This and That Newsletter
www.OklahomaHistory.net
Vol 24  Issue 1,206     Circulation 5,000      March 5, 2020
Ardmore, Oklahoma
My permanent email address:  butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net
580-490-6823

The Daily Pointer
Ardmore Oklahoma
Monday September 14th 1908

Dick Thompson Has a Broken Head

As a result of a lick on the head yesterday afternoon Dick Thompson, Santa Fe warehouse Foreman, is lying at the point of death in A B White, a blacksmith, is in jail on a serious charge.

From the best information obtainable it appears that White and Thompson in company with other companions were drinking a keg of beer in the rear room of the building next to McCoy's drug store. A dispute arose over the disposition of the wet goods, when Thompson was struck on the left side of the head with some blunt instrument, presumably the faucet of a beer keg, and laid out. At first it was thought he was not seriously hurt, but later it was discovered he was in a bad condition and doctors were summoned. An operation was performed and it was found that a bad fracture of the skull existed. Some pieces of bone were removed and everything possible was done to relieve the unfortunate man but it was thought there is little chance of his recovery. Thompson's has a family

Police officers Lathrop and Emerson arrested white and turned him over to the county officials.

THE SHOE BOX - COUNTERFEITING 101

A man in a Dallas bar is invited to join 2 Mexican Nationals in a booth. The bar was dark with only a few patrons.
“Do you have a $20 dollar bill, Senor? I want to show you something.”
He retrieved a box from under the booth and placed it on the table. The box was about the size of a shoe box and had a lot of dials & lights on top.
The Mexican took the guest’s $20 dollar bill and inserted it in one side of the box. There were rotary dials, one on each side that could be cranked clockwise. He slowly cranked the dials & 2 $20 dollar bills emerged, one perfect (the guest’s bill) & one that was yellow with streaks. The man made some adjustments and tried again. This time the counterfeit bill was very good, but still was unacceptable. So, more careful adjustments & a third try produced 2 perfect $20’s. The Mexican handed both to his guest, saying: “For you, senor, your return was 100%.”
The man was hooked, and begged the 2 Mexicans to produce $20,000. After some begging, the Mexicans agreed, taking the mark’s $20,000, went to a motel where the 2 counterfeiters worked to dawn. After 2 hours, the mark fell asleep & the Mexicans quietly left the room with the $20,000.
Fast forward to a year later & a man who had used the box to steal $30,000 from a man in another county hired me to defend a felony charge filed by the ADA seeking return of the cash. I insisted my client pay me with a cashiers check, no cash.
Court day came about in the county seat & the courtroom was extremely hot. It was mid-August & the temperature was over 100 degrees.
There was one man in the courtroom, who was wearing a long winter coat. I asked my client: “Is that the guy you took the cash off of?” He nodded. I figured the guy had a weapon under that coat, so I approached the Sheriff in the corridor:
“Sir, Bob _____ is in the courtroom & I think he’s got a weapon under his winter coat. Will you check & find out?”
He sneered at me: “Bob is my cousin; give him his money and I’ll see that the charges are dismissed. He’ll take your personal check.”
“Sir, I can’t do that. My client has blown the money. And I don’t have $30,000 to pay him. Sir, please! Somebody is gonna get hurt.”
He smiled, “Well, that very well may happen. I think I’ll go to the coffee shop downtown. If something happens, I’m sure somebody will call me. You’re on your own, counselor.” He then left.
The judge dismissed the charges and that left my client, an enraged Bob, and me. I just knew somebody was going to get shot, probably both of us.
Thinking fast, I saw an attorney walk out of the Court Clerk’s office and I engaged him. “David, walk outside with me; I have a case to refer to you.” He said, “Sure. Why is Bob ____ wearing that heavy coat? He must be burning up.”
“I’ll explain later. Now to my car.” I slipped a $20 bill in his hand & we made it to my vehicle. As we drove away, I said to my client: “Don’t look back, he’s got a damn gun and he could still shoot us!”
Of course he ignored my advice, turned around and gave a middle finger salute to Bob, but nothing happened.
I told my client: “I’m taking you to Ardmore & I don’t want to ever see you again.”
And that’s what happened. A true story.
-James Clark, Ardmore

A Glimpse into the Past

Zachariah Andrew and Gracie (Adams) Addington

Zachariah Andrew Addington was born November 10, 1879 in the Chickasaw Nation. His parents were Columbus Addington (a white man born in Georgia) and Belle (Miller) Addington, a Choctaw Indian born in Mississippi. Columbus died in Indian Territory in 1895 and Belle in 1887. Columbus had a brother, Zack Addington, for whom the town of Addington was named.

Zachariah was educated in the Chickasaw Nation schools and also in Fort Worth, Texas. He was a well-educated farmer and stock raiser, numbering 640 acres in his farm. He established a livery stable in Addington in 1901, and was a well respected citizen of Addington for many years.
 -Indian Territory and Carter County Pioneers book 1982

Addington, Oklahoma is about 6 miles north of Waurika, Oklahoma toward Duncan. Population: 114

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23702770/zachariah-andrew-addington

Norma Lowery was going through a box of her mother's and found a 1941 photo of the Ringling Depot at 3rd and North Washington in Ardmore. I remember as a youngin' square dances being held in the building.

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos20a/RinglingDepotArdmore1941.jpg

February 1983
Lone Grove Water customers may not face rationing this summer, with three new wells completed giving the City 7 wells all together in a 220,000 gallon standpipe has been added, nearly tripling the water storage capacity.

February 1952
Kenneth Priddy has 6,500 baby chicks ranging in age from one week to nine weeks. He and his wife Mildred one of the pretty Hex sisters, live a mile and three-quarters south of Woodford School.

February 1952
Fred Priddy, Kenneth's dad, is bringing his mule to Kenneth's place to dig up his garden plot. Kenneth doesn't know how to plow or even hitch up a mule, and he's thinking of selling admission.

February 1927
Carey Smithers, 27, was killed early this morning when I small car he was driving collided with a Santa Fe freight train. Lonnie Rooney and Roy Simpson, passengers in the vehicle, suffered slight injuries. Smithers was instantly killed. His body was badly crushed having been dragged 50 feet. Rooney had 4 teeth knocked loose and received a severely cut lower lip. Simpsons injuries included a scalp laceration, and bruises although and X-rays showed no broken bones. Conflicting statements were made relative to the accident. It was the opinion of several that the train was standing in the yards, while occupants of the car said the freight was moving at a rapid rate, and did not see it until it was too late to avoid the crash.

February 1927
The school at Glenn is coming along fine. Nearly every pupil is doing good work. Lay Smith will soon have the school house completed, and the boys are building a new basketball court. Mrs. Church organized a Boys & Girls Club Tuesday of this week. She enrolled about 30 members.

There were actually six tribes that walked the Trail of Tears. One tribe, Chipachawamie, died of famine early on. The tribe was small and only consisted of about 1,000 members. Those that survived were accepted into the Choctaw tribe. For whatever reason, this is largely ignored by history books. In 1838 and 1839, roughly 15,000 Cherokee were forced to leave their native lands east of the Mississippi River and settle in parts of present-day Oklahoma as part of then-President Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy. Native Americans called this journey the Trail of Tears. About 4,000 Cherokee died from hunger and disease. The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail in Oklahoma follows the path the Cherokee took.

Johnson Drug Company, 105 East Main, Ardmore

Q.  Where in Oklahoma can foot prints be found of dinosaurs be found?
A.  Black Mesa State Park & Nature Preserve contains 47 dinosaur prints that were originally discovered in the 1980s.  CLICK HERE

Q.  Where in Oklahoma is the Winganon Space Capsule?
A.  Answer in next week's newsletter

Below is from This and That newsletter archives of March 6, 2008

It's Thursday evening and I'm sitting here typing on the T&T and watching the snow come down, howbeit not much, in south central Oklahoma. The snow is barely falling this evening, and most of the snow is only seen on the grassy areas. We were lucky here in Carter county, because I see on the news in the Sherman area snows is really piled up, the evening traffic is at a crawl in north Texas. Snow is beautiful to see but I had just as soon not have it.

But last Monday when we had a couple inches of snow, Jill and I were looking out the front door that evening and saw 2 rabbits run across our front yard. One had really long ears, so I'm assuming it was a jack rabbit. It was just a couple days earlier I was doing some work near the road and startled a rabbit, he took off in a hurry heading east, so maybe we got a rabbit family living on our property. Needless to say we are loving every minute out here living south of Lone Grove.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos8a/Snow030308a.jpg
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"Butch, I along with my older Brother went from Ada to Lindsey and spent a week there in 1946 working the broomcorn harvest I went so I could earn money to buy school clothes for myself 1946/1947 school year. One thing I remember was my brother telling me not to put my hand into the pile of seeds as it got so hot as to cook an egg hard I did not want to go back next year. I also remember a story my father told about him taking a crew out there in 1930 to get work. The farmer where they found work told the crew not to use the well in the yard that there was a cistern down by the field where they could get water. When the crew got water that evening for their cooking they found that the supposed water was really peach brandy seems that the farmer had took a load of peaches to market and when he did not like the price he brought them home and dumped them into the cistern and forgot about them. Needless to say when he found out about what had happened he told the crew to use the well water and leave the cistern alone." -Paskell
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"Butch you really got my attention in a hurry this week. I was working at Ardmore Tire when Freeman's Restaurant blew up. Not real sure about the year but 1980 would be real close. The explosion almost sucked the North wall out of the tire store and even took out some windows across the street at KFC Restaurant. -Don Lewis
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The old clock on main street in Marlow, Oklahoma was similar to an old town square. A place that everyone in town knew and could locate. The clock was sitting on the street corner in front of one of the banks in town. It extended about 10 plus feet high. It may have looked taller to a 14 year old kid. "Meet me down at the clock" did not need directions to anyone who lived in Marlow. If memory serves, it was the property of the State National Bank. It was a fixture for many years and when they built a new bank they moved it to the new location across the street. There were two banks in town in those days and I banked there from age 14 (borrowed money to buy two sheep for Future Farmers of America) to 40 something although I lived in four different states during that time. Good credit and a forgiving banker.

That banker, one of the officers, Mr. Ira Green, to the best of my knowledge, worked there most of his life His forgiving nature finally got me through college at the age of 30. His son's name shows up occasionally in the Duncan News even today. Memories that are good and somehow become better with age. -wally

W. E. (Wally) Glasscock
Richmond, VA.
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The Wilson News

1-6-1916
Organized a Brass Band
"There will be music in the air"
Last Tuesday night a crowd of the young men of our city gathered at the Christian barber shop to organize a city band. There were 17 enrolled at once, and several more are anxious to take part.
A petition was got up and taken around to every business man in town or, if it has missed some, don't worry, the boys will call in due time.
A liberal amount is expected from every business man in town, for a band cannot be started on an "open air" boost. It must have money to go with the boost.
Every business man or local residence in our city will agree that it is one of the best moves that can be made to build the reputation of our town, and have a town a stranger is always glad to have the opportunity to call in.
Quite a few have contributed already to this organization and several are waiting and ready. Three men contributed $30.00 in 5 minutes after the petition was drawn up.
This is one part a town cannot do without, if the interested ones ever expect to have a live town, which no doubt everyone does, a good band will pull more than any other organization a town can have.

1-6-1916
String Band Serenades
A string band surprised Earnest Horton who was accidentally shot in the foot Christmas, with a "Serenade" Tuesday night, which seemed to be appreciated very much by Earnest and others who were present at his home. The band played several pieces at the window near his bed. The one he seemed to enjoy most was entitled "Sympathy". The band consisted of a violin, mandolin and guitar.
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Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....

Just a thought- This is a rant on newspapers. I worked for The Daily Ardmoreite for 37 yrs. In 1984 we hit the pinnacle of Circulation for the paper. We reached 13,200 daily papers delivered to 6 counties in southern ok. Coverage in 19 towns. Now the daily Ardmoreite has daily circulation of less than 3,500 papers in less than half the cities and the circulation is about the size Paul’s Valley was in the 90s. The daily papers around the country have lost numbers far greater than the weeklys. The difference in my way of thinking is three fold. #1 internet and #2 more activities to contend with #3 lack of local news and pictures. In 1980 we had 2 full time photographers today there is none. My granddaughter, Kati Moody is editor of the Levelland, Texas paper I am a subscriber to. She lays out the paper and fills it with local pictures and local stories. I am very proud of her and I am afraid Not to read It for fear of not seeing a story of a great grandchild (3) or one of the other relatives. By the way I compared a recent Levelland paper’s pictures 44 to the same days Ardmoreite 16. I predict The Ardmoreite will shortly switch to a two or three day a week paper. By the way when was the last time you saw a picture of a car wreck in the Ardmoreite? How about a house fire? I miss them too. -Jim Hefley
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Q. Anyone heard of the Wagon Wheel Ranch south of Ardmore? I was looking for info on it, and didn't find anything.
A. Its called the Wagon Stop Ranch or the Margaret Pierce Foundation. It was owned by Willie Mae Woodruff and is still owned by her family.
 https://piersnatureconservancy.com/
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When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint on the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things go wrong that you mustn't quit.
-Unknown

See everyone next week!

Butch and Jill Bridges

"Friends Make Life Worth Living"
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net

 

 

Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Oklahoma Bells: http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
http://cartercountyok.us

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