Bill's Stories About Growing Up
in Pistol Ridge, Mississippi
Written and Compiled by Bill Bounds
TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT
By Bill Bounds
While I was in high school (11th grade), I quit school because I believed I was getting a raw deal from Forrest
County Agricultural High School.
I would be absent from school about one day per week to work picking cotton, ramping tung oil nuts, hauling wood, picking up pecans or anything else I could get paid for. In the meantime, at the end of two consecutive six-week grade periods, I received “incomplete” grades for all subjects taken during those two time periods.
I had completed all the required school work, and passed all the required tests and had higher grade averages than most other students. I inquired why I didn’t get a passing grade. All teachers responded the same way. If you miss 5 or more days during a six week period, you get an incomplete grade.
I took my case to Mr Shoemake, the superintendent. He told me I hadn’t met school attendance requirements, therefore I could only receive a rating of incomplete.
There was only one thing to do: “Take this job and shove it. I ain’t working here no more!”
After working low paying jobs for about a year, I joined the U.S. Army and passed the High School GED test. Then I attended college for four years and graduated with a B.S. degree in biology.
Lesson learned; Know the rules and follow them.
Bounds' Becoming Adults
STUDY WHAT ???
(~2005)
By Bill Bounds
Greg, after completing a BS degree from Davidson University in North Carolina, moved on to the University of Tennessee, and completed his Doctorate in Industrial Psychology. Then after co-authoring several books with other University of Tennessee experts in that field, he went to Harvard University to complete advanced studies in Industrial Psychology.
While at Harvard he was assigned books to study that he co-authored.
Hey Greg, were your books harder to write or harder to study???
Or maybe; they were easy to write and hard to study.
SYLVIA`S ARSENAL
(2008)
By Bill Bounds
Penny called on the telephone one morning and asked me if I knew about Sylvia Jean’s “arsenal” blowing up. I asked her to repeat what she had just said. Penny said, “Do you know about Sylvia’s ‘arsenal’ blowing up?”
I said, “Penny, I didn’t know Sylvia had an arsenal”. Penny answered, “You know one of those arsenal cans blew up and split her mobile home apart.”
I said, “Penny, I never heard of an arsenal can.”
Penny said, “You know one of those spray ‘arsenal’ cans.”
“Penny,” I said, “do you mean an aerosol can like hair spray or WD-40 comes in?”
Penny said, “Aerosol can, yeah, that’s it. I said it wrong, didn’t I?” She then said; “ Sylvia wasn’t hurt and was going to buy a new mobile home.”
Whew!!!
GUS GETS A NEW ENGINE FOR HIS
ALMOST NEW CAR
(~1956)
by Bill Bounds
Gus bought a new Dodge sedan from the Porter Norris Dodge dealer in Lumberton, Mississippi. After driving it several hundred miles, the engine developed a loud knock.
The new car warranty at the time was 2000 miles. He took the car back to the dealer. The dealer offered to overhaul the engine. Gus didn’t want an overhauled engine in his practically new car.
He left the dealership, drove slowly several miles to get brother-in-law, Joe, to listen and look at the engine and tell him if it could be repaired. Gus knew that Joe had worked as a mechanic at a Dodge dealership for several years.
Joe looked at it and listened to the engine, then told Gus he needed to listen to the engine more. He told Gus to walk down to the fish pond and sit down while he listened closely to the engine to determine the cause of the engine knock.
Gus walked down to the pond and sat down on the pond dam while Joe listened to the engine.
All of a sudden Gus heard a loud noise coming from Joe’s shop. It was the sound of the car engine running full throttle with no load to hold it back. After about one minute, a loud banging noise occurred and the engine shut down.
Gus headed back to the shop. Joe was standing beside the car grinning. He said, “Gus, I found the trouble and it ain’t repairable. A rod came loose and knocked a hole through the engine block. ” “We’ll drag it back to the dealer and you will get a new engine with a new warranty.”
Joe never told why the engine ran for about a minute at full throttle while in his shop. Gus got his new engine, provided, installed and warranted by the Dodge dealer.
GUS AND THE FOUR-MINUTE CHAIR
(~1953)
By Bill Bounds
I worked along side Gus for about a year upholstering chairs at Mr. Ward Hurt’s Lumberton Manufacturing Company in Lumberton, Mississippi.
We were paid a certain amount for each chair we upholstered. The simplest chair we built had a seat and a separated back to be cushioned and covered. The seat cushion required nailing in springs, tacking burlap covering over the springs, woodwool and cotton batting forming the cushion before tacking the seat cover over the seat.
The back of the chair required a stout piece of cardboard tacked in, then covered with woodwool and cotton batting, then placing and tacking the cover on. The bottom of the seat cushion was then covered by tacking a coarse screen cloth, and the back of the chair was covered with the upholstery material.
The upholstery material was tacked in place by sterile tacks which were deposited into the upholsterers mouth, usually along with a mouth full of chewing tobacco. The magnetic tack hammer was dipped into a box of tacks, about a half cup of tacks would cling to the magnetic tack hammer. The upholsterer would then strip these tacks from the hammer with his lips into his mouth.
How Gus could chew tobacco; spit tacks , one at the time onto his tack hammer, drive them into the wooden chair usually between his fingers at the rate of 2 to 3 tacks per second is still a mystery to me. The tack had to be firmly in place in the right place with one blow of the hammer. It required a lot of skill to keep from tacking his fingers to the chair.
We were paid 45 cents for each chair we upholstered. To make good money we had to build these chairs very fast. It took me about 7 minutes to build one. Gus could build one in 5 minutes.
Gus said “I’m going to build one of these chairs in less than four minutes.” The rest of us upholsterers (about ten of us) gathered around to watch him race against the clock. Stacks of the required materials placed in order of use were by his upholstery table.
We gathered around to watch this attempt to build the “four-minute” chair. He placed two magnetic hammer loads of sterile tacks into his mouth along with his big wad of chewing tobacco. He went to work on the chair, spitting tacks onto the face of his magnetic hammer faster than a woodpecker can peck on wood.
As he neared the three minute mark, the foreman walked up to see what was going on. Gus got the chair completely upholstered in 3 minutes and 59 seconds. We were congratulating him on his furniture upholstery speed.
The dubious foreman said, “Gus, I don’t believe you can build a quality chair in less than four minutes. I’m going to take this chair apart to see if you built it right.”
Gus said, “I can build another chair faster than you can take that one apart to check for quality.”
The race was on, Gus building a chair, and the foreman tearing one apart to determine if it met quality standards. Gus got another “four-minute” chair built before the quality control man could finish inspecting and taking the first one apart. He could find nothing wrong with Gus’s “four-minute” chair.
The foreman looked a bit flabbergasted. Gus said, “I expect to be paid for the chair you tore apart.” The foreman agreed. Gus got paid for two “four-minute: chairs.
ALMOST ROBBED
(~1965)
by Bill Bounds
This happening is written as told to me by Brother-in-Law, Bud Fore..
(Bud speaking:)
I was going on a pecan nut buying trip through rural areas of Alabama and Georgia. I went to the bank, got a considerable amount of cash to pay for pecans where ever I could find people with pecans for sale.
Before making this trip, I decided that, because I carried so much cash on me, I needed to carry a pistol with me for self-protection. I got a pistol permit from the sheriff’s office in Wiggins, bought a 357 Magnum revolver, loaded it with soft nosed bullets, and placed it under the truck seat.
I said goodbye to Cleo and the kids and headed out to buy pecans in Alabama and Georgia.
I had bought enough to have my truck almost loaded with pecans. It was a hot, dry day. I stopped at a Georgia country store, bought something cool to drink and asked if there were pecans for sale in the area.
The man store man said “I`ve got some. How much are you paying?” We made a deal. In the meantime, two shady-looking men drove up in an old “rattle-trap” Buick 4-door sedan.
After weighing the pecans and paying the man, I became suspicious that the two shady looking guys were eyeing my thick billfold and probably sizing me up as to how easy, or tough I might be if they tried to rob me.
I left in a hurry, relieved that the two thugs weren’t brave enough to rob me.
As I traveled on, thinking of the deal I had just made, I realized that in my haste to leave the country store, I had probably not paid fully for the pecans. I stopped, weighed the 3 sacks of pecans again and realized my old-fashioned “cotton scales” had under-weighed the pecans.
As I passed through the next small town I stopped and checked my scales against a set of certified scales at a local hardware store. My scales were under-weighing the pecans. I turned my truck around and went back to pay the guy the remaining amount that I owed him.
As I explained to the store man why I had returned with the money I owed him, the two thuggish-looking guys showed up again, eyeing me and my billfold. I was getting even more suspicious of them. The thugs got in their car and drove off in the same direction that I would be leaving the store. I was relieved to see them go.
I got in my truck, headed down the narrow unpaved country road, topped a hill and there was the “old Buick” stopped in the middle of the narrow dirt road, hood up and all four doors opened. There was not room for me to go around them.
I reached under the seat, found my 357 Magnum, laid it on my lap and stopped. The two men began walking towards me. By this time I had my pistol in my hand, but it was still out of their sight.
I called out, “Have you guys got a problem?” “Car broke down,” one said. One man had his hand in his pocket as both of them walked up to my truck.
I raised the 357 up high enough for them to see it. They both did a hasty about-face and ran for the old Buick. They slammed down the car hood and got into the car, the car lurched forward, slamming all four doors shut. Those 2 guys left the scene in a cloud of dust.
I sat there in my truck trying to calm down. I heard a clattering-rat-a-tat-tat sound. I looked around, tying to figure out what was making the rattling noise. Finally I realized that I still had the pistol in my hand and was shaking so bad that the pistol barrel was rattling against the metal window molding of my truck.
I finally calmed down enough to get the truck moving. I headed home to Mississippi to be with Cleo and the kids, thankful that I had armed myself with a very mean-looking pistol.
DIPLOMACY WINS
(~1957)
by Bill Bounds
Millard`s late wife Arland was a very determined, get the job done right type of person . This ambitious, get it done attitude, sometimes rubbed people the wrong way.
While living in Laurel, MS, she took a job as a sales, and cosmetic application agent in the cosmetic section of a large department chain store. She was very successful as a sales person, and cosmetic application specialist. She sold and did more cosmetic applications than her immediate boss did.
After some time she was personally awarded a letter of commendation for her outstanding work by the store manager, in front of her immediate boss. Arland immediately sensed that her boss was going into a “ jealous rage” and was about to “blow a fuse”.
Arland defused this situation with her boss by saying, to the store manager; “The reason I`ve done so well is that my immediate boss is a very good teacher, she has taught me very well.” This brought a big smile to her boss`s face.
Arland believed that diplomacy always wins.
DON’T MESS WITH ME OR MY FRIENDS
(~1963)
By Bill Bounds
Ira had a job at the shipyard at Pascagoula, MS. He car-pooled to work each workday with several other guys from the Pistol Ridge/Carnes area. They met each workday and parked their cars at a small service station on Highway 49 near Maxie, MS. They took turns driving to work, leaving several of their cars parked at the service station. None of these carpoolers bought gasoline from this service station.
One day the guy who owned the service station came out and told them, “You guys use my service station to park your cars every day, but none of you buy gasoline from me. If you want to park here, buy your gas from me.”
Ira didn’t take the man seriously. About three weeks later Ira came from work and found that his car had vanished from the station. He asked the station owner if he knew where his car was.
The man said he saw a tow truck hook on to it and drag it off. He claimed that he didn’t know where the tow truck took the car. Ira hunted the Hattiesburg, Brooklyn and Wiggins area, but could not find his car.
Ira told, Brother-in-law, Joe about his hunt for his car. Joe volunteered to go with Ira to talk to the service station guy and maybe the guy would tell Ira where to find the car.
Joe and Ira went to the service station. Joe told the guy that Ira needed to get his car back. The man said he didn’t know or care where it was and for both of them to get off his property. He cussed both of them out, threatening to get his gun to them if they didn’t leave. They left.
About two weeks later, the guy came early in the morning to open his service station. There was nothing there but smoldering ashes. The station had mysteriously burned to the ground during the night.
I don’t know if Ira ever got his car back and I don’t know if the service station owner ever got his service station back. I do know that Joe would sometimes say, “Don’t mess with me or my friends.”
DV AND NANCY’S FIRST HOUSE
(~1945)
By Bill Bounds
DV had been discharged frm the Army and had recently married Nancy. They bought forty forested acres near Carnes, MS. DV and Nancy decided they could build a log cabin to live in until they could build a better house.
They built the one room log cabin, equipped it with a potbellied wood stove and a bed and moved into it. DV began to clear the land for farming. Some of the pine logs were large enough to saw into lumber.
As he began to plant and harvest crops, he realized he had enough lumber-sized trees on the land to build a house. But first, he had to harvest the trees and get them to a sawmill.
DV owned an old beat up 1936 Chevrolet sedan. He cut the old car’s rear body off, added his version of a “fifth wheel”, built a makeshift trailer and attached it to the “fifth wheel”. He now had his miniature version of a log truck.
Zach Landrum’s “peckerwood sawmill” was about six miles away with one especially steep red gravel hill to get the loaded log truck over. DV cut and loaded up his logs and headed for the sawmill. He passed the old Eli Lee place, got a good bit of speed going, crossed Double Branch bridge and headed up the steep hill on the south side of Double Branch. His miniature log truck struggled and struggled, but could not make it up the hill.
Mother and kids were going to see Nancy and DV in her 1940 model Ford sedan. They were headed the opposite direction from which DV and his improvised log truck were headed. They headed down the steep hill south of Double Branch. Lo and behold, there was DV’s log truck stalled part way up the hill. DV’s truck engine had run hot and could not make it over the the steep hill.
He added more water to the radiator. DV asked Mother to back up to the top of the hill, get off the road, and stop any traffic coming towards him while he backed his truck up the not-so-steep hill on the north side of Double Branch.
After he backed the log truck up that hill for about one half mile, he got a running start down the hill. This time he got up enough speed to make it over the steep hill and continued on his way to the sawmill. He didn’t load so many logs onto his truck for the remaining trips to the sawmill.
He hauled enough logs on that improvised truck to saw into lumber to build a frame house, covered with brick siding and a tin roof.
DV became known as a man who figured some conventional or unconventional way to do whatever needed to be done.
HOW DV FOUND AND ROBBED HONEYBEE TREES
(~1940-1975)
By Bill Bounds
The cut over land of South Mississippi had many patches of gall berries on hills and groups of spring ti-ti in the small creek and swampy areas. In springtime the flowers of these plants were favorite nectar sources for wild honeybees. From these sources the bees made the best honey I’ve ever known.
Brother-in-law DV was always on the lookout for the “bee trees” in which the bees lived and stored their honey. Yes, DV would rob the bees of their honey to feed his family, but first he had to find the “bee tree”.
HOW DV FOUND THE BEE TREE
When the nectar was flowing at its best from the gall berry bushes and the bees were busily gathering nectar from their many flowers, DV would sneak up to the unsuspecting bees, sprinkle flour on them to make them more visible, and determine which way they flew to the home bee tree. He would then time the return of the flour-coated bees. This gave him an idea of the direction and how far away the bee tree was located.
DV would then walk a semi-circle from that gall berry patch for several hundred yards until he found another gall berry patch loaded with nectar gathering bees.
DV would again sprinkle the white flour on some of the bees, determine which way they flew to their home bee tree and how long it took them to return to the gall berry patch.
He would triangulate direction from the two patches by estimating where the lines of flight crossed. The bee tree would be near where the lines crossed. The flight time of the bees from patch to tree and back also gave him a clue as to how far away the bee tree was located.
DV would then carefully search the area where the lines crossed for a bee tree by eyesight until he found the bees going in and out of the hollow tree in which the bees stored their honey.
HOW DV ROBBED THE BEE TREE
He first cut the tree down with a crosscut saw, then selected the most likely spot where honey was stored in the hollow tree. He used the crosscut saw to saw halfway through the downed tree in several places with about one foot between each saw cut. He then took an axe and split off the top half of the hollow tree trunk between the cuts. This exposed the honeycomb.
It was time then to remove the honeycomb, with several thousand angry bees swarming around stinging him. DV sometimes burned pine straw to make smoke to calm the bees. The smoke did not always calm them.
He had no bee protection whatever other than a long sleeved shirt and hat, but he always got lots of honey. The bee stings didn’t seem to bother him very much.
DV and his family really enjoyed the honey with Nancy’s great biscuits.
Gus, Ira, and Porter later learned that bee stings can be very dangerous to your health.
HOG BITTEN
(~1970)
by Bill Bounds
It was visit Nancy`s family time. I drove up to their house got out of my vehicle and walked towards the house. DV came around the corner of the house with his hand wrapped in a very blood soaked towel. I asked; “ DV what happened to you”. DV said; “I was loading that old pet giant Red Duroc sow( close to 300 lbs) into the back of my pickup truck, I had one of her ears gripped in my hand and my other arm and hand behind her hams and was pushing her onto the truck bed. My hand grip on her ear slipped, and my hand pushed up along side her mouth and she bit my hand as I pushed her onto the truck.”
It was obvious that DV`s hand was badly mangled and needed medical attention. I offered to take him to the doctor. DV said “ I`ll get to the doctor. I need you to get this old sow to the Stockyard in Hattiesburg before it closes at 12 noon. I don`t want to see her anymore” I looked at my watch it was 11:05 am. I made sure the sow was secure in the back of the truck and headed to Hattiesburg in the old beat up Ford truck. I knew I had to hurry to meet the stockyard’s noon deadline.
I got onto Highway 49 near Brooklyn, looked at my watch, it was 11:22. I decided I had to go fast to get to the stockyard before closing time. I floor boarded the accelerator. There was no speedometer on this beat up old truck. I had no idea how fast I was going.
As I passed the Camp Shelby South Gate , a red light and siren came on behind me. I pulled over and stopped. It was Herschel Landrum, the local constable. He came up along side the truck and asked; “Bill do you know how fast you were going? I said “ I don`t know, the speedometer on this old truck is broken.” Herschel said; “ You were going 85 MPH, I can give you a speeding and reckless driving ticket for that.”
I told him that the hog in the back of the truck had severely bitten DV, as he loaded it into the truck, and DV asked me to get that hog to the stockyard for sale before it closed at 12 noon and that was why I was going so fast. Herschel thought about that for a moment, looked at his watch and then said; “Follow me”.
With redlight flashing and siren blaring Herschel escorted me and the hog all the rest of the way to almost downtown Hattiesburg, and then out River Ave. to the stockyard.
I backed the truck up to the unloading chute. I pushed the sow out into the chute and the stockyard men closed the gate behind her. I looked at my watch, it was exactly 12 noon. Herschel did not give me a speeding ticket, and DV never had to see that old sow again.
I don`t think DV ever regained full use of his hog bitten hand.
KNOCKED OUT COLD!!!
By Bill Bounds
It was my sophomore year at Forrest County High School. I was a defensive cornerback on the football team and was doing my best to become a starter on the team.
We were in a practice scrimmage game, getting ready for our next conference game. We had a very strong running fullback that ran lifting his knees real high.
This is my coach’s description of what happened to me.
It was about two p.m. A fullback off-tackle play was called. I tackled the fullback as he crossed the line of scrimmage. We were both running full speed ahead in opposite directions The high-stepping fullback’s knee hit me squarely in the forehead. I collapsed, “knocked out cold”.
The coach said he had laid me down on the football field side line until practice was over. I still had not regained consciousness. The coach had me carried to the boys dormitory and placed on a bed.
The coach said that after about an hour I could sit on the side of the bed and manage to stand if I held onto something. I still was not conscious.
At about six p.m. the coach decided to take me home. He took me to Nancy and DV’s house and left me. At about seven p.m. I regained consciousness while sitting at Nancy’s dinner table drinking a cup of coffee and talking with Nancy and Mother. I did not remember a thing about the previous several hours.
At the next days practice, the coach said, “Bill, take it easy today. Yesterday I had to take you home to your momma.”
Since my sister Nancy had always been like a momma to me, I didn’t tell him where he really took me.
Note: It was learned later that the coach had done just the opposite of what is now recommended for comatose people He should have kept me up, moving about
and awake.
Left to right- Ida Bounds, Ira Bounds, Gus Bounds, Bill Bounds, Nancy Bounds Soley, Henry Bounds, Penney Bounds Lee, Cleo Bounds Fore, and Millard Bounds
Bill Bounds
Forrest County Agricultural High School
11th grade 1952
Joe, Penney, and John Pilot Lee
Bottom row- left - Henry Bounds
Bill Bounds 1950's
TRIP TO PARCHMAN
(~1951)
By Bill Bounds
Two ladies in our community needed help driving the 275 miles to the Parchman, MS prison to see a husband and nephew that were serving time in the prison. I was 16 years old, had my first drivers license and was excited about traveling so far driving a Chevy pickup truck.
I agreed to go with them and help with the driving. We left before daylight and arrived at the prison camp about 6 hours later.
The prison was located in the middle of a 1000 acre onion field. The smell of onions was overwhelming.
We arrived about noon time on a very hot August day. We parked on a very hot blacktop parking area. The ladies told me I couldn’t go inside to visit their kinfolk because I was not immediate family of the two prisoners.
There was not an available shade tree in sight. I told them I would drive to the nearest town, find a cool spot and come get them later. Both ladies said, “You can’t do that!”
Well, I had no intention of sitting in the sun in that hot truck for several hours while they visited their incarcerated menfolk. I began to protest.
One lady said the only way to handle this situation was for me to leave my billfold and drivers license hidden under the truck seat and then I could sign myself in as a brother of her husband. I didn’t have much choice as she owned the truck and the temperature was over 100 degrees. I did as she suggested and signed in as Ben ____, brother of one of the inmates.
The guards did not question me. I went inside, visited and talked with many of the prisoners. They were happy to have someone from outside the prison to talk to.
The prison camp had no barriers around it other than guards with machine guns in each bunker at each of the 4 corners of the compound. There were about 150 prisoners housed in the building.
There was a white tape stretched all the way around the large building. The prisoners were to keep inside the tape. If they crossed the tape the guards manning the machine guns could open fire on them. The prisoners kept warning me of the tape barrier and the guards with their machine guns. I stayed well inside the tape.
I’ve always wondered what would have happened to me that day if the guards had discovered that I used a false name to enter the prison in order to survive the intense heat.
.
Honeymoon Adventures
1962
Mary Blakeney and I were married on a rainy Friday evening in 1962 in Hattesburg, MS. After the wedding ceremony we headed to New Orleans, LA for our honeymoon time.
As we checked into the motel the clerk found out we were “honeymooning.” He offered us two coupons for “free drinks” at the motel bar, since we were honeymooning.
I told the clerk that we didn’t want the coupons because “my girlfriend doesn’t drink alcoholic beverages. Mary quickly exclaimed, “I am not his girlfriend, I am his wife!”
It was honeymoon time and I was in the doghouse already.
Honeymoon Adventures Continued
The morning after the first honeymoon night I awoke but couldn’t see anything. My face looked like a balloon for some reason or other. I could not see anything without pushing my eyelids apart with my fingers.
We found a pharmacy that was opened early. I explained to the pharmacist as well as I could our circumstances. The pharmacist laughed and said “Man, this is a heck of a time to find out you are allergic to this woman.”
The pharmacist gave me some antihistamine. Within two hours after taking the antihistamine I was back to normal and we continued on our way. I was allergic to some new makeup that Mary had used.
u.
Bill and Mary Bounds
January 26, 1962
Right -
Ira Bounds
Penney Lee, Nancy Soley, Arland Bounds, Wilna bounds, Ida Bounds (Background - Mattie and Tom Yates - Mary Bounds' grandparents)
Top row - Mary Soley, Ben Bounds, Mamye Blakeney, Nina Soley, Vernon Soley, Linda Soley, Wilna Bounds, Mary Bounds, Dr. John Brnes, Bill Bounds, Ida Bounds, Nancy Soley, Penney Lee
Bottom row - Mary Ida Lee, Hulaine Soley, Nera Soley, Steve Bounds, John Pilot Lee, and Porter Soley
Nancy Bounds Soley and Bill Bounds
Cleo Fore
Front row - Nancy Soley, Penny Holloman, Wilna Bounds
Back - Linda Cain an Linda Bounds
Millard and Gus doing the "Rabbit Dance."
Bill's version of a chainsaw.