Hwy. 71 Serves as Spur-of-the-Moment Runway

After running low on fuel, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron made an emergency landing on Hwy. 71 in the Halsted area just east of Baylor Creek at about 7:45 a.m. Friday. The Houston pilot made a clean wheels-down landing some distance ahead of a school bus. The highway was otherwise clear of traffic. Highway Patrolmen A.F. Hall and Sam Trammell said the plane with five occupants left Houston for Fort Stockton. The pilot planned to refuel in Austin. However, the Austin airport was fogged in, so the pilot flew back to La Grange, but Guenther Field was also blanketed with fog. He kept flying southeast, dropped out of the clouds, saw the open highway and said to himself, ‘This is it.’ Gasoline from the local airport got the quintet back in the air, with the patrolmen blocking highway traffic long enough for departure. Hudson Engineering Co. of Houston owned the Beechcraft. Trooper Hall commented, “The pilot probably still had his rabbit’s foot in his pocket when he left.”

The Giddings’ Buffaloes couldn’t seem to do anything right and the La Grange Leopards couldn’t seem to do anything wrong, winning the Friday night game at Leopard Field, 69-2. The victors combined a grueling ground game with a vicious air attack, producing a 43-2 first-half margin. The Leps added 26 more points in the final two quarters, scoring almost every time they had the ball.

A Schulenburg man was charged in Judge A.V. Smith’s Justice of the Peace court on two counts of forgery. Sheriff’s officers, who made the apprehension, said the charges were in connection with the apparent forgery of $8 and $18 checks. Judge Smith set a bond of $500 in each case. Since forgery was a felony, the cases were bound over to the next grand jury.

The Housing Authority of the City of La Grange voted to award the construction contract to Southern Erection Co., Inc. for 32 housing units and a community center on the Hart Brown property on E. Eblin St., close to the City of La Grange warehouse. The total projected cost was $765,800, averaging $23,931.25 per unit. The low-rent project included 10 one-bedroom units for the elderly, 10 two-bedrooms and 12 three-bedrooms.

Killing a deer out of season without a hunting license cost a 21-year-old Houston man more than $400 in fines in Judge Harvey Albers’ Justice of the Peace court. The alleged deer kill, a yearling doe, took place late Sunday afternoon on a ranch near Ellinger, according to Game Wardens Leroy Bennetsen and W.C. Childress.

Kasper & Michalk Gin in La Grange, the only one still operating in Fayette County, had processed 494 cotton bales so far that year. Gin Manager Gus Michalk said he hoped to wind up the season at the end of the week. Unseasonal rains in late August had delayed and lowered the quality of the harvest.

The La Grange Independent School District received its earliest annual audit in recent years, a clean bill of financial health for the 1973-74 audit year ending Aug. 31.

La Grange’s city council amended its sewer service charge ordinance for the first time in more than five years to increase the residential minimum by 50¢ a month and slightly boost the commercial and industrial charges. Steadily rising costs of materials and services, along with a far-flung sewage collection program, were given as reasons for the first rate adjustment since July 1969. New residential rates were: one to three fixtures from $1 to $1.60 per month; four to five fixtures from $1.25 to $1.75; six or more fixtures from $1.50 to $2.

David Lehmann, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lehmann of Warda, and Linda Urban, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Urban of Giddings, were married on Sept. 27 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Giddings.

William Ernestes, a sixyear veteran of the Fayette County 4-H program and a member of the SwissAlp club, was named the state winner in the Agricultural Program. William received an expense-paid trip to the National 4-H Congress in Chicago in December. International Harvester Co. sponsored the trip and also provided six $1,000 scholarships for national winners.

A new sign at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda was dedicated by the Rev. Marcus Wolfram, pastor. Participating in the ceremony were building committee members: L.A. Giese, Henry Dunk, Ewald Hempel and Fred Kasper.

Funeral services were held for Mrs. Olga Vlasek, 53, a native of Plum, and Herbert W. Stark, 68, formerly of Carmine and Burton.

SuzanneMikula,a1974La Grange High School graduate, was notified that she would be featured in the eighth annual edition of Who’s Who Among High School Students, 197374. Suzanne was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Mikula of La Grange.

Mr. and Mrs. Otto Ladewig celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at an open house at Mount Calvary Parish Hall on Oct. 6. Otto Ladewig and Hilda Biersdorfer were married Oct. 8, 1924, by the Rev. Naumann at the Ladewig residence in Engle. They had one daughter, Mrs. Wilbur Hoehne of La Grange, and one son, Melvin Ladewig of Houston.

Mr. and Mrs. Atlin Kiesling were honored by their children on their 40th wedding anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Plum Dining Hall, following services at First Presbyterian Church led by their son, the Rev. Emil Kiesling.

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