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ABNAUR iNDEPENDENT VOL. I MOUNTAINAIR, NEW MEXICO, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1916 NO. 1 Mount ra MOUNTAINAIR SCHOOLS SET HIGH STANDARD Teachers and Board Working in Harmony toward Full High School Course NEW BUILDING BEST IN THE COUNTY Modern and Up to-date in its Arrangement, Sanitation and Lighting Our schools have started on the third week of what promises to be one of the most pleasant and most profitable years in their history. Thus far teach ers, pupils and patrons have done noth ing but "Boost" The teachers feel that no school in the state has a more earnest nor more courteous lot of pu pils. The pupils feel that their teach ers are not only able but arc anxious to give their best to the schools. The patrons, hearing so many favorable re ports are loud in their praise and are determined that Mountainair shall have a school of such standard that their children will have the advantage of schools equal to any in the state. With our new building and equipment we are able to put our schools on a standard basis. This year we are only offering a two year High School Course, but hope to be able to add the third and fourth years as they are needed. During the first two weeks twelve had enrolled in the freshman class and four in the Sophomore. Our High School will have "20 per cent of our total enrollment this year and there are few High Schools in the state that can boast of such a large percentage of the total enrollment. The course of study offered ii as follows: FIRST YEAR Algebra, Complete First year Latin English Agriculture Physical Geography Domestic Science Manual Training SECOND YEAR Plane Geometry Caesar English General History Domestic Science Manual Training The scheols were closed on Monday and Tuesday of this week to allow the carpenters to put on the new steel ceil ings. This work has been done and it has made a wonderful improvement in the appearance of the class rooms. Contiactur Lloyd Moore expects to Complete the basement at once and when he has finished we will be ready ta order equipment for our Domestic Science and Manual Training depart ments. The Gymnasium will furnish a plendid recreation room for the chil dren during the stormy days of the winter. There seems to be no limit to the influence of good, standard well adver tised schools in any community. Peo ple who have children to educate will be drawn to the towns that have repu tations for good schools. The influx of people will be followed by industries. Mountainair already has her newspa per, a bank will follow and when we realize that we are the center of most progressive and successful farming communities in the state our future is assured. If you are interested in the future of Mountainair, if you are interested in the welfare of your children, if you want to be proud of the community of which you are a part, boost the public schools. In order to boost with a clear conscience visit the schools and familia rize yourself with what is being done. There are also "movies" on the farm a lively moving about from one place to another, and getting something ac complished with every move. SCHOOL CHILDREN ATTEND STATE FAIR As Reward for Meritorious Work are Given Week's Outing, all Expenses Paid Among the visitdrs to the State Fair at Albuquerque this week none will be more interested in the "big doings" than the score or more of Torrance County school children, who, on ac count of meritorious work in one of more lines of school work in connection with the Extension Work of the Depart ment of Agriculture of the UnitedStates are given a treat of a week's stay at the Fair with all expenses paid.. The boys are in charge of County Superintendent Chas. L. Burt, while the girls are under the tutelage of Misi Annie Porter of Estancia. These boys and girls are, almost without exception children from the farms, and very few of them would have enjoyed the outing except for the arrangement under which they are now there, as this is a buBy time on the farm. In a number of instances these boys and girls have done what their elders have failed to do in the matter of secu ring results. , Word from Mr Burt is to the effect that the Torrance County Delegation, the first to reach the camping grounds, had first choice of tents. The camp is known as Camp Southard, a courtesy to the president of the State Fair Commission. About 275 boys and girls are in camp, representing twenty counties. The counties having a live wire for a County Agent, as has Tor rance, are making the best showing. The Girls Club work is showing ex ceptionally good and lots of it. The Boys work does not show go much ia quantity, but is fine in quality. Tor rance county has six bean exhibits other counties one; Torrance two pota to exhibits other counties one; Tor rance also shows corn and pigs, the whole exhibit showing up well. The whole bunch of Boys and Girls live at the Camp and are not allowed outside the gates and downtown, unless accompanied by chaperone. The young sters are having the "time of their lives." From Supt. C. L. Burt we have se cured the names of those in attendance at the Fair, full list being as follows. Upon Mr. Burt's return we will try to secure an article as to what each of the individuals accomplished in his or her special line of work. Mountainair Thelma Farley, cook ing; Walter Hoyland, Oral Hollon, beans. Cedarvale- Cecil Markham, pig. Estancia Nellie Williams, sewing. Willie Clark; Harold Johnson. Lucy Ruby Mattingly, sewing. Mcintosh Luther Vanderford, beans Ollie Gates, poultry; Clara Torrence, cooking. Moriarty Chester Shockey, potatoes Negra Clara Seay, A class; Mary Belle Hamrick; sewing. Pine Grove Bera Butler, Conchita Vijil, beans; Nola Butler. Progreso Albert Mulkey; Ray De Vaney. Silverton Mildred Milbourne, sew ing; Walter Merrifield. Willard Lawrence Bledsoe, pig; Beatrice Trujillo. Average 1135 Pounds Beans from 65 Acres Gas Dunn, whose farm lies east of Manzano, threshed part of his 80-aoe crop of beans last week, yielding him 73.800 pounds. From one measured acre he threshed 1,600 pounds, this be ing one of the best yields of which we have heard thus far. From the eixty-five acres threshed, Mr. Dunn has 738 sacks, averaging about a hundred pounds each. This is an average yield of 1,135 pounds per acre from the sixty-five acres, which in certainly some beans. He still has fifteen acres to thresh. ni mm the CEDARS, AT Hf TOOT Of THE MANZANOS Lies the town of Mountainair, Surrounded by a Fertile Farming Country, Capable of Supporting Thousands of Inhabitants Located on the Eastern Railway of New Mexico, the Belen Cut-off of the Santa Fe System, the town of Moun tainair nestles in the cedars at the foot of the Manzano Mountains just east of Abo Pass, 6,547 feet above sea level. Surrounding the town is a rich deep soil of red loam, adapted to the grow ing of all crops suitable to thislattitude, fruits including apples, grapes, peach es, berries and all small fruits being unexcelled in flavor and yield. The pinto bean, commonly known as the Mexican bean, has come to be the sta ple crop, the yield being from five hun dred to fifteen hundred pounds per acre. The market demand for this staple is increasing each year and the price is advancing accordingly. Good yields of corn, wheat, oats, rye, and similar crops are grown each year, the farmers being able to produce all their feed for work teams, milk cows, swine and chickens. The rainfall which has averaged twenty inches during the past ten years, is sufficient to assure crops each year with scientific cultiva tion, and no crop failures have been known in the territory adjacent to Mountainair and the foot-hill country. The native gramma grass not only furnishes the best of pasturage for stock of all kinds, but produces large quantities of feed when cut and cured as hay, being one of the most nutri tious grasses known. The mild seasons make stock growing of all kinds profitable, but little shelter and winter feed being required. Milk cows grazed on the native grasses pro duce large quantities of butter fat, which finds ready market at good pri ces at the Albuquerque Creamery, only seventy miles distant. Swine thrive the greater part of the year on the Russian thistle or "tumbleweed" and in the autumn they fatten on acorns and piñón, nuts in the foothills, , requir ing very little gmin for finishing the pork for slaughter. Poultry of all kinds pays splendid returns on the in vestment and has been the salvation of a number of the "early settlers" who were compelled to change their farm ing methods when coming from dis tricts of greater rainfall. Albuquer que each year imports from Kansas points poultry and poultry products to a valuation of over $750,000, a large portion of which could and should be produced right here at home, the San ta Fe furnishing direct shipping facili ties to the New Mexico metropolis. Cheap fuel is at hand in abundant quantities. The Manzano National Forest is right at Mountainair's doer, where the best of dry fuel can be had by the homeseeker and home maker for the hauling. Building material is to be had as reasonable as in J.iny dis trict and more bo than in many lets favored portions of the country. Saw mills along the foothills to the north of Mountainair produce botn rough and surfaced lumber of all kinds at very reasonable rates. At Mountainair the Santa Fe has constructed one of Its unique stucco stations, commodious in its apportion ment and comfortable for the travel ing public. Large yards are maintained here, with stock pens for the accomo dation of the stock growers and shippers. Mountainair has always stood for the better things in life, never having tol erated the saloon, each deed for a town lot bearing the revertible clause in case liquor is dispensed on the premises. On the other hand, schools and churches have received the hearty support of the people. Both the Methodist Episcopal and the Baptist people have church buildings and hold regular services. At the upper end of Broadway avenue, the principal street, overlooking the town, a modern Bchool building,- one story and basement, containing assem bly room, four recitation rooms, wrap rooms, superintendent' office, manual training and domestic science labora tories, has just been completed, and Is now in use. The building is of native stone and brick, pebble-dashed, and showB an investment of about $15,000, every cent of which was used to best advantage in tha work of construction and furnishing. A corps of four teach ers has charge of the work, which in cludes two years of high school work. That the business of the town and vicinity is well provided for is attested by our advertising columns, showing most lines of business necessary. The merchants carry large and well selec ted stocks of merchandise, and are ac comodating and appreciative of their patronage. Practically all of the government land has been homesteaded, so there is no more free land to be had. Patented claims are to be had at prices ranging from about five dollars per acre up ward. Naturally some claimB are fair ly well improved , while others have practically none whatever. Some choice quarter sections without ten miles of Mountainair, with comparatively shal low water, can be secured for about a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars. It is not expected that this cheap land will remain on the market long at these prices. When land will produce a crop of beans which bring from sixty to eighty dollars per acre, it will not go begging at ten to fifteen dollars per acre. The altitude together with the Io cation in the foothills makes of Moun tainair a natural health resort. The mild winters and temperate summers, the warm sunshine and cool nights are life-giving elements, beyond price, The ozone-laden atmosphere re-builds and strengthens the lungs, gives new appetite, and re-creates the whole phy sical system. Two great Highways intersect at Mountainair; the Abo Highway, which connects with the western extension of theCamino Real at Los Lunas on the west, extending eastward through Abo Pass to Mountainair and on to Welling ton, Kansas, where it connects with the Oil Belt Rod 'to' St. Louis. -At Wellington, the Abo Highway also in tersects the Meridian Road, the great north and south system of the middle west. The Quivira Highway connects at Carrizozo with the routhern rpute, branching to Roswell and El Paso, ex tending northward, passing near the historic ruins of Pueblo Pardo, Gran Quivira. near Moctezuma and Abo, to Mountainair, thence northward to the ruins of La Cuarai, the ancient apple orchards at Mcnzano, on through the tncient towns of Torreón and Tajique to Estancia, thonce north to Santa Fe TORRANCE COUNTY AGAIN WINS FIRST PRIZE Journal Speaks Well of Exhib it in Charge of County Agent Harwell Torrance county has again proven its superiority in the non-irrigated class, by walking off witn first and highest honors at the State Fair. During the past twelve yeras, whenever Torrance county has made an exhibit at the State Fair, it has come away with high honors and often with first prizes that the case has long ago been proven chronic. This year, as it so often oc curs that the big money prizes goes to the irrigated sections. But having won the highest honors in its class, which carries with it a cash prize of $150, Torrance can turn up its none even at the irrigated counties. County Agent Harwell is to be congratulated on his work in the midst of what appeared in surmountable difficulties. Although other counties in the state have been assisted in making displays at the State Fair at Albuquerque by funds appropriated by the county com missioners, which Torrance county did not have, and notwithstanding the fur ther fact that the Fair is held several weeks earlier than usual, and too early in fact for Torrance county to make its best showing, yet the display made by the county under County Agent Roland Harwell is a most creditable one, as witnessed by the following from the Albuquerque Journal: Although Torrance county did not appropriate the funds necessary to have an exhibit at the State Fair, nevertheless Torrance county has an exhibit and a very enterprising one. Roland Harwell, Torrance county agent, is on the job at the fair grounds accompanied by a committee composed of J. A. Brittain, representing the Es tancia Valley Fair association; Dr. Ot tison, and John L. Lobb, of the Tor rance County Fair association. These two fair organizations subscribed the money for a state fair exhibit, when the county failed to contribute. And it is a certaihty that Torrance county will profit by the venture. Torrance county has what may be termed a strictly dry farming exhibit, with po tatoes, squashes, beans and other sta ples on display. In grains, there are splendid showings in millet, barley, wheat, oats, rye, corn, sudan, hog mil lett, sweet clover and alfalfa. As an example of the things that are being done in Torrance county, there is a brief story told in placard form in the Torrance booth. The story is thiB; W. G. Dunn produced 52,000 pounds of beans on forty acres, 1,300 pounds to the acre, which he sold at five cents a pound, a total of $65.00. The cost of producing, less interest, labor and de preciation was $8.05, leaving a net pro fit of $56.95 an acre, or 560 per cent on the investment, the land being $10 land. BIO BEAN CROP County Agent Harwell enthused over this year's Torrance county bean crop. The crop totals 7, 500, 000 pounds, grown on 15,000 acres. The farmers will re ceive $375,000 in real money for their beans. The bean king of Torrance county is John Cooper, with 260 acres, averaging 1,000 pounds to the acre. He. and his son did practically all the work requir ed on the crop. Fair visitors will do well to take a look at the Torrance exhibit and those interested in dry farming will find County Agent Harwell ready to tell all about the methods of raising crops without Irrigatiou in New Mexico. Autos Turn Broncho and Kick Fiorian Chavez, the twelve-year old son of Jacobo Chavez, dislocated hit arm at the elbow Tuesday while crank ing his father' Ford. Mike Shaw is likewise carrying his arm in a sling, having suffered a frac tured bone when cranking an auto on Monday. Both boys are in school again although only on partial duty. BOTH LIMBS SEV ERED FROM BODY Virgil Campbell Narrowly Es capes Instant Death in Falling from Train DEATH COMES AS RELIEF MONDAY AFTERNOON Interment was Made in Fairview Cemetery at Albuquer--K que Yesterday Virgil Campbell, one of our busy young men, met a horrible accident last Friday night when he was run over by a SantaJFe freight train his right leg being amputated at the hip and the left legbove the ankle. He had gone to Abo toook after some, , collec tions for the fiwn for which he, .travels, and having finished his business, and not caring to wait for the passenger train which arrives about two o'clock in the morning, he boarded a freight, climbing on top of a box car. So com fortable was he that he soon fell asleep, rolling to the track, with almost fatal results. He was brought to Mountainair by friends who learned of the accident, and given emergency treatment. Ear ly Saturday morning Clem Shaffer and Tex Cravens took him by auto to Albu querque where he was placed In a hos pital. Mr. Dyer hastened to Cedarvale to bring Rev. J. W. Campbell, father of the unfortunate young man, who with the heart-broken mother, were hurried to Albuquerque also. A message from Rev. J . W. Camp bell brought the information that Vir gil had passed away at 1:15 Monday af ternoon, at St. Joseph's Hospital. The funeral was held yesterday at 10 o'clock, interment being in the Fair view. Cemetery at Albuquerque. The young fellow showed wonderful nerve and vitality. Following the ac cident he crawled across the track al most to the public road, and hailed a passing auto, which brought him to Mountainair. He stood the trip to Al buquerque well, and after arriving at the hospital, was made as comfortable as possible. In a short time he asked the nurse for something to read. Sun day morning he told Mr. Dyer, that he was to undergo an operation and that he would come out all right. Many friends sympathize with the stricken parents in this hour of sudden grief. "Grazing Homestead" Bill not a Law Department of the Interior, General Land Office, Washington, September 18,1916. The newspapers throughout the coun try announced immediately after the adjournment of the recent session of congress that a law had been enacted allowing homestead entries for 640 acres of grazing land. The newspaper articles were based on the fact that, during the last clay of the session, the senate passed H. R. 407, "A Bill to provide for stock-raising homesteads, and for other pur poses," but with various amendments. The House of Representatives there after took no action on the amended bill, and hence the measure was not submitted to the President for approv. al. The amended bill will probably be considered by a conference committee of the two houses upon reconvening of Congress next December. Very respectfvlly, Clay Tallman, Commissioner. Never wait for a thing to turn up. Go and turn it up yourself. It takes less time and it is surer done. Everybody should go away from home once in a while and stay long enough to get homesick.