ustxtxb_obs_1967_10_13_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

The only suggestion . . “The only suggestion I would make is that the labor movement of Texas know that this Company’s management and labor relations activities are of the highest caliber possible . . . . and that union members should patronize companies that practice what we preach.” The preceding statement was made by a Texas labor official \(name gladly Well, thank you sir. We do try to maintain good labor relations. We try hard. For one thing, our EMPLOYEES are organized by an AFL-CIO Union. For another, many of our POLICIES ARE TAILORED SPECIFICALLY FOR UNION LABOR. In our books, a union man is a special policy holder. For Union Labor, we have policies with an ARBITRATION CLAUSE, applicable if a dispute arises. That’s how much we think of Union Labor! We like ’em! Especially do we RESPECT them. AMERICAN INCOME LIFE i lmititemee Executive Offices, P. 0. Box 208, Waco, Texas BERNARD RAPOPORT’ President MARTIN ELFANT Sun Life of Canada 1001 Century Building Houston, Texas CA 4-0686 And men moved southward. In September, 1846, after an eleven-day march from San Antonio, General John E. Wool’s army made its way across the Rio Grande at the French Pass. A young captain, Robert E. Lee, was along as an engineer. AS WE WERE on a tight schedule, it was time for our party to return to Guerrero. Negra, the lead mule, sensing the reward of a good meal, set a fast pace back as Professor Morris, not an especially heroic figure, bounced up and down on a one-by-twelve plank. Frogs by the hundreds Scattered ahead of our wheels as we approached a tank of water. Red-winged blackbirds darted overhead; delicate wildflowers peeked at us from patches of cactus. Behind us on her horse, Angelica Sierra, a bright and pretty Mexican girl of twelve, expertly rode along as her ancestors had down the same road more than two hundred years ago, except that they hadn’t had a transistor radio strapped to a saddlehorn. After lunch and coffee at the home of Mrs. Armandina Costillion, we set off to explore San Bernardo, the only original Spanish mission still standing in the area. We drove by car to the edge of a stream from whose iVrgin Springs interlinking canals were built under the direction of the Franciscans so that the fields, men, and animals would have adequate water supply. The canals are gone now, but sparkling clear water still gushes down a bed of limestone. Women from the village were doing their washing there, and a herd of horses came up for a drink as if walking out of J. Frank Dobie’s books. San Bernardo stands on a plateau you reach by walking up an incline from the stream. Amidst the cactus and mesquite, the mission suddenly appears. “Franciscan” in architecture, sits dome is suggestive of Byzantine influence, and the arches ‘ are reminiscent of Mohammedan Spain. The nave, long and narrow, is roofless, like a bombed-out church in London during World War II. The dome of the baptistry stands in apparently perfect condition, each stone supporting the other with marvelously little vertical support. A portion of the walls of the mission tilt precariously, and if they are not buttressed they will fall. If the old mission is to be saved for future generations there will have to be considerable repair work done. Whether it should be restored to its original splendor there is something especially moving about the church with its roofless naveis a question, but the deterioration must be checked soon. Americans, especially Texans, could lend a hand in cooperation with Mexican authorities. As far as that goes, the town of Guerrero, properly understood and artistically developed, could in significant ways become to Spanish Texas what Williamsburg,is to Virginia. In its time, Fort St. John included not one, but three missions: San Juan and San Francisco, both built, of clay and long since eroded away, and San Bernardo, of stone. Less than two miles apart, these missions had a presidio, a fort, in the center in the manner of the Roman presidium. First established on the Sabinas River in northern Coahuila in 1699, Fort St. John was moved to the present location of Guerrero the following year. On May 20, 1702, Captain Diego Ramon, a founder, said in a dispatch to the . Viceroy that, “San Bernardo is composed of about four hundred people of the Ocanes, Pacuacian, and the Manos Blancos Indians.” These natives were exposed to the glories of Christianity by a ringing bell which called them in for daily devotions. Those refusing to cooperate were beaten with whips as they knelt before a crossa primitive form of ecu menicalism, but a considerable improve . ment over the way my Protestant ancestors treated the Indians. BY NOW we were worn out, and the signs indicated a most un-Franciscan in Piedras Negras. Once there, Professor Morris ‘ordered drinks in a Spanish which could not have possibly filled Cervantes` heart with envy. October 13, 1967 MEETINGS THE THURSDAY CLUB of Dallas meets each the Downtown YMCA. 605 No. Ervay St.. Dallas. Good discussion. You’re welcome. Informal, no dues. The TRAVIS COUNTY LIBERAL DEMOCRATS meet at the Spanish Village, 802 Red River, at 8 p.m. on the first Thursday. You’re invited. CENTRAL TEXAS ACLU luncheon meeting. 2nd Friday of every month. El Chico, Hancock Cen ter, Austin. From noon. Informal. All welcome. ITEMS for this feature cost, for the first entry, 7c a word, and for each subsequent entry, 5c a word. We must receive them one week before the date of the issue in which they are to be published.