Remember When?

Dec. 28, 1973

The energy crisis? Inflation? The rain? The Chicken Ranch? One would be hardpressed to select the biggest Fayette County news event of 1973. Everybody talked about the weather for good reason. With a week still to go, 1973 was within two inches of being the rainiest in the 16-year record kept by the U.S. Weather Bureau. Shortages of fuel and commodities were certainly big news. Gas pumps ran dry a couple of times in La Grange and the legislature reduced the highway speed limit to 55 mph. Here in the heart of cattle country, beefsteak began to cost like caviar with butchers caught in the squeeze between the free livestock market and a government freeze on retail meat. La Grange made national headlines when the Chicken Ranch was closed, an event inflated out of reasonable proportion by TV and newspaper reporters who swarmed into town seeking headlines. On the sports scene, the big news was the state baseball championship won by the La Grange Leopards.

Christmas was a safe, sane and quiet holiday in La Grange and Fayette County, with visitations the order of the day. Church services, which once more commemorated the Birth of the Savior, were well attended. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, for example, had standing-room-only attendance for the traditional midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. The weather was more than cooperative, cool and for the most part quiet, except for some cloudiness and an occasional rain sprinkle toward evening. As a result, traffic accidents were minimal, despite the heavy traffic on the highways. The fire department had one call on Christmas Day to extinguish a grass fire on the Ellinger Highway. The sheriff’s office also reported a quiet holiday. Three arrests were made on Christmas Eve: two cases of DWI and one of disorderly conduct; and five on Christmas Day, two of DWI, two for disorderly conduct and one burglary.

The burglary of a Schulenburg firm in mid-November was solved on Christmas Day with the arrest of a Muldoon-Flatonia area man by Sheriff T.J. Flournoy and the apprehension of another in Schulenburg on Wednesday. The break in the case came when the 29-year-old man cashed several payroll checks in La Grange and Shiner stolen from Schulenburg Industries. The thief endorsed the check with the name of the payee, but used his own driver’s license number. Sheriff Flournoy said a cutting torch owned by Schulenburg Industries was used to gain entry to the company safe. Two electric typewriters also were taken during the Nov. 11 burglary. Both men were charged with burglary in Judge A.V. Smith’s Justice of the Peace Court where the subjects’ bonds were set at $10,000 each. Both remained in the Fayette County Jail.

La Grange received a check for $23,609 from the office of the Texas State Comptroller for the 1% sales and use tax collected in the third quarter of 1973. This was a new high for the July-September period since the levy became effective in 1969. It exceeded by more than $2,000 the $21,179 received for the third calendar quarter in 1972. The rebate in the same quarter in 1971 was $18,299.

The La Grange Leopard freshmen upped their 1973 record to 9-1 Thursday night when they conquered the Brenham Cub fish, 54-30. Thomas Matocha paced Leopard point-makers with 16.

The Brenham Cubs avenged two earlier setbacks at the hands of La Grange’s Leopards at Brenham Thursday night by conquering the Leps, 41-38. The La Grange varsity quintet also bowed to the Cub reserves by a 60-48 score. Brenham led 12-10 at the end of the first stanza but La Grange rebounded to go in front by a 17-15 score at halftime. However, the Cubs came back to win with a nifty 44% floor average in the second half. Johnnie Johnson led La Grange point-makers with 14, while Robert Pool canned 10. Kenneth Parker of the Cubs was game leader, finishing with 19. Jeff Lindemann led the young Leps with 12.

Saturday night, the La Grange Leopards turned in one of their better games of the season at Yoakum to defeat the Edna Cowboys, 74-53, and capture the consolation trophy of this annual Bulldog cage tournament.

The Cost of Living Council in Washington, D.C., chopped 15% off a proposed increase in revenue by the postal service in 1974, which could have forced a two-month delay in higher postage rates. The postal service had proposed raising its rates by 22% on Jan. 4th with a 2¢ hike in air mail postage to 13¢ and another 2¢ increase in first class mail to 10¢.

The La Grange Chamber of Commerce announced the following policy that local businesses were observing in regard to exchanging Christmas gift merchandise. Gifts would be exchanged for equivalent merchandise, due bills or gift certificates at stores where the merchandise was purchased. However, no cash refunds were being made, and credits would not be given to any charge accounts. The deadline for returning Christmas merchandise was Saturday, Jan. 5, 1974, at the store where it was purchased.

Funeral services were held for: Joe M. Patterson, 63, of La Grange; Mrs. Dora Schott, 81, of La Grange; Mrs. Laura Lee Steel, 71, of La Grange; Frank F. Malota, 77, of Fayetteville; Willie H. Jaster, 54, of Rutersville; Alfred R. Paetzold, 76, of Round Top; and Mrs. Pearl Kainer, 58, of La Grange.

For more great stories, visit Elaine online at www. elainethomaswriter.com/blog/ or call her at 979-263-5031.