Sunday, Dec. 13, 1959

HOLIDAY PAGEANT TO BE PRESENTED AT CELANESE

“More About Christmas,” a holiday pageant featuring first grade pupils of Mrs. P.J. Wilkes of the Celanese School highlighted the program at the December meeting of the Celanese Parent Teacher Association held Tuesday at the school.

Greenery and a lighted tree were the setting for the program with the children giving songs, poems and Christmas stories. Six pupils of Mrs. Nelle Wilkinson’s kindergarten in colorful costumes also appeared in the pageant. They were Randy Hall Jr., Tommy Wheeler, Rod Smith, Kathy Davis, Beverly Hart and Donna Lovell. Mrs. Wilkes and Mrs. Carl Wheeler were accompanists for the musical portion of the program.

Mrs. John Womack opened the meeting with a special devotion on the theme of Christmas.

Mrs. George Reynolds presided over a brief business session and the grade count was won by Mrs. Wilkes’ room and Mrs. Fred Chappell’s fifth and sixth grade combination. Attendance prizes were awarded to Walter Brock and Mrs. Willard Stowe.

Monday, Dec. 14, 1959

YULETIDE BURGLAR EVEN ORDERS WHAT HE WANTS TO STEAL

A South Rome burglar has the Christmas spirit alright – but in reverse. And he’s even gotten to the point that he orders what he wants to steal.

J.A. Mize, 11 West Main St., reported to police Saturday that he decorated a tree in front of his house and within an hour three strings of lights were stolen off his tree.

But that was just the latest of Mr. Mize’s troubles. Someone has continuously stolen milk after it was delivered to his front porch.

And to top it all, the thief even left a note the other day instructing the delivery man to leave two extra quarts of chocolate milk. It, too, was stolen.

Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1959

STOMACH OF DEAD HIPPOPOTAMUS HAS STRANGE ARTICLES

NEW MARKET, Va. (UPI) – Officials from the Washington Zoo Tuesday disclosed an inventory of articles from the stomach of Bongo, a five-ton African hippopotamus who died a week ago after 45 years in captivity.

It included:

A man’s pocketbook, a lipstick, a .25 caliber bullet, street car tokens, valve caps, assorted nuts, bolts, screws and wire, several shell casings, about $2.50 in coins and a half-bushel of stones.

Bongo, at 49 the second-oldest hippo in captivity, was acquired by the Washington Zoo at the age of three and remained there until this year when he moved to a commercial zoo here.

He died from a severe foot infection and Washington Zoo officials came here to study his huge carcass. His head will be mounted at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Thursday, Dec. 17, 1959

WILLARD NIXON IS NAMED BOSTON RED SOX SCOUT

Lindale’s Willard Nixon was named a scout for the Boston baseball organization Wednesday, marking the end of a spectacular major league career with the Red Sox.

Johnny Murphy, farm director for the Bosox, called Nixon to inform him of his new duties. He actually went on the payroll as a scout December 1 and is assigned to cover a five-state area – Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

“I think it’s a wonderful break,” Nixon said today when questioned about his new job. “I’ll get to stay home much more, but I’ll still get to travel a lot, too.”

He is due to report to spring training with the Red Sox minor league clubs and will remain for some three or four weeks observing some of Boston’s new recruits. After that, he’ll hit the scouting trail on his own.

“It’s something new for me and it’ll take me a while to get acclimated. But I’m really excited about the new job,” Nixon explained.

The Pride of Lindale joined the Red Sox in 1950 after successful pitching campaigns with Scranton, Pa., Louisville, Ky., and Birmingham. He was signed to a Boston contract, following a college career at Auburn, where he both pitched and played the outfield. From 1950 through 1957, his pitching prowess earned him the title “Yankee Killer.” At one time he defeated the Yanks 12 times over a three-year span, and was particularly successful against them in 1956.

The first sign his playing days were numbered came in June 1958. Bursitis plagued the shoulder of his pitching arm and caused his won-loss record to dip to 1-7. He came home early that year to give his shoulder a rest, but he remained confident his troubles would be cured.

He reported back to the Red Sox this spring. When it became evident his arm and shoulder were still bothering him, Boston elected to send him down to Minneapolis, where he remained through the 1959 campaign.