"This & That" News - April 1999 to June 1999

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. If you use Internet Explorer, just click on EDIT and then FIND ON THIS PAGE to do a search.

Below is April 3, 1999 to June 26, 1999. The latest issue is at the top, and the oldest issue of "This & That" for this time period is at the bottom.

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From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, June 26, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 114

My old uncle, 87 yrs young, has a couple of those old cast iron pots he'd sell. I remember my great grandmother Ida Miller fixing lye soap in one just like it when I was a teen. I believe she did it twice a year. She'd start a fire under that black cast iron in the back yard and put tallow in and whatever else was needed, and bring it to a boil. Then she'd pour in the Lye. When it was set, she'd cut it into bars and put them in the pantry. Anyway, if you think you'd like those two cast iron pots, let me know. They are 20 inches across and about 14 inches deep. I'm not sure what they are worth. Also he has several old rusty bit metal wheels. The kind with the small hub and long spines going out to the metal rim. I know he'd sell those too. These wheels are over 40 inches diameter. Just let me know if you're interested.

A friend of mine brought by this week a very unique piece of history. It's a couple Coca Cola memorabilia. He found it in the bottom of a cigar box at a garage sale here in Ardmore. Anyone know what it might be worth? Or even just what it is exactly? It has a 1915-1916 date on it.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/coke.jpg

My uncle Donald Bridges in California now has a Home Page. Lots of Bridges stuff on it..... Tell him I sent you.
http://members.aol.com/NDMCN24

Here is 1930 street scene in Blackwell, Oklahoma
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/blackwel.jpg

Fair Grounds entrance, Oklahoma City, 1914
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/okfair14.jpg

A reader passed along a great place to either Post or Search for lost and found items. Several ways to search by, even by country.
http://www.internetlostandfound.com/

This is an old pic of the Chickasha, OK City Hall and Fire Dept.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/chichall.jpg

My friend Ernest Martin of Ardmore has left a virtual legacy for his children and their children's children. It has been recorded at the website below. Mr. Martin was a state senator in Oklahoma for 18 years.
http://members.xoom.com/OkieLegacy/carter/martin1.html

A friend sent me a URL that is truely a step back in time. Lots of info and music for the 50s and 60s. A must see!
"http://www.web-access.net/~elliott/

El Reno is a few miles west of Oklahoma City. In 1910 they had a Kerfoot Hotel. Is that a bellfrey??
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/kerfoot.jpg

This week I received an email about the painting The Nightwatch. The painting, By Rembrandt, had been damaged three times. Here is the feedback I received this week:

"There were three incidents, not two. The 1975 incident was the worst. Large pieces of canvas were lying on the museum floor after a psychic cut the painting. It took a long time, about half a year, to restore the painting. This was the first time all old varnish was removed. The 1975 damage can still be seen on the painting (not very clearly, but if you know where to look for it...) April 1990 another patient threw acid on the Nightwatch. Thanks to an extremely quick and adequate reaction of the guards damage was limited to the varnish. By the way: the guy who did this cut and severely damaged a Picasso in another Amsterdam museum last month."
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges/rembrand.html

Guthrie, Oklahoma was the original state capital of this state in 1907. He was moved in the middle of the night along with the state seal to Oklahoma City. This is a 1910 photo of the Ione Hotel in Guthrie.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ione10.jpg

This is a new URL someone sent me designed for law enforcement professionals.
http://www.coplink.com/

This is looking west from the Enid, Oklahoma courthouse in 1912.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/enid12.jpg

As you all know, last Saturday some of you couldn't pull up the pics from the xoom.com URL. It has been about 50/50 on those that could and those that couldn't. So I don't know what to do. Guess will keeps the links to fortunecity.com for now. Here are some of the emails I got that said they didn't have a problem pulling up the pics on xoom.

"Butch, I would get a small xoom logo in a square in the middle of the screen, press return button and the center of the logo would rotate 180 degrees. Press again and another 180. No message."
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"I didn't have a bit of trouble accessing the pictures you have on xoom.com. And, I'm not a member of xoom either."
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"I didn't have any problems with getting your pictures from the first T&T. Hope that makes ya happier. LOL"
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"I am having no problem of down-loading and printing the pictures. They come out real good."
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But then some people wrote me saying they couldn't get the pics.

"butch... i am a member of xoom.com and i don't get the pictures either. i once forwarded something i got from them and the person never got it but i received something from xoom about "if i was having a problem getting thru to them" so i guess it went to them instead. definetly strange."
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"Butch, Thank you. I sure appreciate the extra work you did to allow me and possibly others to view these wonderful sites. I am very grateful for your time and resources."
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"Butch, I've noticed the same thing with Xoom. You can't call up pics you've stored on xoom from another location. Wonder if they do that to keep from being a "warehouse"?"
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And the saga continues...... hahahaha.

A 1910 pic of the Guthrie, Oklahoma Convention Center.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/guthconv.jpg

If you have a Website, and wonder how many people Link to it..... you can go here and find out. Pretty neat.
http://linkstoyou.com/CheckLinks.htm

A 1910 photo of Benbow Horton Building in Lawton, Oklahoma.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/benbow13.jpg

Last week I mentioned about a utility that tweeks your modem for the best connection and speed. Well, this week I went to http://www.download.com and downloaded some shareware programs. Some were like 2 megs in size. Boy, after I tweeted my modem, I'm now getting far greater download speeds. Most of the time the speed was around 3 or 4K per second, but sometimes it would hit over 7k per second. Wow! This little miracle worker is called easyMTU.
http://members.tripod.com/~EasyMTU/easymtu/index.html

Last week I told the story of my next door neighbor Mr. A.L. Senter. I put an "s" on the end. His name was Senter without an "s" on the end. A reader brought this to my attention in an email below.

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"Butch, Really enjoyed seeing the inside of the courthouse dome, bell, and clock. I couldn't view any item with xoom.com in the URL. Growing up, my dad's parents lived at 825 B St SE about two blocks from the railroad tracks. My grandpa would always pull out his pocket watch to see how close to schedule it was. Enjoyed hearing the train rolling over the tracks. Thanks for the memories."
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"they have all came to Sacramento for Rail Fair 1999. We have steam locomotives in all shapes and sizes. Some by their own power over the serrias. My Dad was a fireman on the old MKT line. I used to listen to his stories about the big train wreck he was involved in. 18 cars plied up just before the red river. Quite a story. I miss the old steam engines"
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"I grew up with George Selvedge Jr., later he became president with Peoples Federal Loan Co. here is Ardmore. As a child his family home was on the SW corner of 10th and D St. N.W. A sign painted on the west side of the Selvedge Business College building is still visible. Go about a block west of Washington St. on Broadway & look back to the upper part of the old building & you will see it. I think I took a picture of it one time. George Jr. was mayor of Ardmore at one time."
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"Hi there everyone! Just wanted to say "hello" and let you know about the new http://www.virtual-ardmore.com page It is still in the "infant" stage but I am crossing my fingers that it will grow fast. If you have time, go and check it out. Have a nice day and I will chat at you later!"
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"http://www.web-access.net/~elliott/ heartbeat's One & Two - 50's & 60's - mel's Drive-In .... some one sent me this and I'm exploring it right now. Thought maybe you might like to listen some oldies. hahaha."
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"You mentioned his name last week and while my wife.... was going through some old pictures today she found a certificate approving her advance to High School, from Mt. Washington School, and signed by Mr A.L.Senter. (his signature did not show an "s" on the end of his name). Also I have been copying all of the news about the train and keeping up with it. Even bought a magnet of the depot from the Ardmore Main Street Authority and anyone interested in the history of this depot would probably appreciate having one of these for their own. They are colorful."
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The past few days we have had lots of rain and lightening all over Oklahoma. Through the years I've seen a number of modems bite the dust because of lightening. When possible unplug the power cord AND the modem line during an electrical storm. Don't throw caution to the wind.

Sometimes I wish I had studied psychology and the human psyche more when I was young. Sometimes someone will do or say something that makes me wonder why they did that. What were they thinking. This week, unbeknownst to me, an acquaintance had heard about a statement I made, but by the time he heard it, it was a whole chapter. With that I will close this week's T&T with the following:

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

See everyone next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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Subject: T&T Special Addition
From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, June 19, 1999 --SPECIAL-- Vol 3 Issue 114

Boy, I have been inundated with emails..... telling me they can't access my pics from xoom.com and I don't know why for the life of me. Maybe people have to be a Member of xoom.com before they can access home pages on xoom. I have placed each xoom link from this morning's T&T on my fortunecity.com website. So you should be able to see them now by just following the links below. In the mean time I will be checking out the problem. Also today I installed the newest and greatest version of Aureate Mailer program I have used the past couple months. Wrong move. Something was wrong, so I have gone back to the older version. Always something with these computers, but I love them.

I am going to mentino again about myTalk.com which I have been using today. I created a email to my MYTALK.COM email address. When I called the toll free number to check for email, the "lady" said I had "new mail". I said "read my mail" and then a male voice told me who it was from and what the Subject line was. I said "read it" and the voice read the email to me. I then said "delete it" and she asked if I am sure I want to delete this message. I said "yes". Boy, you talk about some high tech email, and you dont have to have a computer to get email others have sent you, and it is all free, even the phone call. Unbelievable! Have some fun.... check it out.
http://www.myTalk.com

Here are the photos from this morning, hope everyone can see them now.........

A 1910 photo of the Artesian Hotel in Sulphur, Oklahoma
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sulart10.jpg

Here is the old McKemie Hotel in Sulphur, Oklahoma - 1910.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/mckemie.jpg

My next door neighbor used to be George Selvidge, Jr. before his death years ago. His father, George Selvidge was the founder of Selvidge Business College here in Ardmore. It was located in the 100 block of North Washington. Here's a 1910 photo.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/selv1910.jpg

Right down the street from me is the newly opened St. Agnes Inn, a bed and breakfast here in Ardmore. Here it is today.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/stagbb1.jpg
But in 1898 it was across the street from its present day location, next door to the Catholic Church. A 1910 photo.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/stagn10.jpg

Talk about churches, this is a 1908 photo of the First Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Looks like TWO bellfreys to me!
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/1baptu08.jpg

This is an old pic of the public school in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/lwolf.jpg

This is a 1910 photo of the Perry, Oklahoma High School. http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/perry10.jpg
And then the Perry, Oklahoma Post Office in 1910.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/perryp10.jpg

Here's an old photo of our courthouse here in Ardmore in 1909 when it had the dark brown copper dome.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/carterc9.jpg

In central Oklahoma, about 20 miles west of Pauls Valley is the town of Lindsay. In Lindsay is the old Murray-Lindsay Mansion. It was home to Frank Murray, his Choctaw wife, Alzira, and their eight children.
http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/murraylindsaymansion/
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/lindsay1.jpg
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/lindsay2.jpg

Independence Day will soon be here, and I ain't talking about the movie either! Here is a pic of Ardmore years ago celebrating the 4th of July. The view is looking west down Main Street from Caddo Street.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ard4th.jpg

Some friends of mine took a short vacation this month, and snapped this pic of the bell on the Mississippi River Boat Queen. (Note: the black on the bell is ink pen marks)
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/missbell.jpg

Here's another bell they found in Oak Alley, south Louisiana.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/oakalley.jpg

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, June 19, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 113

Everyone loves a mystery, and did I learn about one this week that peeked my interest. A resident in Houston, Texas sent me email inquiring about a Mena Walters. Mena Walters died in Houston, TX on April 21, 1923. The newspaper of that day said she was to be transferred to Ardmore, Oklahoma for burial. But for unknown reasons that never happened. Instead she was buried in the space next to this man's grandmother. All these years this man's family thought that was a vacant burial space in their family lot. But through cemetery records, they now know that is not the case. This man in Houston was able to get a death certificate on Mena Walters, but it gave no further details to this mystery.... no parent's names, no next of kin, nothing. Even Mena's place of birth and date was marked "unknown". There was a Mrs. Grade Seigel listed as an informant on the death certificate. No one in this man's family ever heard of Grade Seigel either. What a mystery. I wonder what could be the connection between Mena Walters and Ardmore? Why was she not sent to Ardmore for burial as stated in the Houston Chronicle? Does anyone remember Mena Walters??????

I found a great place to setup a Home Page if your thinking about it. And they give you unlimited webspace, that's right, unlimited! They used to offer 100 megs free per website, but now it's unlimited.
http://www.xoom.com

A 1910 photo of the Artesian Hotel in Sulphur, Oklahoma
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/sulart10.jpg

Here is the old McKemie Hotel in Sulphur, Oklahoma - 1910.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/mckemie.jpg

A reader told me this week about myTalk.com and it is all it claims to be. MyTalk.com allows you to get email without having a computer. Can you imagine the possibilities? And it's all free..... even the toll free number to pick up your emails. It reminds me of juno.com but 100 times better!
http://www.mytalk.com

Now if myTalk.com doesn't wet your tongue... wait until you check out Portico. Awesome. Portico is a personal information manager. Just go to the website below and click on the Demo. You have to have RealAudio installed to hear the demo. Portico takes artificial intelligence to the limits. Even Captain Kirk didn't have it this good. Prices start at around $20 per month and goes up as you add features.
http://www.genmagic.com/portico/portico.html

Talk about high tech.... see if you can figure this out. hahaha
http://webspinners.futura.net/zumaltsp/camera1.html

My next door neighbor used to be George Selvidge, Jr. before his death years ago. His father, George Selvidge was the founder of Selvidge Business College here in Ardmore. It was located in the 100 block of North Washington. Here's a 1910 photo.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/selv1910.jpg

The default TCP/IP settings that Windows is configured with may be fine for a networked PC, but not for a standalone one connected to the Internet with a modem. EasyMTU lets you quickly change these Registry settings to optimize your modem speed. EasyMTU supports all 32-bit versions of Windows, and it has special options for America Online users. It even includes a benchmark program that lets you compare your actual throughput at different settings. Freeware!
http://members.tripod.com/~EasyMTU/easymtu/index.html

Right down the street from me is the newly opened St. Agnes Inn, a bed and breakfast here in Ardmore. Here it is today.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/stagb&b1.jpg
But in 1898 it was across the street from its present day location, next door to the Catholic Church. A 1910 photo.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/stagn10.jpg

Talk about churches, this is a 1908 photo of the First Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Looks like TWO bellfreys to me!
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/1baptu08.jpg

There are so many phone programs now. I just installed one called buddyPhone. It works great, crystal clear, and FREE!
http://www.buddyphone.com

This is an old pic of the public school in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/lwolf.jpg

A ghost from the past.... that's what it's like when you receive email from someone you haven't talked to in over 25 years. That's what happened to me this week. When I was president of the Oklahoma EMT Association back in the early 70s, an Emergency Medical Technician by the name of Harvey Conner was on my board of directors and represented the Oklahoma City area. He's still up there..... teaching paramedic classes at South Oklahoma City Junior College. You know what Harvey wrote in his email to me in the Subject Box? "You ole scallywag you". hahahaha. Boy, 25 years, do we have some catching up to do! You can visit Ardmore's ambulance service website at:
http://soas.net/

This is a 1910 photo of the Perry, Oklahoma High School.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/perry10.jpg
And then the Perry, Oklahoma Post Office in 1910.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/perryp10.jpg

SmartDraw is the easy-to-use Windows program for drawing flowcharts, organizational charts, technical drawings, web graphics, diagrams, and business presentations. It's powerful enough for the office, yet simple enough for the home-it's the only drawing tool you'll need. And it's FREE!!!!!
http://www.smartdraw.com

You will read in one of the emails I received this week, that one reader checked out that 5 cent per minute plan using 10-10-636. He called from Oklahoma to Alabama several times, and as they advertised, he only paid 5 cents per minute. No other fees. The ClearChoice itemized bill is enclosed with our Southwestern Bell Telephone bill. I do not know how other telephone companies would handle it. And I think in some states it may be higher then 5 cents per minute. But be careful, calls WITHIN the state are $.15 per minute. ClearChoice's website is really graphic intensive, so give it time to load.
http://www.clearchoice.net/

If you're into old clocks and repairing them, etc., here is a great site I found that tells a lot about old clocks.....
http://www.clockservices.com
They have one or two tower clocks like the 1928 one in our courthouse dome.... which by the way is working great!
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/clock.html

We had an unexpected surprise at the courthouse this week. A lady in a wheelchair by the name of Linda Radake brought 100 new, freshly ironed, white linen hankerchiefs and gave one to each of the employees! She just wanted to do something for the workers there.

Here's an old photo of our courthouse here in Ardmore in 1909 when it had the dark brown copper dome.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/carterc09.jpg

In central Oklahoma, about 20 miles west of Pauls Valley is the town of Lindsay. In Lindsay is the old Murray-Lindsay Mansion. It was home to Frank Murray, his Choctaw wife, Alzira, and their eight children.
http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/murraylindsaymansion/
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/lindsay1.jpg
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/lindsay2.jpg

Independence Day will soon be here, and I ain't talking about the movie either! Here is a pic of Ardmore years ago celebrating the 4th of July. The view is looking west down Main Street from Caddo Street.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/ard4th.jpg

Some friends of mine took a short vacation this month, and snapped this pic of the bell on the Mississippi River Boat Queen. (Note: the black on the bell is ink pen marks)
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/missbell.jpg

Here's another bell they found in Oak Alley, south Louisiana.
http://members.xoom.com/OklahomaPast/photos/oakalley.jpg

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"I also used 10-10-636 to place a couple of calls to Tulsa and was charged 15 cents per minute. I called the customer service number and was told the 5 cents per minute was on state to state calls only. I went back and dug out the mailer I had received in the mail and sure enough it said 5 cents per minute on state to state calls and 15 cents per minute on in state calls. I have tried it again on a couple of calls to Alabama but have not yet received my bill yet. Will let you know if it is 5 cents when I get my bill."
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"Got my 10-10-636 phone bill today and sure enough, all five of my calls to Alabama were just five cents per minute. I am going to keep using this until something changes. I have not seen anything that beats this yet."
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"Butch. I want to say a word about the power of the Internet. It all started 47 years ago dec 27 1951. A 15 year old girl gave birth and the baby was put up for adoption one year later. I married the then 16 year old girl. We had a son 4 years later. After 9 years we were divorced. Fast forward... wed 9th june 1999 I got an email asking if I was the one that was married back then and what was my wife's name. I answered yes I was. The person had found my email address on the Net. And she was that baby that had been adopted 47 years ago. I have been catching her up on all she missed in my son's life. I was not the baby's father. I was in Korea at the time. She was too late to find her mother but she found two brothers."
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"WELCOME to AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG Your Internet Gateway to the AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1775 - 1783" http://americanrevolution.org/
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"Hey Butch, you know what?, It's great to have the return of passenger service by train to Ardmore, isn't it? We all appreciate the coming of Amtrak & what it will mean to the State of Oklahoma & Ardmore. Here is a case of where the voice of the people was heard through the efforts of politics. But you know what else Butch? The romance is just not their. It's the things that are missing that the people of today's generation do not experience. I did not hear the persistent clang of the bell as the train came into the station...and how it rang constantly all the time it was at the depot & as it left.....the blare of the whistle & the roar of the engine would drown out the sound of the bell anyway. Where is the caboose? What happened to the man with the 3 foot long oil can that went around oiling all the working parts on the engine? Did anyway call out "All a-board"? Did you see a slot anywhere to drop your letter in? I didn't see the tall baggage cart, with the long tongue, which was used to pull it along when the baggage was loaded & unloaded. Hey, I even missed the smoke that we once saw with the old steam locomotive. Did you see a Pullman car, a baggage car, anyone wearing a striped cap & wearing overalls? To the people of my generation, the thrill of the return of passenger service just seemed to pale when we realized that the romance was just not there. Anyway, it's good to be back on the map."
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=============================================================

I have to add one comment to the email above about the romance gone from the train's arrival. When I was 12 or 14 years old, the man who lived behind me (north side of the Carmon Lumber Company) was Mr. A.L Senter. He had this pickup with tall wooden siderails and three times in a 24 hour period, he'd go meet the train that came to Ardmore. He was employed by the Post Office and picked up the mail off the train. Many times I'd go with him for the 4:00pm run. He'd park on the north end of the depot, get that old wooden dark green wagon that was always kept on the east side of the depot and pull it up along the train where the mail car was. They'd throw on those gray, dirty canvas bags full of letters and packages on that wagon, then Mr. Senter would pull it to his pickup truck and put them all on it. Then we'd drive to the old post office at N. Washington and West Broadway, where he'd unload it all. Mr. Senter wouldn't let me get out of the truck when he was at the post office, said it would get him into trouble, since he was really not suppose to have any "riders". Yes, there is a lot missing, a lot of romance not there when that Amtrak train pulls in to the station. For one thing, Mr. Senter is not there to meet it. I sure miss that old man. He was a good Christian man.

I been up in my attic this week oiling, checking the belt, and getting the attic fan ready for the summer. If you have never had a full size attic fan, believe me, that are super nice. I even have to turn it off, or set the timer to turn it off, in the middle of the night sometimes.... it gets too cold. I'll get a pic for everyone to see.... it was installed around 1947 by my grandfather when he built the house.

Once a month at the County Commissioners Office here we have a little get together to honor everyone who has a birthday in that month. The party is usually made up of those who work in the Annex Building next door to the courthouse. We have the "party" during the lunch hour and this past Friday was the day. A week or so before the BD party, we post a "To Bring" list, and everyone writes in what they intend to bring for food. I think we all eat too much, stuffed until we can hardly go back to work. hahahaha But everyone has a great time, a wee break for one hour, and just plain old good fellowship. At least we get the weekend to rest up from all the eating!

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."

Take care and I'll see everyone next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, June 12, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 112

J. Frank Wilson in 1964 made a song called Last Kiss. It went to number two on the charts. This week a friend in Kingston, Oklahoma sent me a message, asking me if I heard of a song Last Kiss made in '64. I told him yes. He said the song has just been redone by a group called Pearl Jam and it went to Number 1 this week. http://pearl-jam.com/pearljam.html
I still have my original "Last Kiss" 45 record by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers on the Josie label. And it plays too!! Here's the story about how Last Kiss came about.
http://www.crl.com/~tsimon/lastkiss.htm
This is the original record I have by J. Frank Wilson.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/lastkiss.jpg
Rockinwoman has the '64 Last Kiss for listening to.
http://www.rockinwoman.com/tragic.html
And, if you want to hear Last Kiss in its entirety by Pearl Jam, go to the link below. It's not too bad. Reminded me of an entertainer or two we had performing here at the Hardy Murphy Coliseum in past years. Course they had a little too much..... Well, that's another story hahahaha The good part is Pearl Jam gives you another whole minute of music in their '99 remake.!
http://evenflow.simplenet.com/singles.html

An old photo of the Ardmore Ice Company
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ardice.jpg

A view of Springer, Oklahoma many years ago
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/springr8.jpg

A real photo of the Newkirk, Oklahoma public school in 1910
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/nwkirk10.jpg

Old pic of the east Alva, Oklahoma public school
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/alvaeast.jpg

A 1914 pic of the Anadarko, Oklahoma High School
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/anadar14.jpg

On East Main in Marietta, Oklahoma in the southeast corner of Second and E. Main is the Mahota Memorial Presbyterian Church. It has stood in that corner since 1905. They held their last church service there on May 30, 1999. Here is the handout a friend gave me from that service. It tells the history of this Marietta landmark. Story is in 2 files.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/mahota1.jpg
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/mahota2.jpg

This week I have been learning what and how a proxy server works.
http://www.proxyplus.cz/

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"don't feel bad about checking your door. at my last job when i was tired, i would pick up the phone when the credit card machine beeped!"
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"I wanted to send you this link. This is a page written by DeKalb students in Texas. People don't talk about this area but these pictures will show that this town was hit very badly on May 4th just as Oklahoma City was. The pictures can really demonstrate the furious nature of tornadoes."
http://www.esc8.net/dekalb/wild_ride.htm
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"Eddie Rue McClanahan was AHS class of 1952. Her sister Melinda Lou was class of 1957. I remember that Eddie Rhue drove a pink Model A Ford to high school."
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"Butch, it is obvious that Dwane Stevens may be the champion "train nut' for our present day, but I once knew a young man, back in the 30's, that I observed, and declared to be "The Card-carrying, Goldplated, Dyed-in-the-wool, Certified, Registered & Practicing, Rail Road Nut" of that day. I don't know what ever happened to my friend Maureice Allen but I can assure you, I personally know, that he met every train that came through Ardmore, Oklahoma when it was physically possible for him to be at the train station. Maureice had a good newspaper route that he turned over to me, because, I think, he reasoned the time spent carrying the paper route could be better spent meetings the trains that came through. If you are still out there somewhere Maureice, I'll meet you at the Ardmore Depot. (I hope I spelled his name right)"
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"Butch, Eddie Rue McClanahan graduated in 1952 from Ardmore High School. She attended our class reunion in 1994. I remember her in our classes as being very sweet but studious. She was in the drama club. In our year book (which I have) it says that she excelled in dancing and was on the student council. Her fan club has been trying to get a home page on the Internet. Thanks."
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"This is a photo of bells at San Miguel Archangel, one of the historical missions in California in central California. Since the church is placed as a historical landmark in March 1966."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/gsanmigb.jpg
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"Attached is a photo of Bells of San Juan Capistrano. This church is one of the 19 (not sure about the number) historical missions in California. These missions are built during 18th and 19th centuries and are still alive.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sanjuanb.jpg
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"This is a photo of bells at San Miguel Arcangel, one of the historical missions in California in central california. Since the church is placed as a historical landmark in March 1966, it is hard to get these bells for you. Sorry about that."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sanmigb.jpg
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"Loved your piece on 'Horntown' since I am from Holdenville originally. I love the small towns in that part of Oklahoma. I hope to retire someday to an even smaller one Atwood. This was my first issue of your e-letter - it's great- Thank you"
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"At first I did not pay attention to the fact that you said "Back Orifice Eliminator" was the program to remove the hacking program you described (I would have to assume that it was Back Orifice). I have a copy of Netbus. I think does basicly the same thing as Back Orifice. I only use it to have fun with friends, but I could easily destroy a computer with it. I simply rename a file with a name that someone would likely run (such as game.exe or something like that) and send it to someone. When they run it, the server installs itself and becomes invisible. Whenever they are online, anyone with Netbus can access their computer, unless you set up the server with a password. You can then upload, download, create, delete, move, execute, play, display, run, or open any file on their computer. You can capture their screen image to see what they are doing. You can "listen" to what they type. You can capture images from their webcam and sounds from their microphone. You can eject their CD-ROM drive. You can pop up warning messages of your choice on their screen. You can send messages that they can reply to. You can get any passwords they have saved on their computer (if using a registered version). You can control their mouse. You can disable/enable any keys on their keyboard. You can mess with their registry information. You can adjust their volume controls. I think you can even get access to any other computers on their network. Just a tip: I wouldn't publish my IP number. At least make them look for it. You can easily find IP Sniffers that will get it anyway, but at least make it hard on them. The IP number is required to set up a server for Netbus. Just thought I would fill you in on everything I know about Netbus, since I don't really know much at all about Back Orifice."
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"Website for Alumni of U.S. High Schools"
http://www.highschoolalumni.com/
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"Butch, I was going back and cleaning up my email today and found a T&T I had not read. One of the reader comments asked about the orphan trains. There is in existence and Orphan Train Heritage Society of America, based in Springdale Arkansas, maintained by a very interesting lady named Mary Ellen Johnson. There have been several books published about it, and many stories gathered by her, and by others. They have a reunion every year, where they can get together. she has an email address, and the OTHSA has an office located in the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. Just thought I would mention it!"
http://www.ancestry.com/magazine/articles/orphan.htm
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"Just thought some of your readers might be Veterans, and Lone Grove, Oklahoma would like to recognize the Veterans of the Lone Grove area (to ride in the parade and be announced at the Sullivan Park) here in Lone Grove on Saturday, June 26. If any of them are interested they should contact the Lone Grove Ledger newspaper at 580-657-6492. We enjoy your news, thanks for the info......the senior citizens center here in Lone Grove."
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"If you go to http://www.newbie.net/NotesPad/index.html you can get a freeware download of Notespad to replace the windows notepad. This new Notespad lets you have multiple files opened in the program and has a spelling checking and other unique things. You might want to check it out... I know you use Notepad alot..."
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"Here is the story of the outlaw Sam Bass. My grandfather was in the ranger outfit that got him. He was also a second or third cousin of my grandfather."
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/BB/fbaab.html -------------------------------------------------------------
"Butch: I hope this isn't true, but I seem to remember that about 5 years ago, when Gene Foust was the maintenance man for the courthouse, he was going to have the dome stripped down to the copper and refinished. However, when they got the paint off the dome, they found that portions of the dome were tin and not copper. Apparently, according to some of the old timers, when the storm blew the cupola off the courthouse, it also damaged some of the copper plating and they had to replace it with tin. And then they just painted it. So, when you get to stripping the paint off, don't be surprised to find tin over a large portion of the dome instead of copper."
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"Hello, I'm looking for anyone with a connection or who knows someone from this family. It begins with Jessie and Mary Hoffman. Jessie came from Texas at the age of 16 and married Mary who may have been the adopted daughter of the wealthy Chickasaw Indian, Nelson Chigley, who built the Chigley mansion in Davis, Oklahoma which is now a B&B. They had a number of children. The ones that I currently know about follow."
Dalbridge@aol.com
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"State Poetry Contest. Lone Grove, OK Woman Wins. A Lone Grove woman won first place in the Summer Poetry Fair held in Oklahoma City Tuesday night. Two other winners in the state-wide contest were from Ardmore. Angie Loard won the Trophy Award for her poem, "Tell Me-Geronimo," rated best poem of the poetry fair"
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/geronimo.txt
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"I have been toying around with 10-10-636 which claims the only cost after the 20 cent first minute connection is 5 cents per minute, 24 hrs a day, seven days a week. No surcharges, no hidden fees, etc. We will see." (From my May 1, 1999 T&T)

Last month I told you I was "testing" out one of those 1010 numbers that is suppose to save you on long distance calls. I received my phone bill this week, and that 1010-636 was just a joke. I made two calls. One to Norman, OK for three minutes. Charge: .45 Another call to Norman lasting 17 minutes. Charge: $2.55 Both calls cost me 15 cents per minute. But I haven't checked out making a call out of Oklahoma to another state. I'll let you know how that goes.

Seems like the past week I've seen so many deaths in the newspaper. Friends of mine. In 1969 I stopped by the ambulance service and a man named Robert "Bob' Vernon was on duty. He had an air conditioner for me to look at. To make a long story short, Bob asked me if I wanted to go to the football game in the ambulance with Troy Loard. I said yes. And that was the start of my 14 years with the ambulance service here in Ardmore. Bob Vernon passed away this past week. Bob lived at the SW of Davis, Oklahoma. He was a dairy owner.

Make every day count. No one knows how many he has left.

Inside a small locked room on the first floor of our courthouse here in Ardmore since 1910, is a black marble slab few people have seen. On that marble is the following Latin inscription by Virgil:

Hae tibi erunt artes (These virtues will be for you)
Pacisque inponere morem (To impose the custom of law)
Parcere Subjectis (To spare those who have been subjected)
Et debellare superbos (And to subdue the haughty)

See everyone next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, June 5, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 111

In western Oklahoma is the town of Burns Flat. There is a nice bell at the Burns Flat High School. I wonder if the kids ever ring that bell in the middle of the night?
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/bflatbel.jpg

This pic is of a bell my Uncle Donald Bridges of California took. He and his family were in Hawaii recently..... a very nice bell. I don't know why he just didn't go ahead and buy it for me!
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/kauaibel.jpg

In NW Oklahoma is the town of Alva. About 15 miles NE of Alva is the town of Driftwood. They sure have a nice bell there!
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/dwoodbel.jpg

Here's a pic that's one of a kind. A friend took it at Bridge Creek, OK (near Tuttle) after the May 3rd tornado came through that area heading towards OKC. This rooster lost some of his feathers as the tornado went over.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/rooster2.jpg

Here's another railroad pic by local Dwane Stevens. This is a recent pic of the Santa Fe engine in front of the Uniroyal Tire Plant at I-35 and Highway 70 here in Ardmore.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/uniroyrr.jpg
Dwane also made the front page of the Daily Ardmoreite last Tuesday. He's a self proclaimed "railroad nut"!
http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/060199/new_daorl.shtml

A unique pic... a blacksmith shop in Randlett, Oklahoma
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/randlett.jpg

Windows provides a simple method for removing any application from your system -- just open Control Panel and double click on the Add/Remove Programs icon and select a program to uninstall. Unfortunately, if you manually delete a program from your hard drive, or if a program's uninstaller malfunctions, the program stubbornly remains in the list. Add/Remove Plus! comes to the rescue by letting you delete or modify any of these entries, or even add new entries of your own to the list. Its FREEWARE!
http://www.aurelitec.com/software/arplus/index.htm

This Page lists all the Governors of Oklahoma and their info.
http://www.state.ok.us/osfdocs/govs.html

Here's info on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Does not lists prisoners up for parole yet. Maybe soon.
http://www.ppb.state.ok.us/default.htm

In western Oklahoma is Washita County. In the northeast part of that county not far from Cordell, is Corn, Oklahoma.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/cornokla.jpg

Now if that's not an unusual name, in Hughes County Oklahoma is Horntown, Oklahoma (just 7 miles east of Holdenville)!
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/horntown.jpg

A reader asked me if I've heard of a children's skit and song titled "Cement Mix". I haven't, but maybe someone else has??? Here's a great site for lyrics to songs... 1930 to 1999
http://www.summer.com.br/~pfilho/html/main_index/index.html

Here's a photo of Apache warrior Geronimo's niece and daughter.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/gdaught.jpg
North of Lawton, Oklahoma is the old Ft Sill. I have been there years ago and one of the historical sites I saw, the prison cell that held Geronimo for 20 years. He had wore the concrete down an inch inside his cell from circling and pacing. Here's a good website that tells the story of this most famous Apache along with photos. In 1876 it took 5,000 soldier's to capture him.
http://www.indians.org/welker/geronimo.htm
In 1858 came the Mexicans, killed his wife, 3 children and mother. They tried to enslave the Apaches... turn them into Christian converts. What would you do? Or become? His own story -
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/geronimo/geronixx.htm

Last week I spoke of a windll.dll file turning your computer into a Server so Hackers can access it. Well, here is another one that does the same thing. It puts 3 files on your computer.
http://www.avertlabs.com/public/datafiles/valerts/vinfo/va10182.asp

This is an old photo of a train wreck in the Arbuckle Mountains north of Ardmore December 13, 1910. A beautiful picture of the past.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/twreck10.jpg

The schools of Elk City, Oklahoma...... 1910.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/elkcit10.jpg

I noticed in the news this week where another employee of the horse racing track at Sallisaw, Oklahoma was murdered in his pickup. I remember around 1970 Ardmoreite Jerry Putman proposed building a racetrack just west of I-35 and Highway 142 on the south side of the highway. This is the second murder at that racetrack in the past year or so. Putman's racetrack idea never left the starting gate. Probably for the best. Here's a pic of the race track model that was on display at Mt View Mall here when promoters were pushing for it.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ardrace.jpg

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"Just thought that you should know that this "quote" (by Adolph Hitler) is now widely viewed as being bogus. Many people have tried to locate the supposed magazine/newspaper that this quote appeared in without success, although almost all of Hitler's speeches and quotes were documented/archived and verified as real."
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"As always I enjoy your articles Butch. I do have a comment on this one though. Would it not be possible to just delete the windll.dll file or does it need to be removed in some other manner? I just checked and I do not have the file so I am just curious." NOTE: Since it's running, it must be removed by a special program.
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"Butch, the person wanting to know what year Rue McClanahan graduated, her email address was not right, but Rue's name was Eddie Rue. I'm not sure when she graduated though."
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"Rue's from Healdton, OK.... mom remembered all the McClanahan's."
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"Durant, Oklahoma is having its annual Magnolia Festival next weekend (June 4-5-6). It like Madill's Sand Bass Festival without the fish:, crafts, food vendors (usually same ones who are at the Sand Bass deal), art peddling, etc...."
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"Butch, when we moved out here on Springdale Road in 1953 many people called Springdale Road "Fairground Road" & Harvey Road was called "Breezy Point Road" by everybody. Then years later the City Officials of Ardmore, in their wisdom decided to annex all of Carter County that was not already incorporated but they had to do some fancy maneuvering and managed to annex the Springdale area also. The protest from the citizens of this area caused them to de-annex the area after the first try. Later they were successful in their effort and did in fact annex the area. So among other things they caused further confusion by renaming the roads. Now we have West & East Springdale Loop which is not really geographically a part of the Springdale area. Then they knew a fellow named Harvey that owned some property about 2 or 3 miles south on Breezy Point Road and decided that Breezy Point Road would be renamed "Harvey Road". Next we have "Mary Niblack Road" which is 1 mile west of the real Mary Niblack Road - of course the Mary Niblack Road today was once known as the Berwin Road or Gene Autry Road - south."
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"At Shattuck in northwest Oklahoma I believe, there is a windmill museum and park. Here is the description from page 121 of Oklahoma: America in Its Native State; 1999 Oklahoma Travel Guide, published by the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. WINDMILL MUSEUM & PARK - Outdoor display of restored and rare mills; recreated pioneer homestaled - FREE - US 283 - (580) 938-2818. I believe they have a windmill festival in Shattuck once a year."
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"Thanks again for "This and That." As always, you have done an outstanding job!!!! Always look forward to the next one!!!"
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"I can remember the days when the passenger trains went through that area but I remember them going through at reduced speed back then. I know it is a beautiful view and although I have never walked through that area but I have been fishing on the Washita River close enough to appreciate the route. I believe the last time I traveled a passenger train was in early 1957 when I got snowed in at Pauls Valley while driving south on old HW 77. Lucky for me that a train was scheduled to come through on its way south just when I really needed it."
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"The annual Sulphur, Oklahoma Days Spring Water Festival will kickoff June 10th with the Great Plains Amusement Carnival. The carnival will stretch down Woodruff Boulevard and it will have games, rides, and prizes for everyone. The arts & crafts booths along with the food booths will setup and be ready for business by 6 o'clock on Friday evening. They will be placed in the downtown historic district of Sulphur on Muskogee Street. Saturday night the Byron Berlin Band from Guthrie will provide entertainment. This blue grass band will begin playing at 8 p.m."
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"Aerospace America begins in Oklahoma City this Friday, June 4th, at 6pm and continues each day till Sunday, June 6th featuring the Blue Angels as well aerobatic performers and warbirds. Aerospace America will he held at Page airport. Take I-40 west of OKC just past Yukon to Cimarron Road. Turn left (south) on Cimarron and there you are. Be there or be square!"
http://www.aerospaceokc.com
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"WE WERE AGAIN NOT ABLE TO GET ON FREEYELLOW SO HAVE PUT THE MONDAY AGENDAS FOR THE OSAGE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA COMMISSIONERS AND THE PAWHUSKA, OKLAHOMA COUNCIL ON OUR GEOCITIES SITE........ (Items of interest on both) Do we have a County Sales Tax???? Is Dorothy Hamilton wanting to close the "street" between her recently purchased property (the Mathews home) and the Osage Agency Campus????
http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Stage/2388
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In all of 1998, Oklahoma had 57 tornados. In May of this year alone, Oklahoma had 100 tornados. God help us.

I appreciate all you new readers who have asked for my T&T the past couple weeks. And especially those of you who wait up for me until midnight Friday night when my T&T goes out. Friends, they make life worth living.

Want to hear a real good one on me? Last week I installed the newest version of ICQ. One of its features is when one of your friends comes online, there is about four knocks as on a wooden door. When I first heard the knocking, I was in my recliner watching the news on TV. I thought it was at my door, so I got up and went to look. hahahaha I'm I certifiable?

"I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say." -Geronimo

See you all next weekend!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, May 29, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 110

A couple of weeks ago a reader wrote me asking info on an area of Carter county called Breezy Point. I talked with an old timer SE of Ardmore this week and Breezy Point is located 1 mile south of Springdale Road and Harvey Road. Harvey Road is about 2 miles east on Springdale from Lake Murray Drive. Breezy Point was located at McLain Road and Harvey Road - Ardmore. In the SE corner of that intersection was a grocery store owned by retired railroad worker E.P. Scholz. The store went out of business during World War II. E.P. Scholz's son, Carl Scholz, was a shoe cobbler on Main Street.

I received a couple diskettes this week with some great pics on it from Ardmoreite Dwane Stevens. Train pics! When those lucky ones who got a seat on the Inaugural Train from Oklahoma City to Ft Worth go through the Arbuckle Mountains, there is a "cut" through those mountains where the train travels along the Washita River. Awesome.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/cut3.jpg
This pic is of the last run east toward the OK Iron and Metal on the east side of Ardmore. That track ran on east of Ardmore, and has been taken up long ago and the right-of-way given back to the property owners.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/bnoverp.jpg
I'll put some more of these train pics on next time.

This week I received an interesting call from a 19 year veteran deputy sheriff in California. He collects and sells old newspapers. He has an original San Francisco Chronicle dated September 28, 1915 in which it tells about the "great fire" here in Ardmore on its front page.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/locomo.html
He also had an original San Bernardino Evening Telegram with a large front page story about the capture of gangster George "machinegun" Bailey here in Ardmore dated September 4, 1933. He wanted $23 for each one plus $4.50 postage. His name is Steve Fisher at 818-760-7952.

A 1909 pic of Verdigris Ferry at Claremore, Oklahoma
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/verd1909.jpg

I saw a product tested on the TV the other day..... an ultra sonic dog chaser. It worked really well. Dogs turned and retreated when they pressed the button. I did a search for "dog chaser" and found several places to buy them for less then $20. There has been times I wish I had one!

This is the building in Muskogee, Oklahoma where years ago Indian and government business was conduct.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/muskind.jpg

Got a missing or bad DLL? Here is a DLL archive.
http://solo.abac.com/dllarchive/W.html

A fast fading scene from the Oklahoma soil is the windmill. I found this whirling windmill about 3 miles north of Marietta, Oklahoma on the west side of Highway 77, just south of Shiggan Creek. A few more years and they'll all be gone from this area.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/shiggan.jpg

Here's a neat site.... lets you track a jetliner live on the screen! Just go to Plane Tracker. It only tracks planes that are in the air.
http://www.thetrip.com/

In Oklahoma you can check out how many violations a restaurant has received from the Health Department at the URL below. They are grouped by County.
http://www.dinersdigest.com/

This week I ran across something that is one of the most disturbing cases of "hacking" I've seen recently. A friend's MacAfee virus checker said her computer had an infected file. The file, windll.dll was the culprit. This file was located in the C:\WINDOW\SYSTEM directory. I had never heard of this file until this week. It is transmitted to one's computer as an exe file and installed. Once installed the host computer becomes a "Server". Then the hacker can access that computer via the internet. The only way a person can remove this hacker file, is by using a program made just for that. The program is called Back Orifice Eliminator. Right now, I think it would behoove everyone to click on START and then FIND and do a search for this windll.dll file. For more info on this outrageous invasion of privacy: The fixer program is offered free by Bardon Data Systems.
http://www.loughborough.co.uk/BO.htm
http://www.bardon.com/

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"Butch, Since talking to you on ICQ I have very much enjoyed This and That. I am needing some help. Ive looked through everything I know to find an old friend of mine.We went to school together at Plainview Ok. She moved to Texas in 77 or 78 . I talked to her after she went in the Army but have not found her since. Maybe someone out there can help. Her name is Del Lopez (she was married not sure about name). She went into Army at Fort Hood Texas. Has a brother name Freddy. I have little more. If anyone out there could help please write to Barbara at jonesmb@brightok.net Thanks for your time...."
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"OH my Goodness Butch..was that a blast from the past!!! There are some little ditty's we skipped too and played pat-a-cake to, too..Wow ..Thank you for your fun letter each week , I always find something new or interesting. Your Canadian friend. Dee"
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"Don't turn your computer off when you're not using it! Instead, use it to help with the SETI Project! You can help advance the boundaries of mankind's knowledge of the universe."
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
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"Hi Butch. Years ago it was in the 70's I went to Fort Worth on the Train, I got on the train at Ardmore and the ticket cost only 2 dollars.. A hamburger cost more than the ticket. the Burger cost 2.05 . It was a fun trip on the train. those tickets sure has gone up on the price."
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"Butch, , it's called "P O L I T I C S ". The "maiden voyage" of Amtrak on the 14th of June is by invitation only. The V.I.P.'S, including Gov. Bush, the Okla. Gov and possibly the Kan. Gov. will be aboard, plus the invited Mayors, and other city officials from the route stops the Amtrak will be making. They will ride Amtrak up to OKC on the 14th and return on it the 15th. That is why you couldn't get any straight answers when inquiring about it last week. I'm sure it would have saved you a lot of trouble if you had been told that.BUT that's P O L I T I C S !!!!!! This comes from an avid reader of T & T with inside info.!!!!!!! P.S. I'm sure after the 15th of June you will be able to buy all the tickets you want!!!!! hahahaha"
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"I'd like to take a look at your weekly chronicle of Carter County."
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"Unfortunately, the inaugural run is VIP-Invitation Only. Regular passenger service begins Tuesday June 17."
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"i can only apologize for the incorrect information you were given. the schedules were available in our system as of last weekend. i guess the agents you spoke to did not know about it yet. unfortunately, the train on june 15 is sold out from okc to adm. i still have 2 seats available as far as purcell (pur). if you want these i suggest you call asap and if the agent is not familiar with the new train, ask for customer service."
amtrak customer service
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"Just read This & That, regarding your email quote from someone inquiring as to the Ardmore class of '69 reunion. It's scheduled for mid-June, and they're looking for former classmates who are missing from their list. Please forward the email address of the author of that email to garyc@brightok.net it's probably someone they're searching for."
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"I found a Feb. 22, 1919 photo of Alva, Woods county, Oklahoma courthouse. I hope you can use it some how....."
http://paristimes.com/image/wdscocourthouse.jpg
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"Hey Butch, Well, the end of May is almost here and it just wouldn't be right not to mention some events that took place in May, that are significant to Ardmore's history. The first, pioneer lawman Buck Garrett was born on May 24, in 1871, he died on May 6, 1929. And ironically enough, his long time friend and deputy, Bud Ballew, also died in May. On May 5, 1922. The link below is to an article about Garrett that ran on May 7, 1929, in the Houston Post."
http://freeweb.pdq.net/bsriner/grtbio.JPG
"Although I have many articles covering the shooting death of Ballew, I believe the best account of that incident was given in the Ardmore Statesman on May 11, 1922, and (for the one or two of your readers that don't already know this) that article can be found on the the Carter County Sheriff's website."
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/ballew7.html
"Keep up the good work. Steve Riner p.s. What's the chance of any local newspaper articles about Garrett's life and death making it's way to the Carter County sheriff's site, or to yours in the near future?"
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"Just thought I'd let you know about a web site I've found."
Take a look... http://classmates.com/
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"Butch I have a question that maybe you can help me with. I know that Rue McClanahan is from Ardmore and I believe I went to school with her. I went to Jr. High with a Betty McClanahan and seeing Rue they look a lot alike. Do you or any one else know if she went to school during the 46 or 47 yrs. That would make her a 1952 graduate.. I have tried hard to remember her and I think that Betty might be Rue. Thanks. Jo Barton" evelynb@sat.net
http://www.angelfire.com/nj/RueFanClub/index.html
http://eonline.com/Facts/People/0,12,10392,00.html
http://www.dadoomp.com/rue.htm
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I installed the latest version (99a) of ICQ this week..... really some great features. All kinds of new sounds and goodies.
http://www.icq.com

Here is a thought sent to me by a friend in Hawaii:
"There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled."

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, a time to remember our loved ones who have passed on and also those who gave their life in the battles for freedom, so we who are still here can go and do as we want. I will visit my family's gravesites.

"This year will go down in history. For the first time a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient and the world will follow our lead into the future." -Adolph Hitler

See you all next weekend!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, May 22, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 109

I overheard a friend this week at the courthouse reciting one of those childhood rhymes from long ago. So long ago, I had forgotten about it. I have no idea how many years people have been repeating the saying- "Gather round gentlemen, ladies, and tramps, Cross eyed mosquitoes and bowlegged ants....." It is titled "Ask The Blind Man".
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bob_jenkins/rent.htm

If you thought you were going to get a ticket on the inaugural train run back through Oklahoma on June 15th after a 20 years absence, forget it. It was announced in the local and OKC newspapers, and on the Amtrak website, people can buy tickets for train #821. It was to leave OKC southbound at 8:25am. I called Amtrak several times this week, but was always told the schedule was not available yet. I last called at 11pm Thursday night, and was told the tickets were not available. The next morning (Friday May 21st) I called before 7am and the reservation clerk said all the seats were sold. It reminds me of the old man in the nursing home years ago, who I was taking to the hospital against his will. He looked at me and said, "I smell a mouse". It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out!
http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/052099/new_rails.shtml
http://www.amtrak.com/news/pr/atk_may18.html

A website with lots of pics and info on the May 3rd Tornado.
http://stormshot.com/okc.htm

If your a teen looking for a job summer job, go here.
http://www.jobdirect.com/

Last week some Ardmore citizens in the Springdale area were upset at some proposed rezoning of property in their area by the City of Ardmore. My mind flashed back to the late '60s when the city limits ended at "P" street NE/SE. My friend Charlie Bean lived about 200 feet east of the "P" street dividing line between "city" and "county". So, Charlie did not live inside the City Limits at the time. Prior to 1968 or so when the city annexed property on east, Charlie Bean had tried for over 10 years to get on city water (he had a water well). He even told the City he would pay for the 200 feet of water line and all... to connect him to the City water main that rain north and south on "P" Street. The City still said No. Then after he was annexed into the City around 1968, the City told him he had to be on city water and pay a city water bill like everyone else. Charlie said No (and a few other words). hahahaha. Charlie Bean is dead now, and I don't know if or when he ever did get on the City water. Interesting how things go. Anyway, you older Ardmoreites will remember Charlie Bean as owning a barber shop on "P" Street SE, just a couple blocks north of Springdale Road.
http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/051299/new_rezone.shtml

Here's pic of the Iowa Building in Muskogee, OK, Indian Territory.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/iowa.jpg

Another pre-statehood photo of the Threadgill Hotel in Oklahoma City.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/threadg.jpg

I've had a question poised to me a lot the last 18 years. "Should I turn my computer off when not in use, or leave it on all the time?" Well, I say turn it off. Just like you do your TV. Does anyone have the answer to this question? Here are some other handy tidbits of "to do's" and "not to do's".
http://www.qldwoman.qld.gov.au/owp/qwo/9810/comptips.html

Here's a glimpse into Mannsville, Oklahoma's past. Just a few miles north of Mannsville stand a silo.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/silotree.jpg

SINGLE FILE - If you place more than one shortcut in your StartUp Group, Windows will attempt to launch all of them at the same time when your system first loads. The free "After" utility lets you have each application launch by itself. And you can have Windows pause for a certain number of seconds between each launch. Single File is Freeware! Plus several other Freeware goodies. http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/1142/download.html

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"Doyle Doughty was on duty at the Fire Station when the lightning bolt hit the corner of the old Masonic building. He can tell you the day that happened, he saw it while standing outside."
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"....at the corner of Harvey Road and McLain Road, people are telling him that the Breezy Point store was once at this location, do you have anything in your files on that? Keep up the good work-I love it."
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"I hadn't heard that story, and I went to OU during the latter part of the 1940s, too, but living in Norman. Quite a few years ago there was a tornado in the Camelot area of Oklahoma City (near Hefner and May). I caught a ride home one evening from my work location downtown with a couple who lived in that area (which was only a mile and a half or so from where I lived). They said they were asleep in bed and the first they knew of the tornado (which hit in the small hours of the night) was when part of the ceiling or roof fell on them. Fortunately, neither of them was seriously hurt."
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"I found your page while searching for "Charles Bridges". I am trying to locate a "Charles (?Robert) Bridges" who was probably born 1880 - 1900 period, and served as a surgeon, either with the military or missionaries in Thailand in about 1925. That's about all I know so far, so if you have any suggestions for avenues I may be able to follow that would be really appreciated. Thanks" mailto:bridgesbolt@home.com
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"In one of your past postings you had a web address for sending pages over the internet for chickasaw..... Would it be possible for you to send me this address? Also your This and That is still awesome..Thanks" http://www.qpager.com
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"I have added photos of Buckhorn Campground to my web page of photos of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. The Campground was rebuilt a couple of years ago. The restrooms have solar heated hot water for the showers. I now have 230 images on this web page." http://www.homestead.com/chickasaw
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"First of all I am of Bridges ancestry. My family is in Bonham Texas. Next is, I am looking for history of a possible killing in early 1898 or late 1897. My grandfathers, mother was pregnant and her father supposedly killed the father of my grandpa. They lived in area of Maxwell. Grandpa was born in Maxwell. Names are Henry Bowen and the man shot was Joe Thomas Burk. He was a bank robber (?) One of these men changed name from Goodale to either Bowen or Burk. We are not sure. Can you tell me where to obtain papers or books on the outlaws of the era? All people that know anything about this are dead and the one who does pretends she does not know any Burk's in Bonham and will not talk. Where is the best place for history of the area? They also lived in Ada, Durant, Tishomingo and Maxwell. Thanks for any leads you may send my way."
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"If y'all didn't go to the URL I sent you, you need to. I think this is a terrific thing, when the weather starts getting bad, Gary England sends you an e-mail like this, I got 4 last night!! What a terrific thing, wish we had it in TX. Hope your day's are good...."
View Doppler 9000 XL http://kwtv.rigroup.com/doppler.htm
View Satellite Image http://kwtv.rigroup.com/satellite.htm
View Current Conditions http://www.kwtv.com/wx/wxcond/wxcond.htm
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"I been digging in an old shoe box and found a couple of pictures of Sulphur I thought you might be interested in. One is the old high school that used to sit up on a big hill 2 blocks north of Main street. I have no idea when the picture was taken, but from the car in front it looks like the 20's. My parents both attended that school but don't remember a fire at that time. They would have been in grade school then, tho.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sulphur7.jpg
The other two were taken in the 30's I believe. The downtown picture is of Frier Hardware, owned by my great uncle Gene Frier, and we're unsure of the filling station. Maybe some of your readers might know. My dad says it's Rose's, but my mom (being a Rose) says no. It looks familiar to all of us but we can't place it.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sulphur5.jpg
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sulphur6.jpg
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"History in Song - This site provides the lyrics to over 300 songs about American history, many with social and/or historical commentary to put the tunes into perspective. Songs are listed alphabetically by title, by songwriter/artist, and by subject/time period. Subjects include Songs of the Sea, The Railroad in American Song, Tragedies and Disasters, and Outlaws and Badmen (and women). Time span is from the American Revolution through the 1960s." http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/history.html
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"My wife Virginia (Gilstrap) Farrington had just put the finishing touches on a newsletter going out to the alumni of Mt Washington when your great picture appeared last week's issue. You mentioned that it was torn down- does anyone know just exactly when? The group will meet early in October and if anyone has any more information, pictures or history of the school, they could send it directly to my E-mail address, or can give home address if they need it. Thanks so much. They are trying to get as much history together as possible." BobF327631@aol.com
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"I read something in the paper about some up coming water festival at the park in Sulphur, OK. Do you happen to know anything else about it?" -The Sulphur Days Spring Water Festival is June 11-12.
http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/051799/new_sul.shtml
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"It must not be an aol thing....I click on your blue underlinings and go directly to the site...I don't know WHAT it is with other people not making it..."
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"Have you heard anything on the Ardmore class of '69 reunion?"
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I don't watch very much TV..... seems not enough time for one reason. But this week I did watch "Joan of Arc". I guess I felt some kind of connection since one of my ancestors was burned at the stake in England for heresy in May 1558. The Carmans left England in 1632 on the ship Lion, bound for the new world, to escape their persecution.
http://www.voicenet.com/~bparker1/martyr1.htm

"If a man does his best, what else is there?"
- General George S. Patton (1885-1945)

See everyone next weekend!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, May 15, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 108

I been busy this week learning how to convert one database that has the year as a two digit, into another database that has the year as four digits. A lot of you have heard of PC-File, and unless you have a newer version, the program wont handle 2000 digit year format come January 1. After some trial and error, I was able to convert a 6,700 record database into the four digit year format by importing from the old PC-File to the new PC-File Version 7. Interesting.
http://www.gurus.com/margy/pc-file.htm

Imagine being able to make free long distance calls to anywhere in the world! MediaRing Talk makes this dream a reality with their person-to-person Internet telephone. You can speak directly with other people as though you were talking over the phone. The software is free, and the calls are free, although you will have to put up with a few small advertisements that appear inside the software. The voice quality is high, and the integrated voice messaging works just like an answering machine (even if your computer is turned off). And if you don't want to talk, you can communicate using real-time text chatting. MediaRing Talk 99 5.9, Windows 95/98 Freeware:
http://www.mediaring.com/download/links/

These are 1909 potato diggers of Shawnee, Oklahoma.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/potato09.jpg

At 24th and South Harvey in Oklahome City stands the Hunter Funeral Home. Here's pic of it years ago. I don't know how it looks today. Maybe someone in OKC will write back and tell if the building is still as the photo shows. Or has it been replaced?
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/hunterfh.jpg

Another good pic of an Oklahoma courthouse. This one is of the Creek County Courthouse at Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/creekcrt.jpg

Here's an old pic of the Ponca City, Oklahoma hospital.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ponchosp.jpg

Third Street in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1907.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/musk1907.jpg

The First Presbyterian Church of Hugo, Oklahoma years ago.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/hugopic.jpg

Here in Ardmore, not too far north on Mt Washington Road, is where Mt Washington School used to stand. The school was torn down a few years ago.... and here is a pic just before that.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/mtwash.jpg

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"My dad has started a collection of old Oklahoma bricks. Do you have any idea of any people or businesses that sell them? I am sure some of the antique stores has one or two of them but who has time to shop all those stores in other cities? This is what he wants for Fathers Day. Thanks for any information you might come up with." tesco@brightok.net
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"Perhaps it was only legend but many people repeated the story quite often back then. In the late 40's I lived in Okla. City while attending Oklahoma University at Norman. We lived in the Southwest part of the City & therefore were south of the North Canadian River. We were told that when the Indians of that region dominated the free range & moved around at will that they would never camp on the South Bank of the North Canadian River. The reason: Tornadoes somehow seemed to never strike north of the river. I have not checked the statistics on this but it would be interesting to check the records to find out if that is Fact or Fiction."
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"This is John Hasty's Piper Cub where he was training folks to fly at the Ardmore airport in the 30's and 40's. Don't know who's up front, but at the stick in back is Phleat Boyd, later to become a pilot captain with TWA, and, still later, a renowned Oklahoma artist. You can't see it here, but there was no right side on the cabin, making one ride enough for most folk."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/hasty30.jpg
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"One of your readers wrote: "...I'm still having the same problem accessing the web sites (still not in BLUE).... By the way maybe, just maybe, it could be a kink in linking with AOL on your end?" REPLY: I have heard others on other lists complain of this problem and they all have AOL! Seems to be a problem with that server."
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"Butch, What kind of Sony digital camera does Larry have? You left out the most important tidbit for those of us wanting to get one."
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"Butch, this link will take you to Sony's web site about my camera."
http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/products/imaging/mvcfd71.html
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"Butch, I have the Sony digital Mavica MVC-FD81. As you know, I like it a lot, use it for pictures on my website"
http://www.homestead.com/chickasaw/
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"My husband and I went to the basement and heard the loud roar. I have never been this close to a storm like what we had here. We live in far Southwest OKC. Some of the pictures that are attached are taken from my porch, others were taken from my gate. We are still without electric, running computer from a generator at this time. Electric companies are working to put up new poles now. Traffic and site seer's are making it very hard for them to do their job, so no telling how long it will be till our electric is back on."
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"Butch the people here in California are a good bunch of people. The local talk radio station KFBK set up a collection place to send relief to Oklahoma City. This morning Sat 8th of May four trucks, 40 foot trailers, loaded with donations and $20,000 in cash and the Sacramento's Kings NBA team matched the money. It all left for Oklahoma City this morning. It impressed me how this country stands together in a crisis. As an old okie I know the area very well you got no mountains to turn a storm away. Thank GOD there were so few lives. Lost property can be replaced, they may need help but they are still around to talk about it."
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"I have updated my page, take a look at the tornado pics."
http://cherokeetel.com/hinkle/strom.htm
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"For those like me that spend more time on the computer than listening to TV or radios, Gary England at Channel 9 News has a "Storm Signal" you can download for free. The storm signal is put in your task bar and will alert you of any bad weather. I have it and it is great, a map has came up with the counties that are now under T-Storms and Tornado watch along with Gary England's voice of warning. A very handy item" http://www.stormsignal.com/
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"....my husband was sitting at the stoplight on Washington facing north. He witnessed the lightening hitting the top of the Masonic Lodge. But, he cannot remember the year that it happened. He thinks he was working for Harry Stockdale plumbing at the time. And that would have been early 80's. He remembers the bricks smashing to the street and even coming over to the truck. He will never forget that experience!"
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"....Martin Luther King speech August 1963 (I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted)"
http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/ra/970828.ram
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"If you can - do not spend a lot of time on this, but Tilley's niece is looking for an old friend of hers. The mother and daddy are Huckabee. Not listed in phone book. Her name is Sandy (approx 45 years old). She has married and we do not know her name. They moved to Ardmore about 20 years ago and she has two children."
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"Finally found a tape containing the original radio broadcasts from the day the Oklahoma troopers were killed at Caddo and Kenefic. You can listen to the transmissions at:"
http://members.tripod.com/trp180/radio.htm
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"Butch you have done a great job in your effort to get our courthouse restored & I want to commend you for that. I have a question about the article in the Ardmoreite where it mentioned the County Commissioners had approved the bids on the cupola, yet I was surprised when I gathered that one of the Commissioners said that since the cost of resurfacing the dome with copper was so expensive that we would have to find a way to clean off the old copper that is in place. Did I read that wrong? Is their still a copper covering in place on the dome? If that is true then it seems that someone surely could figure out how to clean it up. I only have 36 hours of college chemistry but with enough experimenting I believe I could find a way to clean the copper up, unless it is terribly thin & fragile but there is someone out there that can know the answer. Maybe I misread the article."
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=============================================================

The Daily Ardmoreite link below will tell you about two happenings this past week at the courthouse. The Carter County Commissioners accepted the resignaton of County Clerk Royce Moser. She is retiring after being the County Clerk for 30 years here in Ardmore. Royce will be missed when she leaves public office June 30. Another announcement in the article tells about the Commissioners accepting a bid from Dave Kappel of Healdton, Oklahoma for the restoration of the long missing cupola on top of the courthouse. Needless to say I'm proud of that! We still have to do some research on how we're going to clean the years old paint off the copper dome, and restore it back like it was many years ago...... a dark copper brown look. Where there is a will, there is a way!
http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/051199/new_royce.shtml

"No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms (within his own lands or tenements)." --Thomas Jefferson

See everyone next weekend!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, May 8, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 107

I truly appreciate all the emails and well wishes from all over the world, concerning the tornadoes last Monday night. It was scarry, watching those live tv broadcasts from the news helicopters. Mother nature can be so unforgiving. I live 100 miles south of Oklahoma City, so my area missed the bad stuff. But I have kinfolk and friends in that area that did not. They lost everything......... need our prayers.

I've got to show everyone this aerial view Ardmore given to me by a friend of the old Safeway Supermarket (now Homeland) area. You can see the Ken-Cliff Bowling Lanes at the bottom, and the Ten-Pin Bowling Lanes on the top left hand side (yes, Ardmore used to have two bowling alleys) and the Sonic Drive-in on Grand Avenue. Across the street from the Sonic is an open field what is now the east side of Ardmore Mall. In the far left of the field is the old Mistletoe Express building. They have been out of business a long time, but were like the UPS and FedEx of today.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/safeway.jpg

In far, far southwest Oklahoma is the town of Hollis. This is a can of motor oil that was manufactured there by the Oscar Bryant Oil Company called Falcon Oil.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/falcon.jpg

SmartFTP is an intelligent FTP client that automatically "resumes" broken file uploads and downloads. A multi-window, Explorer-style interface supports drag-and-drop operations and handles remote server-to-server transfers (using the FXP protocol). Proxy servers are supported, along with multiple connections and background file transfers. Freeware:
http://www.smartftp.com/

A live webcam of ships going through the Panama canal. I happened to logon at 5pm just as the a freighter started through the channel. Very interesting.
http://www.pancanal.com/photo/camera-java.html

This is a pic of the Elk City, OK Carnegie Library years ago.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/elklib.jpg

Turn your PC into a jukebox!
http://www.real.com/realjukebox/index.html

Muskogee, Oklahoma is kinda nestled in some hills in the north eastern part of the state. Kind of a rolling hillside country. This is the old post office and courthouse in Muskogee.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/muskpost.jpg

Step right up and order your free t-shirt right here.
http://www.petrix.com/shirt/

They still say soon they will be re-opening the old Santa Fe Depot in Oklahoma City when Amtrak comes through. This is really a great 1940s pic of the old OKC railway depot.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/santaokc.jpg

At the NW corner of Main and Washington streets here in Ardmore is the old Masonic Temple. It was built before statehood which was 1907. At the very top of the building, years ago it was hit by lightening and the top is "blown off". Does anyone remember when that bolt of lightening hit that building?
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ard1907.jpg

This week I received some interesting pics from my friend Larry Boston who owns a cabin near Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Tishomingo is about 25 miles east of Ardmore. He's got a digital camera now, and been taking some great pics. Here's what Larry sent in:

"It has been a while since I have sent you any pictures so here are three for you taken with a Sony digital camera. The first two are of the old log cabin on 377 (9 miles north of Tishomingo, OK) which now houses a candy company. Their fudge is really good. The third, is of a bridge that my friend Shane Messing and I built out of cedar on our property."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/lcabin.jpg
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/bridfar.jpg

"This pool is just a small refreshing pool of water on our property and the Rocks are on our property.. You know, I love rocks."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/pool1.jpg

"The drug store is Clary's Drug Store Soda Fountain in Tishomingo, OK. It is the best soda fountain in the area. My wife and I always take our High School Students from Fort Worth there when ever we have them up to our cabin. The Clary's are used to seeing us with 14 or 15 teenagers at their door. Our students talk about the drug store and fountain for weeks after each visit."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/tishdrug.jpg

"The last shot is Pennington Creek upstream from Slippery Falls Boy Scout Camp."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/penncrek.jpg

SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

"Shocked by the TV images of those twisters which caused such devastation in your part of the World! Now praying that you and yours are safe. Please write when you have a minute and let us know you're OK. Your pal in England"
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"Butch .. mi amigo .. you are alright ?? Don't know exactly where you live.. and how close/far away from the tornadoes you were .. let me know, ok ?? been watching CNN and sure looks like some bad ones .. hoping for the best for ya."
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"I was looking on the map to see how close Ardmore is to Oklahoma City, and it looks like you may have been safe from the bad weather there........I hope so!"
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"Just checking in on you in the hope that you were spared from the tornado. It is indeed devastating and I want you to know that my prayers and the prayers of my country are with you all. This morning at mass, the Archbishop prayed for you and even on the radio over the news, they are asking that we continue to pray for you...it is the least we can do and I hope it will bring some small comfort to you."
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"Just got in from work...Heard about the tornados...hope all is well at your place..... need anything holler... Not sure what I can do from here...but I'll help if I can.... Take care....My thoughts and prayers are with you."
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"Last nights tornado was very frightening. We have seen tornados before but nothing like this. Just a half mile or so to my south the destruction is massive. I don't know as yet who of our friends survived or lost homes. The rumble and roar of the storm was indescribable. We were just on the edge of it. But we are ok in our home."
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"Homestead.com now has a free downloadable version of their web page builder. The software is easy to use. No knowledge of html or other programming language is required. They allow the use of the software to upload pages to any internet web site. Take a look at it and give it a try. http://www.homestead.com.
I have a couple of sites on Homestead: Photos of Chickasaw Nat'l Rec Area http://www.homestead.com/chickasaw and my landscape oil paintings http://www.homestead.com/OilPainting (I started studying oil painting in January). Keep up the good work on "This and That."
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"I am going to ask a favor of you all. PLEASE take a couple of minutes to help me out. We are trying to reach as many people as fast as possible to alert them to the June 19th Rusty Hudelson's Knights of the West Show in McAlester, OK...." -Schahara Hudelson http://www.musicmessage.com http://schahara.eCode.com
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"Just to let you all know, we made it threw the storms last night. Came within a mile of us but think that it jump over our house. We did get some tennis ball size hail out of it. Terry made his dad and me lay in the hall way and had a mattress to put over us. So, yes, we was one of the few lucky people here in town. God was keeping an eye on us."
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"Hello Butch, As you may remember I am researching Buck Garrett and his number one deputy, Bud Ballew, and from time to time I come across some neat stuff about one or the other of them that I feel I should share. This is one of those times. Bellow there is a link to a picture I found in a book--Alias Frank Canton, by Robert DeArment. n this picture on the bottom row is Buck Garrett. This picture was taken in Johnson Co. Wy. after he and the others in the picture were arrested for participating in the Johnson Co. Cattle Wars. It seems he was a young deputy U.S. marshal at the time, working out of Paris, Tx., when he was recruited to act as a hired gunman for the cattle barons of Wy. At any rate, he and the others lost the war so to speak and were arrested after a two day long battle with the "Rustlers". The author stated that when the Texans were released on bail, no one seemed to care that they were boarding trains heading back to Texas--never to return to stand trial." Steve Riner
http://freeweb.pdq.net/BSRINER/GRTT-N-JCNTY2.JPG
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"Interesting and fascinating news letter this morning. However, I'm still having the same problem accessing the web sites (still not in BLUE). THEN, when I try accessing the "ecode" link, I get those "cookies" galore. Right now, I'm so full of cookies I gotta go for a walk. By the way maybe, just maybe, it could be a kink in linking with AOL on your end????????"
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"Listening to 60s midis at this URL"
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/1623/indexf.html
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The people now homeless in the Oklahoma City tornados still need our help. There are 10,000 homes no longer inhabitable. The site below has some good slides of the rescue efforts, some contact phone numbers, and addresses, plus what you can do to help.....
http://www.feedthechildren.org

A few months ago I told about http://www.rockinwoman.com and the original Oldies music that can be found there. Well, guess what? I found another site just like it, with lots of original Oldies music. All you need is RealPlayer! So step back in time.
http://rtmusic.com/

Remember, "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts".

See everyone next weekend!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, May 1, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 106

A couple a weeks ago, I found this one of a kind photo. My Grandfather, Stanley Carmon, had a brother named Abe. Abe Carmon's granddaughter, Bobbye Carmon Tilley, was in town, and brought with her a photo of her grandfather's Miniature Golf Course. The miniature golf course was built in the 1920s by Abe Carmon on Highway 199 east, just west of the railroad underpass, on the north side of the highway here in Ardmore.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/golf20.jpg

In the seventies this strange looking truck, called a Cab-Under, stopped at Ponder's Restaurant here in Ardmore. It looked like the forerunner of the army's Humdy vehicle. Guess it never really worked out. From just looking at it, it was probably a death trap. You'd have to be a fool to drive it from New York to California. And where's the motor anyway! hahahaha
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/cab1.jpg
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/cab2.jpg

Here's a 1910 pic of the Confederate Home on South Commerce here in Ardmore, now known as the Oklahoma Veterans Center.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/conhom10.jpg

In NW Oklahoma in Woods County is Freedom, OK. Here are some pics of the little town just before you get to the Panhandle.
http://paristimes.com/image/freedom.jpg

Mystery Photo: Here's a pic a friend took, and he can't remember for the life of him where the cornerstone was sitting. But he knows it was somewhere in the Ardmore, Oklahoma area. The stone reads, "St Patrick's Indian Mission" "Founded 1889" "Burned down Sept 26, 1907" "Rebuilt Oct 30, 1910" Anyone recognize this old piece of history?
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/imission.jpg

There is a great site to keep you up-to-date on the latest hoaxes, lies, and Net propaganda. When you logon, just click on the left at "Currently Circulating" for the truth.
http://snopes.simplenet.com/

The 10-10 talkaround runaround. Hardly a week goes by I don't get a call promising to save me money on my long distance calls. I found a website that lists all the contact numbers to those 10-10 whatever numbers plus a link to info on the 900 numbers. I have been toying around with 10-10-636 which claims the only cost after the 20 cent first minute connection is 5 cents per minute, 24 hrs a day, seven days a week. No surcharges, no hidden fees, etc. We will see.
http://www.10-10-info.com/

In western Oklahoma in Washita County is Cordell, Oklahoma. The courthouse there is one of three in Oklahoma that has a clock in the dome. This is a pic of the dome in 1913, one year before they installed the clock. In 1954 they removed the original clock and replaced it with an electric type. It works fine.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/wash1913.jpg
The dome as it is today..... with its clock.
http://www.brightok.net/chickasaw/ardmore/county/photos/cordell1.jpg
The original clock has been put on display in the lobby of the courthouse in Cordell, thanks to the efforts of ex-county commissioner there Alfred Miller.

If you use the Internet as a job-searching tool, you may be spending a great deal of time jumping from one employment Web site to another. With Wanted Jobs 98, you can quickly search job postings on all the popular sites. To find job postings of interest, simply enter a few keywords along with a region and a job category. The program simultaneously searches up to 32 of the most popular sites, including America's Job Bank, Best Jobs in USA Today, Career Builder, Career.com, CareerCity, Career Exchange, Career Mosaic, E.span, HeadHunter.Net, JobBankUSA, Monster Board, and Net-Temps. Search results can be highlighted, refined, and sorted by title, company, location or relevancy. To save time, you can have Wanted Jobs download job descriptions for later offline browsing, or you can read descriptions immediately in your Web browser by simply double-clicking a job title. And the program is Freeware!
http://www.wantedjobs.com/

VersaCalc is a handy freeware program that supports more than 40 different functions. The calculator lets you directly enter any expression, and it displays a rolling tape that stores all of your recent inputs and results. A wide range of functions are available, including algebraic, transcendental, trigonometric, hyperbolic, financial, and Metric conversion. Freeware!
http://www.allersoft.com/

Here's a pic of a bell from the SS Edmond Fitzgerald sent in.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/efbell.jpg
The SS Fitzgerald met disaster at the hands of nature in 1975 and the crew of 29 destined to die as she sank beneath the lake.
http://www.nauticalworks.com/fitz/

SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG

"....Also there is something that you might want to check out and that is the renovation of the court house in Hillsboro, TX I think it cost 10 Mil."
http://www.thc.state.tx.us/courth.html
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"Great edition this week, as usual. But you credited the wrong Kennedy. Bobby said that when he ran for President in '68..if memory serves me right."
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"Maybe you or one of your readers can help me out. Trying to find the location of Pleasant Mound, Indian Territory. It was near Hoxbar and Jolly Knob, according to a Shields family bio in History of Love County. A great aunt was buried at Legate Cem in 1899, according to records at Bettes/Craddock Funeral Home. While the records of Harvey/Douglas FH states she was buried at Pleasant Mound with services conducted at Pleasant Mound. She died 2 mi NW of Wilson IT. I would appreciate any help in finding this place. Thanks, Harold in New Orleans." haroldlmorris@webtv.net
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"Butch, I think it is something in the AOL program. NOBODY can click on our "blue" lines and open anything...I just sent mine over to my AOL address and had the same problem."
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"you gotta *small* error in your ecode address ..in "This and That" .. your link to ecode on your signature .. is stated: http:///bridges.ecode.com <---- NOTE Three " ///" s instead of two // so... when you click on it .. nada... I won't tell anyone ;-)" It should have read http://bridges.ecode.com
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"Another source for on-line e-texts is the Online Book Initiative. One mirror is at ftp://ftp.std.com/obi . Another source of on-line e-text links can be found at:
http://www.nd.edu/~ndlibs/eresources/etext.html
I "picked up" Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes book "A Study in Scarlet" one day when I was bored. I got so interested I had to go out and buy the paper form of the book."
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Here's a 1905 Shuttle Service for women, to deliver them to King's Lake for the 4th of July festivities in Ardmore. Men are (L to R) Charles Fraley, lumberman and contractor who built the original 4 grade schools, the Confederate Home, and for whom Fraley Park is named; Dr. Julius Herman Peterman, a homeopathic physician (his wife was Carrie, whom I bet you knew); Henry T. Hunt, planing mill owner and father of Herman Hunt, grandfather of the 5 Hunt boys. The horse is Dolly. Directions to Kings Lake (from childhood memories of the 30's and 40's): Go out 3rd Ave NE past City Limits road; continue on what was really a continuation of 3rd Ave toward Sand Canyon [that you mentioned in a This & That]; turn right on the first road after City Limits road. That road went down to a big house where the King Family lived. The road went past their house to the lake......"
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/shuttle5.jpg
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I bought some corn-on-the-cob this week for 25 cents a ear. I took and shucked it, cleaned it with a brush, and ate it raw. It was like it had sugar on it, the best tasting fresh corn a person could want to eat. A man in Marietta told me about eating it raw, and if it's tender sweet corn, you wouldn't eat it cooked ever again. Simply delicious.

A friend here in Ardmore came by my office Friday and brought me this itty bitty bell! Has this little tinkle tinkle to it. Friends, they make life worth living.

Talk about bells. I am wondering if the movers and shakers of Ardmore are going to put up a Millennium Bell. I hope so. December 31st will usher in the next 1,000 years. Put that bell up Ardmore, and they will come from miles around to ring in the new Millennium at the stroke of midnight! I for one would be at that bell ringing!

Sometimes back in the forties Ardmore was visited by President Harry S. Truman. He made a speech from the steps of the First Methodist Church on Main Street and "E". Here is a pic of President Truman at the Ardmore railway. Next to Truman is Ardmore policeman Matt Alexander, on the horse is Clyde Wyatt.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/truman.jpg

"A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties." -Harry Truman, American President (b. 1884)

I got a lot more pics to show.... but ran out of time and space. I'll get some more inserted soon. See everyone next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
eCode http://bridges.ecode.com
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, April 24, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 105

Wow! A lot of you responded to the eCode article last week! I think Ecode will be something we use more and more as time goes by. Just pretty neat. One reader asked if I won that t-shirt yet. hahaha. All my friends out there in cyberspace never cease to amaze me and humble me at the same time. I had over 200 hits within 24 hrs to my ecard!
http://bridges.ecode.com

Last week I made what is called an accountant's mistake. I told about the earthquakes near Lindsay, Oklahoma being 4.2 on the Richter Scale. What I meant was 2.4 They weren't of any magnitude, but people in the area did feel them. I had a friend, Richard Zumwalt, years ago tell me that when you turn a set of numbers around like that, it is an accountant's syndrome. Mr. Zumwalt was an accountant for Memorial Hospital here for many years. Then after retirement about 1985, he kept the books for the ambulance service here in Ardmore. He and I used to have some really good talks when he was alive.... I learned a lot from that silver haired old man. Wish he was still here. I remember the hospital letting him take his "captain's chair" with him when he retired. He brought it to the ambulance service and continued using it in his little office they had for him. His wife, Carolyn, was my 5th grade teacher at Washington school.

A couple weeks ago I had a pic of the bell in front of the Sulphur, Oklahoma city hall. This week a reader sent me an article, and in it the article tells just how that bell found its resting place in front of city hall. Very interesting article of the past.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/bgardner.txt

Here's a pic of a 1925 boy scout camp at Ardmore.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/bsard25.jpg

This is an old pic of the Bar-Dew Lake at Bartlesville, OK
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/bardew.jpg

A couple weeks ago I mentioned the "big shootout" at Caddo, OK. This is a pic of a check drawn on the Drovers National Bank of Caddo, Oklahoma. It's logo is pretty neat.... a steer.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/caddock.jpg

Ever hear of Olney, OK? It's an itty bitty community in Coal County, southwest of Coalgate. Years ago they had a bank. This is a 1908 check drawn on the Ash Flat Valley Bank of Olney, Oklahoma.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/olney.jpg

Talk about old..... how about this 1915 Oklahoma tag.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/1915tag.jpg

Here's another little town in Lincoln county Oklahoma, called Sparks. They had a Farmers and Merchants Bank there years ago.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sparks.jpg

This is a 1945 Ardmore Junior High School roster sent in to me.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ajhs1945.jpg

Talk about little towns and towns that no longer exist in Okahoma, we have a booklet at the courthouse titled "Town and Place Locations" that list 4,500. Some were towns in the oil boom years and are no longer. The booklet was first published 40 years ago by the Department of Highways. Copies are still availabe for a $1.50 charge from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Reproduction Branch. The towns are listed by county. Also their location by legal description i.e. Township and Range.
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/osdiv/orderg.htm

Girl Geeks? is a series of nationwide media events exploring the past, present and future roles of women in computing through TV specials, web sites, radio shows, books, educational products, lectures and games. Check it out: http://www.girlgeeks.com/girlgeeks.html

Thousands of electronic books (eBooks) from the world's leading publishers: http://www.netlibrary.com/

American FactFinder is a new data access and dissemination system that provides useful facts and information about your community, your economy, and your society. The system will find and retrieve the information you need from some of the Census Bureau's largest data sets. Go here:
http://factfinder.census.gov/java_prod/dads.ui.homePage.FactsPage? PAGENO=5&CART=java_prod

SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG

"Well, my wife, Carol, and I are off to Pittsburg this a.m. and unfortunately I woke up at 3:a.m., ready to go. We don't leave until 7:a.m., so I had some fun time to play with my PC. Lo and Behold, there was your Saturday presentation. I always enjoy it, and forward it to my friends from Oklahoma, no matter where in the world they happen to be."
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"Read your piece on the eCards and decided to try it out immediately. Wouldn't you know it, someone already has the one I want to use (major). Not only that, the guy has the exact same name I do. I can see trouble in the future if both of us are on the web! (grin)"
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"If memory serves correctly, Queen of Three Valleys is named after the valleys formed by the three river bottoms, in the Durant, OK area: Red River, Washita River and Blue River. The book cover shows these three rivers"
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/3valleys.jpg
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"My name is Larry and live as a new resident of Sulphur. Next month I will be returning to VietNam to make an attempt to put to rest the nitemares, flashbacks, cold sweats, and panic attacks. I feel this will be my last chance to find happiness is to confront my fears. Would it be possible to ask your readers, ham radio cronies(I'm N5ITW), and anyone else for donations of picture post cards, ink pens with any type logo, real small toys(yo-yos) to take with me for the children I will come in contact with? Larry Miller, Sulphur, OK. Truly enjoy your column and will look forward to any help you can give."
larrym@brightok.net
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"Got my friend's message tied to the OKC bombing memorial fence at about 8:00AM this morning. spent about 50 minutes walk around looking at all the things people have attached to that fence. Some great poems written by survivors and dedicated to the ones they lost. Took a few pictures.... Especially of the "Survivor Tree" (through a fence view). Will be a great memorial place when they get it done for the fifth anniversary. Thinking about putting "OKC Memorial Foundation" address (PO Box 323, OKC, OK 73101) in next newsletter so people will know where/who to send donations to help build the Memorial."
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" have used that A LOT! Thanx for sharing that. When I am on line, I don't have to disconnect to get a fax now. THAT saves me so much time. THANK YOU so much!!" http://www.efax.com
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"Could you or someone help me with this picture? This is the Electrical Line Crew in Ardmore Oklahoma, for Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company. The year I don't know and the only person is #1 kneeling: JOSEPH ELMER FRANKLIN (my father-in-law). I understand he was lineman and truck driver for this group. Any information on others, and date of picture would be greatly appreciated. Thank You n' God Bless." Charline Franklin, 431 Thunderbird Pt. Pittsburg, TX 75686 bobncharl@aol.com
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/eleccrew.jpg
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"SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OR READ ABOUT THE BAD WRECK THAT HAPPENED WED MORNING BY RYAN,OK. THERE WERE 2 VEHICLES INVOLVED AND 5 PEOPLE. IN THE CAR WAS 4 TEENAGERS, A 16YR, 2-14 YR AND A 15 YR OLD. AND IN THE PICK-UP WAS A 37 YR OLD MAN. THE 16 YR OLD AND 14 YR OLD WERE BROTHER AND SISTER AND WAS KILLED IN THE WRECK IMMEDIATLY. THE OTHER 14 YR.OLD WAS THROWN OUT AND KILLED AND THE 15 YR OLD IS DOING GOOD. THE 37 YR OLD MAN IS IN CRITICAL COND. THIS MAN WAS A VERY DEAR AND CLOSE FRIEND OF MINE AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE HERE IN MARIETTA. HE WAS A VERY WELL LIKED PERSON AND A VERY GOOD EXAMPLE OF A FAITHFUL CHRISTIAN. HE HAS A BEAUTIFUL WIFE, A 5 YR OLD AND A BABY BOY THAT TURNED 1 YESTERDAY ( THE 16TH OF APRIL). HIS NAMED IS JEFF MARTIN AND HE NEEDS OUR PRAYERS. JEFF SUFFERS FROM MASSIVE HEAD INJURIES (WHICH REQUIRED A 4 HOUR BRAIN SURGERY ON WED.) 2 BROKE LEGGS, INJURED ELBOW, RUPTURED SPLEEN, AND NOW PHNEMONIA. JEFF HAS SOME SWELLING OF THE BRAIN BUT IT LOOKS TO BE IMPROVING. JEFF AND HIS WONDERFUL FAMILY NEEDS OUR PRAYERS MOST OF ALL AT THIS TIME. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND A FEW KIND WORDS I WILL PRINT THEM AND TAKE THEM TO HIM. SEND THEM TO rushing@brightok.net THIS WILL LET HIM KNOW THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE ON THE NET THAT CARES AND WILL PRAY FOR HIM. PLEASE HELP THEM WITH YOUR NOTES AND MAINLY YOUR '' PRAYERS''. I FEEL JEFF WILL BE ENCOURAGED A GREAT DEAL WHEN HE COMES TO AND READS ALL OF THE NOTES. MANY THANKS TO YOU ALL...... VICKIE PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW."
rushing@brightok.net
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"Dedicated to the dead and wounded of Columbine High"
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/1286/ColumbineHigh.html
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"Oklahoma Survivor Tree, April 19, 1999."
http://paristimes.com/image/survivortree.jpg
"The Memorial Fence, April 19, 1999 in OKC"
http://paristimes.com/image/okcfence.jpg
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The Carter County Court Clerks Office is all smiles this week. They received new computers from the State Supreme Court in Oklahoma City. The 350mz Gateway computers with Windows NT will make way soon for image scanning. It's going to be nice to pull up the actual legal document that's attached to a record, and even print that document out! Plus the new computers have made internet access possible to all the employees including email capabilities within the state-wide court system as more courthouses come online. Right now there are ten courthouses in Oklahoma online with more being added each month.

I was in Gainesville, Texas this week and noticed the Cooke County Courthouse is getting a face lift. The $210,000 project will bring the north and south sides of the courthouse back to its original beautiful condition. One reader told me a couple weeks ago about a courthouse in Texas that has become almost totally electronic...... no paper trail. I guess the trees are proud of that! Does anyone know what courthouse in Texas is now an "electronic courthouse"?

"Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and say why not." -Bobby Kennedy

See you all next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, April 17, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 104

What's your eCode? I now have an eCode: "bridges" I just discovered one of the most useful services on the Internet and thought I'd share it with you. Check out MY Web Card at -

http://bridges.eCode.com

eCode.com is the MOST UNIQUE thing on the web today. Take my word for it and you WILL NOT be disappointed. Go visit them at

http://www.eCode.com

They are giving away a FREE trip to Paris, and FREE T-shirts too. If you don't have an eCode yet you should get it right away. When creating your card, keep in mind, you may add as much or as little information to your Web Card as YOU CHOOSE to! Whatever you do, get your eCode now BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE RESERVES the eCode you wanted. (It took me less than 2 minutes to get an eCode!) Also, since this is a LIMITED TIME OFFER, you should get it now while it's FREE FOR LIFE! People that subscribe later will be required to pay a fee, to get an eCode, to get a Web Card, to get a eCode Book, to maintain an eCode... - for all of eCode.com's services.

Don't forget to add my card to your address book, and e-mail me back your eCode. My eCode is: "bridges" For as long as I have been a subscriber, I can vouch for the fact that my name has not, and will not be put on any mailing list or the type. It is TOTALLY PRIVATE - GUARANTEED!

Amtrak is coming through Oklahoma on Monday, June 14th.
http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/shart?ID=302771&TP=getarticle

This is the Congregational Church in 1912 at Vinita, OK
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/vinchu12.jpg

Here is the Rock Island Depot at Enid, OK in 1909
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/enidde09.jpg

This Will Rogers' home at Claremore in 1930
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/rogers30.jpg

Here is an old pic of the inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, Sequoyah's homeplace, at Sallisaw, OK
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sequoyah.jpg
http://www.letsfindout.com/subjects/america/sequoyah.html

Here's Clinton, Oklahoma High School in 1910
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/clinhs10.jpg

A 1910 pic of the depot at Kremlin, Oklahoma (just north of Enid). You will see the chickens crossing the railroad in this pic!
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/kremde10.jpg

This is an old Sulphur, Oklahoma street scene
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sulpstre.jpg

A 1910 photo of Okmulgee, Oklahoma City Hall
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/okmul10.jpg

An old pic of New Kirk City Hall.... Oklahoma, Territory
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/nkirk.jpg

View of Muskogee Street in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in the 1930s
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/tahlstre.jpg

Here is a 1936 street scene in Tishomingo, OK
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/tishstre.jpg

An ex-Ardmoreite sent in the next two pics... a group photo of Reck, Oklahoma school (western Oklahoma) in 1912
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/reck12.jpg

And here's the another group pic of the Reck School around the same date. The exact date is not known.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/reckok.jpg

Seems like everyone has heard of the Dionne Quintuplets of Canada. But in the 1930s here in Oklahoma were four famous quints. They were the Key quints...... daughters of Mr and Mrs F.M. Key of Hollis, Oklahoma. They made many appearances, were on the front page of the newspapers even as young adults and even served in the armed services together. The quints were Leota, Roberta, Mona and Mary Key. I wonder if Hollis, Oklahoma has any info on them? They moved to Oklahoma City around 1940. I did a search on the Net and found nothing.

SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG

"I was the one that sent you the old note. hope you enjoyed it. I am here to let you know my older brother just passed away. he was born in Ada Oklahoma in 1921. his name was Bob E Poindexter he died after a long battle of 4 years with Alzhimer's. at least he is at peace now. if anyone that knew him see's this say a Prayer for him."
mailto:poindexterp@softcom.net
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"...would mention that BrightNet is going to make a change with our helpdesk. Most companies these days have chosen to outsource their helpdesks. BrightNet has always done this with a group in Austin, Texas. We will be moving our State wide helpdesk to Ardmore, OK."
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"...in 1924 of William Sides age 28 while moving a whiskey still from the Blue River with revenue agents. A man named Bishop Reed as helping. The man standing is Fred Hunt the County sheriff. William Sides is the one with his arm on the steering wheel. The man with the gun is a revenue agent. The pic was taken in Tishomingo, OK"
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/tishshin.jpg
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"E-mail for Captured Soldiers Southwestern Bell has set up electronic mail accounts to accept messages which will be forwarded to two of the American soldiers now being held prisoner by Yugoslavia."
Steven Gonzales: mailto:tsoldier@swbell.net
Christopher Stone: mailto:ssoldier@swbell.net
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"This *free* Web-based service enables you to quickly and easily calculate how much any amount of one currency is worth in another currency. Now featuring global rates updated continuously!"
http://www.xe.net/currency/
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"I knew two of the guys that were killed, and I think this is great that the trooper has done this."
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"When I was a small girl and lived on the farm in Frederick, OK. We had a large dinner bell outside the house. When the thrashing crews were there, I always got to ring the bell for them to come in and eat. This was when neighbor helped neighbor, going from farm to farm until it was finished. We also rang the bell when there was an emergency for my uncle to come in from the field. All of my family is dead now, but we donated the bell to the Museum there at Frederick in my uncle's memory where it hangs outside on a large pole. I just wanted to share the story of my bell with you."
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"Here is another item of possible interest for some of your readers. This is a newspaper clipping from the Daily Ardmoreite ~ 1946. It list the names of the candidates for the queen of beauty for the Ardmore senior high school yearbook."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ahs1946.jpg
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Last month the Davis, Oklahoma area had a five inch rain in one night. This is a pic I took of the water rushing over Turner Falls the next day..... what a magnificent sight!
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/turner99.jpg

A couple of weeks ago, courthouse maintenance employee James Lindsey painted the four clock faces, and they look more beautiful then I've ever seen them! If you are nearby, go by in the evening hours after dark and see these magnificent illuminated clocks in the courthouse dome in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/clockpnt.jpg

Yesterday 8 small earthquakes (2.4 on the Richter scale) shook Lindsay, Oklahoma. This is several times the past few years this has happened. Lindsay is in central Oklahoma.

"That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful." --Ninon de L'Enclos

See you all next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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

From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, April 10, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 103

Just a follow-up about the free fax service. The other day someone sent me a fax, and it was a small handwritten Promissory Note made out in 1896. The neat thing about the Efax that I receieved it as, was I could then enlarge it (or reduce it). A feature you can't do with an ordinary fax.
http://www.efax.com and it's al free!

It's an age thing. They things the Net offers!
http://member.aol.com/records123/wish.html

Last week I told about Carol Cannon and her free drawing, plus she'll send a free Watkins catalog to all who write. She told me this week she had gotten a lot of responses and would like for everyone to send their snailmail address with their email to her, so she can get a free catalog right out.
smileyy1@hotmail.com

The age of information continues to grow on the Net with each passing day it seems. This week I received an email from a friend in Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma. She's maintained for a long time now, a Page on the happenings at the courthouse there in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. You can find out how getting married, whose going to jail, whose getting a divorce, who's up for parole, etc. You will find this all under..... "Weekly News".
http://www.freeyellow.com/members5/ocns/index.html
Mirror site: http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Stage/2388/

A friend sent me this URL this week with info on all the American presidents. Really a wealth of information on each one. President Garfield entertained his friends by writing Latin with one hand and Greek with the other.
http://www.americanpresidents.org/

My friends, John and Ann Randolph, in Ardmore are building a new home as we speak. They are building it southwest of Ardmore, about 5 miles south on Hedges Road. But this is no ordinary house. It's designed to withstand a sustained wind of 165 miles per hour. And with this crazy tornadic weather that's happening all around, it just may be a lifesaver. It's walls are formed by pouring concrete down the middle of the "polysteel" formwork. Here's a pic of their new home with just the walls up and waiting for the concrete to be poured in the center.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/ranhouse.jpg
To learn more about this revolutionary type of house, visit the Polysteel Website, with lots more pics and info, at
http://www.polysteel.com

On South Commerce in Ardmore is the Oklahoma Veteran's Center. Long ago it was called the Old Confederate's Home. Here is an old 1918 photo of the Old Confederate's Home.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/chome18.jpg

Speaking of Ft Sill, Oklahoma.... here is a 1941 pic of the Quanah Parker Dam there. Not sure if the dam is still there.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/qparkdm.jpg
Quanah Parker, Comanche Indian warrior.... his life story.
http://phillips.personal.nccu.edu.tw/quanah/index.html

Speaking of Oklahoma City, here is a pic of the "A" Taco Beverage which was bottled in Oklahoma City. Does anybody rememeber just exactly what this drink was?
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/tacobot.jpg

This week a Harrah, Oklahoma landmark burned. Teens tourched the Harrah Rock Island Depot Museum. So much history lost.

Just 50 miles east of Ardmore is Durant, Oklahoma. I read about a book titled "Queen of Three Valleys" a 1941 publication by Henry MacCreary. Does anyone know why this area is called "three valleys"? I did find the book at http://www.bookfinder.com

This is the official 1973 Oklahoma medallion
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/okmad73a.jpg
And this is a view of the other side.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/okmad73b.jpg

This is the Bungaloo Bath House in Claremore, Oklahoma (1921)
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/bungclar.jpg

Here is a fairly modern day pic of the Tulsa County Courthouse.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/tulsacoh.jpg

Now this is really a neat pic...... of a druggist bottle. It reads "H.B. Campbell Druggist, Purcell, Indian Territory."
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/purdrug.jpg

In the wake of last week's Melissa virus outbreak, Trend Micro has released a free utility for Microsoft Outlook users. Trend's ScanMail scans the messages and attachments in any Outlook folder. If any viruses are found, ScanMail can clean or delete the messages, or warn you that a virus was found.
http://www.antivirus.com/products/smo/index.htm

Here is an old 1910 pic of Ft Sill, Oklahoma soldiers on horseback meeting face to face the local Indians.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/fsillin.jpg

This is an old photo showing the bridge across the Arkansas River at Tulsa, Oklahoma
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/tulsabr.jpg

How about a 1939 Commemorative Stamp of Will Rogers?
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/willr39.jpg

Here's a very old photo of them bringing the cotton to Coalgate, Oklahoma on buckboards in 1913.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/coalg13.jpg

SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG

"Just finished 'This & That', and was interested in the Caddo Shootout info you posted. You refer to the escapees as brothers, but actually Claude Dennis and Mike Lancaster weren't...."
http://www.texoma-ok.com/trooper/caddo.htm
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"I found some information on Wirt in an old True West magazine. Thought I would put it on the internet for all to enjoy."
http://freeweb.pdq.net/BSRINER/wirt.htm
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"Mr. Bridges, I dont know if you will remember me or not but I was an Ardmore police officer for several years. I am trying to locate a long lost cousin and friend named Carla Ricketts. I know she attended OU in 1970-71 and her home was in Ardmore...."
jackricketts@hotmail.com
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"First we saw free PC's being given away for looking at advertising. Now free long distance phone calls for listening to advertising. For a limited time enrollment is free! What's the catch? You have to fill out a long form, have an email address and dial an 800 number to listen to add's that earn your free time. Also you could win $25,000 on signup. More details at the BroadPoint/Freeway site."
http://www.broadpoint.com/
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"Butch: Heard an interesting story this week about what they called "Orphan Trains", they were trains that used to stop in Ardmore loaded with orphans from 3rd world countries during WWI. Fascinating. I wonder if any of your subscribers remember them."
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"I have changed all of the small images from jpeg to gif on my web site of photos of Chickasaw National Recreation Area http://www.homestead.com/chickasaw. The pages load much quicker. I have entered my site in a contest at http://www.homestead.com. To compete, I need as many unique hits on my page as possible. Please publish my request in "This and That" for your readers to stop by my page for a quick visit. This will help my chances in the contest. Also, I enjoy sharing my photos of the park."
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"My name is Lezlee I am looking for living relatives. My fathers name was Derald Gene or Jene Courtney. Born March 25,1931 in Kay County. His fathers name is Charlie Calvin Courtney. His mothers name is Cora EthelGraves. I believe he was born in Braman Ok. He is now deceased. He died in 1990. I know he was married before my mother and has other children. I feel if I can find out if he has brothers or sisters or aunts-uncles ect. They may be able to tell me something. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou, Lezlee Raudsep.
zim@bitterroot.net
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"Well Butch I had kinda let the old memory take a time out. I met these killers on the road from HWY 70 to Lebanon. We nearly had a head on collision with them. I didn't know who they were until I saw a picture of them after the shootout."
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This issue was a litte long, but I had so many pics and all to show everyone. I just got some more developed, and will show some of them next Saturday.

I have something interesting to tell everyone. As you know I am looking for pics of bells. Last Saturday our local little HAM radio group went over to Madill, Oklahoma to eat breakfast. When we got ready to leave, I asked the waitress at Hobo Joe's, her name was Lela, if she knew where any bells were in Madill. She said she had one in her yard. I said I'm looking for a big "school house type" bell. She said her's is a great big bell, and she would get me a pic of it. You just never know where you are going to find this stuff. hahahaha

"A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil." - President James A. Garfield 1831-1881

Take care and I'll see you all next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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From: Butch Bridges

Saturday, April 3, 1999 Vol 3 Issue 102

Wednesday evening I tried a free Fax Service located in Massachusetts. Of all the things I've done on the internet the past 10 years, this free fax service is one of the best things I've seen come along.

All I did was go to the URL below and answer about four questions... Name, State, Zip, and my email address, click SUBMIT and in a few seconds I was issued a fax number. 1-781-207-7862

I was immediately sent two emails by Efax, one a "welcome to Efax" type email. The other was an email with a file attachment. This attachment was the Efax program needed to view the Faxes I receive through Efax. The program was very small. All I did was SAVE it to C:\TEMP and then run Explorer and find the program. Then I double clicked on the file, and it installed within a few seconds. My computer was now ready to view any faxes sent to me via Efax.

I then called a friend at home I knew who had a regular fax machine, and had him send me a one page fax to the 781 number (Massachusetts). Efax took his fax to me, converted it to an email and sent it to me in a couple minutes to my bridges@brightok.net email address.

I went and checked my email and there was an email from Efax. At the bottom of that email was a file attachment (190k in size). I double clicked on that file attachment and immediately this neat looking envelope popped up on my screen, showing me the sender's fax number etc. In a couple seconds that enveloped disappeared, and there was the one page fax my friend had sent me using his regular fax machine at his home just a few minutes earlier. It worked great and flawlessly. And I printed this perfect fax. And it's all free! http://www.efax.com

All evening Friday fortunecity.com was "busy or down". So you may or may not get the links to the photos to work.

This week a friend in Ardmore sent me email, telling about a this great big bell for sale at Bob's Village here. I went three days later, and it was sold. I could have cried. This was a big sucker. BooHoo BooHoo. Anyway, so much for the sad story. Maybe next time.

This is a pic of the bell of the USS Antietam. It's a one of a kind bell, that's for sure. Worth looking at.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/antietam.jpg
For those of you wondering, the USS Antietam is an aircraft carrier.
http://www.multied.com/NAVY/cv36antitiem.html
Antietam is a creek that runs in Maryland, nearby is Sharpsburg, MD where 23,000 died in one day on September 17, 1862 during the Civil War.
http://www.ibiscom.com/antiet.htm

Someone my attention to a site with a lot of help for Windows. When I visited a couple days ago, they were telling about the new Internet Explorer 5 having a security problem. There a lot of info and help here, just for the asking.
http://www.windows-help.net/

Months ago, I mentioned about a shoot-out, we Oklahomans call it the Caddo shoot-out and how I wish someone would dedicate a webpage to tell that unbelievable story. Three brave Oklahoma troopers died at the hands of two maniac brothers that day May 26, 1978 in far eastern Oklahoma. Now you can read the whole story, see those photos, feel the pain and death that took place on that rural county road. Find this work on Trooper Schulze's website.
http://www.texoma-ok.com/trooper/caddo.htm

A couple of weeks ago I promised to tell everyone about the largest bell in the world. It's already been cast at the foundry in Nantes, France. A lady here in Ardmore gave me the March 12th Wall Street Journal, and there on the front page was a large article about it. The bell is to leave France this month, makings it way up the Mississippi River and finally up the Ohio River, and ending up in Newport, KY in July. It is there in Newport, Kentucky they plan to ring in the new Millennium on December 31st with this bell. I sure would like to be there when they ring that 73,000 pound bell for the first time! It's the world's largest swinging bell.

Speaking of bells, feast your eyes on this big beauty! It's sitting right in front of City Hall in Sulphur, Oklahoma. You know, right across the street from where the stinky water gushes up out of the ground! Yuk. But this bell makes up for it. In the 60s there was also a skating rink just west of the Vendome Well. I remember going to skate there a few times.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sulpbell.jpg
I didn't know this bell was there until this week. Where are all my readers in that area? Why didn't some one tell me? Is there anyone out there listening to me? There has got to be lots of bells out there. Help!!!!

Here is a pic of a bell taken by a friend on top of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Hollis, Oklahoma (far SW Oklahoma).
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/hollbell.jpg

Talking about friends, and as I said in back issues of my T&T, "Friends make life worth living", I had a pleasant surprise this week! A long time Net friend, Carol Cannon and her husband stopped by to see me. They live in the Dallas area but were up this way. We talk about so many things, so fast, because they couldn't stay long. But at the end of the meeting, she gave me a bottle of Watkins Vanilla Syrup. Boy did that bring back some memories. As a teen I remember my Grandmother saying the best vanilla extract was by Watkins Products. Anyway, Carol is a Watkins distributor and she's going to have some drawings on some free products! She'll also send you a free Watkins catalog if you email her your snailmail address. In any case, send her email and ask to be placed in her free drawings! Here's a pic of that most unique Vanilla Syrup.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/watvan.jpg
Here's Carol's email... mailto:smileyy1@hotmail.com
Carol would love to hear from all of you!

How about this relic of the past? It reminded me that it's been a long time since I sharpened my pocket knife. Let me think, I have a whetstone in my garage.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/sharpen.jpg

I saw on the TV this week, that after decades, it seems like we have been fed misinformation about just what's a Blue Moon. They now say it is when four full moons occur in one season, the third one is a Blue Moon. Now what do we believe. Maybe it's not blue at all...... but green. hahahaha

If you're looking for a fun way to learn the correct order of the books of the Bible try the freeware game, Bible Sequence. When the game begins the books of the Bible are displayed on tiles in the correct order so you can study them. When you click the "Begin" button, the tiles are randomly shuffled, and you must click on each tile in the order that they appear in the Bible. The game features hints, timer, score-keeping mode, high scores list, and more. It's Freeware for Windows 95/98
http://www.ptialaska.net/~bldgoofy/freeware.html

SOME LETTERS FROM THE MAILBAG

"I found a bell for ya!! I was digging around in Bob's Surplus (formerly Village Surplus now located behind the old Hudson Houston building), and found an old bell that Bob says he thinks came from Mexico. It's pretty big, but sure has lots of character. I don't remember how much he said it was...I think about $125 or $150. Not in my budget, but it sure was interesting. You might want to see it just for fun."
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"I have been forwarding "This & That" to my cousins in Oklahoma & Texas respectively. I would appreciate it if you would put them on your email list. Both are natives of Tishomingo and we had relatives in Ardmore. I was born in Ada but moved from Oklahoma back in 1947. Still an Okie though!"
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"You might want to check out the web page for genealogy for Carter Co., OK. It might be a link to consider on your page. Thanks."
http://www.rootsweb.com/~okcarter/carter.htm
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"So you like Bells huh? Where i grew up the church across the street was built in the early part of the century, and it had a huge steeple with a great bell. My family was responsible for ringing it for about 30 years or so. All of the boys in my family took it over for a few years as we grew up. just thought i would tell ya that. hope your doing well."
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".....As I had family in Marietta, OK, I spent quite a bit of time over there while growing up. I have attended movies at the King Bee theatre, and naturally, went next door to the malt shop for c-burger and chocolate malt, or coke freeze. Mr. Lamont King and wife owned them both. He ordered me out of the theatre one night when he caught me lighting and rolling cherry bombs down the aisle...... This was back in the late '50's."
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"Reagan, OK....I have many fond memories of that place. Just north of the fish hatchery, there was a swimming pool that was fed by the Pennington creek. Just north of the pool was a skating rink with shutters that were raised in the summer to help keep the place cool. The Pennington creek flowed down through Tishomingo on the west side of downtown, flowing over a dam in the northwest part of town that was a popular place for swimming, diving, and picnicking."
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"Steel iron, even stainless is mainly Fe Iron elemental. The difference between wrought iron and mild steel is that wrought iron is a fibrous bundle of iron crystals that contain small amounts of slag. It is the slag that stops the growth of rust, making real wrought iron and stainless the only two iron alloys that don't rust away. Stainless would be a better choice for the support strips because there will be condensation forming inside the copper and it will wick into the space between the support strips and the copper. Unless the steel is coated perfectly, and the finish is unscratched, there will be rust. And if you are already going to do as much as it sounds like, the cost of using stainless for the parts in contact shouldn't be that much. On the other hand, if the framing is massive, it shouldn't rust away. Proper coating with rust preventative paints may be all you need. That and a bit of care when the piece is put together."
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"Iron and copper are pretty close on the charts near the same valence. Copper is even used plain to "braze" steel sometimes. It shouldn't be a big problem. That said, Stainless would be better, where the two meet. The statue of liberty had a wrought iron (relatively non rusting) frame that the copper was riveted to. The big renovation a few years ago removed all the iron support framing and replaced it with stainless. This would be the thin bars that are bent to the contour of the copper, where necessary."
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Last week after a strong wind blew off one of the hands of the Seth Thomas Clock in the dome of the courthouse, The clock had to be repaired and painted. Here is the photo and article that appeared in the Tuesday, March 30th Daily Ardmoreite.
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/italy/56/photos/clockwrk.jpg

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." Helen Keller
http://www.hki.org/

I hope everyone is enjoying the Easter Holidays and takes the time to remember why this holiday is celebrated in Christiandom. I'll see everyone next Saturday!

Butch Bridges
Ardmore, Oklahoma
ICQ Number 7140238
http://www.brightok.net/~bridges

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