1936-

http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/kvso1936.jpg

Something else interesting so many have told me, is my father R.V. “Battleship” Bridges hosted his own 30 minute broadcast everyday, Monday through Friday back in those days. I’m not sure how long he sang and played his guitar for Ardmore on his broadcasts (I wasn’t even a twinkle in his eye) but it was for quite some time. Old timers here said he sure could sing and play. I can’t even carry a tune in a 5 gallon bucket, much less play an instrument! Here is a pic of my dad with his guitar in 1936-

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/rguitar2.jpg

Here is another photo I have of my dad-

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/rv1.jpg

He was a big guy and a top Ardmore High School football player. That’s where he got his nickname “Battleship”. My mother and father divorced when I was 6 months old. He died in 1992, and my dear mother passed away two years earlier. Time is passing by so quickly.

Anyway, visit Ardmore’s Oldies channel at http://www.kvso.com

It’s new and still under construction, so be patient, many things are in the planning!

THE RUMOR MILL

The last few days I have received dozens of emails telling me that phone companies are going to charge us by the minute to access the Net. Below is an email I received from Jackie Bates of Brightnet of Oklahoma in which he dispels that rumor.

“The report that phone companies are asking for a per minute charge for Internet access is false. The idea of a per minute charge isn’t new and was a pricing plan of some of the large providers like CompuServe and AOL. Both AOL and CompuServe soon abandoned the $9.95 for 5 hours because of the competition giving unlimited access for $18.95 . The idea that all of the phone companies could get together and defraud the public with price fixing? No Way.” —-Jackie Bates, Brightnet of Oklahoma http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/

ENHANCE YOUR BROWSER

InternetMeter Inlay is a free utility that embeds itself into the top right corner of Internet Explorer (in place of the spinning “e” graphic) or Netscape Navigator (in place of the animated “N”). Your online activity is tracked in real time. Session time, data transfer rates and connection status are all monitored and displayed. And when you close your browser, complete details of the browser session are added to a cumulative Call Log.

InternetMeter Inlay 3.0, Windows 95/NT Freeware: http://www.softseek.com/files/review?INDI5402sw

THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“You might want to point out that RegClean will not remove unnecessary or orphan entries in the registry despite the best claims of Microsoft. There has never been a version of RegClean that will do that. I just ran the 4.1a version and then loaded Norton Registry Editor and sure enough there are still 481 orphan keys in the Registry. There used to be 1100 but when I get bored I go and remove a few hundred. Norton did a good job on its Registry Editor except that that is no way to remove all the orphans at one whack, you gotta do it individually. I suspect the orphan key problem is why some people complain about windows 95 seeming to slow down.”

—————————————————————-

“…. thank you for the newletter….. I left Healdton in 1958 and did 30 plus years in the U. S. Coast Guard. We are living in Juneau, Alaska as this is home now…. appreciate so many things in “This & That” which are fond memories of growing up in Carter County.”

—————————————————————

“You think you are confused? Try 14 different license plate formats for cars; or 21 different telephone area codes (two of which are only 2 miles away, but which require us to dial long distance!) or over 6 million local residents, 45% of whom speak little or no English”

—————————————————————

Here is something interesting my sister Becky Taylor in Oklahoma City passed along to me—

Stange but true: We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.

Also last week I had the URL for the government websites search engine in the wrong place. The URL for the GOVERNMENT SEARCH ENGINE is http://cobar.cs.umass.edu/ciirdemo/Govbot/

I guess that’s enough for one weekend so I’ll get out of here. Remember to look for that silver lining…. and invest in smiles, it pays dividends. See you all next weekend!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, January 10, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 38

Hope everyone made it through the week. Sure fast and furious here in Ardmore. I’m going to kick back, listen to a little rock and roll music from the sixties this weekend, and just enjoy it. Not a whole lot to pass along this week, but here’s a few things…..

COURTHOUSE IS NOW LOOKING GREAT!

Thanks to the tuckpoint guys from Iowa, our courthouse exterior here in Ardmore looks much better. They removed all that ugly alge and scale and dark spots. Re-caulked the seems and things like that so it’s now much more weatherproof. Then put some kind of finish all over the outside so the alge and all won’t come back soon. They even painted the flagpole for us with their lift! I’ll get a pic for everyone to see soon.

VIDEO INFO PAGE ON WEBSITE

I’ve placed a Page on the Carter County Government website telling a little about our new video teleconferencing system between the jail and the courtroom. Over the next few weeks I’ll add some pics and stuff for everyone to see.

OH NO……. 580

On November 1, 1997 a lot of Oklahoma had a telephone area code change. It’s been 405 in basically the western half of Oklahoma. But we were told come Nov 1, it would change to 580 and only Oklahoma City would retain the 405 area code. Well, something went wrong, or we were miss-informed. Now 60 days later, many people are confused just when does the 580 work? Some people in other states must call the old 405 area code or the call won’t go through. Even in Oklahoma you may or may not be able to reach the person in Oklahoma you are calling using the new 580 area code. My call to the Operator got the following response….. “it is not fully implemented in some areas.” So, do you tell people to call you in Oklahoma using the 405 or the new 580 area code? Print new stationary? Business cards? What a mess.

GOVERNMENT SEARCH ENGINE

If you’re looking for something on government i.e. national, state, or local, this may be a good site to search. It even let’s you search for military sites and information. Pretty comprehensive.

http://cobar.cs.umass.edu/ciirdemo/Govbot/

THE TECH CORNER

Over time, your computer’s Registry may begin to contain corrupted, unused, and unnecessary entries, especially if you install and uninstall a lot of software. Microsoft RegClean can remove these entries and repair any errors in the Registry. This should prevent errors and decrease the time it takes for Windows 95 or NT to load.

Microsoft RegClean 4.1a, Windows 95/NT Freeware: http://www.softseek.com/files/review?UTSY4244sw

THE CLOCK IS RUNNING

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $1,440. It carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course. Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning it credits you with 1,440 minutes. Every night it writes off as lost whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against “tomorrow.” You must live in the present of today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success. The clock is running. Make the most of today…..

THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“….I know also that you get a lot of thank you mail, and I just wanted to be one of those who tells you that I appreciate your letters, and you are doing a great job…I just wish I knew how to do all of the things on the computer that you know…….”

—————————————————————

“….web site that is a collection of pictures of water towers around the world….. I found on your web site of a water tower. The photo I found has already been included in the site…. Water Towers of the World is located at http://members.tripod.com/~watertowers

—————————————————————

“FYI, I was reading http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/sheriff1.html and the bottom of the page had a link to the “Carter County Sheeriffs Home Page”. You may want to take a look and correct the misspelling.”

————————————————————–

“Hey Butch, your home page is getting better and better… are there no limits to your talents? I really like “This and That”!”

————————————————————–

The rain has stopped for now. I thought everything in Oklahoma was going to mildew….. so much rainfall the past week or so. If you tell someone close how much you appreciate them, you might be surprised the smile it will bring. Be kind to yourself and others. See everyone next weekend!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net (Butch Bridges)

Saturday, January 3, 1998 Vol 2 Issue 37

1998 is here and I appreciate so much all the “new year wishes” that so many of you sent the past few days. Let’s see if we can all make the best of 1998, okay? How about a little “This & That” to start the new year?

NATIVE INDIAN ARTWORK IS SO BEAUTIFUL

Here in Ardmore I have a friend who makes Indian sculpture. Since I am part Indian on my mother’s side, I thought I would show you a couple of her magnificent creations. The one I like best is her “Peace Medal” which is a bronze statue. The other is “Generations” which is a figurine of an Indian woman, her daughter, and they are looking at the baby granddaughter. These pieces of sculpture are works of art, and don’t look for see them at your neighborhood Walmart. They are expensive and first class, but the descrimating collector would understand why they are not “garage sale” items. You can find them on my Home Page or just click the two links below to get a glimpse.

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/gray1.jpg

http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/gray3.jpg

YOU DONT KNOW THE FRENCH LANGUAGE?

No problem, just download this terrific conversion program. It will convert English to Danish, English to Spanish, English to French, and visa versa, or is that versa visa. Just check out the link below and you’re an instant translator!

http://www.algonet.se/~hagsten/tolken_e.htm

SEARCH ENGINES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

I’ve talked about search engines before. I think mastering the art of using all the available search engines to their fullest potential, is one of the most challenging to net surfers. There are dozens out there to help you find what you want to find. Let’s look at something so simple, yet complicated. We’ve all used InfoSeek. If you search for France, FRANCE, and france, do they produce the same results? Not on your life! It’s all out there my friends….. 1,000+ sites a day being added to the Web worldwide. We’ve just got to learn how to find it.

THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG

“Try this. Jump over to http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/ Enter the Delivery Address, City and State and get back the complete 9-digit zip code for your intended recipient. Or enter a zip code and get back a detailed listing of the covered area.”

—————————————————————

“Hey, I got a new modem, I love it. Now I know what they mean by surfing the net, before I was just getting my toes wet!! I love it, what a difference my 33.6 makes! Try sending me your This and That again and we’ll see what happens.”

—————————————————————

“….I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW MANY POSITIVE CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN CARTER COUNTY…. THAT COURT CLERKS OFFICE WOULD HAVE COMPUTERS SO QUICK, AND THAT JUDGE TATE WOULD BE DOING INITIAL APPEARANCES VIA VIDEO. THAT IS JUST SO WONDERFUL….”

—————————————————————

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

In the early morning hours of Monday, July 2, 1962 J.C. Boone was performing his nighwatchman duties for the city of Wilson, Oklahoma as he had been doing for over a year. Wilson resident and service station owner Leo Welch and his wife pulled up and stopped the car in the street in front of the bank, and called for Boone, who was walking on the sidewalk. When Boone started toward Welch’s automobile, Welch opened fire with a .380 caliber pistol, striking Boone in the stomach. As he fell to the ground, Boone drew his pistol and emptied it into the driver’s door of Welch’s car. Welch, with his wife in the car with him, left for a couple of minutes and returned again, to fire more bullets at Boone. Welch then left and went to his D-X service station at the highway entrance of Wilson, and barricaded himself inside. Sheriff Gerald Cobb along with Deputies Elmer Fitzsimmons, Bud Hunt, Pete Fair and John Smithers surrounded the service station. Just when officers were about to hurl tear gas into the building, Welch surrended. J.C. Boone was critically wounded requiring the removal of part of his stomach and intestine. But he would survive the shooting and continued to live in Wilson another 15 years.

I hope everyone’s new year is a good one. It will be what we make it. If there’s any advice I could pass along to you for the new year, it is this….. “Pay yourself first”. 1998 is going to be great! See you next weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Return to Butch Bridges’ Home Page
Last modified March 28, 1998