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Gene Gobble (1968)
Regarding neat things in the history of Alice here are some stories that didn't make the front page in their day. I would enjoy feedback. {Ron McCandless}
Deputy Sheriff Bob Miller didn't look the part of the kind of man that this story portrays but he was tall (I was only in the second grade so he was tall to me) and had a very nice way with kids. His daughter graduated in 1969 so once in a while I got to speak with him as I saw him around town. In the 50's there were a number of people stealing the new rotary drilling bits and making a big business out of it. Bob Miller had someone working undercover for one of the companies that sold bits in Alice. He arranged a raid based on information supplied by his informant. The night this was going to happen everyone was instricted to not let the local Texas Ranger know about the raid. The reasom for this was that old ranger was a bit quick on the draw and his motto seemed to include the phrase "let God sort 'em out" That old Ranger, who lived in Alice a hundred yards from Bob Miller's home while we were in school carried his old Single Action Army "Cowboy" Colt pistol long after he retired. Deputy Miller did not want his man to get shot and the plan called for him to make a getaway. Miller feared that the Ranger would shoot as soon as he saw someone run.
All went according to plan until the men began to load up in their vehicles to go make the raid. The Ranger seeing everyone gathered at the courthouse pulled up and started asking questions. Finally the truth came out and Miller advised the Ranger that his man was wearing a yellow shirt and would jump a fence and to let him make a getaway.
At the raid, everything went like clockwork, including what Miller suspected would happen. The man made a move for the fence and Deputy Miller saw the Ranger's hand go to his gun. Now if you knew the reputation of this Ranger and his history you would know to not do what Miller did. But then, Bob Miller was made of pretty strong stuff. He could not grab the Ranger or say anything without letting the bad guys know the man was undercover but Bob Miller stepped in front of the Ranger as the old lawman cocked the gun to shoot the man in the yellow shirt. Like I said, Bob Miller was quite a fellow.
I heard this story from several sources but the best and mosts trusted story came from a former partner of the Ranger who was a new Ranger back in the 30's and went on a horseback trip with the more experienced Ranger to observe reported drug and gun smuggling across the Rio Grande. That is another story but it put the fear in me even though as a kid I had ventured to the old Ranger's home and watched him work on guns in his garage just across the street from the ball parks and National Guard Armory.
One more tale that I observed myself. I am sorry that at this moment I can't remember the old man's name but if you knew him you could not forget those piercing gray blue eyes. I was sitting in the coffee shop at the old drive inn in Kingsville on the highway where the road turned to go to A & I. There was a Senior DPS officer who was a training officer and so I knew the young man with him was a new officer. They sat down at a table next to me and were waiting on their order and sipping coffee when the door opened and there he was, still straight and in sharply pressed Khaki pants, freshly shined boots and a starched white shirt. More noticeable than the wardrobe was the Colt on his hip. It was not unusual for me to see him but I noticed the young officer immediately eyeballed that gun. The training officer greeting him and asked him join them. He did the introductions and soon there were war stories exchanged. I missed a class just to sit in on that.
The old man got up threw a tip on the table and wished the young office luck in his career. He had not been gone long enough for the door to close when the young man asked, "He is retired right?" "Yes" the older man replied knowing what was next. "Well, he can't wear that gun like that"
I had a hard time keeping straight at this point. The older much more experienced officer knitted his brow together and offered a solution. "Why don't YOU go tell him that." More coffee was poured and the subject never came up again.
Please send these stories out and see if anyone can tell me the name of that old man. He may have been a bit wild but at the time that was the way to stay alive and he saved a many a life in his carreer.
Ron McCandless
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