Tales from the Morgue

1968: EPNG Christmas Display Is Readied

12/05/1968

El Paso Natural Gas Company’s traditional salute to the Christmas season will be on display starting Dec. 15, it was announced today.

Annually since 1955, the firm has outlined a giant cross with lights in the windows on the east side of its 16-story Main Office Building at Stanton and Texas streets. And since 1966, a 55-foot musical, “living” Christmas tree has stood on the northeast corner of the same building.

Employes will be setting up the decorations about the middle of next week.

The cross, which is visible from the air for as much as 100 miles, will stretch from the fourth to the sixteenth floors of the Main Office Building. It is created with 103 neon light fixtures, each contain three lighting tubes. The fixtures are placed in 49 windows to form a cross measuring 159 feet high and 72 feet wide. The lights consume some 12,240 watts of power.

The tree has an unusual lighting system which coordinated the colors and degrees of brightness of the tree’s 1200 lights with the musical notes of traditional Christmas songs and Carols. Because the lights are continually changing colors and intensity the tree becomes a multicolored, vibrant tribute to Christmas.

Through an electronic control, the lights “dance” with the music. Bass notes turn the lights blue; mid-range notes change the color green; and treble notes bring out red.

The tree has approximately 400 transparent, six-inch “glowberries,” each containing a red, blue and green light. A green, glass sprinkled garland has white berries, and a white star crowns the tip of the tree.

The tree will be turned on from dark to midnight, but the cross will glow 24 hours a day, company officials said.

1937: Secret Of How Music Carried To Christmas Tree Explained

12/22/1937

Music emanating from the “roots” of the Christmas tree situated in San Jacinto Plaza is puzzling many Yule shoppers, who cannot figure out where the organ is hidden.

The secret was disclosed Tuesday by Will R. Shutes, proprietor of the El Paso Piano Company, who provided use of a Hammond Electric Organ sound chamber for the tree.

“When Tiny Snyder plays the Hammond organ at Hotel Hilton,” Shutes said, “the music is carried by wire to the recruiting station in the Plaza. The wire connects up with the sound chamber at the station. In front of this chamber is a microphone, which in turn is connected to public address system speakers hidden at the base of the tree.”

The Park Department installed the tree, electricity for which is being provided by the city.

1961: Moon Man Shoot Would Place Eyes of World on White Sands Base

07/28/1961

The date is 196?. The place: White Sands Missile Range.

A colossal rocket is poised; The countdown ends. With an ear-splitting roar the spacecraft rises above the fluted Organ Mountains and disappears into the cloudless Southwestern sky, destination moon.

Incredible? Yesterday the Army said it favors White Sands as the launching site for this nation's first manned flight to the moon. It is one of eight sites being considered.

If it happens at White Sands the effect on that New Mexico

installation and the El Paso area could be almost as tremendous as the lunar voyage itself.

Several years of advance work would be necessary. Millions of dollars worth of new equipment would be installed. More personnel, perhaps thousands would move in. Hundreds of scientists and technicians would arrive, some to live in El Paso, Las Cruces or Alamogordo.

The cost would be astronomical. But one of the advantages of White Sands is that the Government already has plenty of land there or nearby. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which would boss the shoot, could use the facilities of Holloman Air Force Base laboratories, Ft. Bliss, and William Beaumont Army Hospital.

The moon rocket itself would not be manufactured at White Sands. It already is under construction at Huntsville, Ala. Saturn, as it Is called, is of multi-stage design and will stand about 200 feet high —about as tall as the El Paso Natural Gas Co. building.

Saturn would be transported in sections to its launching place. Many, many tests would be made before its eight rocket engines and its maze of equipment would be pronounced ready. But at last the long trained astronauts would climb in and the countdown would start.

Millions of Americans would be watching television. The greatest concentration of newsmen, in history, no doubt, would be at the launching. The whole world would be watching White Sands.

Two years ago, scientists were predicting a lunar shot within 10 years. Now there is talk of a full-scale space mission for Saturn, without a landing on the moon, in 1964 or 1965.

Meanwhile the U. S. is almost ready to launch a spacecraft with the same basic design that later will be used in the spacecraft that will attempt to make actual landings on the moon and possibly the planets. It is called Ranger I.

Chief aim of Ranger is to test "basic elements of spacecraft technology." It also will carry instruments for studying cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and radiation and dust particles in space.

It will not be aimed at the moon. It will zoom off on a long curve into space , probably traveling 685,000 miles from the earth before it gets back into the earth's atmosphere and burns up. The round trip may take 58 days.

With the experience of the Ranger and other space vehicles to draw on, the scientists of NASA will take the boldest step of all — the flight of human beings for a landing on the moon and return.

Saturn's rocket engines, able to generate 1.5 million pounds of thrust in the first stage alone, will boost the vehicle ponderously. But only 35 miles up the first stage drops off and the second fires. Three minutes later, the third stage fires.

By this time the spacecraft should be traveling at some 23,800 miles an hour outside the earth's atmosphere.

As the astronauts near the end of the flight — the moon — is 218,857 miles distant from earth — they will fire braking rockets to slow their descent. After a soft landing the men, in their science fiction uniforms, will disembark for exploration. When ready to return, they will fire the last stage.

Re-entering the earth's atmosphere, their capsule will be moving so fast it will glow with heat from friction. At 30,000 feet or so a parachute will open, lowering the capsule to the sea or perhaps at its home base.

In any event White Sands Missile Range will have made history.

1997: Cheater Bella can't escape stigma of '88 jailbreak

07/11/1997

By Daniel Perez

During a recent study of using helicopters for law enforcement, Juàrez Mayor Ramon Galindo turned to his pilot and told him that he was famous in Mexico.

"That's infamous," corrected the pilot, Northeast resident Charles "Cheater" Bella.

Bella earned his notoriety nine years ago - July 11, 1988 - when he was part of a botched attempt to fly three inmates from the Penitentiary of New Mexico near Santa Fe. He said he was forced to do so at gunpoint, but he was put on trial for his participation two months later.

A Santa Fe jury acquitted him of any wrongdoing. Several other people - including the woman who hired Bella for a flight and then held a gun on him to force him to fly to the prison - were convicted in the escape.

Bella, a licensed aviator who flies his Gazelle helicopter from his Northeast home, said he continues to be tried in the public. The most recent example was when ABC hired him during the Republic of Texas standoff at Fort Davis.

"A wise-ass (Department of Public Safety) officer said over the radio that we know who that helicopter pilot is. He spent time in prison," he said. "It's aggravating."

Bella, 52, pauses several times as he relates the story of the skyjacking and the trial.

Carol Bella, his wife of 30 years, sits across from her man next to the fireplace.

"I try to forget about it," she said. Her eyes still convey the pain. "It was not a happy time."

The episode left the couple in debt and cost him future revenue. They still owe his lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, $100,000.

Bella estimates he has lost millions of dollars in business from government agencies that have "blackballed' him. He still does pleasure, medical, and search and rescue flights and hauls people and cargo.

Bella has a curse-laden soliloquy about the lack of justice provided by the New Mexico judicial system and the incompetence of the state's law enforcement officers.

He said he used to make speeches about his experience but stopped because reliving the incident generated too much anger.

Neighbor Carmen Gomez says her contact with Bella these days isn't much more than watching him fly his copter off the heliport, but has known him for most of her life. She was her dad's trusty car mechanic.

"I remember one time some of his wolves got loose and (Bella) came for them," the 34-year-old said.

The children who stay at Flying Colors Learning Center, 4637 Atlas, enjoy seeing the helicopter take off too, Director Denise Leal said. "They all run to the fence to try to get a glimpse of that bird going down," she said.

Apparently Hollywood thinks that television viewers might have the same interest in Bella's skyjacking experience.

Bella signed a contract May 2 with Los Angeles-based Bonneville Worldwide Entertainment to develop a made-for-television movie based on the incident.

Nothing much has happened since. The pilot seems neither upset nor anxious. He's been involved with Hollywood, including such films as Chuck Norris' "Lone Wolf McQuade" and Nick Nolte's "Extreme Prejudice."

In fact, the Gazelle that he piloted in the botched prison escape was the same one he flew as a Soviet helicopter in Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo III."

The Bellas spend most of their time tending to the menagerie within their nondistinct one-acre compound near the intersection of Dyer and the Patriot Freeway. Among the inhabitants are brown bears, alligators, cougars, raccoons, turkeys, chickens and a Siberian tiger named Sofie.

The owners have lost count of the number of animals under their care. Most live in large cages surrounded by grape vines and fig trees.

The couple tries to rehabilitate injured animals and return as many of them as possible to the wild. If they can't return them, they keep them until other arrangements can be made.

The Bellas' help is invaluable, Miguel Legarretta, game warden with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, said. He's worked with the Bellas for 10 years and considers them dedicated stewards of the environment.

He remembers a few years ago when the El Paso Police Department's narcotics division found a Siberian tiger cub in a home during a bust. The police called him and wanted to know what to do.

"I told them the only one to call is Cheater Bella," he said.

"Cheater has a way with animals. He can go into a cage with injured mountain lions and they turn into pussycats. It's unique," he said. "I'm happy we work close with him."

1961: Gov. Owen Reaffirms Good Neighbor Policy

01/07/1961

Times Austin Correspondent

Austin – A “Junior Inaugural” banquet Friday night closed the biggest day so far in the life of tall, handsome Sen. Frank Owen III, of El Paso, the day in which he presided as acting governor of Texas.

His first official act was to sign a proclamation declaring continuation of Texas’ Good Neighbor Policy toward neighbors south of the Rio Grande.

And El Paso and West Texas shared in the big day, with a delegation of more than 50 persons here for Sen. Owen’s one day “Administration,” and for the inaugural reception and banquet tendered him and his family by several hundred legislators and other friends.

Four generals and other officers from Ft. Bliss, Biggs Air Force Base and military contingents in El Paso were on hand to join in the celebration of Frank Owen Day in state government.

After he was sworn in, Owen was presented a telephone with his name and the great seal of Texas on it by Carl Connors, vice president and general manager, Mountain States Telephone Co., El Paso.

Owen, as president pro tempore of the senate, became acting governor when Gov. Price Daniel and Lt. Gov. Ben Ramsey cooperatively stepped across the state line on the same day. The reception and dinner were arranged by a joint committee of Austin, El Paso and the 29th Senatorial District friends, with Jake Jacobsen and former Rep. Callan Graham, co-chairman for the Austin group.

Gov. Owen also issued a proclamation naming and commending the services of about 100 persons, the founders of El Paso del Norte, in recognition of the centennial of the settlement. The proclamation extended the official felicitations of the state to the citizens of the El Paso area on the centenary observance.

Other proclamations by Owen designated Friday as Safety and Law Enforcement Day in Texas; gave recognition to the role of small business as the bulwark of the free enterprise system; urged Texans to affirm their support of increasing tourism in the state; and urged public policies of broadening the industrial base of the state, including adequate appropriations to the Texas Industrial commission.

Heading a big delegation from El Paso, which came by car and charted bus were Rep. James E. Blaine, Homer Hirsch and Hugh McMillan. Former Attorney General John Ben Shepperd was chairman for the Midland-Odessa area of the district, and Conrad Dunagan for the Monahans area.

Former House Speaker Homer Leonard presided at the semi-formal dinner honoring acting Governor Owen and his family.

District neighbors and fellow senators joined in speeches of appreciation in the evening program. Former Rep. Louis Ivey and Fred Niemann and Sen. Ray Roberts, of McKinney, eulogized Owen’s service as a senator, interim presiding, officer of the Senate and declared their pride that he had for a day reached the state’s highest executive office.

In his response, Owen expressed appreciation that friends had made the 600-mile trip to share with him and his family the day’s celebration, also his appreciation that many members of the Legislature and Austin friends also joined in the ceremonies.

MILITARY REPRESENTED

The Owen family reached Austin in two groups. Sen. And Mrs. Owen and daughter Cathey arrived early. The five other children came in during the day with the large group of El Paso friends.

Rep. Blaine, of El Paso, and Sen. Roberts, of McKinney, escorted Owen from the Senate to the governor’s office at 9:30 a.m. There newly-appointed Supreme Court Associate Justice Zollie Steakley administered the oath to acting governor. Someone brought in a gold-lettered nameplate, “Gov. Frank Owen III,” which was placed on the executive desk.

Representing Biggs were Col. Charles K. Nelson, Col. Thomas G. Netcher and Col. Howard F. Hugo.

Representing Ft. Bliss and military components in El Paso were Brig. Gen. Stephen M. Mellnik, Brig. Gen John D. Stevens, Brig. Gen. E.W. Heathcote, Brig. Gen. A.H. Bender, col. L.H. Hewitt, Lt. Comdr, C.V. Ruthledge, Lt. William W. Wilson. Col Ward V. Walts and Lt. Col. Raymond L. Telles Jr., also mayor of El Paso.

Owen and his family were guest for luncheon at the Governor’s Mansion. There was an all-day reception in the governor’s office, with coffee served to the hundreds of callers.

1974: Two Killed In Sun Carnival Parade

01/01/1974

15 Persons Injured On Procession Route

Providence reported seven others injured in the accident.

They included Nancy Mendoza, 13, and two other persons named Mendoza; an adult, Alicia Rodriguez and two others named Rodriguez and Alicia Sosa, about 6, who was admitted lo intensive care with head injuries. Of the injured, six were children.

An elderly woman and an 8-year-old boy were killed and 18 others were injured today when a Juarez police motorcycle went out of control and crashed into the crowd viewing the Sun Carnival Parade at Williams street and Montana avenue.

Dead were Soledad Carillo of De Vargas drive, no age given, and Juan Esparza Ruiz whose parents live in Juarez.

The accident occurred when a Juarez Policeman doing acrobatics attempted to stand up his motorcycle and lost control of the vehicle and fell off. It roared off on its own power and plowed into the crowd. Two El Paso Policemen tried to head off the wild motorcycle with their motorcycles but were unable to reach it.

BUT THE injured and a group of persons suffering from food poisoning were all receiving emergency treatment and it was not determined immediately which was which.

Soledad Carrillo of De Vargas drive, no age given, but described as "elderly," was killed in the accident. She suffered a crushed chest.

Thomason General Hospital officials said.

Others injured at Thomason were: Lilia Gomez, 29, of Texas avenue; Melisa Carrillo, six months, of Bowen road; Mariano Carrillo Jr., about three years, of De Vargas drive; Mr. and Mrs. Hector Hernandez and daughter Elizabeth, 7, and Luz Hernandez, 45, and daughter Susan, 5, of Hercules avenue ; Nieves Lopez, 13, of Juarez; and Maria Cineceros of Findley avenue.

THERE WERE eight others reported injured at Providence Memorial Hospital.

Luis Perez, who was standing on the roof of a building on Montana avenue, gave this eye-witness account of what happened.

"I was taking pictures and looking down at the floats.

"SUDDENLY I heard a motor rev up and glanced down. I saw a motorcycle going full blast down the street — there wasn't any rider — and it must have gone between a quarter of a block or half a block, turned and plunged into a whole crowd of people.

"It was from a group of motorcycle riders.

"It hit an elderly lady and a man — he was wearing a sweater with the word 'Juarez' on it —and two little girls.

“THE PARADE was stopped and the police took the less injured in their cars to hospitals. The man lay in the street for a while, waiting for an ambulance. We couldn't tell how many were hurt — I'd say five or six. There was lots of confusion.

"It happened so quickly that people watching the parade on the corner didn't have a chance to get away."

Mr. Perez said the police acted quickly in getting the injured to hospitals and had cleaned up the area in about five minutes when the parade was started again.

1935: Police Keep Safe Distance As 'Visiting” Woodpecker Drills Montana St. Trees

04/19/1935

Armed With Rifle, Butterfly Net and Salt Shaker, Two Officers Fail To Stop Depredation Of Bird From Middle-West

__

Rat-a-tat-tat-

With a vigorous pounding and thumping, a large and determined woodpecker was making sawdust of trees in the 2300 block on Montana St. today.

The bird began his depredations Sunday in the yard of the F.J. Rivas home, 2301 Montana St.

Mrs. Rivas called for police. She said she fears the bird will destroy her trees.

“He's been at them constantly since Sunday and the sap is flowing off them like water,” she said.

Ornithologist pointed out that the bird is a native of the Middle West and has no business down in the Southwest.

“He probably got lost in a dust storm and hasn't realized yet that he isn't back home in Indiana,” said J.B. McGinley, City Sanitary Inspector.

“We ought to capture him and mail him back home.”

The “chip-on-the-shoulder” attitude of the woodpecker was holding two radio patrolmen at bay. The officers, armed with a .22 rifle, a butterfly net, some salt and the advice of the department, were dispatched to the Rivas home with orders to “get him.”

Radio Patrolmen Harold Cashman and A.G. Duchene agreed to make the call to Mrs. Rivas' home after an argument with Dispatcher John Rapp.

“See here, there's no telling what is likely to happen if we go out there and the bird sees us,” Mr. Cashman complained.

Mr. Rapp reminded him of his duty to the public.

“Oh, all right, we'll go,” Mr Cashman said. And pulling his cap down tightly over his ears, he started in quest of the woodpecker.

But the bird was wary. Whenever Mr. Cashman leveled the rifle at him, the woodpecker dodged around the tree, leaving Mr. Cashman looking over his sights at the blank trunk of the tree.

Finally tiring of the game of hide and go seek, the woodpecker swooped down in the direction of the policemen, who ducked their heads and ran for cover.

The butterfly net proved of little value as the officers were unable to get far enough off the ground and close enough to the bird to bring it into play.

After a half-hour struggle with the woodpecker, the officers gave up.

It's Sapsucker, Not Woodpecker Wrecking Trees

Woodpecker, Er, Er, Sapsucker, Leaves for Home

2004: Vets home to be named for a true hero

03/28/2004

By Jim Conley

The young man, one of eight sons and a daughter born of a Native American Texas woman and a Mexican immigrant, now rests eternally among the 39,000 graves at Fort Bliss.

If you look at his headstone, you might not notice anything different. So many names, initials, dates. So many wars. So much heartbreak.

But 24-year-old Marine Staff Sgt. Ambrosio Guillen 's grave holds the remains of someone very special, someone for whom every living soldier, airman, sailor and Marine reserves a special salute -- and a special place in his or her heart.

He is the recipient of the Medal of Honor for giving his life and routing the enemy in Korea in July 1953. And only he and Benito Martinez , a Fort Hancock soldier who also was killed in the Korean War, share a particular honor: They are the only two in the huge cemetery who have been awarded the nation's highest award for bravery.

Guillen's name, which will be on the new veterans home in Northeast El Paso, has been on a school for years, just as Martinez's has. El Paso also points with pride to its only living Medal of Honor recipient, retired Army Col. Joseph C. Rodriguez, who also received the award for bravery in Korea.

But few people seem to have heard of Guillen. His parents and brothers and sisters are all gone. Few remain to tell his story. The clippings in his file in the newspaper's library are as yellowed and as crisp as dried grass in our Chihuahuan desert. But here is what they speak, if you listen:

Ambrosio Guillen went to Aoy Elementary and Bowie High and was a leader in the Bowie Scouts. He was a small, respectful but tough boy who fought in the Golden Gloves.

At 17 years old, in 1947, and needing his parents consent, he enlisted in the Marines. Seven of his eight brothers also did military service.

He was featherweight boxing champ of the Marines while stationed in San Diego. And he was such a superior Marine that he was picked to be a drill instructor.

When the Korean War broke out, he went overseas and was wounded, but didn't even tell his family until after he healed. When he came home on leave, he told his parents it was just a scratch.

His father said later that he had told him, "Pappy, I want to be a Marine the rest of my life."

And when the staff sergeant returned to Korea, that life of service was short but earned him a place in military history. He gave that life for his country and for his fellow Marines. Though mortally wounded, he led the defense of a Marine outpost against two battalions of enemy soldiers, routing them in the process.

A year later, he became only the 48th Marine in history to receive the Medal of Honor -- and the 26th not to survive his act of gallantry. The medal presentation ceremony, made the next year in Washington, D.C., to his parents with other family members in attendance, was a tribute to his bravery.

Almost 18 years later, in 1972, the old Bowie High School was renamed Guillen Middle School, and now, 32 more years later, the city's new state veterans home is to bear his name. How fitting that those who survived their wars will now rest in a home named for a hero who sacrificed himself so that men like them could fight and live another day.

1954: Marine Who Died Gets Highest Honor

Area Medal of Honor recipients

1963: La Tuna Federal Prison Operates Modern Hospital for 600 Inmates

10/19/1963

By Ed Engledow

The physical and mental well being of the 600 inmates is the chief concern of officials of La Tuna Correctional Institution in the Upper Valley.

Correctional officers, who supervise the prisoners in all phases of their life, have much to do besides see that their charges do not escape.

According to Warden Robert H. Armstrong; the officers keep track of progress which inmates make in their classrooms and in their jobs in the prison’s shops or farm.

Individuals attention from these supervisors keeps alive the hope for freedom and a better adjusted life for every inmate.

Of major importance is the operation of the prison’s hospital which is complete and modern in every respect. It is headed by Dr. manly B. Root, a physician of the U.S. Public Health Service which administrations hospitals in all federal prisons.

The hospital is manned by Dr. Root and four Health Service technicians who would be ranked as trained male nurses in civilian hospitals. Thirty-eight beds are available in 12 rooms. A complete dental clinic is in operation with an outside dentist in charge. As medical director Dr. Root can call in a consulting staff of eight civilian physicians.

Sick Call Daily

Sick call is held each morning and inmates need only to signify a desire to see the doctor to get on the sick book.

According to Dr. Root, his duties go deeper than the treatment of ordinary illnesses. Each new inmate is given a detailed physical exam. His physical condition aids in governing his classification and job and training. Physical defects which may be partially responsible for leading the inmate outside the law, are corrected at government expense.

Sex deviates, who are spotted soon after their arrival at La Tuna because most of them are sent to federal hospitals for special treatment.

“Our job is to be more than hospital.” Dr. Root said. “We have to be an integral part of the prison and take an active part in rehabilitation work.”

A well balance diet is fed to La Tuna inmates in a roomy, spotless dining hall which seats about half the prison’s population at one time. Working shifts are staggered so that the meals can be fed in two shifts.

Inmate cooks operate the kitchen and a bakery with a large gas oven where bread and pastries are cooked.

Cafeteria Style

The men are fed cafeteria style. Because most of them are doing manual labor, the heaviest meal is served at noon. Here’s a typical menu for an evening meal” Creamed beef on toast, mashed potatoes, fresh tomatoes, bread, jello and coffee. A special concession is made to Mexican prisoners. Trays of prison-raised chili peppers are placed on every table.

Sleeping accommodations at La Tuna vary. The comparative low number of custody prisoners who require segregation are housed in a single block with single cells.

They are fed in their cells and are the only prisoners who do not have a free run of their own and other blocks during the day and early evening.

Par of the prisoners are housed in single-cells which contain a bunk, toilet and lavatory. They are allowed to have books and personal effects I their cells. All other prisoners are housed in large, airy dormitories. Rows of double bunks line the sides of the rooms. The dormitories resemble the average Army barracks.

Tobacco and toilet articles are issued the inmates. A commissary Is operated so they can purchase a limited variety of confections and other personal needs.

A baseball diamond and sports field offer the prisoners outside recreation. Often an outside team visits the prison for games.

Academic Program

A continuous program of academic activity is carried on for inmates who have less than a fifth-grade education. Inmate instructors are often used.

In addition to this program the prison offers an on-the-job-training program which can equip an inmate for a trade which he can pursue when his sentence ends.

In the prison’s modern dairy a man can learn much on operations of a milk plant. Other trades which may be learned in prison facilities are printing, laundry, cooking, garage mechanics, plumbing.

An auditorium on the second floor of one of the prison wings serves as a chapel and movie theater. Films are shown weekly.

Since a large majority of the inmates are Catholics a fulltime Catholic chaplain holds masses, hears confessions an supervises a religious program.

In addition, the Anthony Ministerial Association sends ministers in regularly to hold Protestant services.

“Our religious activity is a vital part of our program,” said Warden Armstrong.

1950: Truth Or Consequences Looks For Results Of Name Change

04/03/1950

Truth or Consequences, N.M. – After a solid week of furious activity, Truth or Consequences Sunday settled back to watch for results after changing its name from Hot Springs.

The Hollywood touch was gone from this community of sunshine and health water, as cast and technicians of Ralph Edwards’ radio show, and photographers brought along with the party, broke camp. Last civic reception fro the group was a barbecue given in renamed Ralph Edwards Park.

There was a slightly let-down feeling Sunday after the growing excitement climaxed with Saturday’s parade and two shows of Truth or Consequences. But the stores still carried their signs blazoning the new name and over-head banners at each highway approach still read: “Welcome Ralph Edwards to Truth or Consequences.”

The town already has profited by an estimated $10,000 from the proceeds of Saturday’s shows, turned over to the Chamber of Commerce for civic purposes. But Hot Springs was gambling on bigger stakes when it voted better than 4 to 1 to make the change. It was hoping that millions of Americans would learn for the first time what health opportunities there are here and many would come for their first visit, spreading the gospel to others.

PROMISES TO PLUG TOWN

Edwards had committed himself to nothing in advance of the vote, other than to assure residents that he would do his best to plug the town in return for the publicity value it would give his show.

Saturday he said he would bring his Truth or Consequences museum here, and that he would help make it an arthritic center as he has aided the heart fund for some time through his program.

Other programs set in message of congratulations after the broadcast there were reports that several producers were looking over other communities with the intention of having their names changed to proved a headquarters for the show.

There were two groups in Truth or Consequences Sunday: Those who doubt that the pull of the radio program will help the town materially and justify the change, and those who see an unending pot of gold at he end of the rainbow. There is no middle group. The red hot faction even talks of changing the Government-owned free Geronimo (“Geronimo’s men drank here”) Springs to Ralph Edwards Springs.

Roy Stovall, prominent cattleman who appeared on Saturday’s broadcast show, Sunday was making arrangements to place mileage signs telling the distance to Truth or Consequences in cities as far away as Cairo, Egypt, as one of the show stunts.

Printers are looking for a boom as business houses begin changing their letterheads, envelopes and advertising to include the new name.

T or C recalls Ralph Edwards

Photo gallery: T or C name change