Tales from the Morgue

Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Hank Thompson to Appear in El Paso Thursday

November 3, 1955

El Paso sports fans will have an opportunity to see the greatest array of Major League baseball talent ever assembled in El Paso when a touring team of All-Stars tangle with a local All-Star team at Dudley Field Thursday. Game time will be 1 p.m. with everything except box seats on a first come-first serve basis as far as tickets are concerned.

The touring Major Leaguers are due to arrive in El Paso about 11:45 a.m. by plane, and they will go directly to Dudley Field for a pre-game workout for fans who want to get an early look at the top talent.

Former N.Y. Giant Outfielder, Monte Irvin is the playing manager for the Major Leaguers, and he will put on the field such players as Junior Gilliam, Gene Baker, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Hank Thompson, Joe Black, Don Newcombe, and Sam Jones.

Larry Doby, recently traded 16 the Chicago White Sox in the biggest player deal of the year, also is touring with the Major League All-Stars. The former Cleveland Indian outfielder was swapped for Shortstop Chico Carasquel and Outfielder Jim Busby of the White Sox.

Furnishing the opposition for the touring All-Stars will be a local team of All-Stars put together and managed by Syd Cohen. The El Paso team will be composed of primarily pro players now in the armed forces in this area. Cohen has been working with Jack Lundquist, Ron Ultes, and John Fuscoe in the outfield. Lundquist belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies, Ultes was the 1954 baseball captain at the University of Illinois, and Fuscoe is formerly from North Carolina State.

For pitchers Cohen will call on Mel Work, the Brooklyn Dodger bonus pitcher; Jerry Alsup, property of the Detroit Tigers; and Charlie Schmandt, who formerly pitched for Visalia in the California League. The old left hander is depending on Bob Ford for a lot of the catching, and the former Georgia State Leaguer is rated a good hitter.

In the infield Cohen will have, among other players, bouncy little Joe Calderone out of the Big State League, Bob Williams of Michigan State, and Bob Dorset, property of the N.Y. Yankees. The touring All-Stars are expected to start Junior Gilliam in left field and have him hitting as their lead-off man. Also, in order will be Gene Baker at second, Willie Mays in center, Hank Aaron in right, Ernie Banks at short, Hank Thompson at third, George Crowe at first and Charlie White catching.

It will be a regulation nine-inning exhibition game which promises plenty of action and some of the world’s finest baseball players on display.

November 4, 1955

Major Loop All-Stars Beat Service Nine

Big hits by the batters and some fine hurling by Connie Johnson of the Chicago White Sox gained the touring major league all-stars at 6-2 victory over the El Paso Service all-stars before some 2,500 fans at Dudley Field Thursday afternoon.

Homerun clouts by Hank Thompson of the Giants, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves and Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs featured the hitting for the visiting stars, who touched four El Paso hurlers for 11 hits. Johnson went the distance and scattered eight hits – three in the seventh inning when the locals got their first run – and struck out 12 batters – in a fine demonstration of control.

Bob Williams, Ft. Bliss first-baseman, provided the big clout for the local team with a solo homer over the left-field fence in the bottom of the ninth inning. Mightiest clout of the game was Banks’ solo belt in the fifth inning. The ball sailed high over the second-deck advertising sign in left filed for one of the longest balls ever hit out of the park.

Thompson’s homer in the first inning was the only run off Starter Mel Work, while Aaron’s two-run homer came with Junior Gilliam on base by an error in the ninth. Aaron also had a triple in the three-run fifth inning.

V-2 Rocket, Off Course, Falls Near Juarez

May 30, 1947

El Paso and Juarez were rocked Thursday night when a runaway German V-2 rocket fired from the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico crashed and exploded on top of a rocky knoll three and a half miles south of the Juarez business district.

The giant missile burst in a desolate area of jagged hill, gullies and bondock.

No one was injured.

Lt. Col. Harold R. Turner, White Sands commanding officer, said failure of the rocket’s German-made gyroscope caused it to swerve from its set northerly course.

He said there was an error in judgment on the part of the safety control department in not shutting off the rocket motors as soon as it was determined the missile had swerved off course.

The violent blast, which shook virtually every building in both El Paso and Juarez, startled citizens of the two cities, who swamped newspaper offices, police headquarters and radio stations with anxious telephone inquiries.

The missile, of the type which terrorized wartime England, landed about a half-mile south of Tepeyac Cemetery.

CRATER 50 FEET

WIDE, 24 FEET DEEP

The terrific impact of the rocket, which contained only telemetering equipment, scooped out a perfectly rounded crater, about 50 feet in diameter and 24 feet deep. Only a few scraps of metal were around the crater when nearby residents reached the scene.

Army authorities form White Sands and Fort Bliss rushed to the spot as soon as they learned of the rocket’s fall and expressed to Mexican officials their regret at the rocket falling on Mexican soil.

Colonel Turner said the missile was fired at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. He said the rocket reached an altitude of 40 miles and was in flight five minutes.

He said the V-2 was being used to test certain component parts in American-made rockets.

Colonel Turner explained that the explosion actually was concussion caused by the force of the four and a half ton V-2 ramming the earth at 12 miles per minute.

The alcohol and liquid oxygen with which the rocket is fueled would only burn and would not explode, the colonel explained.

Mexican soldiers were ordered in the rater to mount guard. They were stationed on the rim, aiding American Military policemen to keep sight-seers and souvenir hunters from the area.

The site is half a mile from Buena Vista airport, where 13 planes were shaken by the blast, and a mile and a half from an oil plant. Many Juarez citizens at first believed the oil plant had exploded.

Wild rumors circulated in El Paso before cause of the blast was ascertained. One man said a “box car full of dynamite” had exploded in South El Paso, devastating the section, while another was certain “an underground gasoline storage dump” had blown up.

Many El Pasoans spotted the rocket’s vapor trail after the missile was fired at White Sands, about 500 airline miles north of El Paso, and a few minutes later heard a terrific explosion and smoke rising in the direction of Juarez.

Lt. Col. John Carroll, former R.O.T.C. commander of El Paso schools was just leaving Fort Bliss when he saw both the vapor trail and the blast.

SAW ROCKET FLIGHT,

WATCHED CRASH

Morris J. Boretz, who was en route to Southwestern General Hospital to visit his daughter, said he was at Brown street and Rim Road when he saw the rocket leaving White Sands and saw the crash south of the Rio Grand, looking like a miniature atomic bomb explosion.

Others who saw the spectacle were R.E. Nelson, 5801 Auburn street; Frank Moltans of the Times circulation staff; Wencis Tovar, 3703 Pera Street; Mrs. S.C. Cox, 3660 Douglas Street.

Lt. Col. George F. Pindar, commanding officer, First Guided Missile Battalion, White Sands, made the first official investigation into the rocket crash. He sped to the scene at about 8 p.m.under orders of Major Gen. John L. Homer, Fort Bliss commander.

Colonel Pindar was in El Paso at the time of the firing. He said he watched the rocket rise with a long tail of flame. Then the rocket appeared to hesitate and almost fade from view. Colonel Pindar looked away for a moment and when he next looked at the rocket it was moving overhead at a high rate of speed, traveling south toward El Paso. A moment later he heard the explosion that rocked the city.

Meanwhile Thursday night an emergency squad of eight Fort Bliss soldiers were searching the western slope of Mount Franklin for evidence of a second explosion reported seen by General Homer.

He told Colonel Pindar that he Saw a smaller explosion just prior to the Juarez blast several miles over the crest of Mount Franklin on the west side. Colonel Pindar said it was possible that a portion of the rocket had sheared off and dropped on Mont Franklin.

SHOCK FELT IN ANTHONY, FABENS

Detective W.D. White of El Paso Police Department, another eyewitness to the explosion, was at the corner of Mesa Avenue and Ninth Street looking in the direction of Juarez when the rocket landed.

“Flames shot into the air like a mushroom,” White said. “It looked just like a haystack on fire.”

Victor Robinson, 3907 Fort Boulevard said, “I saw the rocket go right over our house. It looked like it was going to land in the middle of town.”

Three windows were broken in Fire Chief Joe Boone’s office by the concussion. An electric clock in the Sheriff’s was stopped at exactly 7:32 p.m. by the shock.

Sheriff’s Deputy William Stoddard reported that the shock was felt as far west as Anthon, N.M. and south to Fabens.

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Mexican Aviators Land Plane As V-2 Hits Half Mile Away

Rocket Blast Fails To Halt Spring Fiesta  

Fort Bliss Bugler Has Blown Taps At 257 Funeral Services

April 9, 1939

Private Manuel Chavez Sees ‘Colonel Tommy’ Laid to Rest.

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Private First Class Manuel G. Chavez of Troop F, Seventh Cavalry, Fort Bliss, has blown taps at 257 funeral services. When the late Colonel Selah H. R. (“Tommy”) Tompkins died recently at San Antonio, to be buried there, Fort Bliss officials arranged for Chavez to fly to the last rites, to fulfill a request made by Colonel Tompkins nearly 12 years ago. Bugler Chavez told the detail as tears welled from his serious, dark eyes.

“The day before Colonel Tompkins was retired from the army at Fort Bliss, in 1927, he said to me, ‘Chavez, when I die I’d like for you to blow taps at my funeral service.’ I am happy that I was able to do it, for I loved Colonel ‘Tommy’ and I think that he loved me. I feel his death deeply, and it is different when you know a real friend has passed.”

Colonel Tompkins returned to Fort Bliss to take command of the Seventh Cavalry, his old regiment, just before retirement in 1927. The first acquaintance between the Colonel and Chavez flowered at Camp Stanley, near San Antonio, in 1920, where the former was in command. Chavez was then a member of a Texas National Guard unit and spent several summers at the camp as a guardsman. He “clicked” with the picturesque commander and a manly mutual affection developed.

“During the years I was there,” Chavez went on, “the colonel used to talk pretty hard to me sometimes but I knew that I was in his heart. Shortly before he retired he asked me to join his old regiment, the 7th Cavalry, so I could be there when he left it. That was the least I could do for a man who had so befriended me.”

Chavez is a diminutive trooper, five feet, two inches tall, but carries himself with the bearing that proves his pride in the military service. He is rated one of the best buglers at Fort Bliss. His home is in San Antonio.

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Officials Frantic Over Frog Scarcity

July 4, 1936

A frantic plea for more horned frogs was made by A. J. Slogeris, City Recreation Department supervisor, yesterday as the day of the special horned frog race at Washington Park arrived and he had only half enough frogs to supply the sponsors.

“We will pay 15 cents each for every horned frog in good condition. There is no restriction as to who brings them in. We are in need of frogs,” Slogeris said.

Frogs may be delivered to Slogeris at Washington Park until noon today, or to the basement of City Hall, where Fred Ellis will take them. Cash payment will be made.

“I have never seen such a shortage of the frogs,” Slogeris said.

El Paso To Welcome Bowie Bears Today

 Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times

The Bowie High School baseball field is named for the coach of the 1949 Texas state baseball championship team. “He taught us that it’s not where you come from, it is what you become,” Gustavo Sambrano said of coach W.C. “Nemo” Herrera.

June 10, 1949

A motorcycle escort through a downtown parade route and a huge welcome at their last stop is on tap when the Bowie High School Bears, newly-crowded Texas High School baseball champions, return to home base at 1 p.m. Friday.

Highlight of the welcome will be the greetings and congratulations at the American Bus Station, San Antonio and Santa Fe Streets, where city and civic officials will express the thanks of the entire city.

The Bears defeated Austin’s Maroons, 3-2, Wednesday night for the state championship, in Austin.

The team will arrive in El Paso at 1 p.m. from Van Horn where they spent Thursday night.

The bust will be met at Fabens by a Sheriff’s Department motorcycle escort, which will be joined at El Paso city limits by a Police Department escort for the trip through downtown streets.

The team of champions, with a huge sign reading “Bowie High School, Texas High School State Baseball Champions” on each side of the vehicle, will enter the downtown area by way of alameda Avenue, Texas, Street, Oregon Street, circle around San Jacinto Plaza, return to El Paso Street on Mills Street and then to West San Antonio Street and the bus station.

At the final halt Mayor Dan Duke, City School Superintendent A. H. Hughey and Bill Girard of the Chamber of Commerce, will express the city’s appreciation for the crown the team won.

A public address system will be on hand to help in the greeting. A portion of the affair is to be broadcast.

The official greeting Friday is but the start of a round of honors for the champions.

Saturday night will be “Bowie Night” at the Dudley Field, where El Paso’s Texans play Phoenix in an Arizona-Texas League game. The team members will be honor guests and will be introduced before the game. Coach Nemo Herrera will be awarded a watch.

Monday at 7:30 p.m. the School Board is to stage a banquet for the team, with the site to be selected later.

Tuesday noon the team and coaches will be guests of the Chamber of Commerce at a noon luncheon.

And later in the week Mayor Duke and his City Council will be hosts at another banquet for the titlists.

“We can’t give them anything, but we can sure feed them,” one official commented Thursday; referring to a Texas Interscholastic League rule prohibiting athletes from accepting rewards for their efforts.

It was pointed out that nine of the championship team will be back in uniform next season including Star Pitcher Ruben Porras.

Returning players include Ramon Camarillo, Jose Corona, Fernando Gomez, Trini Guillen, Antonio Lara, Alfonso Lopez, Andy Morales, Porras and Gustavo Sambrano.

Lost through graduation, expiration of eligibility or passing of the age limit will be Javier Holguin, Lorenzo Martinez, Rodriguez, Oscar Macias, Ernesto Guzman, and Jose Galarza.

Ramirez runs away with mayor's race

Photo: 12/12/1997 Mayor Carlos Ramirez introduces Texas Governor George Bush, who waved to the crowd during the governor's campain stop at the Val Verde campus of the El Paso Community College, Wenesday, Dec. 3, 1997. The El Paso stop was one of several on Bush's cross state campaign kick off.  

May 4, 1997

Bernadette Self
El Paso Times

Three-time mayoral candidate Carlos Ramirez defeated challenger Raymond Telles in the biggest and most controversial of city elections.

Less than 18 percent of registered voters cast ballots for the election, the worst turnout for a mayoral race in history. The previous low of 19 percent was set in 1995.

"I'm very happy," the soft-spoken Ramirez said as a band blared and news media swarmed outside his headquarters at 214 Franklin in Downtown El Paso.

"I think we had a true grass-roots effort in our campaign and widespread support - that made a difference," Ramirez said. "But I do think the ethics question was a key issue in the campaign. ... I think Mr. Telles made some mistakes along the way."

Ramirez said he plans to meet with Mayor Larry Francis - who publicly supported him - and immediately begin working on the city's upcoming budget cycle.

Describing himself as a fiscal conservative, Ramirez said he would be a strong but quiet mayor. "I'm going to be soft-spoken but like Teddy Roosevelt would say, I'm going to carry a big stick."

Telles - surrounded by more than 200 cheering supporters, many of whom choked back tears with smiles - said he started his campaign on a positive manner and would end it that way, despite defeat.

"I feel satisfied and very content with the overall effort of the campaign - and all the volunteers who worked so hard," Telles said with a smile. But sadness flickered in his gray eyes.

"Yes, I am a little disappointed, especially with the voter turnout," Telles said. "We were relying on better turnout. But I do think the negative publicity ... dealt a critical blow."

The race between Ramirez and Telles had been generally calm until early April, when a series of actions prompted criticism of Telles' ethical standards.

"I voted for Ramirez because I think he's an honest man," said Gloria Kautz, 73, of East El Paso. She saw Ramirez speak on television. "He's so family oriented, he's very bright and I just think overall he's more honest and will help improve El Paso."

Ramirez, 46, is an engineer and president of Univer Industries, a small contract manufacturing and consulting company.

Telles said he plans to "get my personal life back in order.

"There is life after politics," Telles said.

More article:

Ramirez tries 3rd run for mayor

Ex-Mayor Ramirez found to have fatal brain disease

Ramirez was visionary who cared about city

Carlos Ramirez Photo Gallery

1888: EL PASO’S POPULATION

January 31, 1888

The School Records Tell a Suggestive Story

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An Influx of Families during the Last Two Months – The Enrollment and Attendance Rapidly Growing – A Talk with Superintendent Esterly

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“The records of public schools are a sort of thermometer and register the fluctuations of the population of the city with a good degree of accuracy,” said Professor C. Esterly, superintendent of the public schools, to a TIMES reporter yesterday. “When a new family moves into the city, the children in that family enter the public schools. If the family moves away, the children go too, and they have a gap in the ranks of the school.”

“What do the school records show for El Paso thus far this year?” asked the reporter.

“They show a great deal,” replied the superintendent. “Let us look at those figures and then see what they mean.”

The superintendent turned to the files of teachers reports, which gave the following record of enrollment of pupils for the preceding school year and the present school year, for the five months beginning with September and ending with January, as shown by the teachers’ monthly reports of enrollment.

No. PUPILS

September, 1886 407

October 435

November 461

December 477

January, 1887 521

Total enrollment for year 1886-87 616

September, 1887 505

October 520

November 521

December 537

January, 1888 613

“The explanation of these figures,” continues Superintendent Esterly, “is this last October and November there was a considerable exodus of families from El Paso to California. The ranks of the schools were actually decimated. The loss in numbers was seen much more clearly in the attendance than in the enrollment. But, as you see from the above figures, the tide has now turned. The influx of families during the last two months has not only made good the previous loss but has given us already, at the end of the fifth month, an enrollment as large, lacking three, as the total enrollment for the preceding year. Those figures are to me conclusive proof that a stream of immigration has set in during the last two months.”

The city schools are in a flourishing condition are doing thorough, energetic work. The different schools and teachers, with the number of pupils, are as follows:

TEACHERS AND PUPILS

High school room, Miss Ella B. Meekins, teacher 139

Room No. 4, Miss Jessie Stanfield, teacher 63

Room No. 3, Miss Mary Gates, teacher 63

Room No. 2, Miss Anna Moore, teacher 80

Room No. 1, Miss Florence Thornton, teacher 84

Rink school, Mrs. M.E. Periet, teacher 49

Stanton Street school, Miss Alice M. Disbrew, teacher 42

Mexican preparatory school, Mr. O.V. Aoy, teacher 42

Franklin Street school, colored, Mr. A.C. Murphy teacher 39

Total 613

HONOR ROLL

Among the incentives to prompt and regular attendance is an “honor roll” of pupils who have no cases of absence or tardiness charged against hem. The roll for the first five months of the present year, ending January 27, is as follows:

Louisa Chriss

Carrie Geck

Josie Kaufman

Emily Marr

Sallie Newman

Eugene Bias

Harlie Irvin

Charles Newman

Ames Nicholson

Herbert Stevenson

Bailey Archey

Nellie Cooper

Pansy Loomis

Henry Chriss

Eva Dawe

Mollie Hart

Nona Pettyjohn

Pearl Wilbanks

Nina Long

Georgia Sullivan

Samuel Fernandis

Maud Doane

Nettie Ingle

Angie Marr

Bertha McGirr

Ellen Windsor

Chase Higgins

Van McKie

Zeke Newman

Eddie Pew

Howard Thurman

India Bogardua

Lulu Hilzinger

Effie Price

Maury Kemp

Nettie Ball

Myra Newman

Constance Windsor

Minnie Fernandis

Carrie Sparks

Julia Sullivan

Lillie Cole

These boots are made for waltzing

20 JAN 1989 - Bobby Baker of Lucchese Boot Co. in El Paso displays the company's 1989 inaugural boots that go on sale for $500 a pair Saturday at one of many balls that follow today's swearing-in ceremonies. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)

20 January 1989

Inaugural partygoers get kicks in El Paso

By Doug DesGeorges
El Paso Times

Lucchese Boot Co. of El Paso is making the commemorative boots for the George Bush inauguration.

A $500 pair of goatskin boots will be displayed at Saturday’s Black Tie and Boots ball in Washington and people there can order the boots. The inauguration is today.

Lucchese previously has made boots for such celebrities as John Wayne, Tommy Lasorda and Lyndon Johnson.

Lucchese President John Tillotson said the company didn’t bid for the contract to make inauguration boots. It was asked by the committee handling details for the inauguration.

“They didn’t consider anyone else,” Tillotson said.

Tillotson thought the Republicans would want alligator-skin boots, which run about $1,5000 a pair. Instead, the committee asked for goatskin, which is a dark cherry color.

“The Republican Party went a little cheap on us,” Tillotson said. “I guess not all of them have money.”

But, he added, the goatskin boots are the company’s biggest seller.

The boots will be made at Lucchese’s plant, 6601 Montana, where the company has been ever since it moved from San Antonio three years ago. In 1988, the company made 27,000 pairs of boots, up from 18,000 in 1987.

The inaugural boot will have a special seal set into it. The seal has a picture of the White House surrounded by the names of President-elect George Bush and Vice President-elect Dan Quayle and the words "1989 Inauguration.”

Only one pair of boots has been finished so far. That pair left El Paso Wednesday for Washington and will be on display there.

Lucchese doesn’t know how many boots will be ordered. Tillotson is waiting for Saturday’s ball.

“I think a big crunch will come Saturday night,” he said.

EL PASO KIN OF WILSON DIES

August 14, 1930

Mrs. Kate Howell, 86, Succumbs at Home Here

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Mrs. Kate A. Howell, first cousin of the late Woodrow Wilson, died at the family residence here at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon after an illness suffered since her eighty-sixth birthday July 14.

Mrs. Howell became ill after attending a picnic given by relatives here on her last birthday. She was unable to regain her strength and continued to fail in health until her death yesterday.

For the past 30 years Mrs. Howell has resided in El Paso. She came here with her husband, Louis O. Howell, and their children in 1900 and had lived here continuously since that time.

Mr. and Mrs. Howell were pioneers in Texas, moving to this state from Colorado in 1897, settling first at Austin. They then moved to San Antonio, where Mr. Howell died 30 years ago, and then came west to El Paso.

Mrs. Howell’s father, Robert Wilson, and Woodrow Wilson’s father, Joseph, were brothers. She and Woodrow played together in their home in Ohio.

Funeral services will be held from the family residence at 3429 Hueco street at 4 o’clock this afternoon, with the Rev. R.G. Congdon officiating. Burial will be in the family plot in Concordia cemetery.

Mrs. Howell is survived by a son H.L. Howell of El Paso, and a sister, Mrs. Addie W. MacCoy, of New York City; seven grandchildren, Mrs. Guy C. Kelly, Marvin D. Howell, William Sherman Howell, Robert Evan Howell and Kathy Harris of El Paso, and Luis O. Howell of Los Angeles, and Ralph E. Howell of San Antonio and three great grand children, Jeane Louise Kelly and Guy C. Kelly, Jr. of El Paso, and Patsy Howell of Los Angles.

Juarez Store founded In 1880 Became EP’s Modern White House

April 29, 1956

Tracing its ancestry back to 1880, the White House Department Store has given El Paso and Juarez more than three quarters of a century of service.

Father of the big establishment was Felix Brunschwig who, with his uncle, established the “City of London” store in Juarez in 1880.

Brunschwig and his uncle were emigrants from Alsace-Lorraine.

Deciding El Paso held a bigger future than Juarez, Brunschwig closed the “City of London” in June, 1990, and established the White House in El Paso in September the same year.

First location of the White House was at San Antonio and Oregon Streets, presently occupied by Union Fashion.

Only 10 employes staffed the first White House, although it was a larger-than-average store even then.

One of the earliest employes to go to work in the store was Jake Miller, who took a job as delivery boy in 1900 and worked his way up to the presidency of the firm.

FIRM INCORPORATED

In 1903 the White House was incorporated and in 1908 two nephews of Brunschwig’s, Gaston and Myrtil Coblentz, became chief owners of the store, which was more of a specialty shop than a department store.

Deciding on expansion, to keep up with the growth of El Paso, the owners obtained the present Pioneer Plaza site and constructed the first part of the present White House building, completing it in 1915.

That initial store was of modest size compared to the present large White House installation. It consisted of only a basement, main floor and mezzanine. The basement was used chiefly as a stockroom, but was converted into a selling floor in 1914.

Myrtil Coblentz became president of the company in 1915 and more expansion was soon undertaken.

The second, third and fourth floors were added in 1917 and the White House branched out into a full-fledged department store, giving up its role as a specialty shop.

Founder of the firm, Felix Brunschwig, died in Paris, France, in 1922.

In 1923 more expansion became necessary and the fifth floor was added. An early example of the company’s good employe relations was evident that year, also, when the employes’ lunchroom was opened for use.

More expansion and remodeling followed in 1928, when the building was sold to the Mills Building Corporation, which leased it back to the White House.

The Times gave a front page banner headline to the $1 million deal which linked the White House and Mills Building. The store got more space out of the trade, extending its sales rooms all the way to Oregon Street.

Still other departments were added as the need for them became apparent. In 1933 the men’s department became part of the store.

Greater expansion followed after World War II, when a $500,000 program was announced in 1946.

LONGEST ESCALATOR

Included in this was the $120,000 escalator which at that time was the longest single-span escalator in the United States. More space on the ground floor of the Mills Building also was acquired at this time for personnel offices, executive offices, business offices, credit offices and a beauty salon.

The second floor of the building was completely redecorated and a ladies’ lounge was added. The first floor and mezzanine also were completely re-fixtured and remodeled.

Jack Miller, the delivery boy of 1900, had become president of the company in 1943 on the death of Myrtil Coblentz. Miller had worked as salesman, window-trimmer, sign-writer, advertising man, floor-walker, general manager and vice-president, giving him an insight into every aspect of the business.

He also assumed a position as a civic leader, contributing much of his time to community projects.

Gaston Coblentz, brother of Myritl, had died in 1942 in New York, where he spent most of his time in the buying end of the business.

A big addition to the White House’s customer-popularity was made in 1949 when the company bought a parking lot on Main Street about two blocks from the store. A warehouse was acquired about the same time.

An appliance annex was added to the store, in the Oregon street side of the Mills Building, in 1951.

Jake Miller, after 12 years as president of the company, died in May, 1955, and was succeeded by his son, Dick, in the following month.

White House Dept Store photo gallery

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