i horseless carriages. A heard tell, that lectricity gress taking place in the -s-Bud
farmed named Jake camewill bite ye like a world. Bud England
to town in his wagon and thunderbolt."
right in the middle of town Then there's my first 7,=,.== ;
emerslu, uapusm at least ing just at dusk. Our beloved two-holer out a car came by the already encounter with a flush
Oldtimers: got made from ,some driving his cows back health folks came by and passed the thing back-had gone with dad and he .= .=- ,=.=_..___
thousands of years assertion of the ' Good across the dusty road to informed Pete that the fired. Whereupon the had quite a wait to get
ss came t° the B°°k" Iwherein l°ve and pasture after milking' The °uth°use had t° g°" They nerv°us h°rses sideled °ff some h°rsesh°eing d°ne FLAI IgO . I ULTU
hke' .o snail on an tolerance is advised)and lights of our car was proclaimed it to be toward the opposite curb or something of that
: ting. Somethingwent home and "cussed'measured quantitively in dangerous to the health of and tried to break away. nature. So I was free to " "
undred years ago his mules in frustration, terms of lightning bug the community. Pete That made Jake mighty play with a couple of the
Ice of new develop-The following will illus- power. Thus dad failed to firmly replied, "If you mad so while trying to set "city boys ' I d met at President Herbert Hoover, while running for
quickened a bit and trate the oldtimers philos- see the big white bull think that little bungalo is the horses under control church. Nature was right reelection ill 1932, Amerlcal "a chicken in
ally increased up to ophy and in rare caseswhich brought up the rear dangerous you try to he yelled at the most on schedule even though I everypot."
eginning of Werldsome progress is revealed of the strung-out herd. remove it and I'll show you
[I. Then because of in their awakening toJust as we were about to what danger is really cantankerous horse, "you was in another world atIt didn't happen in the '30s, but by the 10s chicken
S.O.B. settle down." As the time. So I asked my has become a fi'equent meal for llMilfly people in this
trash program the accept new ideas, hit the bull broadside, dad like. ' All the time he was usual there were a few spit playmates if there was a COUlltry. Americans now consume an average of
in creating One case in point is the yelled, "whoa" and in- rubbing his open palm up and whittlers sitting on the barn close. They said no
and more potent story of Billy McGinty of
of persuasion Ripley. He was the
kst Hitler and Tojo the well-known "Roughrider
grew rapidly. "who fought on San Juan
now con-
that there has been
scientific and tech-
)ment in the
during
recorded history
world.
wild, wierd and
wonderful
have come to our
i if not into our under-
in the past thirty
that many of us on
back side of that
!rbial hill pass off
incomprehensibles
ess than a full shrug.
passive reactions
not the case when I
ung and my father
father were old.
then every new idea
came under
scrutiny and almost
rebellion against
as a disturbing
status quo.
.~n before new
came in increas-
Umbers biblical con-
was always a
category for
Sunday afternoon
I've heard
argued
good two hours and
verses full
Hill in Cuba alongside and
under the command of
Teddy Roosevelt. Typical
of men of that era he loved
horses. When the first
cars started showing up in
the Payne County area
someone asked Billy if he
was going to buy a car. He,
replied, "Heck no. It's
hard enough for me to find
the gates on a good horse
and them dang flOwers'
won't help hunt for 'era."
Ironically years later Me-'
Ginty owned the Ford
Agency there.
Speaking of early day
cars, dad finally broke
down and bought one in
the fall of 1924 from
Rassie Hert in Perkins.
But he had trouble
adjusting his thinking to
the controls of the Model
T. versus the reins and
large wooden hand brake
on the side of the wagon
box. When all was calm he
did quite well but in one
emergency he revealed
the agony he was going
through in emerging men-
tally into the machine age.
We were chuggin' our way
to the Baptist Church in
Carney one Sunday even-
stinctively pulled back
hard on the steering wheel
as though it was leather
reins but he didn't touch
the brakes. Fortunately
the animal was merely
bowled over in the dusty
road unhurt and soon we
cranked up and went on to
hear the old-fashioned
hellfire and damnation
preacher warn of even
more dire consequences if
we didn't walk the straight
and narrow.
I recall how hard it was
for Mr. Fiala of Goodnight
to come around to
accepting new ideas for
agriculture espoused by
those educated idiots from
A&M who went around to
the various country
schools and gave lectures.
Mr. Fiala was of Slovic
descent, very successful at
farming and self-assured.
His accent was still strong
and I loved to hear him put
the city dudes on the hot
spot with tough questions.
Pistol Pete was much
admired around Perkins
but on at least one
occasion his reluctance to
change with "progress"
put him face to face with
authorities in a standoff.
When the sewer line first
came to Perkins, Pete, like
most others, still had his
and down across his big
notorious pistol at his side.
He kept the two-holer a
while longer.
In the late 1920s the
county school authorities
were trying to figure a way
to better educate the rural
children and at the same
time save money. Consoli-
dation seemed to be the
way to go. However, our
Scott School parents were
almostunanimously
against such a drastic
move. They wanted to
keep tight control over
their own district. And
besides, they didn't want
their kids' thinking con-
taminated by the city kids.
(Perkins at that time had a
population of maybe six
hundred.) The parents
went to Stillwater in a
convoy of Model Ts and
such to fight the battle
with the powers that be.
They lost. That was a hard
earned step of progress for
which I am grateful in
retrospect. Otherwise I
ain't shore I'd a learnt
good English.
Progress caused a small
uproar right on Main
Street in Perkins once too.
It was during that
awkward time when horse
drawn vehicles were mel-
ding unwillingly with the
street benches nearby and
witnessed the whole thing.
Naturally they were amus-
ed at Jake's plight. One of
the sidewalk sightseers
was affectionately called
"Fizzle" by his friends.
He bawled out to Jake,
"what do you call the
other horse, Jake?" The
unhinged farmer shot
back, "Fizzle." "By dang,
Jake, you named one for
me and one for you."
One time we were on
vacation. We stopped in at
Huddleston's "Jot Em
Down Store" near Mena,
Ark. This store was made
famous as the setting for
most of the action on the
Lure and Abner radio
program. They had one
lightbulb hanging down
from the center of the high
ceiling. As usual a twine
string hung down from
that to pull for on and off.
Some really and truly
"hillbillies" meandered
into the store and gawked
around. One lad spied the
string on the ceiling light
and slowly raised his hand
to grasp it. His mother
was watching. She grab-
bed his shoulder and
yanked him away from the
string saying in hushed
tones, "Henry you leave
that think alone. I've
but told me where to find
an alternate. When I
walked into this mall tin
covered shanty, thinking
I'd find the typical board
bench with the holes, I
was shocked to see a
porcelain type fixture
backed up to the wall. It
had a pipe running from
that to another such tank
up high and from that
hung a small rope. Well, it
was all new to me and I
was only a land. There was
a real emergency at hand
and getting more critical
by the moment and
nobody to help me make
judgments. Finally I saw a
handwritten sign up on the
tank which read, "flush
when through." There are
times in everyone's life
when he must take
chances. So I did. Now it
was time for the most
exciting new discovery. I
did what the sign said. I
pulled the rope and the
awfullest mini flood took
place and I fled the place
wondering if I had really
pulled a boner. My small
friends assured me that
everything would quieten
down in a bit. So I was
much relieved (in more
ways than one) and a
might smarter about pro-
more than 60 pounds of chicken per year. We eat
more chicken than pork, and the experts believe that
in a few more years we may be eating more chicken
than beef.
Price is a major factor. Chickens are cheaper to
raise than beef cattle or hogs.
Production costs total 70 cents for a pound of beef,
45 cents for a pound of pork and 25 cents for a pound
of chicken. It takes only 2.2 pounds of feed for each
pound of gain by a chicken. (In 1925 it took 5.5 pounds
of feed.) Back in those days, it also required 15 weeks
of feeding before a chicken reached market weight;
now less than half that time is needed.
In 1925 hens produced 112 eggs per year and
consumed 8.0 pounds of feed per dozen eggs. Now it
takes half as much feed per dozen eggs, and hens lay
twice as many eggs per year.
The chicken-raising areas of Oidahoma are mostly
in the eastern counties bordering on Arkansas. (Adair
County is the leader.) We're not among the top
chicken and egg producing states; we consttme more
than we produce.
IN 1982, MORE THAN 51 million broilers and 814
million eggs were produced in Oklahoma, plus 2
million turkeys. The broilers brought in )3.5 million
in income, the eggs $47 million and the turkeys $14.5
million.
Poultry products account for less than 4 percent of
Oklahoma's agricultural cash receipts.
Fast-food restaurants are having an impact on the
poultry industry. McDonald's, which went nationwide
with Chicken McNuggets just four months ago, buys 2
million broilers a week. That's twice the total
production in Oklahoma. McDonald's sells more
chicken than any restaurant chain except one,
trailing only the Colonel.
iI
"Tile jomrnal's
I []:[] STaRE'IT 405"377"5372t
WAREHOUSES I
Six Sizes to Choose From I
10 x 8 10 x 16 10 x 24 |
10x12 10x20 10x32 I
Pa k g Spaces Al~o A~aflable |
Manage~' hves on the premises |
Security gatPs |
3416 lwater, OK 74074
BOB VOGT
WINONA MONUMENT CO
MF:~.=, SINCF ~86~
2t7S E 2ND PHOr'.E
PERKINS OK 740~9 405547-2OO1
Fire Safe Chimney
Sweeps of Stillwater
1424 N. Benjamin
Stillwater, OK 74074
405-377-8533
Dale K. Parrish
l I (',. llli :it,
I" 1",, .II. 'al
J " COSMETICS
I "l , Agnes Fry
SALES --iN! i ,,., ,,,. d,.,,: ,,,,.,.t: Co,, ult,,nt ..,,.. T. O. ..,,,. '
It ' I; ~ I lep,.rki, 4. ()K71{)59 TRYON. OK 74875 TF:IVON. OK 74875
I'~ }~ (; I ~.lT 918-374-24"76 918-3"74-2425
I
Perkins Builders Supply We Sell New Boots Too.
Now Open tO the Public
I
Hours: 8 io 5 Weekdays PAUL S BOOT & SHOE SHOP
8 to Noon Saturday PAUL J. ROGERS
Owner 107 W. Moses |
547-5333 225-6824 Cushing, OK 74023 I
1
Iligh~ay 177 - 33 Jct. 2 miles east
I I II ,-
(l~ Reol Estote- Insurence- FARMERS UNION
HOMIEOWNERS. FARMOWNEERS, AUTOMOBILE
PROPERTY AND LIFE
Wolls Agenc tj
BILL WELLS, Broker
Room 301
First Nat'l. Bank Building
Phone 405/372-5655
Stillwater, Okla. 74074
I
Watch Repair
is a
Dependable Service With Us.
I3EWAYNE LUSTER AND ASSOCIATES
AUCTIONEERS - BROKERS
20 YEARS SUCCESSFUL SELLING
£uster ~ea~ty and Auet/on Co.
5 t 4 DELAWARE ST PHONES: OFF. 4o5.3~6.23eo
PERRY. OKLAHOMA RES 405-336-9458
WE SPECIALIZE IN ALL TYPES OF SALEe
The
Christian Bookstore
reading
all ages.
We Specialize In Watch Repair
JOHN H, L[ONARO :~'411~.'~
. C~ttLhed Watch Tecl~nioan
405/' 372-6542 Office
405/372-7112 Home
Oakley Fence Company
--- Free Estimates --
Wood INiv~'y -:- Chela Unk
PAUL BROWN
2504 East Sixth
Stillwoter, Oklo. 74074
