The Wilmington morning star., 1946-08-14
Fair Enough
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, By King Features Syndicate, Inc.)


NEW YORK, Aug. 10. - There are confusion
and conflict in the intelligence from Arizona.
One day. William Houston johnson, the, or
ye, eoItor and publisher OF the Tucson Citizen,
reports that the drought is SO bad that the
basins CT some OF the big reservoirs are just
nothing but mud flats ana speculates morosely
on the prospects of another dust bowl. Then
It comes on to rain two inches in Tucson be-
tween Saturday and Monday. At Miami they
get Fps inches in an aour and about three fee
Of rocks and muck in Turkey Shoot Canyon
road. The lightning ana wind mess up the
power and telephone lines. but William Hous-
ton Johnson he just sets back on his philosophy
and says, well, which would you rather have, a
little outage, as the linernen call these inter
ruptions, and drive careful lest you slew n the
goo and plenty of water for later, or less, or
none, of both?
That whole part Of our country, including a
lot OF west Texas, is feeling its oats and
some people are talking up a great future for
the desert and the green valleys, while others,
mostly middllng -wel-to-do natives, keep say
ing it IS overcroWdcd already. One bunch
wants to gather up a pot of money and 60 in
Cor "coordinated tourist aovertislng'' and de-
velop small industries, such as curb-service
chickenburger stations and tourist camps, I
suppose. and the others ask what they want
to go ano Go that for?
With or without advertising the country is
bound TO grow and, while I wouldn't under
take to fird Jobs for the new people. my OBJ
servation in Florida gives me to believe that
they will get along all right. A fellow with a
rather sallow disposition said, yes, 90 ahead
and lure a lot Of underprlvileged down there
from other parts Of the country to live on
crumbs from the tables OF the rich. But few
of those who 90 to Florida tor their winter
vacations are rich, the great majority being
employees back north who save up for those
two weeks or SO, yet, in the aggregate. they
spend enough to provide a pretty good, steady
living for the permanent population. Anyway,
I say, It is a shame 10 waste that climate in
the winter on just a lew and, like it or not,
more population is coming and they will stick
1t out and change the country.
Last winter, young Bin Veeck> bobbed up
running a dude ranch way out near Lost Ca
vern ana here lately ne bobbed UP again buy
ing the Cleveland ball club and now he is
talking OF bringing the team to Tucson to train
next winter.
Phoenix is trying to get the Giants or the
YANKEES and major league farms might start
up q new little league OF farm clubs in Ari-
IONA. l think the winter weather would be a
little of just right for training major league
teams, but l am speaking from memory of
Florida ard possibly, by afternoon. it would
be warm enough in Arizona even on the cool
days. Tney would seldom be rained out as
We often were In Shreveport and New Orleans
IN seasons before most Of the majors and high
minors decided that there was no sense in try
ing to lind a climate as reliable as Florida's.
AND l never saw a section whose people were
more enthusiastic about baseball and golf and
celebrities generally, SO l should think the
clubs would do very well at the box-otfice for
a few seasons, anyway. They make heroes of
professional golfers and take into their homes
strangers come to play the winter Tournament
at Fl Rio when the hotels get full-up. And
When the majors come transforming through.
bound east FOR California. there is always =
party at someone's ranch that night, with beer
and SO forth and sport writers spinning old
stories about the time Babe Herman hit a
home run inside the park and wound up in a
double play, or how dog-[ace Guthrie, the UNI.
pre-, managed to get five men on base.
Last VII ter, l got curious why cowboys sing
sad songs through their noses and play the
guitar and raise quite a stir. I thought they
were very good riders, myself, but CLASSIC
singers a. best but Jach Robinson, of the In
teraational Cowboys Association, headquarters
Cody, Wyoming, wrote on behalf of the gen.
eral range boss, saying God help that kind
Of so-called coW-hand if he had lived in our
days"
The rodeo performer is an actor and is
truly good but dc not class the grooming dude
ranch hand or the rodeo star as a coWman,'
Mr.. Robinson wrote. our organization is COM
posed OF old-time range men who rode from
the Deglrnlng OF the free grass open range in
the early 'S0's until 1910. No music except in
a few towns where tie rag-time kid played
piano in the red light dance halls and some
times he had a fiddler"
H. Van Rrunt. Of Brownsville, even sneered
at the rising Of the rodeo champions.
Buffalo Bill, when playing at the Worlds
Fair, had no nose whiskers," he wrote, but
he had come bronco busting, modern style
said Mr.. Van Brunt. we rode them till they
gave up end bring them back under rein with
out aid. An old timer would have fought a
man who grabbed his horses bit and yanked
him up for trying to lead him back to starting
Of 80 seconds. then yank the horses head"
point as the rodeo style is now. There were
no guitar totins hands in 1882 when began
riding for the F, T. Sumner Land and Cattle
CO. DurIns the next s1s years I attended all
the roUndups along the Fecos and between the
roundups rode from the lower Pecos and Chi
hahua. Spring rounduus had as many as 300
riders, Is or 30 to a wagon between Seven
Rivers and Bosqe Gralde. I never did see A
guitar. None OF the punchers whined through
their noaes, but with vice open mouth and
free moving laryx poured out Barney Nc
Coy. Lost on the Lady Elgin, Sam Bass and
Ti-Yi-Ippi and SUCH,
William Houston Johnson's paper reports the
biggest wild animal Kill or record in Arizona
last winter - % ain lions, SO bear. three