Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1956: J.W. Crim, a descendant of Blackfoot Indians, had made his annual moisture prediction for the region - another tough year for crops.
Crim was in his 30th year of predicting the weather based on his ancestors' ritual of building a fire at 5 a.m. on March 22. He believed the direction the wind carried smoke from the fire indicated how much moisture could be expected in the coming months.
For this year, Crim, whose family farmed near Lazbuddie, had told his sons “they'd better start the irrigation pumps. It's going to be a tough year,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
The area received about 10 inches of moisture in 1956, less than half the annual average.
1971: William Arnold Jacobs, one of two prisoners who escaped from the Roosevelt County Jail on March 15, had been captured in Atlanta.
Jacobs was jailed and awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to passing worthless checks. He and fellow inmate Carl Davis used a saw blade to escape from the Portales jail. Authorities said the men split up soon after stealing a car and leaving Portales.
Davis was shot to death by a law officer in Slaton, Texas, a few days after the escape. Authorities said they believed Davis was attempting to burglarize a jewelry store.
Details on Jacobs' capture were not immediately released.
1971: Clovis police were searching for a man who failed to pay his hospital bill, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
The man had been treated for a back ailment at Clovis' Memorial Hospital's emergency room. After treatment, the newspaper reported he told hospital personnel he needed to get his checkbook from his pickup … but the man never returned to pay his bill.
Cost of the treatment was $65.
Good time for new rubber pillow …
1956: Dunlap's in Clovis was preparing for its April fools' day specials. Those included:
Foam rubber pillows for $3.99, ladies' petal pushers for $2 and boys' double-knee jeans for $1.39.
But what about vanilla …
1966: Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream store in Clovis was preparing to name Orange Marmalade Ice as its flavor of the month for April. Baskin-Robbins was located in Hilltop Shopping Center.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact:
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