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The Mountainair independent. (Mountainair, N.M.) 1916-1941, September 28, 1916, Image 1

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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.

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