Athens Folk Talk About Sid, Clint

At Fiddle Festival

Athens Fold Talk About Sid, Clint

By Robert Baskin
News Staff Writer

Athens, Texas. - They held an old fiddlers reunion in Athens Friday but there was more talk about the square about Old Sid and Old Clint than there was about the merits of fiddle music.

Old Sid is Sid Richardson, and Old Clint is Clint Murchison, both Henderson County natives who have made their mark in the world.

The talk centered on their part in the big battle being waged by another Texan, Robert R. Young, for control of the New York Centrail Railway. Sid and Clint brought up twenty million in shares to help Young.

In Doc Stirman's Drugstore, the unofficial political capital of this part of East Texas, there was considerable scoffing at some of the reports that have circulated in recent months about the famed pair of millionaires.

"One magazine said that Athens had produced fifty millionaires," said Doc Stirman, "the folks around here can't count more than five or six. We can't figure out where that figure came from,"

R. T. Craig, president of First National Bank, which was an early keystone of the Murchison financial empire, said that since the new York Central row started more than fifty pieces of mail a day had been coming to the bank for Murchison, who now lives in Dallas.

"A good part of it appears to be solicitations for money," Craig said.

Talk about Sid and Clint supplanted political talk at this year's old fiddlers' reunion. Ordinarily the politicians flock to Athens for the event, although political speeches are barred.

This year not a single state candidate turned up. But local candidates had a field day of handing out cards and shaking hands as the fiddle music was sawed out.

The principal address was made in mid afternoon by Congressman John Dowdy of Athens, giving the crowd a half-hour's respite from the music.

Dowdy warned the crowd assembled on the courthouse lawn that the Federal Government is continually making additional encroachments on the state and local governments.

"We are abdicating our right to govern ourselves by asking Washington to take over functions of government which should be kept at a local level," Dowdy warned as swarms of children darted among their elders and babies rolled in the grassy shade.

The fiddle music sounded pretty much alike, but one old timer fiddler came up with a  new tune, "the Eyetalian Dream Waltz," which broke the monotony somewhat.

Oldest fiddler present was J. L. Dozier, 83, of Corsicana.

There were fifteen fiddlers over sixty-five in the competition. Winners were G. S. Rose of San Angelo, first; T. J. Foley of Jewett, Leon County, second; F. C. Foley of Corsicana, third, Cass Hopson of Athens, fourth; and S. E. Bunyard of Athens, fifth.

Bob Cross, manager of the chamber of commerce, estimated the crowd at about 5,000 late in the afternoon. More people flocked in to take part in the dancing on the main streets around the courthouse Friday night.

Dallas Morning News
Saturday, May 29, 1953
Part I, Page 10