BY NORMAN ROZEFF

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the next installment in an ongoing series on San Benito’s Sam Robertson. Find previous parts at www.valleystar.com.

By September arrangements had been made to lease the mill. Receiver S. L. Dworman negotiated to operate the plant for the 1913-14 season to commence in about two months.

The sugarcane crops at both San Benito and Brownsville areas were looking good. The San Benito mill was expected to grind 1,000 ton/day.

At the end of October it was announced that E.N. Green of San Benito would be superintendent. He was characterized as a sugarcane factory expert.

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The Court of Civil Appeals authorized the issuance of recoverer’s certificates in the amount of $5,000 for which to finance the initial cash flow of the mill. In mid-November W. D. Stevenson, D. F. Mann and 24 sugar factory employees arrived on scene to put the plant into operational shape.

The prospects were to grind about 60,000 tons cane, primarily from around San Benito but also from the Piper Plantation, just south of Brownsville.

Sampling in late November indicated the cane had a sugar content of 200 lbs/ton. As December commenced, 2,000 tons of cane were delivered to the factory, which was struggling to overhaul neglected machinery.

The day before Christmas the mill closed after an uninterrupted run of 20 days during which it ground more than 15,000 tons and produced 20 carloads or 500 tons of 96 degree sugar.

At that time new equipment was to be installed in the boiling house with the expectation that the final product would have a purity of 99 degrees. Upon resumption 50 to 60 more days of grinding were hoped for as well as the manufacture of 75 carloads more sugar. Around San Benito 500 men were employed with sugarcane activities at this time.

By early March 1914 the campaign ended. A deep freeze had struck the Valley on 2/25. Only hardy cabbage escaped extinction. Truck crops, including tomatoes, cauliflower, beans, cucumbers, and potatoes, were badly hurt in many areas as the thermometer dipped to 28 degrees.

The San Bento mill wound up grinding 33,384 tons of cane in 90 days and recovered 105 carloads (ca. 2,625 tons sugar). This calculates to only 157.3 lb/ton sugar content, yet the mill proclaimed the total was double that made in 1912-13 and the yield of sugar 50 percent more. That would put the 1912-13 sugar content in the neighborhood of only 105 lb/ton. Both these levels represent very sorry sugar content.

In June Sam Robertson advanced a plan to promote more cane tonnage for the mill.

He stated that: “If as many as 4,000 acres can be contracted, capitalists who would take over the mill will advance $25 per acre at various stages in the growing season and will guarantee for a period of six years to pay a minimum of $3.25/ton for the cane. The increase of the acreage as proposed will give the mill a full run with a greater opportunity for profit than ever before.

While the acreage in this section has shown a tendency to decline this season, the proposition to advance $25 per acre to finance the growing of the crop is meeting with marked favor. It is possible that a large number of the small farms will be partly planted in cane, the quantity being limited to such quantities as the farmer himself can handle.”

As had been the case for several years the majority of San Benito farmland had been in corn (13,000 acres) and cotton, with cabbage being the primary winter crop. In March 1914 Emmert and Robertson resigned as joint receivers of the SBL&W Co. E. F. Rowson of Brownsville replaced them, but by May it is S. L. Dworman, receiver, who posts a notice for creditors of the mill to file claims in the 53rd Judicial Court, Travis County by 6/15/14. The onset, in August 1914, of what was to be World War I quickly excited cane growers in the Valley. If they were starry-eyed enough over prospects of higher sugar prices, the promoters with something to gain painted even rosier pictures for them.

When the assets, placed at $117,300, of the financially plagued San Benito Sugar Manufacturing Company were put up for sale in December 1914 to satisfy creditors, an indication of some of the equipment in the plant is revealed. Dworman evaluated the bids. Among them was a property chattel mortgage of $4,614 from the Morris Engineering Co.; a claim by W. A. Paine for three 501HP motors; a Beaule and Morris chattel claim of $4,690; another by the American Hoist and Derrick Co.; a bid of $3,700 from the Erie City Iron Works for vertical tube boilers with fittings and fixtures; and the large bid of $36,612 by the Hoover-Owens-Rentscher Company of Hamilton., Ohio for their Hamilton Corliss horizontal non-condensing engines.

These powered the mill train. [This company was to experience some notoriety at the beginning of World War II for their notoriously unreliable diesel engines furnished U.S. submarines. Strangely, the Erie City Iron Works’ large Houston warehouse previously used to store the jobber’s many steel products has been recycled and is now a site for numerous art galleries.] Frank C. Pierce attempted to “steal” all of the above items and more with a paltry bid of $36,288. His bid was rejected.

By February of 1915 a complicated series of dealings were put into motion. The San Benito plant was transferred by receiver Dworman and a special commission to Hiram Hart of Brownsville for $30,000. Hart in turn conveyed it to the New York millionaire, Stanley Gifford, as trustee. This included all property and improvement except some machinery of the original furnishers. The factory had a capacity of 1000 tons per day with 30” diameter by 78” long mill rolls.

In July, company officials let it be known the plant would be operated for the 1915-16 season. Charles Dierke, the engineer in charge, began to revamp the poorly maintained equipment with expenditures of $25-30,000 expected. W. P. Miller of New Orleans was contracted to operate the mill. He had been in Cuba for several years with the American Sugar Refinery. Perhaps, in an effort to corner the Valley’s scant supply of cane, it was announced in August that the San Benito mill expected 27,000 tons to grind and might be the only mill to operate in the Valley for the 1915-16 season – this according to its manager, W. P. Miller and director Hart. A production of 3,000 tons sugar was forecast.

Bullish attitudes for sugar were again sweeping the Valley. Indications were that in 1916-17 the mills at Donna, Harlingen, and Brownsville would operate. There was some speculation that the Ohio & Texas mill might be moved southeast of Brownsville to locate it closer to the majority of the cane plantings. Hopes were buoyed when the national administration of Woodrow Wilson recommended the retention of the sugar tariff. The federal government needed the revenues to cover increasing military expenditures to deal with both Mexican bandit incursions and the possibility that the country would enter the European war. In addition an emergency tax would be imposed.

This period coincided with the height of bandit activities. The famed Norias Raid, in which five bandits were killed in a skirmish at the King Ranch division ranch house, had occurred in early August.

Probably no single incident than the following indicates the trust that Sam Robertson had established in the Hispanic community over years of his openness and fair handedness. After the major incident of the Norias Ranch raid in August 1915, to diffuse the tense situation closer to home, San Benito law enforcement officials asked the area’s Mexican-Americans to voluntarily turn in arms and ammunition. More than 200 individuals complied with this request. Considering the situation at the time, this was an act of great faith. In the interim the famous train wreck had occurred outside of Brownsville. Three innocent individuals were killed when bandits derailed the engine, robbed the train, and burned 185 feet of trestle across a resaca. Within two days of this incident three soldiers were killed in a skirmish near Mission.

After the expenditure of about $40,000 and the hiring of 30-40 men the mill was made ready. Despite the unsettling times, the mill began grinding cane on the 7th of December, 1915. President Gifford soon was in town to promote cane planting for a 1916-17 season. He pressed to have 100,000 tons available in order to enable a 50-day grinding campaign to occur.

Periodically, we devote a column to reader’s questions. Recently, a family asked the teacher about communication and pictures.

The parents wondered whether a child can learn to speak from using pictures such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). The answer is yes, but that is a byproduct. That doesn’t always occur.

Picture communication is a form of speaking. So many times people discount this method because they can’t hear a voice. Yet, there are other forms of talking. Body language is one method. Some people use a voice activated communication devices. Others communicate by pictures.

Sometimes picture communication results in a child discovering their voice. Alice was such a child.

Early on, Alice used pictures to communicate her wants and needs. After lots of teacher modeling, the girl learned to say numbers, colors and several high interest items such as candy, soda and hot sauce to name a few. Alice was an amazing child.

Many children may learn to speak with pictures but never with their voice. Have you ever heard of Stephen Hawking? The brilliant scientist lost his ability to speak with his voice but quickly learned how to use a computer generated voice. Just because a person’s body does not enable him to use his voice doesn’t mean he can’t use another method to speak.

Children who start with PECS can advance on to computer generated voices. AVAZ and Sono Flex are two examples of voice generated picture programs that can be used after pictures icon mastery. PECs and picture communication programs like Boardmaker are excellent ways for children to use to speak their wants and needs.

They can also be helpful for adults who suffer from a stroke to relearn communicate. The nice thing about pictures, it that most people can understand them. When a child hands me a restroom card, I pretty well know what he or she wants. When Alice hands me a picture of M&Ms, I definitely know what she wants me to give her when she has finished her work.

So the long and short of it is yes, with frequent modeling, some children will learn to talk after using picture communication, but not all. Unfortunately, the sensory portion of the brain may be inhibiting speech. Don’t give up saying the word associated with a picture when your child hands it to you. You might be pleasantly surprised when you hear a beautiful voice repeat the very word you just said!

Recently, I met a reader that asked why I had not responded to a question she sent by email a few years ago. I felt awful but I had not received her email. The woman had lots of good questions about her nonverbal son. Unfortunately, sometimes AOL and other servers screen emails so well that the items end up in the junk mail.

I apologize to those of you that have tried writing but never received an email back. If you do not get a response by using [email protected], try the website [email protected]. Remember you can also get some of your questions answered on great informational autism websites. They can be readily accessed by computer. Just scroll down to exactly what interests you.

Some suggested autism websites are autism are: www.autismspeaks.org, www.autism-society.org, www.autism.com, www.autismweb.com, and www.disabilityscoop.com.

Pamela Gross Downing, a special education teacher can be reached at [email protected].

“The Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has Struggled to Deliver Integrated, Outcomes-Focused Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.”

Texas Sunset Review Commission Final Results, July, 2015

My article last week delved into the lack of treatment services for persons with mental illness and substance use disorders, and the fact that our community has always done the best they could to provide the needed treatment; despite the lack of funding and clear-cut policy and other resources.

Just what services are available, and what is being done to bring equity to these individuals and their families? Very recently the U.S. Senate passed the Comprehensive Addictions and Recovery Act (CARA), by a vote of 94 to 1, authorizing funding for evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery programs to help Americans struggling with addiction. The Bill has been sent to the House of Representatives, where it is also predicted to pass overwhelmingly. This bill will authorize $600 million for grants to aid in our battle against opioid addiction and other substances. Just how much of this “pie” will trickle down to Texas is yet to be seen.

The State of Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Sunset Review Commission released a final report in July of last year, on the status of treatment services in our state; findings of inadequacies and recommendations to correct the inadequacies ( RE: Sunset Advisory Commission, Final Results, TDHS, July, 2015). The Review Commission found many inadequacies in our state services, but I want to concentrate on one area in particular which should be of interest to us all; the provision of services to those with mental illness and a co-occurring substance use disorder.

The Commission relates that 2 million persons in our state have a substance abuse problem, and almost 50 percent of persons with a mental illness diagnosis also have a substance abuse disorder; that’s over 200,000 individuals of the 500,000 adults in our state with serious mental illness. The Commission also pointed out that 175,000 of our youth have severe emotional disturbance.

As I pointed out in my previous article however, more than 60 percent of adults and more than 50 percent of our youth do not receive treatment for their disorders. The Commission also pointed out that there is a gross disparity in the mental health funding for regions of our state; some regions only seeing a very small part of the mental health and substance abuse “pie.”

Although I will not go into this report with any length, as it is very lengthy, I believe it is important to point out a few items. Inadequacies in our state services, as given by the Commission, include: DSHS distributes local mental health funding without a rational plan, attempts to more equitable distribute local mental health funding have repeatedly failed, local mental health organizations do not receive the support they need to be effective, most DSHS data requirements provide little information on actual outcomes, outdated regulations for community-based behavioral health treatment facilities stifle innovation and may not adequately protect vulnerable populations, DSHS has not seized obvious opportunities to integrate hotline, screening, and assessment functions for mental health and substance abuse services; and many other issues.

The Commission, in their recommendations they suggest that DSHS be required to integrate mental health and substance abuse hotline, screening, assessment, and referral functions; and require DSHS to focus funding equity efforts for local mental health authorities on targeted capacity needs rather than narrow per capita funding. The persistent disparity in Regional Mental Health Funding is a paramount issue…it always has been.

In 2013, for example, the statewide averages of funding in 28 of the 38 state regions were further away from the $8.61 to $27.34 per capita spending allocated in 2006…and, as I have so often pointed out, this is extremely below the average of 48 other states in this regard.

Historically, we in the Rio Grande Valley communities have seen treatment services come and go, have witnessed the inadequate funding for our region, and the gross miss-management in past treatment services. My colleagues and I whom have worked for many years in the mental health and substance abuse arenas have been witness to this, and have advocated for services for many, many years. With the implementations of the Sunset Review Commission, many changes are taking place within DHSH and in our Legislature. We are starting to see the results in the Valley…The Tropical Texas Behavioral Health agency has implemented Substance Abuse Services in our communities, particularly in regards to the co-occurring disorders of mental illness and substance use disorders.

I really applaud them for this initiative. Their Substance Abuse programs are now in the very capable and experienced hands of a “doubled barreled” Licensed Chemical Dependency and Licensed Professional Counselor, an administrator well trained and experienced in the fields of mental health and substance abuse that I have known for a long time. These type of programs administered by LCDC’s have long been recommended by the Texas Association of Addiction Counselors (TAAP) and other Associations…who better to manage substance abuse and co-occurring programs than an experienced professional trained in the specific area?

Although the initiatives taking place throughout the state are really nothing new, we have been there before when there were many substance abuse and co-occurring treatment facilities and initiatives in the Valley. I would that this not be another cyclic “ca plus change” situation, that the recommendations of the Sunset Review Commission are taken very seriously and live to fruition, and truly not be verbiage but action oriented such as the recent implementation of the substance abuse programs by Tropical Texas Behavioral Health. Are we just going through yet another cycle of program initiatives, or is a real renaissance taking place? Being an optimist and realist, I would surely hope so.

Until next time, Stay healthy my friends!

HARLINGEN — Ever since a vaccine against a cancer-causing virus became available, controversy has abounded about its safety, effectiveness and even necessity.

The vaccine, Gardasil, was released in 2006 by pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. It was hailed as a vaccination against HPV (human papillomavirus). The vaccine protects people against at least two strains the can cause cervical and other cancers.

HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health care professionals recommended children receive the vaccination as early as age 9. Some states considered mandatory vaccination.

However, many parents were outraged at the implication that their children were sexually active at that age. They were even more concerned about safety issues, saying it hadn’t been properly tested and there were serious side effects. They said the drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration after only six months.

Dr. Bobby Muñiz, a local pharmacist, said Gardasil has numerous side effects, including strokes and seizures. He strongly disagreed with vaccinating children as young as 9 years old.

“That’s too young to be taking it with the side effects,” said Muñiz, owner of Rio Grande Pharmacy and member of the Harlingen school board.

“When I go to pharmacy seminars, they’re saying more research needs to be done,” he said. “Based on more concerns about additional risks, I don’t offer it. I just give general information.”

An online article from CBS News details concerns by Dr. Diane Harper, one of the lead researchers of Gardasil. She expresses concern in the article about girls as young as 11 years old being vaccinated. She also said there’s no proof the vaccine lasts longer than five years, although some in the medical community claim it lasts a lifetime.

If it doesn’t last, she said, the children are at risk from serious side effects, “small but real,” for no benefit.

“The benefit to public health is nothing, there is no reduction in cervical cancers,” Harper says in the article. “They are just postponed, unless the protection lasts for at least 15 years and over 70 percent of all sexually active females of all ages are vaccinated.”

She also says in the article that enough serious side effects have been reported after Gardasil use that the vaccine could prove riskier than the cervical cancer it purports to prevent.

The American Cancer Society, however, said that the article grossly misrepresents what Harper actually said.

The organization refers to the hoax-busting snopes.com website, which says that yes, Harper has expressed concerns about how long Gardasil will last. She’s also voiced concern about whether it might lead some women to avoid taking other precautions against STDs, “but she has never said that Gardasil “doesn’t work,” “wasn’t tested,” or was “dangerous.”

In addition, Dr. Harper has continued to publish articles in health journals related to the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine.

There are three licensed HPV vaccines available in the United States. Some groups claim Gardasil was approved after being tested on fewer than 2,000 girls under the age of 16. However, the CDC says 29,000 participants were studied in clinical trials.

Gardasil 9 was approved in 2014 after clinical trials with more than 15,000 participants. Cervarix was approved for use in 2009 after clinical trials involving 30,000 women and girls.

Fears still abound about the side effects of Gardasil. One accusation on the Internet claims 32 people have died.

The www.truthaboutgardasil.com website puts the fatality rate at more than 100.

The website claims the vaccine has caused seizures, strokes, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, headaches, stomach pains, muscle pain and weakness, and chest pains. It provides a long list of more side effects.

However, the CDC says that, like all vaccinations, the HPV immunization has a few side effects which include fever, headache, fatigue and nausea.

MERCEDES — For Morgan Thomas, the care of her animals comes before her own. That care paid off yesterday when the Lyford High School senior’s grand champion steer Atlantis sold at auction for $25,000 at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show.

“Their care comes before yours,” she said. “You don’t eat before your steers eat, and you make sure that they’re fine before you care for yourself because in the end you’re responsible for them. “They depend on you for everything, and you need to be able to keep up your end of the bargain.”

Atlantis was one of the crowd’s favorites at the Livestock Show’s Sale of Champions.

It was the right investment, Thomas said. Her family, which feeds between 16 and 18 steers every year, had a hard decision to make.

“My dad gave us an ultimatum, ‘Do you all want to go to Atlantis on vacation or get another steer,’” she said.

“We picked another steer, and we think we did pretty good because we won with him.”

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Cameron County’s election officials are already making preparations for the May runoff.

These include listing polling locations, drafting the new ballots and registering new voters.

Elections Administrator Remi Garza said a larger turnout than usual is expected for the runoffs.

“We’re anticipating about 50 percent of the voters that turned out on (March 1). That’s based on the numbers that showed up in the primary,” Garza said.

A total of 44,475 voters made it out to the polls for the March primaries.

Both parties have sent their lists in for polling locations available on May 24, Election Day.

The Cameron County Democratic Party will host the same locations that were available on March 1.

A full list of the locations can be found online at the Cameron County Department of Elections and Voter Registration website.

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HARLINGEN — Mailene Yeakel wishes she’d known sooner about a vaccine that could have prevented her type of cervical cancer.

Yeakel, 26, learned about the vaccine against human papillomavirus, or HPV, about a month after she’d been diagnosed with cervical cancer in December 2013. After the initial diagnosis, further examination found she’d been infected with a strain of the virus that can cause cancer of the cervix, penis, lungs and throat.

Three doses of a vaccination called Gardasil could have prevented infection of the virus.

As things were, the cancer had progressed quickly to Stage 3 because of her anemia and diminished immune system. She had to undergo an outpatient surgery to remove the malignancy — and a significant part of her cervix.

The operation has made it extremely difficult for her and her new husband, Robert, to conceive children. When she learned about a simple vaccination, she was angry and hurt.

“I was very upset because it was something that was so common,” Yeakel said. “Everybody gets the flu shot so why can’t they promote the HPV?”

Gardasil became available in 2006 from pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. Controversy quickly erupted about the vaccine on several levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says boys and girls should receive the vaccination by age 12. HPV is transmitted primarily through sexual activity as well as other means. Parents objected to the idea of vaccinating their children against a sexually-transmitted disease. Others felt it hadn’t been tested enough, that there were dangerous side effects such as shock and stroke, and that HPV in fact wasn’t that serious.

Another HPV vaccine, Cervarix, is administered only to girls.

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HARLINGEN — “Yeah. You got it. You got it.”

Dina Vasquez was cheering on her young grandson Rigo Vasquez III as he reached down to grab a plastic Easter Egg. The boy, only a year old, didn’t have to reach very far. He seemed to enjoy this new experience with his grandmother and his mother Ashley Vasquez.

They were in a field at Fair Park where colorful Easter Eggs had been scattered like confetti as part of the VP Egg Drop held yesterday by Valley Praise church. Numerous tables and booths were set up to offer temporary tattoos, sack races and other activities.

Each activity gave the children a chance to have their wrist band stamped, said Janine Campbell, event coordinator for Valley Praise church.

After the children had four stamps on their wrist bands, they were granted the opportunity to enter the field full of plastic eggs.

The steady flow of children into the field to collect the eggs made it a continuous egg hunt, rather than allowing the children to charge in all at once.

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HARLINGEN — Palm fronds were what once topped an 80-foot Washingtonia palm tree in Mel Lofgren’s lawn.

Today, the tree is not as tall as it once was, but its new look gives it just as much glory as it always had.

The tree stands only 12 feet now and has a statue of a bald eagle perched at the top instead of palm leaves.

It has become an artistic salute to the armed forces and the men and women who have served in the military.

“It’s good recognition to the guys who have served and who are still serving,” said Jeremy Adams, Mel’s son-in-law and an Army veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan. “We don’t get enough recognition unless it’s Veterans Day.”

The tree in Mel’s yard was struck by lightning last year.

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HARLINGEN — Kristina Stillsmoking beamed with pride as she talked about the 15,000-square-foot simulation center she has helped develop.

Part of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, the high-tech teaching facility is located on the second floor of the VA Medical Outpatient building, next door to the Regional Academic Health Center on Treasure Hills Boulevard.

Going from room to room, it is difficult to imagine just two years ago, it was a shell.

That’s when Stillsmoking, a former nurse and 20-year Army veteran, put her personal and experienced touches on the center.

What once were basically empty rooms with real-life, costly simulation mannequins on plain hospital beds, the center now has all the right look and feel.

“They had clothes on, but there were no sheets,” Stillsmoking said. “It wasn’t really set up. There were no personal touches. I was told to take it over and make it happen.”

That’s what she has done and it isn’t the first time.

The director of the simulation center, Stillsmoking has brought a wealth of varied knowledge to the position and to Harlingen.

She’s been in the Army for 20 years through two wars with significant background in emergency responses.

Stillsmoking also has been a hospital educator and a part of disaster response on the West coast and has worked for the Department of Defense.

There, she set up simulation centers before heading to do similar work in Dallas for Baylor University.

About two years ago, she was seeking a new position when the one in Harlingen came up.

“I had no idea where Harlingen even was,” she said. “I came down and fell in love with it because it is like coming home to my roots in Southern California, where I grew up.”

Just recently, her vast experience and knowledge led to another opportunity.

Stillsmoking, who lives in Treasure Hills overlooking the golf course, has been named to the Governor’s Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response.

She said a colleague had nominated her.

“I can’t win a scratch off lotto, so I wasn’t going to get excited,” Stillsmoking said. “Next thing I know, the Governor’s office is calling. I was very honored and excited.”

She is one of 31 on the newly-created group which meets quarterly in Austin.

Stillsmoking said she brings a nursing and educational background to the group, which is different than most of those serving.

“I come from an educational perspective and everybody else is in the trenches every day on the health department side,” she said. “Everybody is more on the global side and I want to be able to apply the educational model and I will look from that side.”

While serving on the task force, Stillsmoking remains focused intently on the simulation center and is eager to welcome the medical students, who are set to start in late July.

In the meantime, she continues to focus on community outreach and working with organizations involved in teaching those of all ages about the medical field.

“Everybody says you have to get them in high school, but I have always said it is about getting the little kids excited and keeping them excited,” she said about the medical field.

There’s little doubt as soon as people of all ages walk into Stillsmoking’s center, they’re as excited as she is.