Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1946: Brothers Charles and Lee Tosh referred to themselves as mortal enemies of prairie dogs. But the owners of Empy’s Welding and Machine Shop also fancied themselves “humane” in the way they went about eradicating the little burrowers, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
“Every opportunity that they get they will go out and try to help the farmer or rancher by ‘knocking off’ some of the animals with guns,” the newspaper reported. “All in all, the brothers have killed thousands of prairie dogs.”
Their most recent assault had occurred on July 7 when they used their .22 rifles to kill 55 prairie dogs in a town west of Melrose. It took them 3 to 3 1/2 hours. A photo of the carcasses was published on page 5 of the newspaper.
They had plans to visit a much larger town and said they hoped to destroy a greater number of varmints.
As for the “humane” part of their mission, the Toshes said they think shooting the animals is far better than using poison.
“Recently they were on a 300-acre tract of land that was thickly dotted with dead quail, dead rabbits and dead prairie dogs -- all the result of poisoned grain,” CNJ reported.
Charles Tosh had a telescope sight on his rifle, but Lee believed in the “old fashioned way -- get close enough to your game so you can see them down the barrel.”
1946: Clovis swimming pool Manager Vernon Frame announced the pool would be closed the next day for maintenance and improvements.
The pool, located at Hillcrest Park, was slated to receive a new low-diving board.
A new slide had been ordered, but had not yet arrived.
1957: Eastern New Mexico University theater students geared up for their summer performance of “Show Boat.”
The presentation was a result of an ENMU summer workshop. It starred ENMU Senior Robert Hahn and Joanne Wolf.
1963: Tickets were on sale for “Oklahoma,” to be presented by the Summer Opera Workshop at Eastern New Mexico University.
Three performances were scheduled at University Theatre on campus.
All seats were reserved. Tickets were $1.
“The delightful musical comedy made Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II one of the best-known partnerships of this century,” according to a university news release.
1965: Portales Police Chief Lloyd Moore had ordered a 9-year-old boy locked up in the city jail until he could decide what to do with him.
Moore said the boy had set fire to a pickup truck camper at the home of Wilburn Welch, destroying the camper and a nearby boat house.
The boy told Moore he had drawn a picture that he did not like, so he decided to burn it.
1969: The nation was talking about man walking on the moon.
Most area residents were impressed.
“It’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen,” said Lela Bainum of Clovis. “I couldn’t pull myself away from the television.”
1970: The Sunshine Center Dry Cleaners and Laundry at Hilltop Plaza in Clovis asked customers to let it “put sunshine back into your clothes.”
The Sunshine Center gave S&H Green Stamps.
1971: The Chicano Youth Association in Portales had asked state and federal officials to withhold funding from Portales schools because of alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars.
The group wrote a letter to officials with the U.S. Office of Education and the state Education Department alleging funds set aside to hire minority personnel were being used in the general fund.
The action was one in a series of complaints related to alleged racial discrimination in Portales public schools.
The district was ordered by a federal court in 1974 to “design an educational plan that addressed the needs of minority students.”
1975: Rain soaked the region for more than 24 hours, dropping 1.5 inches across Clovis.
Automobiles were “drowning out” in the underpass on South Prince, the Clovis News-Journal reported.
1975: Clovis law officers from the city and county attended the Curry County Commission meeting to discuss the possibility of building a new law enforcement facility.
The jails for the city and the county were inadequate and needed to be expanded, City Attorney Harry Patton told commissioners.
Members of the local enforcement agencies had been researching facilities and determined a new facility adequate for both city and county prisoners would cost about $1.5 million.
1976: Plans for city and county officials to consider costs related to a new hospital hit a snag just as their meeting started. Clovis’ assistant district attorney warned they could be in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act.
Assistant DA Bill Bonem told Curry County commissioners they would be in violation of the Act if they made any decisions because they had not notified the public about the meeting.
Officials discussed issues, but made no decisions.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
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