Evening star., 1948-10-17
Second OF a Series.)
BY Nelson N. Shepord
Stor Stoff Correspondent

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (By Air
MaiD This is the rich hub Of the
North Texas oil district. Spic and
span as a mania for cleanliness can
make it, the city is scarcely rec
ognizable from the boom town" OF
some years back, but is still BOOM
ing, just the same. Developed and
maintained largely by oil, Wichita
Falls appears a strange mixture of
the old Southwest and industrial
East, with that pungent odor OF
oil in the air so dear to the nostrils
Of bankers everywhere.
Like every other place in this
amazing Southwestern empire,
Wichita Falls modestly boasts a few
"firsts" of its own. ITS the only
place of its size where you can
bump into a millionaire in every
block" the Wichita Falls Chamber
Of Commerce spokesman shouts in
your ear. People don't whisper the
virtues of other towns in Texas.
They take pardonable pride in
shouting them from the house-tops.
The fact that Wichita Falls may
have three or four millionaires per
1000 population was the first fact
learned by the 80 odd Eastern and
some Western newspaper and bust
ness writer's who are touring the
industrial Southwest as guests of a
railroad known the length and
breadth of the Southwest as the
Katy" In justice to the million
aires in question, one must admit
they're a modest lot who return
to Texas much they take from mile
deep holes in the ground. No one
of us disputed the claim of the
Chamber of Commerce that Wichita
Falls has more millionaires than
any other city of comparable size
in the world, of course. The esu-
mates range from so to $50, de-
pending upon the enthusiasm of the
informant and the gullibility of the
listener.
Each One Announced.
There were plenty of them at the
Katy press party in the Sky Room
Of the Kemp Hotel at any rate.
James M. Williams, president OF the
Chamber of Commerce, was trying
to keep count. Every few minutes
he would interrupt proceedings to
point out that another one of those
milhonaires is just now entering
the room"
It was all in good fun because
without some identification tag q
Wichita Falls millionaire looks
about like anybody else and works
just . bit harder, perhaps. They
form an important segment of the
city's IS 5000 population.
Wichita Falls Is one of the great
oil centers of the Southwest. To
Washingtonians who think largely
Of oil in terms of winter fuel and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS is an impor-
tant place. If there IS no fuel oil
shortage this winter-and there
shouldn't be, they say here, unless
the distribution end falls down
some of the credit is due this bustl-
ing Texas oil metropolis.
Here is located on the Katy's
line the worlds biggest railroad oil
loading racks. That isn't any ex-
aggregation, either. Since placed in
operation for the first time in July,
more than $500 oil tank cars
have been loaded there. When we
Sawit in action, 140 cars were lined
up at the racks and the daily load
ing average is $50. This is speeding
up the process of distribution, so
important q factor to the depend
ents upon oil this coming winter.
Already, the new loading station
has become one of the biggest
revenue sources of the Katy system.
Station Was Last Stop.
This loading station was our final
stop in Wichita Falls, but 1t was
a case Of the last being first and
the first being last in Importance.
1t ties in, however, with q huge
oil tank farm seen an hour earlier.
At this farm crude from the Basin