Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1936: John Teal, the alleged slayer of a Bailey County school teacher 18 years earlier, had been apprehended in the Pacific Northwest and was awaiting trial in Muleshoe.
Teal was accused of shooting Evelyn Monts after she refused to marry him, the Clovis Evening News-Journal reported.
He was being denied bail.
Monts, 23, had been shot to death outside her home north of Muleshoe. Teal ultimately confessed to killing her and received an eight-year prison sentence.
Teal testified that he had planned to divorce his fourth wife and marry Monts, but his mind “went blank” when she declined the proposal and told him she had a relationship with another man.
1956: A “tag team tussle” was reported to Clovis police and two pair of husband/wife teams were arrested for fighting, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
The couples lived near each other on Route 3.
One man and wife pleaded guilty to brawling and were fined $15 each. The other couple pleaded innocent and was released on $25 bond to await trial.
1981: An 84-year-old Clovis man had caught a 37-pound blue catfish at Lake Texoma, Texas.
Nolon Atwell, who lived at 1001 Thornton St., said he used a 3-inch minnow and a rod and reel equipped with a 17-pound test line for the capture.
Atwell told the Clovis News-Journal he “just let his boat drift while his bait bumped along the bottom” of the lake.
Atwell said he did his “practice fishing” at Greene Acres Lake.
Clock radios for the family …
1956: Western Auto had “everything for the family” at 303 Main St. in Clovis.
Pliers were 29 cents. Whisk brooms were 55 cents. Clock radios were $28.50. Three-speed phonographs were $17.95. Car batteries were $7.95.
The Clovis store was home owned by Walter Hoskins.
Pennies for entertainment …
1956: Admission to Clovis' Lyceum theater was 51 cents for adults, 10 cents for kiddies.
The Mesa theater charged 15 cents for adults and 15 cents for kiddies.
The La Fonda drive-in charged 50 cents for adults; admission for children was not noted in newspaper advertising.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact:
