By Steve Hathcock
Special to the PRESS
Moments in Time is a collection of recovered newspaper briefs and other publications, compiled by local historian, Steve Hathcock, offering a look back at the history of the Rio Grande Valley.
Steve Hathcock is a local historian and a regular columnist for the Port Isabel South Padre Press. He has spent many years collecting and sharing the history of the Rio Grande Valley, as well as treasure hunting and formerly owning an Island-based bookstore.
In Our Valley
“FOUND—Near Mercedes, Tex., a Spanish coin minted in 1761, and evidently lost 100 years ago. Owner may have same by applying in person to D. C. Earnest. Mercedes, Texas.”
That’s a classified advertisement that reached The Herald today from Mr. Earnest. And The Herald is glad to print it without charge and does not guarantee that the owner will be found—at least on this earth, (and The Herald has no circulation at other points at this time.)
The coin was minted during the reign of Carlos, the Third, of Spain. It was uncovered by Mr. Earnest while discing his grapefruit orchard five miles north of Mercedes. A mesquite root was turned up and the coin found about one foot below the surface.
“IT IS MY THEORY,” says Mr. Earnest in an accompanying letter, “that this coin was lost, probably more than 100 years ago; perhaps by a Spanish priest, or someone who camped on this hill on the way to some of the Spanish missions near the Rio Grande. “
According to its date this coin is 167 years old. It was minted 15 years before the American declaration of independence, and seven years before the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte.”
(The Brownsville Herald Brownsville, Texas · Wednesday, May 16, 1928)
Dead Fish
Thousands of tons of dead fish, believed to have been killed by fumes from an earthquake under the gulf of Mexico, have been washed up on the shores of Padre Island, Texas. (The Toronto Telegram Mon, Nov 11, 1935)
Editor’s Note: This was one of the first well-documented major red tide events on the Texas coast. Dead fish stretched for approximately 84 miles along the coast, from Port Aransas south past Padre Island. Estimates put the total at several thousand tons of fish. Locals reported a strong irritating “gas” (actually brevetoxins from the algae) that caused coughing and eye irritation. Local residents, fishermen, and early tourism operators manually shoveled and hauled dead fish using wheelbarrows and small trucks. The 1935 event helped scientists begin connecting red tide algae (Karenia brevis) to these massive fish kills.
Says She Slew Husband To Save Daughter’s Life
United Press KINGSVILLE, Tex., Nov. 3 — Mrs. Sunny Canales Worden, 42, who said she killed her second husband on an island in the Gulf of Mexico with a diamond-studded pistol when he tried to make her shoot her own daughter, was formally charged with murder today.
The body of Don Worden, 45, a San Antonio real estate man, was found near Corpus Christi last Saturday. Mrs. Worden also alleged that he hypnotized her two months ago and made her turn over $135,000 to him. She said that while on a fishing trip on Oct. 22 her husband forced her to dig a shallow grave on Padre Island, off the Texas coast and then handed her a .22 caliber pistol studded with 12 diamonds—she said she paid $1,000 for the jewelry alone—and told her:“ “Go ahead and shoot the kid. Then I know you’ll blow your own brains out if you do. ”
The “kid” was Maria Teresa Canales, 5, her daughter by her first husband, Prexides Canales, a wealthy Premont, Tex., oilman, from whom she was divorced last Aug. 3.
Maria screamed and ran, Mrs. Worden told Texas Rangers, and Worden attempted to seize the child. Mrs. Worden said she took the pistol, shot Worden in the chest, and buried him in the grave. The wind and water stripped the sand from Worden’s body, and two fishermen discovered him last Saturday. (The Montreal Star Thu, Nov 03, 1955)
Editor’s Note: Sunny was arrested and formally charged with murder in early November 1955 in Kingsville, Texas. She was released on bond. She passed a voluntary lie detector (polygraph) test, which supported her version of events. On December 13, 1955, a county grand jury reviewed the case and cleared her of all charges, effectively ruling the killing as justifiable self-defense.
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