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Texas State News Articles

Dallas Morning News Dec 28 1952
81 VIOLENT DEATHS COUNTED IN STATE
Auto Accidents Claim 47 lives
Texas' hopes for a safe Christmas-New Year's holiday record were fading fast late Saturday as highway accident fires and shootings piled up the violent death toil.
By midnight Saturday, at least eight-one persons had met violent death since Christmas Eve. Of these, forty-seven had died in traffic accidents. Before the holiday period started Col. Homer Garrison, director of the State Department of Public Safety, had predicted that 202 persons would be dead because of violence by New Year's Day. Of that number he estimated that 105 would die in traffic mishaps. On the basis of the first three days of reported deaths, Garrison thought Friday the state had a chance of lowering Its expecled year-end death toll. But a flurry of serious accidents late Friday and Saturday dimmed the prospects that violence would be less this year. Meanwhile, the toll of deaths across the nation neared 600, and the number of traffic fatalities edged tragically close to a record for a four-day Christmas week end. By midnight Saturday, traffic accidents across the nation had claimed 414 lives. Fifty-eight persons had died in fires and seventy-six in miscellaneous accidents.
Heavy highway traffic Saturday night and Sunday, with many travelers homeward bound, could push the traffic toll past the previous record slaughter—555 during the four-day Christmas holiday in 1536. At least fourteen new deaths occurred in Texas from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday.
John (Pat) Philley, 61, retired real estate man and farmer, was burned to death when fire damaged his home early Saturday morninj cat Abilene.
Dave Morris, 60, injured In a Christmas Eve automobile accident in Fort Worth, died Saturday.
George Sanchez, 27, of Palacios died Saturday of gunshot wounds received Christmas Day. A deputy sheriff said he shot Sanchez when the latter refused to drop a pistol.
Mrs. Paul Lucas, 27, of Belton, mother of four small children, was shot to death Saturday at her home and her father was charged with murder without malice. Her husband was charged with aggravated assault in the affray.
Larry Weldon Burton, 4, was burned to death Saturday when a gasoline stove exploded at his home at Carlisle, Trinity County
Roy Sanders, 16, of Oak Hill, near Henderson, was accidentally shot to death Saturday while squirrel hunting:
The body of Fannie McAfee, 23-year-old Henderson woman, was found badly slashed Saturday near Henderson, She had been missing since Christmas Eve. An ex-convict is being held for questioning.
Casher Looper, 50, of West Los Angeles, Calif., was killed when he rammed his car into the back end of a truck near Colorado City Saturday.
Airman First Class William John Webb, 21, of Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio, was shot to death Saturday at the home of his wife's parents. His wife told officers she playfully pointed the rifle at her husband and thought she had an unloaded gun.
Mrs. Betty Jane Hippard, about twenty-six, was shot to death at her Odessa home Saturday. A small automatic pistol was found beside her, and officers said there would be no verdict because she died in the presence of a doctor.
Henderson Berry Willingham, 45, died Saturday from injuries received when Ins car left the road and hit a culvert near Comfort in Central Texas.
K. B. Harris, 62, Lubbock, died Saturday from burns received earlier in an explosion and fire in the small cafe he operated.
J. B. Goodman, about 26, died Saturday from gunshot wounds received Christmas Day in a shooting affray at Lamesa.
A Cabaniss Field sailor was killed instantly Saturday right in a two-car collision near Aransas Pass. Identification was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Texas Dallas Morning News July 18 1952

SMALL BOAT MISSING AS SQUALL HITS GULF
Torrential rains, squalls and high tides along the Texas Gulf Coast Thursday flooded highways and left a small boat missing in the gulf. The squally weather extended on up into the state, indirectly causing three highway deaths.The wreckage of a Port Aransas boat owned by Gaines Hicks and participating in the Tarpon Derby there was washed ashore near theSouth Pier In Port Aransas late Thursday afternoon. The four occupants rode ashore on pieces of wreckage; but J. G. Waggonfehr, one of the four, died from exhaustion and possible heart attack later despite resuscitation efforts of volunteer firemen. Coast Guardsmen and others.

Another small vessel, apparently caught in raging off-shore squalls was missing off Galveston. A faint distress signal from it was received by the Galveston Coast Guard late Wednesday night.

Freakish weather hit In West Texas. Blowing dust at Wink at 5:30 p.m. reduced visibility there to two miles. An hour later a thunderstorm light rain hit Wink. The weather bureau said it was a local condition, unrelated to the Gulf storm.

A thunderstorm dumped heavy rain on San Antonio at 7:30 p.m. with wind there only three miles per hour heavy drops plummeted down.

At the same time Corpus Christi reported 20-miIe-per-hour winds, indicating a thunderstorm In the vicinity. Rain fell at Lufkin, Austin, Galveston and Houston. The latest highway death was that of Steve Earl Hitt, 31. of Blooming Grove. He was Killed when his car skidded on the highway near Galveston Thursday during a rain and hit a culvert.

Downpours forced some 100 families from their homes at Lake Charles, La.

The tides In the Sabme-Neches Canal—at their highest level In nine years—caused two maritime collisions in the heart of Port Arthur.

The tide's swift currents and strong winds were blamed for veering several craft off course. In one mishap a tug towing three barges Struck the fenders of a bridge. In another a tug towing three barges loaded with oil collided with another tug pulling two empty barges, one loaded barge was torn loose and oil covered the water. Total amount of damage was undetermined.

Heavily traveled US. Highway 90 between Orange, Texas, and Louisiana was closed. So was US 87 between Sabine Pass and High Island. At Houston the Lynchburg ferry went out of service when three feet of water covered highway approaches on both sides of the Houston ship cannel

As heavy rains added to the nearly fifteen inches recorded there since Tuesday, ninety-three families were moved out of their homes at Lake Charles Air Force Base. Another seven or eight families were evacuated from homes near Lake Charles High School

The rain reached far inland.

Near Waco, Theodore Hill, 47, of Marble Falls, and an unidentified woman died when their truck skidded on rain-slick pavement and smacked into another truck.

Intermittent light showers still fell at Orange as the city fought to get back to normal after being soaked with ten inches of rain in forty-eight hours.

Firemen at Orange rescued a woman from her trailer after she'd been trapped several hours when the downpour tore an awning loose and pinned it against the trailer door. Shouts from the woman finally attracted a neighbor's attention.

At midafternoon Thursday rain, fog and heavy clouds cloaked a wide area from the Texas coast far inland.

Showers fell at Dallas, Lufkin, Houston, Galveston, Fort Worth, Longview, Big Spring, Beaumont and Tyler.

Temperatures over the state ranged from the 70's along the coast to the mid- 90's in West Texas, the only area with clear skies.

The Weather Bureau said the Gulf Coast disturbance—which brought all the rain—was weakening.

submitted by: Barb Ziegnemeyer