Pages past — Oct. 23

On this date ...

1951: Southwestern Public Service Co. officials warned Clovis residents that water was “not readily available ... nor is it inexpensive.”

District Manager C.O. Greene announced the company’s No. 7 well, located in the Liebelt Tract near the high school athletic field, had caved in.

The well was once among the company’s most productive, producing 900 gallons of water per minute.

“However, it had been drawing air under peak consumption this summer, apparently a prelude to the cave in,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.

Greene said the water well cave in was the third in Clovis in six years.

Greene said SPS had nine wells in Clovis, but would have to dig a new one before summer “if Clovis is to avoid a water shortage.”

1946: A fire at Portales Junior High’s gymnasium destroyed 150 lockers.

School officials said the cause of the fire was unknown, but little else was damaged in the blaze.

Cost to replace the lockers was estimated at $500.

1941: An overnight drenching left farmers’ fields too wet to harvest.

Some areas received nearly 2 inches of rain, boosting the year’s total to 40 inches and more — double the average for eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:

http://www.highplainsyesterdays.com