The Strawn Sand by Joe Martin

Memories of Strawn by Joe Martin
Introduced By Jeff Clark

The below “The Strawn Sand” manuscript describes what life was once like around Strawn, Texas. It wanders a bit, as good stories will. The words were written by Joe Martin. Martin died several years ago in Sinton, Texas. I can’t exactly remember who handed me this. It won’t be long, now.

This work is longer than what I usually share. There is more information, more nuance contained in these pages than a quick reading will reveal.

It’s been many months of Sundays since my high school American History class (or Texas History, for that matter). I remember many of the topics Mr. Martin shares. I just wasn’t taught that this pivotal American history had subchapters along the road between Fort Worth and Abilene. Mr. Martin successfully ties Pancho Villa, Mother Jones, the World’s Oldest Profession, William Jennings Bryan, the Wobblies, and many other topics your history teachers quizzed you about to the same real estate that now boasts sprawling game ranches and Mary’s Café.

I wish for once you could stand across the desk from me, as I finish typing this. I’m holding a yellowing sheaf of 17 hand-typed pages with “by Joe Martin” at the top. Staring back at me. There are penciled corrections throughout, fixing one thing or another. I hope Mr. Martin held these same pages once, as I am now.

It’s not the Holy Grail. Or maybe it is. A small piece of it, anyway.

I haven’t changed anything in his story, haven’t “corrected” or edited any of the sights or events Mr. Martin lets us see. I wasn’t there. Joe Martin was.

It’s unclear to me when Mr. Martin’s tale was written, though there are clues. I won’t spoil it for you. If you choose to make your way through his pages, please do him the honor of reading them slowly. What appear to be mistakes might be. Or maybe not…

One sentence knocked me down.

Or maybe three.

Including Mr. Martin’s story is a departure for the Texas Tabernacle. I didn’t write these words. One extremely tough night last week, I looked around “underneath” the dirt floor tabernacle’s timbered supports holding the weathered tin roof aloft and remembered I wasn’t alone. Hopefully, this place will be more of a conversation in the future. More like at Alameda Cemetery workings have been for over 120+ years, valued friends and kin catching up. Reconnecting. Carrying the “life” of a place forward. We hope, perhaps pray, that the circle is yet unbroken.

“The Strawn Sand,” by Joe Martin (Part One):

            “Oil was struck near Strawn in 1915. This was a shallow, long life, high quality oil. Sand drilled with standard or cable tools. One power house pumped a number of wells on rod lines.

            Before oil was struck, Strawn was a coal mining and farm and ranch center. It was in an industrial area or triangle of the main Texas coalfields in the coal boom days. Thurber was the largest town of this triangle with the largest payroll….Two miles north of Thurber was Mingus or Thurber Junction. A railroad subdivision with coal chutes and car repair shops. Along the railroad and dirt or cinder road from Thurber to Mingus was a settlement called Grants Town. Four miles east of Mingus was Gordon. Three miles west of Mingus was Lyra or Mineral City. A coal mine town two miles from Lyra west was Strawn. Strawn was seven miles northwest of Thurber. In this area twenty-one coal mines were sunk. The Thurber Company sank sixteen, number one to twelve, number thirteen skipped, then one to four. Strawn sank four at Lyra, one at Strawn.

            Everyone in mining except the bosses belonged to the U.M.W of A. or United Mine Workers of America. District twenty-one, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas. The Strawn mine was named Mt. Marion. Lyra mines numbered one to four. Strawn coal had a large company department store at Strawn. The Lyra store was grocery, meat market, dry goods and hardware store and office. The Strawn store was one block long, half block wide with office, dry goods, furniture, groceries, meat market, hardware, stock feed and funeral home, the famous Strawn merchandise company. Their ads said from the cradle to the grave. They owned a lumber yard under a different name.

            The company had its own money which was accepted in all private stores in the area as cash. It was in brass and metal coins in five, ten, twenty-five, fifty cents and one dollar pieces. The company had a payday once a month. The employee sent a statement of deductions from house rent if he lived in a company house, bills owed company store, union dues, even money due church if he was Catholic and how much due him in U.S. cash. On payday employees with good rating could buy from company stores on credit or he could draw company money before payday if he had wages due. Peddlers of all kinds of goods and farm produce would accept company money for such trading.

            At the company store in Strawn, the cashier sat up in an office overlooking dry goods and furniture on one side and grocery, meat market, hardware on the other side. The clerk would send cash and the bill via wire trolley to cashier. She or he would ring up sale on register, put in change, and return to clerk.

            The company store was the meeting place for the townspeople. There was a porch and sidewalk in front and large plate glass windows. The doors were open in the summer. There were boxes of slab cured bacon near meat market counter.

            The town was full of hound dogs always hungry and looking for food.

            The store manager drank heavy. One day a hound ran in and grabbed a slab of bacon and ran for the front door. The manager grabbed a slab, threw it at the dog, missed him but hit the big window. There were many such incidents in the company store or in Strawn. Us kids would go to the company store if we had a five-cent coin, either U.S. or company and buy a grab bag of nickel candy. If lucky there would be a U.S. nickel in the bag.

            The company store had a brick building at the edge of town where dynamite and blasting powder was stored.

            The company store also sold all types of miners supplies. The vein or seam was small or 30 to 40 inches of coal. The digger had to work a lot on his knees or on his back. He would dig the bottom slate from under coal with sharp 2-edge picks or drill holes and shoot with blasting powder. The bottom was from 12 to 20 inches thick. In Thurber mines with electric cutting machines did this work. The mines were called “long wall” or British type.” In bigger U.S. mines the type is “room and pillar.” Forty feet of seam is cut or shot, then 40 feet left for pillar. Later this is taken. The top rock was shot down with dynamite just high and wide enough for rail tracks and for mule or motor.

            Each digger has numbered brass checks he put on the car of coal. When the car was dumped on top, the weight was credited to that number. At the end of the shift the digger could see on daily sheets, number of cars and weight to his number.

            A check puller, usually a boy 15 to 17 years old, took check from car, put check on board in weight room, called the number to weigh boss and union check weigh man All on top in the tipple. The swift steam hoist pulled cars to the top in steel cages. One cage descended as the other cage ascended. The operator sat on high stools in the engine room with large windows open to see, but he watched large dial indicators that told him where cages were at all times. One of the cagers on the bottom pulled a lever which blew a small steam whistle on top near the operator or engineer, as he was called. One blast meant coal, two meant rock, and three meant a man wanted the cage. The engineer answered three blasts with one blast from the big whistle. After the man entered the cage, the cager blew a little whistle one time. The cage went up.

            Men were allotted a cage only at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., except in an emergency. The big steam whistle blew only at 7 a.m. to start lowering the men, 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at shift’s end. Then 7:30 p.m. three long blasts meant mine worked next day. And 5:30 a.m. three long blasts meant work that day. Any other blasts any time meant disaster and all off duty men to report to mine. The U.S. Bureau of Mines taught first aid and safety to mine rescue teams.

            The companies and union helped in all ways and encouraged safety first and correct first aid work. There were six men to a first aid team with splints, bandages, stretchers, etc. These were almost as good as a doctor on first aid. Meets and contests were held and the winners given medals and prizes. Then winners went on to district and national meets…{Ed: To be continued}.

“The Strawn Sand,” by Joe Martin (Part Two):

            …The European miners lived almost as they did in Europe. They spoke their native tongue, ate food of their native land and kept religion and customs and dress of their native lands.

            After a death, there would be a wake and much drinking. The Poles and Slavs would dig a grave at night. Everyone then dug the graves for all as token of help. The corpse would be brought home and friends would sit by open coffin until burial time.

            A wedding would last for days with drinking, eating and dancing. Among the Poles and Slavs, the bride would dance with all who paid a dollar. And in the yard a plate was set up and for one dollar men would throw at the plate with a silver dollar. If he missed, the dollar was the groom’s. This money was used to set up housekeeping for the couple.

            They were good miners and citizens and the young were fine athletes. The Italians built outdoor bake ovens of brick and stone. A wood fire was put in the oven until the right temperature, then oven cleaned and bread and meats baked.

            The Italians played an outdoor bowling game called “bocce ball” with wooden balls. The Italians were fine musicians. The Italian brass band at Thurber was the state’s finest. Many races and nationalities were in Strawn, but no Negroes were allowed there.

            There was a cotton gin near the mine owned by the coal company and supplied wine steam from the mine’s boilers. Another firm had a flour mill and feed mill in town. Strawn had all needed business stores and shops. One of the main businesses was the four large saloons. There were many dry towns in the area and customers came via rail or horse. The saloons opened at five in the morning and closed at midnight. No women went into saloons. Children went in with fathers and were served bottled soda pop. Coal miners are heaviest of all drinkers, but they do not go on the job drunk or bring booze to the job, for the company fired them at once and the union backed the company.

            There were many fist fights among drunks and funny antics. One warm day a drunk came out of the saloon, untied his horse, turned him and then started to whip the horse. The horse was hitched to a buggy. The drunk wore a hat and had a large mustache. The horse barely missed the mustache, but sent the hat sailing in the air.

            A blind piano tuner would come to town to tune pianos. He drank heavy. Another drunk would lead him to jobs. One rainy day both were wading through the mud street instead of using the cinder sidewalk.

A large Slav woman with grown sons and daughters had a small husband called “Spider.” Almost every Sunday eve “Spider” got drunk and his wife and two youngest daughters brought him home. At the bridge almost home, he would pull loose from the girls and defy his wife. She would turn back and kick him so hard to lift him in the air.

            A confederate veteran lived near us. On Southern holidays he would dress in his gray uniform with rifle and confederate flag and march downtown singing “The Pretty Little Girl I Left Behind Me.” {To be continued.}

“The Strawn Sand,” by Joe Martin (Part Three):

            My mother belonged to a Campbellite Church. One night we were in church in summer with an elderly lady and her daughter. The window and doors were open. The preacher was on the rostrum. The lady’s husband came in drunk. He got a chair and sat on the side of the preacher and kept his straw hat on. He rolled a cigarette, lit it and with his hat in front of his face he puffed away. His wife and daughter scolded him after church.

            A farmer and wife and grown sons lived south of town. They would come to town, the sons on horseback and the old man driving mules to a wagon. In town they went to the saloon to get drunk. One time there was a tent show with stage plays near the saloon. The old man and his sons got drunk, bought front row seats. On stage the villain appeared while the hero was gone. He tried to grab the heroine. One of the farmer’s sons was ever the gentleman. He ran out to the wagon, got a single tree and went on stage and said no lowdown skunk would bother a lady while he was present. The constable went and took him to jail…

            One summer a Baptist preacher and a Campbellite preacher had nightly debates on religion under a tent for two weeks.

            There was a Baptist church, Methodist church, Presbyterian church, Catholic church and Campbellite church in Strawn. The Campbellites split over music in the church. Then the holy rollers came in. There were also a few infidels who read Bob Ingersoll.

            The main political party was the Democrat, but there were a few Republicans. And a large number of Socialists who read The Appeal to Reason from Girard Kans, and The Rip Saw from Dallas. Socialist speakers were brought in. A famous woman Socialist, Kate Richards O’Hara, spoke at Thurber. And “Mother Jones” famed miners organizer spoke at Thurber. When the United States entered the first World War a secret group came to Strawn and Thurber called the Farmers and Laborers Protective Association. Members took an oath to resist the draft with firearms. This is treason, so federal agents arrested the leaders who were tried in federal court in Abilene, Texas, and sent to federal prison.

            The young members joined military service or waited for the draft. Coal was needed in the war effort. There was a large yellow board at each coal mine where names of miners were placed who were accused of being slackers. Young miners so accused had their names sent to the draft board. At New Thurber number two mine was a cashing head gasoline plant. At Fort Worth there were three flying fields where American, Canadian and British flyers trained. The airmen would fly and light near the plant and put gasoline in their tanks. One day a plane lit in a wheatfield of my father’s. A plane was a sight to folks then. The crowd trampled and ruined some grain. My father complained to the postmaster and soon a government official came and paid for damage. One of the British airmen who flew to the plant was Vernon Castle of the famous ballroom dance team of Irene and Vernon Castle.

            At Fort Worth was Camp Bowie, an army camp where the 36^th division of Texas and Oklahoma troops were trained before going to France in World War I. Most drafted men were sent to San Antonio or Camp Travis to join the 90^th division national army or the Army of the United States. At Waco was Camp MacArthur, Michigan-Wisconsin troops. At Houston was Camp Logan with Illinois troops. Negro troops at Camp Logan started race riots in the war. The leaders were taken to Fort Sam Houston at San Antonio and tried by Army court and hung.

            About this time trouble between the United States and Mexico sent both regular army and the national guard troops to the border. After Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, General Pershing’s troops went into the interior of Mexico. Troop trains passed through Strawn very often. The soldiers would be waving and singing and holding up bottles of beer or whiskey. And they would throw out pieces of hard tack, a hard bread or cracker. On them would be soldiers’ names and army address, or a clip of cartridges from an army rifle. The railroad put guards on railbridges west of town. These were for drunks and loafers.

            One older guard did more fishing, hunting and pecan picking and drinking than watching. Their camp was near two railbridges. The locomotive engineer would blow an engine whistle for guards to wave an all clear signal. One night he blew for the signal, but the old man could not find a flashlight so he struck a kitchen match and waved and said as the train entered the first bridge, “We’ll soon know if the other one is still there.”

            The trouble with Mexico passed and troop trains rolled east and north to ships overseas as the nation entered war in Europe. But now they were tanned and fit and more serious.

            The War’s armistice was signed on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of November, 1918. By then the Spanish influenza was a national epidemic.

            By 1915 the Thurber Company struck oil near Strawn. Before this their coal drilling rigs had found gas and oil as they went west. In fact so much gas was found in the new number four of Thurber, worked ceased. This was farthest west of all the area’s coal mines.

            The oil strike changed the area in every way. Oil firms came in with contractors and workers and new families caused a building boom.  Folks came in, such as gamblers, heist guys, women of the world’s oldest profession and their panders. Drilling continued in every direction from Strawn. Strawn was nearest the rail station and oil supplies were unloaded for nearby fields. These were shallow fields from 1500 to 4000 feet deep. The rigs were star or national machines or Fort Worth spudders or standard or cable tool rigs.

            The crew was only a driller and tool dresser who worked 12 hour tours or shifts. But a casing crew of 5 men was used when pipes were set. These crews bought the casing pole and never slipped a set of tongs. They also worked 12 hour tours but got double time on wet jobs where a well flowed. The casers worked for contractors who furnished a car casing pole and never slipped. He paid casers after deducting 20 percent of wages. A casing contractor at Caddo drew pay from oil companies and left town at night without paying his men. Some of these wells only pumped 2 or 3 barrels a day. But it was high grade crude. A central pump station pumped several wells with rod lines. In 1917 the Thurber company struck oil at Ranger causing one of the nation’s biggest booms of all times.

            Rigs touched each other. Their streets were so boggy, people paid a dime to ride a sled pulled by horses across the street. Gambling houses and bootleg joints were all over town. And the largest red light district I ever saw, and I had seen those in Galveston, Kansas City and Chicago. The Scarlet sisters came to Ranger from world over. Murder was often in the news.

            The mud brought mules and horses, even oxen to Ranger. Big horses and mules with fine harnesses and rings and bells were seen. The oxen pulled 8-wheeled wagons and there were cat tractors that pulled two to three 8-wheeled wagons in trains. There was a big lady who rode a big white horse. She was armed with a bull whip and pistol and watched over the horses, mules and oxen. Some said she worked for the Humane Society.

            In 1916, the oil workers at Strawn joined the union and asked for better pay and shorter hours. But they failed to get union contacts. The I.W.W. or “wobblies” were also active among oil workers in the area, mostly among pipe liners. Some pipe line superintendents were wobblies and so were many stabbers.

            In that day the oil firms furnished meals, beds and shower baths to workers so the workers expected good food, clean beds and shower baths. The big oil firms had inspectors who drove unmarked autos and ate the same food as the workers and inspected the beds and showers. Three railroads were laid from Ranger to Breckenridge in Stephens County. One from Cisco to Breckenridge, one from Ranger and one from Eastland, which joined the Ranger railroad at Breck Walker, six miles south of Breckenridge. {Ed: to be continued.}

“The Strawn Sand,” by Joe Martin (Part Four):

            The Eastland Railroad was built and owned by Ringling Brothers of Circus fame. Nearby Cisco was where Conrad Hilton of Hotel fame got his start as hotel owner of a small two-story brick hotel called Mobley Hotel near the railroad station. Cisco also had a large Humble oil camp.

            In 1920 the world champion baseball Cincinnati Reds trained at Cisco. They were World Series winners in 1919 in the Black Sox scandal of thrown games. And in 1920 the Columbus Red Birds of three American Association played the Cincy Reds – in Ranger, where the Red Birds trained. In that game the Cincy third baseman, Sammy Bohne, hit 4 home runs over the right field wall.

            Strawn never lacked from show or other entertainment. There was the Opry House and at one time two open air dome movie shows. There were traveling shows under tents and shows at the Opry House. Every summer Mollie Bailey Circus showed there. Once Campbell Brothers Circus, one of the largest railroads showed, gave two performances in Strawn. And in 1922 the Gentry Brothers Circus showed there. The minstrels did too. The minstrels always gave a street parade in bright red uniforms with a brass band with slide trombones loud and clear.

            They were an impressive sight. The carnivals came too. Some had wrestlers and boxers who gave money to anyone who stayed so many rounds or minutes. The Pole and Slav miners gave good account against these showmen. One Slav miner had met Dr. Roller, the famed wrestler. Another Slav miner became lightweight champ.

            Baseball was the favorite sport of miners. The Thurber miners were the best semi-pro team in the Southwest. They had a left-handed pitcher who, it was said struck out 26 at Trinity University at Waxahachie, but lost the game as the catcher missed the third strike. The Detroit Tigers trained at Waxahachie. They signed Charles “Chink” Watson to a contract. At Shreveport he struck out Babe Ruth twice in a spring game. Strawn had Fred Dealon Johnson, a strong right hander, who shut out Mineral Wells twice one Sunday. He went to Cisco in the West Texas League. Then he went to San Antonio of the Texas League, then to the New York Giants, then back to the minors for 15 years and back to the St. Louis Browns. Paul Richards said Fred Johnson “learned him” all he knew about pitching.

            The only hurler ever to bother Strawn was Pete Donohue of Libby Packing House of Fort Worth. Pete signed with the Cincy Reds.

            The traveling road clubs played Strawn. The most famed was the Boston Bloomer Girls. They traveled in three railcars and stretched a canvas wall around the playing field. All the Bloomers were not girls. They key players were top men. They wore wigs.

            After World War I Strawn High School started football in 1923. They beat the Oil Belt teams and also Fort Worth and Dallas. They also beat Cleburne in bi-district game, but lost to Wichita Falls in the finals. They had 13 men and 11 uniforms in shows.

            The Chataqua Circuit came to Strawn. They had top talent plus famed speakers such as William Jennings Bryan who was Secretary of State in the Wilson Administration.

            These were the days of the great American hobo or knights of the road, on the Weary Willies. They were well treated and fed good in Strawn, for the coal miners traveled via freight to other coal fields. The hobos had monikers or nicknames. These were carved on rail water tanks and the direction they were traveling. The most famous was a No. one, also an author and back to shows.

            Once the George J. Loos carnival came to Strawn with Booger Red’s Rodeo and the Forty Nine Dance Hall girls came to Strawn in a tent. They danced on wooden floors to the tune of a piano played by a negro called the “Perfessor.” They danced with any male with the price of the dance, fifteen cents each dance. One time a fight started in the tent and the tent pole was pulled and the tent came in on all under it.

            One carnival had thrill motorcycle riders. The crown would be on the outside of the wall and riders would ride motorcycles up and around the straight up walls. One daring rider was called Crazy John…{Ed: to be continued}

“The Strawn Sand,” by Joe Martin (Part Five):

            Mount Marion mine at Strawn was 412 feet deep. Number four at Lyra was over 500 feet deep. The vein pitched down as it went west. At Strawn there was a steam engine that pulled the wire line west. An electric locomotive pushed as the engine pulled. The brakeman rode the first car of the trip. He was called roperider in Oklahoma mines. Shot firers went down in the evening, after day shift finished. The loader fixed shots and the shot firer shot them. He set off each one then went to parting to wait till all went off and to wait for the buddy shot firer. They said in Oklahoma shot firers were paid $50 a shift and funeral expenses.

            The mines in the area employed from 200 to 400 men and produced 500 to 1000 tons daily. Most of the coal was used by the Texas and Pacific Railroad. But some went to other railroads.

            One of the thrill shows at these carnivals was the motor dome. This was a circular, vertical wall in which men on motorcycles would get up enough speed to ride around it and defy gravity. One carnival which came to town had a wrestling and boxing show which has a lady wrestler. She was a fair wrestler but no match for the young miners. The best carnival to stop in Strawn was the George J. Loos Shows which played the Fat Stock Show at Fort Worth.

            This carnival had what was rated as the top rodeo show and top rodeo family in all Texas history. This was Booger Red and his sons. They had fine stock and horses and had no peers as riders and real sure enough Texas Cowhands.

            The Opry House showed movies when no traveling stage shows were in town. These were mostly three reel show, one reel comedy, and two reel plays, usually Cowboy or Civil War stories. The Opry House had a balcony called Buzzards Roost. Only males would sit up there as some would chew tobacco and spit on the floor.

            Strawn also had two air domes or open air movie shows. The Opry House then started showing five reel feature films. And the serial or continued movie started. An episode would be shown once a week. Among the first were “The Broken Coin” with Francis Ford and Grace Cunard. And the “Perils of Pauline” with Pearl White and later the “Million Dollar Mystery,” and Helen Holmes in the thrilling rail road serial.

            One Friday night at the end of a serial where the heroine was left in a dangerous situation and the script said “To Be Continued next week,” one patron was disgusted, he said “aw” then uttered an unprintable word out loud. This was before talking pictures, so everything was and all talk was shown in print on the screen. Even after I was grown, there were silent movies.

            When I was in Henrietta, Oklahoma, a coal mining city, there were some former Strawn miners there. One, a young French man invited me to a movie. The story moved into Chinatown and some Chinese writing was on the screen. I asked Frenchie, as we called him, if he could read the writing or characters. He said, “No, but if I had my coronet here, I could play it.”

            The Strawn Opry House had a gramophone with a horn they played in the evenings before show time from the balcony. There was a piano some one would play during the show and some times the local musicians would form a small orchestra and play before the movie. Later and electric player piano was put in.

            The first big super film made was shown at the Opry House. It was “Birth of a Nation.”

            One of the best and cleanest forms of entertainment that came to Strawn or any other small town was the “Chataqua.” This was a tent show with a variety of features of high class talent and even featured noted personages and speakers such as William Jennings Bryan, the “Golden Orator,” who later became Secretary of State. The Chatuqua was an entertainment bureau that brought culture to the small towns like Strawn. The folks got their money’s worth at the Chatauqua.

            One of the big drawing shows at the Opry House was the musical comedies with the girl chorus which were leg shows. In those days a girl or woman’s bare legs were not seen in public. Even in bathing, the women wore long bathing suits. In these shows the chorus girls wore short tights and exposed part of their leg. The men and older boys would always find enough money to view these shows and then hum or whistle the tunes for weeks after.

            Another show which attracted the males were the Forty Nine Dance Halls. These were tents or canvas walls with a wooden dance floor, a piano player, dance girls and a bar. But the bar would only serve soft drinks. After every dance the manager or bouncer would shout, “All right boys, let’s decorate the Mahogany.” He meant for the male dancer to take his girl and buy both of them a small drink at the bar. These drinks were small and cost two or three times as much as they would at regular fountains. One such dance hall tent was torn down in a fight between young miners and the dance hall men. Strawn had a nice dance hall run by a miner. One dance hall had been built on the far north side of town and some of the neighbors did not like it so it burned down one night in a mystery fire. But then a big Polish man built a dance hall on the south side of town and promoted dances there. He was a big man and able to take care of any trouble. One night a little Irish man who had two many drinks caused some trouble. The big Pole went over and got the little Irish man by the seat of his pants and carried him to the front door and threw him out. The little Irish man found a half brick. He yelled, “Come out, come out and I will part your hair with this stone.”

To be continued

{JDC: To my knowledge, it never was…}