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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 1962)
8 A BiSSie THUHSDAr, AJUUSI' 9. ISOi! MfcDr'ORD MAIL IhUJUNt. MfcUtr'OflU. OHtliON Sol Leads Norma Editor's Not: Few mm have fallen a fait and as iar iiom the pinnacle of re aped and power at Billie Sol Eitei. How ii Eite weathering the storm? This is a report from his home town. By JAMES T. YOUNG Pecos, Tex. -tUPH- Last March, one of the most regu lar churchgoers in Pecos was a wealthy young businessman named Billie Sol Estcs. Four months, three indictments and a congressional investi gation later, he still is. There are enough charges already against Estcs, 37, to put him behind bars for life if he is convicted. Grand juries are loooking for new charges. He is bankrupt and m o s t of his possessions will soon be sold. But he man ages, thanks to $120,000 bond, to lead an almost nor mal life. On Sunday morning, his bis white Cadillac pulls up in front of the Pecos Church of Christ at Fourth and Bois O'Arc sts. He, his wife and his five children - one son and four daughters, ranging in age from S to 12 - attend Sunday school. Attend Church Then they attend church. Sunday night, the Estcs fam ily is back for night servic es. Wednesday night, the whole family is back for prayer meeting. If Estcs is worried, he does not show it in church He wears expensive black or dark blue suits. Sometimes he spruces up with a red necktie. The congregation and his pastor, the Rev. W. S. Boy ett, greet him with out stretched hands and smiling ui. BIHTHS RECALLED - Dr. Gordon L. Roscnc, chairman of the Swedish Convent hospital, department of gynecology, at Chicago, tells student nurses Grace Matscn, Joyce Ohm and Barbara Lindcll, "you were just this big" as he recalls officiating at their births in the hospital. The girls are graduating from the hospital's school of nursing. Dr. Rosene has been on the hospital staff for 35 years. (UPI) Now They're Missions Pentagon Goes Through Phases of Task Forces, Operations, Missions By DICK WEST Washington - IUPII - At the Pentagon, everyone and every thing has a "mission." This shows how much the mil itary lexicon has changed since World War II. During the war, you'll re- coll, everyone and every thing was a "task force." In the beginning, the armed forces had more tasks than forces. But toward the end they had more forces than tasks. It finally got to the point where two WAC corporals couldn't go to the water cooler without being called a task force. After the war there wasn't much need for task forces, so everyone and everything be came an "operation. No commander in the past 15 years has planned a troop maneuver, training exercise, fire drill, cocktail party or trip to the PX without labeling it "Opera- Forest Highways May Be Slippery Due To Recent Rain Recent rains have made some of the gravel and dirt roads in the Rogue River Na tional forest slippery, accord ing to the weekly recreation report from the forest. Visitors are encouraged to check on highway conditions with the district rangers be fore traveling in some of the forest areas. The recreational report by district: Applcgate District - The Glade Creek rd. has heen graded and is open to oil ve hicular traffic. All other roads are in good condition, as they have been graded; but logging traffic is still heavy on the Reaver Creek, Thomp son Creek, Stevens Fork, and Sluriris Fork rds. All trails are open, hut there will lie logging across the Slurgis Fork trail. Trav elers are encouraged to use caution when traveling this trail, The cool weather has dis couraged many picnickers and swimmers, it was noted. The campgrounds have nol been receiving ns heavy use as they received several weeks ago. The river has cooled down to the point that only the hardy souls are swimming. The weather has lowered Ihc fire danger; but a citreless match, cigarette or campfire will start a fire. Fishing is fair in the small er streams and nil lakes. Butle Falls District - Sur facing has been completed on the Fish Lake rd. between Bulte Falls and the Willow Lake junction. The rest of the Fish Lake rd. is in good con dition. Heavy rains have marie the unsurfaced roads in the district slippery. People planning to travel these roads should check road conditions at the district office before starting out. Stream fishing has heen cood the past week. Several limits of six ten inch trout have been taken on flies on tlie upper Sntth Fork of the Rogue river. Fishing has been slow at Willow lake, but may pick up during the cool weather. All of the campgrounds arc open. New visitor registers have been installed at sev eral of the campgrounds and visitors are encouraged to sign them. Prospect District - All roads on the district are open, with heavy weekday logging traffic on Woodruff and Jim Creek rds. The weather lias been cool Willi rain the last three days. Many of the smaller streams are now in good fish- lion Something-or-Other." I understand that when a patient in a military hospital is being prepared for surgery it is called "Operation Oper ation." Now it apears that opera tions arc being replaced by missions. At least 1 got that impression from a volume of testimony just released by the House subcommittee on mili tary construction apropria tions. Early In the hearing, Assist ant Navy Secretary Kennedy E. Belieu perplexed one of the subcommittee members by re ferring to the mission of the family housing program. Asked to elaborate, Belieu explained that "the mission of a house is to keep you warm and contented." He added, however, that "in Alaska it is different than it is in Florida." I took this to mean that in Florida the mis sion of a house might be to keep you cool and contented. Near t'ne end of the hear ing, the subcommittee heard about another type of mis sion, this time from Col. W. J. Woolwine, treasurer of the U. S. Military Academy. Testifying in behalf of a re quest for funds to modernize a government-owned hotel at West Point, Woolwine boldly asserted that "the mission of the hotel is to provide rooms." Ollhough Woolwine didn't nay so, I deem it logical to as sume that a corollory mission of the hotel is to keep the oc cupants of the rooms warm and contented. Its mission, however, defin itely doesn't include keeping them cool. Witnesses testified that a proposal to air-condition the hotel was rejected by Army , headquarters, whose mission is to curtail unneces sary spending. faces. The only difference is that E s t e s is no longer an elder of the church. He resigned as an elder while he was in jail in early April. What are Estes' troubles four months after they start ed piling up? First is a federal indict ment of 29 counts, charging mail fraud, conspiracy and transporting fraudulent docu ments interstate. Three co-d efendanls -Coleman McSpadden, R u e 1 Alexander and Harold Orr -pleaded guilty July 13 to five counts of the indictments while Estes pleaded innocent to all 29. Their guilty pica staggered Estcs. If U.S. District Judge R. E. Thomason gives McSpadden, Alexander and Orr the maxi mum, it will be 40 years each in prison and a total fine of $41,000 each. There is a wide spread belief that McSpad den, Alexander and Orr may be willing to testify against Estes when he comes to trial. There is an additional fed eral indictment of eight counts of interstate transpor tation of fraudulent docu ments against Estes and the others. Federal officials, it was understood, will dismiss it because the charges are in corporated in the 29-count in dictment. There are four untried state indictments of four counts each against Estes at Pecos charging swindling, theft, embezzlement and theft by bailee. "Theft by bailee" means theft of property left in his trust. Fined $554,000 A federal grand jury in Dallas is considered indicting Estes again. At least one state grand jury is investi gating. The federal govern ment has fined him $554,000 for crooked cotton acreage allotment deals. He is in bankruptcy and his creditors are busily fil ing foreclosures against him. Estes has admitted debts of $38,387,935.87. He claims as sets of $20,793,155.95. At best, $67,594,779.92 of his debts will never be paid. Most of his unsecured cred itors - those without mort gages - will be left out in the cold. But there is no sign Estes is suffering - yet. His broth er John, an Abilene, Tex., dentist, pays a $177 a month note on his big house. There was a time when even the Estes maid ran errands in a Cadillac. Estes is now down to the one he drives to church, a 1981 model. He will keep the house, its furnishings and probably the Cadillac, despite the impend ing sale of his assets. In Tex as, the house and furnishings may not be sold out from under him. If the court judg es he needs the Cadillac to make a living, he can keep it too. Many people in Pecos think he has money put away. Commercial Solvents corpor ation, which furnished most of the fertilizer he sold to farmers, loaned him $400, 000 just before he was ex posed. The $400,000 has not turned up in any bank depos its, although Estcs has sworn that he has no hidden assets. Never Seen E?tcs is never seen on the streets of Pecos. He has a pa tio and swimming pool be hind his big home where he whiles away the lime. His children act as if nothing has happened. They play in front of the house and stay overnight with friends. Friends stay overnight with them. He still has many friends in Pecos. There was a time when nearly everybody in Pecos was for him. The bal ance now appears to have changed so that the majority of the townspeople is against him. Openly. Estes docs not ap pear to hold a grudge against those most responsible for his downfall. He shook hands Attends OEiurch S,'8N57 trM recently In a courtroom with Oscar Griffin, former editor of the semi-weekly newspa per Pecos Independent. Griffin probably is as re sponsible as anyone for call ing the attention of Estes' creditors to his s h a k y em pire. Griffin now works for the Houston Chronicle. Estes even asked Griffin how he was getting along in his new job. But Estes will not be interviewed. Best Known Estes had made Pecos one of the best known small ci ties in the country. Pecos ap parently has not been hurt by his exposure. Ray McPherson, executive vice president of the First National bank, told stock holders recently that the scandal even appeared to have helped the local econ omy. He said retail sales in Pe cos were the highest in his tory, up 15-20 per cent. Ho tels and motels, have more business the first six months of this year than they did last. McPherson said, the future looks bright for Pecos. It is doubtful that it does for Estes, but if he is worried he does not show it. NORTH ONE HOUR FROM MEDFORD ON HWY. 99 AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE: The Wolf Creek Inn Has Re-Opened Its Fine Steak House! Possibly you were a bit too young to be one of our patrons when we were serving the likes of President Rutherford B. Haves, General U. S. Grant, Jack London, and Sinclair Lewis. However, we were known far and wide on the stagecoach line for our fine food and modest prices. Today, over 105 years later, the Wolk Creek Inn still stands, the stage road is still there, (but now it's called Interstate 5 or Highway 99 a joint operation owned by the Federal Government, the State of Oregon.) The food is still superb; prices are still modest. We invite you to dine with us any day from about high noon. VISIT THE HISTORICAL Wolf Creek Inn- SERVING THE STAGECOACH LINE SINCE 1857 4-H FFA OPEN CLASS Thousands Of EXHIBITS Everything From Abalone To Zircons I 1 rw5 I DOUGLAS AUGUST 15-19 R0SEBURG iltiififiTtihi ifHfci iiiri-p- HI Pi SJ f WiwJifiiiifltii,; .J iUmel Iverne, Marian and Paula RECORDING ARTISTS Have appeared at various well-known night spots in Reno, Lake Tahoe, Port land, Hawaii and Holly wood. Highly acclaimed everywhere they've been. Enjoy them tonight! INSTRUMENTAL VOCAL SPECIALTY Group and Solo Playing 9 p.m. -2 a.m. Monday thru Saturday M Bar of Music HOTEL E0F0S.D ing shape and the upper brandies of the Rogue are al so improving from the recent rain. The station will be open throughout the week. Travel ers should feel free to ask for any Information needed. Union Creek District - All campgrounds and roads arc open on the Union Creek dis trict. Clear skies and warm wealher make camping and fishing conditions ideal. START ON MONDAY SWIM ON SUNDAY Healthful living and i-nmily pleasure at pnet tiyant cjn aMoid OcMUc pools ire comUuctod with feibulou tibrgU$s suiewalls nd poured concrete bottom, in 4ll sbp& and sues, carries a 10 ven Qiurantee. Priced From $2,700.00 Includes: Vin-ramx pin I Mtn 0m J -IV&.p I J.TfM -fldd.1 I I Wd'V Trvi-l CnitrvliM IOW MAINTENANCE Undtrwel., liM NO PAINTING CALL TODAY FOR FREE ESTIMATEI FINANCE PLAN AVAILABLE! Up to 5 YEARS TO PAYI CADILLAC POOLS "The Ultimate in Pool Luxury" Phone 773-68S8 "Gene" Burgess Vacation 1011 lid? We Hope You Have a Wonderful Time . . . but before you leave ask for the Mail Tribune We will hold the Mail Tribune while you are on your vacation. Each issue will be held in our office while you are away and will be delivered to you personally by your carrier upon your return. ?7l VACATION PAK of ,'7w .e Ptcase save mv Mal Free Service THE MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE No papers to pile up on your porch. You will bo able lo catch-up on all local news and special features when you return. When you leave en your vacation just complete this handy order, and either give it to your carrier . . . mail it ... or just bring It to the office. WE Will DO THE REST . . . Medford Mail Tribune VACATION Circulation Department PAK Medford, Oregon ORDER Tribune wile I iTi en acation, btgmninj and dc'iver all cf them to me Complete This Vacation Pak Order Today or Phone the Circulation Department. 772-6141 when I return on certj.n, p'ease cU Mail Tribune hen you return!) Name.. Address.. City .
