RELEASE OF HOSTAGES,
OIL EXPLORATION, & FERGUSSONS
ACROSS
THE FENCE
By
Arvord Abernethy
All
of us have a little letdown in our lives at some time. Often there are
celebrations on the centennial anniversary of a person or thing,
sometimes they are held on the 75th anniversary also. As I
drove down town last Thursday morning, flags were flying everywhere, and
the band was running up on the porch of the courthouse. I thought how
nice for
Hamilton
to celebrate my 75th birthday in such a wonderful way. Then I
learned that it was all for a service honoring the release of the
hostages.
A
fine program was conducted here, and all over
America, people stood a little taller as they pledged allegiance to Old Glory,
sang “My Country ‘tis of Thee” and heard prayers of thanksgiving.
May
people the world over realize that a gun-slinging bandit is not a symbol
of strength.
There
seems to be a lot of oil exploration going on in the western part of the
county. Wells have been drilled on the farms of Clarence Goerdel, Rusty
McCollum, H. T. Rea, Clifford Conner and possibly others. Most of these
wells are around 3000 to 3500 feet deep. They have been cased, but have
not been shot or acidized for testing. This week the rig has been
drilling on the Jim Briggs farm which is about six miles out on the
Goldthwaite road and off to the north. With the energy situation like it
is, it would be great if good production could be found here.
Speaking
of the energy crisis, a lot of attention is paid to the high cost of
transportation. Now you take my wife, Mary. About once a week she drives
a vehicle a short distance, and it doesn’t use any gasoline or
electricity, but by the time she drives it up to the grocery check-out
counter, it has cost her about $25.00.
A
lot of study and research has gone into the survey of the migration
habits of animals, fish and birds. The salmon is a notable example of
fish returning to the very stream where they were hatched. The swallows
return to
Capistrano
,
California, every year on March 19th so regularly that songs have been
written about them.
No
songs have been written, and the government has not made any grants to
study the return of people to
Hamilton
or
Hamilton
County
who have once lived here, but if you will look around, you will find
them by the scores.
I
was down town the other day and ran across Claude and Ima Fergusson who
have recently moved back here from
Midland. Many of us remember Claude as he worked for years for
R. B. Miller when
Mr. Miller was the Gulf Oil products distributor here.
They
moved to
Midland
28 years ago where he worked for the West Texas Office Supply Co., and
then the Midland Reporter-Telegram newspaper. Ima worked at Dunlap’s
Department Store.
Like
the salmon that returns to the place of its origin, the Fergussons have
returned to
Hamilton
County
where both were born. They have purchased the home of Mrs. Cleone Koen
at 220 North Brown where they are happily retired and glad to call
Hamilton
“Home”
once again. We all wish them many years of enjoyment in their new home.
Shared by Roy
Ables
ACROSS THE FENCE
