Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-12
Special Dispatch to The Star.


OKLAHOMA CITY, January IL
.A).-Without dime of his own,
without a home or stick of furniture,
and with no property but the clothes on
his back and a wagonload OF books,
william H. alfalfa Bid Murray will
stand upon the steps of the capitol here
at noon today and will be sworn In as
Governor of Oklahoma.
At the precise moment when he takes
the oath and says II do" he viii auto
naticallv become sole heir for four
years to a salary of $500 year. a
mansion of II rooms, all furnished; $500
a month from the State to keep the
house going and pay servants wages
and grocery bills, large motor car and
a chauffeur.
In his campaign for the governorship,
speaking to the "hill billieS" out in the
sticks, Murray used to poke fun at the
mansion in which the Governor OF Okla
homa lived in splendor, and he used
to say:
Would Live in Garage.
when I get to be Governor I'll leave
out the Governors mansion and live In
the garage. I never owned car and
won't need one. Ill walk then, same
as I've always done. I'll pasture my
COW on the state house lawn and let
her drink out of the lily ponds, and
I'll plant potatoes in rose gardens"
That won applause and votes, but
Murray says now he was only "funning.'
"Of course, we will live in the execu-
tive mansion. That's what it's for" he
said.
This city is filled with persons who
have come in from all parts of the State
to see bill" inaugurated. The hotels
and boarding houses are crammed with
four-gallon hats and cowboy boots.
Murray borrowed $3.50 from a bank
in Tishomingo with which to come up
here and stay until the inauguration
and to outfit himself and his wife with
some new clothes. A suit generally lasts
Bill year.
Expects to Spruce Up.
But" he said to friend the other
day, III have to spruce up and put en-
some dog now and the wife will have
to look the part, too
Oklahoma's Governor-elect in his
campaign last Summer "hitch-hiked'
around the State. That is, he would
get one of his supporters who owned a
car to drive him to the next town. He
actually started out from Tishomingo
i
was every dollar he had in the world
and when he left he gave his wife 81
of it and arranged credit, for her at the
grocery.
It is a fact, also, that friend gave
him a big cheese and box of crackers
and Murray carried them for weeks in
his old glazed imitation-leather suit
case. To save money, he ate crackers
and gnawed at that cheese for many a
meal.
Murray has always had to economic
He was born in poor cotton patch in
Texas, and his mother died when he
was baby. He had only six months
schooling until he was 20 years old
When he was IL, he was working in
the cotton patch one day when a boy
/ of his own age rode in on pony and
said:
Did Not Know Of President.
president Garfield is assassinated."
who is President Garfield" asked
Murray, who really didn't know.
| He made up his mind right there In
the cotton patch to get an education.
How Murray worked his way through
school, aftsr he became full grown L
often told. A group of Murray's OLE
schoolmateS years ago in College Hill
| in Springtown, Tex, went to Norman
! Okla, Saturday especially to have
| reunion with him. Murray had beer
summoned to appear and testify II
court here, but he said he would rather
be sent to jail for contempt OF cour
than miss the reunion, so he went K
Norman, and there he made q speech
| giving idea Of what he intends to q