By MARIANNE JOHNSON curtains had been hung between chair toward a hall telephone, staff scurried toward the
curtains had been hung between chair toward a hall telephone,
H AND PATSY DINAN
¡1 Glcbe-Timca Staff Writer*
DUMAS—July 39—An orderly
pulled a sheet over the charred
face of a firefighter—all hie
fighting done forever. And ddton
the ball In Moore County Memo­
rial Hospital, a young mother
in a blue nightgown picked up
the whimpering bundle from the
bassinet and sat down to hum to
her two-day-old baby son as she
rocked him In the cradle of her
am is.
This afternoon confusion had
Mettled down to the murmur of
questioning whispers in the Du­
m as hospital. Death stilled pain
forever for five men—but not
without new life nudging an
inkling of hopes in the form of a
baby’s cries In the nursery of
the hospital.
An eight-pound baby girl was
bora to a Stinnett couple at 1:05
p.m. And men died.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Tanks continued to bum at the McKee Plant through the night and were «till burning with all their fury at 6 p.m. yesterday when this
picture w as made. Four tanks in all went up, but it w as the first one. loaded with 10.000 barrels ol pen tone, that accounted lor the 19
dead and 30 injured in yesterday's tragedy 12 miles northeast of Dumas* Damage to the facilities has been set at a half million dollars.
A ROSE-COLORED GLOW ON SILVER-GREY CASKETS *
Silence, Grief Shroud Chapel
By IRWIN FRANK The adults walked down the they’d turn and w alk out.
DUMAS, July 30 M — They line of silver-grey caskets and
brought the little children into the
Boxw ell Bros, funeral chapel this
morning, by ones and twos and
threes.
Leading them by the hand w as
an uncle or a grandfather, or per­
haps a neighbor or their mother.
BATTLE DUE FOR 0’DANIEL VOTES
ly F. DICKSON HARDWICK
) A L L A S m — Sen. Price
niel and Austin attorney P.alpb
rborough launched a runoff
npaign for the Texas gubema-
ial nomination today by ex-
mging fresh charges before
final returns had been tabulat-
from Saturday’s Democratic
mary.
’arborough had a long way to
to catfch Daniel. Latest returns
m the Texas Election Bureau
wed he was trailing the junior
!. senator by more than 150,000
es.
k record turnout for a primary
riion that should total some 1,-
,000 votes when all are tabulat-
had Daniel leading the six-man
e with 593,556 followed by Yar-
ough with 441,740.
’ormer Gov. and U.S. Senator
Lee (Pappy) O’Daniel was run-
g third with. 330,454 votes. The
MAD THAD
Says:
Any connection
between my vot­
ing and the win­
ner« it purely co­
incidents!.
SEE TOE TEXAN AT HEDGECOKE’S:i
staff scurried toward the empty
Corridors were lined with
quiet, anxious people. Women
tiptoed on the checkerboard
linoleum of the hospital corri­
dors, lest their steps disturbed
the suffering men swathed in*
yellow-stained bandages.
This morning stretchers had
been placed in hallways and in
the waiting rooms. Doctors and
nurses had been scurrying from
one burned man to another try­
ing to ease the pain and to treat
the near-dead. Now—crisp effi­
ciency prevailed and noise was
at a minimum.
Thickly-bandaged men coated
with yellow salve were resting—
three or four to a room—while
clusters of visitors stood out-
side doors reading “ No admit­
tance.” Weary doctors and
nurses were still treating the
worst cases in the emergency
room. An office worker at the
hospital—who learned early this
morning her husband w a s
DANGER BELIEVED
The children didn’t really un­ explosion at the nearby Shamrock
looked at little paper nam e tags
hanging by strings from the
casket handles.
The adult would find the sealed
casket they sought, and then they
and the children would stand
there silently a while. Then
66-year-old O’Daniel, trying for a
political comeback, had never lost
an election.
He more than held his own in
the forks of the creeks, following
a campaign with a hillbilly band
and a red firewagon, but his down­
fall came in the big cities.
Running fourth was segregation­
ist candidate J. Evetts Haley, a
rancher - historian from Canyon,
★ ★ ★ ★
Springer-Oakes,Cayion-DePauw
To Meet in Run-Offs Aug. 25
Two run-offs w ill be necessary
to choose a state legislator and
a county com m issioner in Pot­
ter County.
Potter County voters, too, fol­
lowed the state in choosing P rice
D aniel and Ralph Yarborough as
gubernatorial candidates for the
run-off in August. Daniel polled
4,750 votes, and Yarborough 3,-
575 when the final count was in
la te last night.
Running neck and neck in the
district, which holds Carson,
Armstrong and Randall counties
as well as Potter, are Porter
Oakes and Ted B. Springer*
Their opponents, Sim Castle­
among the identified dead—kept
working, ordering blood from
Amarillo, talking comfortingly
to relatives, keeping records on
the patients admitted for treat­
ment.
Roll a way beds and army cots
doubled the capacity of some of
t h e hospital rooms, where
THE AMARILLO
■CLOBE-TIMES
OP) Indicates The
Associated Press
(IP Indicates H ie
^ United Press
T h ir t y - T h i r d l car.
OVER
19 Dead, 30 Hurt in
killed in the «fiery blast from an victim s had no children.
derstand that it w as their father
in the casket. They looked around
the Term as children will and he#d
tight to the hand o f the a d u lt -
sensing rather than knowing that
this w as a scen e of tragedy.
The bodies w ere those of m en
Tex., with 83,673. Following Haley
were Reuben Senterfitt of San
Saba with 35,851 and J. J. Holmes
of Austin with 10,367.
Nomination in the Democratic
primary is as good as being elect­
ed in Texas, although the Demo­
cratic winner m ay have a Republi­
can opponent in the November
general election.
In addition to the governor’s
★ *
berry and Glenn Hatfield Jr., clerk in January, stood for elec­
were dropped in the Saturday tion and won over three oppon­
primary.
E arl Cayton, com m issioner for
P recinct 3, m ust fa ce Wilbur L. ney Gib Howard nor County At-
D eP auw in the Aug. 25 run-off torney Jerry Kolander tried for
Cayton s total of 1,911 did not re-election, their post» were
quite top the combined vote of filled by Wayne Bagiey, who
D eP auw , 1,156, and Harold C. had been serving as an assist­
Ochsner, 914.
In a rem arkably light vote of Moser, who had been assistant
only 11,794, Potter County voters county attorney.
re-elected J. Edgar Wilson as
state representative for the 93rd
D istrict, Hubert Cole a s tax
assessor^ ollector and Mel Arm­
strong as constable, Grace Shel­
ley , who w as appointed as district
https://newspaperarchive.com/amarillo-globe-times-jul-30-1956-p-1/
crowded with dozens of moan­
patients.
A minister In a clerical collar
talked softly to a woman—some­
body’s wife, somebody who
couldn’t yet believe that her hus­
band’s lif * was over.
An orderly pushed a wheel­
1 1 7 Price 5« 24 Page»
The maroon-grey w alls of the
Oil and Gas Co. yesterday. Eight
other caskets had be'en sent to
other cities, ami the 11 rem ain­
ing w ere to be buried today and
tomorrow.
The explosion-fire left 35 chil­
dren fatherless. Only one Sf the
race, seven Texas congressmen
who had opponents appeared to
have won their races. The only in­
cumbent definitely defeated was
Rep. John J. Bell of Cuero, whose
name cam e up in the veterans
land scandals.
House Speaker Sam Rayburn
had no opponent in his district and
Congressman-at-large Martin Dies
of Lufkin held a substantial lead
★ ★ ★
ents without a run-off.
Since neither District Attor­
ant district attorney, and Lon
Judge E. C. N elson of the 108th
D istrict, Sheriff P aul Gaither,
Judge M ary Lou Robinson of the
County Court at Law, Justice of
the P ea ce Bonita. P otter and
See RUN-OFFS—Page 1-A
Amarillo Globe Times, July 30, 1956,Pg. 1, Amarillo, Texas, US
change another nam e from ‘I n ­
where a man talked to his par­
ents. He held the receiver in a
hand covered with a mitten of
white bandages. He listened
through a turban of white gauze
covering his ears.
One of the hospital’s office
A m a rillo * Texan* M o n d a y * J u l y 30« 1 9 5 G
—Associated Press Wire Photo.
little chapel ca st a rose-colored
glow over the silver-grey ca s­
kets.
The only w ay one victim could
be told from another w as by the
nam e tags. The bodies w ere so
See CHAPELr-Page 1 A
over his opponent.
In a racial referendum, Texans
showed overwhelmingly that they
favor segregation of the races in
every way. They approved propo­
sals that (1) favor school segrega­
tion, (2) oppose intermarriage be­
tween Negroes and whites, and (3)
favor the doctrine of interposition.
Besides the gubernatorial race,
the only state contest appearing
definitely headed for a runoff to­
day was the fight between Ben
R am sey of San Augustine and A.
M. Aikin, Jr., of Paris for lieu-
See ELECTION—P a g e 1-A
1 » m mmm mmmmm
INSIDE TODAY’S
GLOBE-TIMES
Page 1-A— Service* ticranged
er held for victim* of fire and
explosion».
Pag# 1-B— How Potter County
voted.
Page 6 — Johnson uses heart
and head to win political battles.
Page 8— Westfali-Kaplan team
wins partnership tourney here.
Page 19 — Youthful golfers
head for Tam O'Shanter tourney.
Page 10— Record of the 84th.
Page 13— Know your neighbor.
Page 4 7— Radio and TV logs.
'5S DODGE TODAY AT HEDGECOKE’SI
Coke machine in the waiting ing men, stood a young woman jured” to “ dead.”
room with refills. with red-rimmed eyes. * * *
A National Guardsman walked Visitors stepped around a big
if. if. if.
toward her as she leaned cardboard box near the em er­
The foyer of the hospital’s
against the corridor wall, her gency entrance. They looked at
emergency entrance was quiet
back toward the hospital room. the jumble of smoke-scented
now. lnuide that door, which
“Your husband in there?” the shoe« and shirts and blue-jeans
only hours earlier had been tossed in haste in that box a few
Guardsman asked.
hours earlier.
She turned toward him. “ Yes
— he’s t h e r e . They’re chang­ A small, ttred-iooking woman
ing his bandages now,” she started toward the box. She rec­
answered. “ He’s there,” she re­ ognized her huiband'* shirt. She
peated a» If to convince herself stopped. She remembered h#
that her husband was still would never need it again
among the living. if. if. if.
The Guardsman walked away. At the hospital’s emergency
The woman didn’t know that entrance, a helm eted National
he was on his way to the Guard corporal stood at parade
hospital office to re-check sur­ rest, his back to the inside,
vivors. She didn’t see his list of gripping the barrel of his r if le
the injured and dead. a s it leaned out from the exact
Nor did she notice his nod of center of the sidewalk.
relief that he didn’t have to See D ISBELIEF—P age 1 -A
★ * ★
★ * ★
Disaster Near Dumas By DON BOYETT
Globe-Time» Staff Writer
DUMAS. July 30—An asphalt tank was still a b l a z e this
morning, but danger of further explosions and fires appear­
ed to be over, and residents of Dumas, Sunray and the sur­
rounding areasTiegan arrangements to bury their dead after
one of the worst disasters in Panhandle history.
The asphalt tank w as the last of four petroleum p r o d u c t
laden vessels to go up in the dramatic e x p l o s i o n and fire
which shook Shamrock Oil and Gas Corp. s McKee P l a n t
yesterday, taking at
least 19 lives and in­
juring 30.
A tank of pentane explod­
ed with wild fury around
6:15 yesterday m o r n i n g
w hile firemen were fighting
a small, but dramatic, blaze
on the tank farm. Most of the
dead were members of the
Dumas and Sunray fire de­
partments, which were help­
ing plant firemen battle the
blaze.
A Shamrock official in Ama­
rillo said this morning that the
refinery may be back in opera­
tion by morning, possibly by
night. He added that the $500,-
000 damage estimate made yes­
terday will stand until the fire
burning now is out and the area
cools off enough lor a more
thotougli investigation of the
area.
A small crew of Shamrock em ­
ployes, firemen, and law enforce*
ment officers stood by during the
night in case the fire flared up
again. But at mid-morning today
the fire appeared to be burning
itself out.
Officials at Moore County Me­
m orial Hospital, which cared for
all the injured, said none of those
rem aining in the hospital were on
the critical list today. Three w e r e
d ism issed during the night and
seven rem ained in serious con­ —Globe-Times sta ff Phot®
dition this morning. Paschel Pool, Dumas lire marshal, chalked up his own
Among those dism issed last
night w ere Bob Hamilton, 25,
death notice yesterday morning when he wrote this on
the Dumas fire station bulletin board. An hour later he
M oore County N ew s photograph­
er; John Wharton, 35, and Robert
perished with 19 other firefighters when a t a n k exploded
at the Shamrock Oil and Gas Corporation s McKee
★
Bowen, 27, both Shamrock em ­
ployes. plant.
The Dumas Fire Department ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
lost eight men in the death-
dealing fireball which erupted
from tank No. 199, and six
members of the Sunray depart-
'Routine Run
ment, including the chief, were
Is Their Last
killed. All of the firemen, with
the exception of Fire Marshal
Paschel Poole, Duraas, were
By LOYAL GOULD field. Billy Joe was on tl.*
See BLAST DANGER—Page 1-A
' * Globe-Times Staff Writer nozzle and the rest right be-
E a rly rise rs in D um as w ere hind him,” said Roy Meyer«,
News Tip ju s t beginning to b estir them- Dumas fire chief.
!«elves y esterd ay about 6 a.m . T hey moved up to a 10,000-bar­
when P asch el Pool, city fire m a r­ rel, spherical tank containing pen-
Winners shal, receiv ed a call from the
Sham rock Oil and G as p la n t lo­
cated no rth east of the city.
tane and began to sp ra y it hoping
to keep it cool enough to avert
an explosion.
Four people died in area high­ A plant official told Pool help Shortly before 7 a .m . som eone
w ay accidents la st week, and the
was needed to put out « fire in yelled, and the m en began run­
top news tips concerned these
the tank farm. ning for the m a in y a rd area, ap­
fatalities. . ,, Pool issued a call to the city ’s
F irst prize of $5 in the weekly p roxim ately 300 yards from the
volunteer firefig h ters, m any of
N ews Tin contest goes to Farris p en tan e tank.
whom w ere p rep a rin g ¿or early T he nozzle m an. B illy Joe D unn,
Granham. 909 N. Grant, for his
tip that a California woman and church services. w as the only one who kept his
her son died in an accident near
When the firem en a rriv e d at ground.
Groom W ednesday morning.
“He didn’t turn and run,
the plant, they w ere w aved in
Joe R akes. 2708 Curtis Drive,
ju#t faced it when R blew,” said
and im m ediately began o p era­
receives second prize of 53 for
one of the Dumas firemen.
tions for extinguishing w hat ap­
being firig; with information on a
peared to be a routine fire.But running d id n’t help those who
head-on crash near Clarendon. A
“ The hoys rushed into the
See ROUTINE RUN—Pag«, 1 -A
Hedley couple died in this acci­
★ ★ ★
dent. , ★ ★
Third prize of 52 goes to Mrs
Dick Stover. 2807 Ridgemere. who
reported that a boy threw 1-
snakes into her garden.
MEMORIAL RITES
SLATED AT DUMAS
Other News Tippers included
Mrs. S. A. Strimple, 3505 W. 48th ;
Gloria Jean Amos. 404 N. Madi­
son; George Young. 4319 Monroe;
Memorial services for vic­ and it could not be deter­
Mrs H o w a r d Holland. 4214
Travis: Bill Pate, 604 Tyier; tims of the tire are to be con-- mined if similar services
Gary Huey. 1900 Martin Road;- w ill be offered there.
Tvler Fisher, 400 NW 2nd, Box ducted today and tomorrow
B; W. B. Wallace, 2722 W. 10th; in Dumas where all stores
Mrs. M. N. Moyers. 209 N Ten­ are closing between THE WEATHER ^
the ________ P- A. W eather Bureau
nessee; Jerry Spencer, 3612 NE hours of 2 and 5:3JJ p.m. on
21st; Luther Joe Pybus. 704 N.
Cleveland.
station KDDD at Dumas w ill
AMARILLO AND VICINITY: Partly
both days. In addition, radio cloudy with scattered late afternoon thun­
dershowers today and Tuesday. LiUi*
change in temperature. High today 9a,
TV—-Ernie Kovacs Show, 9 also offer memorial services Low tonight 64. High on Tuesday 34.
KGNC
Radio—Gold Sox Baseball. 7:30
on the air on both days at
the same hours.
Telephone lines to Sunray
PANHANDLE A N n SOUTH PLAINS,*,
Partly cloudy today, tonight and Tues­
day with widely scattered afternoon
nighttime showers. Not much chans
temperatures
“Neely-Greenhid-Lowndes Insurance.” were reported out ol order C. PARK for PRINTING—DRak* f-fü M