The Winkler County News (Kermit, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 90, Ed. 1 Monday, March 13, 1961 Page: 1 of 10
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The Winkler County News
Weather
High Low
Published Twice Weekly—Head Haily
(Member Associated Press)
Thursday, March 9...... 68
Friday, March 10.......... 79
Saturday, March ll.„. 83
Sunday, March 12.......... 80
Monday, March 13
(7 a.m.) ...... 50
Vol. 24—No. 90
Classified Ads on Page 4
Kermit# Winkler County, Texas
10 Pages in Two Sections
Monday, March 13, 1961
Plane Crash Near Kermit Claims Four Lives
Special Survey Reveals
Average Water Rate Hike
Slight in Proposed Rates
Roe Reports
Violations By
Juveniles Up
y.
Monthly report of the Wink-
ler County Juvenile and Pro-
bation Officer reveals an up-
swing in juvenile offenders
during February.
A report filed by Jack Roe
with Winkler County Judge
W. E. Cook stated that “al-
though Febitoary was an aver-
age month as far as violations
are concerned, a sudden surge
of trouble in the final week
brought eight youths into con-
tact with this office.”
Roe added that most of the
recent upsurge in trouble was
directly attributed to the illegal
purcha.se and consumption of
alcoholic beverages.
The report sly. '.vex'*.. L v ar ill-v.nd
cial juvenile cases and 20 un-
official cases. There was one
repeat offender dealt with dur-
ing the month.
Seven reports of vandalism
were investigated by the Ju-
venile Officer. Parents were
contacted in 39 instances.
Other actions of the Juvenile
Officer included dealing with
offenders in the following
djses:
Stealing, two; disobedience,
six; liquor law violations, two;
,o£her delinquent behavior, six;
%i juvenile probation, nineteen;
on adult probation, six; ward-
of-the-court cases, thirteen;
public meeting contacts, two;
dismissed from probation, six;
in state schools, two; in, other
institutions, two; transferred
out of the state, two; deten-
tion, six; juveniles contacted,
fifty-six.
BY DAVE SCLAIR
The average Kermit home-
owner’s water bill will be in-
creased an average of 65 cents
each month, if city taxpaying
property owners approve the
$645,000 in improvements to the
city’s water and sewer sys-
tems in the March 21 bond
election.
The cost per individual was
gained by making a survey of
rates paid by various Ker-
mit residents, chosen at ran-
dom, for last year. To that
figure was added the addition-
al cost should the water rate
be increased, as proposed, five
cents per thousand gallons over
the minimum.
Kermit property owners and
taxpayers are scheduled to go
to the polls for the second time
since the first of the year to
vote on improvements to the
water and sewer systems.
In the first balloting, Feb. 7,
oters: turned down the water
nd ^ewer • system -■"improve-
ments, while approving three
other issues on a $1,300,000
Five - Year Capital Improve-
ments Plan bond election.
On March 21, voters will re-
ceive a ballot containing just
two propositions, one on a pro-
posed improvement program of
the water system and another
on improvements and expansion
of the sanitary sewer system.
Engineers from the Kenneth
E. Esmond and Associates
firm of Odessa have estimated
the two projects will cost in
the neighborhood of $645,000.
Payment of the bonds which
would be. sold to finance these
projects cannot come from
general revenue sources or
taxes.
The repayment of the bonds,
according to Texas laws gov-
erning cities, must come from
water and sewer charges them
-
:
selves. No tax on property
can be levied in order to re-
tire the revenue bonds.
In order to provide the ad-
ditional funds needed to pay
these bonds, Kermit’s fis-
cal agent, the First Southwest
Company of Dallas, has pro-
posed two water rate increases.
Del Green, representative of
the fiscal agent, stated in his
report to the City Council some
time ago, that it was his ’opin-
ion that two water rate in-
creases, each of five cents per
thousand gallons over the min
imum over a period of five
years will amply provide the
needed funds.
on that report The News
instigated the research into the
probable cost to the average
homeowner. The houses, pick-
ed at random from the city
water meter books, were dis-
tributed as evenly as possible
throughout the community to
get an accurate sampling,
v crease in rate among
houses checked, whose valu-
ation ranged from $1,000 to
$15,000, varied from an esti-
mated 25 cents per year in-
crease to a maximum of $20
per year increase during the
first few years of the plan.
The second water rate in-
crease, an additional five
cents, would not be made until
such time as the number of
bonds sold warrant it. Green
estimated the additional in-
crease would not be made un-
til after the third year of the
start of the program.
DeMolays Set Meeting
Week of March 12, through
March 19 has been declared
DeMolay ' Week in Kermit by
Mayor Bert L. Stevens, accord-
ing to word from Wayne Mc-
Clure, master counselor of the
local DeMolay chapter.
Wreckage Sighted
Sunday From Air
The badly burned bodies of four men were discovered
in the wreckage of their single engine aircraft Sunday
noon, nortRwest of Kermit on the Jack Linebery Ranch.
The four, two Odessans and two from Oklahoma,
had been the object of an air and ground search much
of Sunday morning.
m
SURVEYING WRECKAGE — Winkler County
Deputy Sheriff Buck Haggard stands before the
wreckage of a small plane which crashed northwest
of Kermit Saturday afternoon taking the lives of four
men. Killed in the crash were A. R. and E. R. Cole,
L. H. Tolbert and Frank E. Thrasher,. Turasher and
A. R. Cole were from Tulsa and the other two lived
in (Odessa. The plane and its occupants were objects
of a search through most of Sunday morning before
J. W. Brumlow of Kermit spotted the downed plane
from the air. The four bodies were burned beyond re-
cognition. (News Staff Photo)
Dead are:
Arbie Ray Cole, 52, of Tulsa;
Elmo Ray Cole,31, of Odessa;
Lewellvn Harvey Tolbert, 39,
of OdessS;
Frank Edward Thrasher, 39,
of Sand Spring, Okla.
The men reportedly were on
a sightseeing air tour of the
area when the fatal crash oc-
curred. The plane is believed
to have taken off from Ector
County Airport shortly after
noon Saturday and was to have
returned late in the afternoon.
The air search was started
at 6:15 a.m.
J. W. Brumlow, operator of
the Wink Airport, spotted the
wreckage from the air and led
Highway Patrolmen E. C. Lock-
lear and Tommy Brown to the
site, 22 miles northwest of Ker-
mit. F. W. Estill, local oil man,
also assisting in pinpointing the
wreckage from the air.
The plane apparently stalled
at low altitude, officials re-
Whaley Oil Company Given Permit by Kermit City Council
For Drilling of Gas or Oil Well in Underwood Addition
The Whaley Company was
given permission to drill for
either a gas or oil well in the
Underwood Addition during the
regular meeting of Kermit City
Council Thursday night.
The decision to allow the
Whaley Company to drill, what
their attorneys described as “a
probable attempt at a Yates
sand gas completion,” came in
a unanimous vote with Mayor
Bert L. Stevens recording his
pbjecting to the drilling.
Mayor Stevens voiced his ob-
jection to- the drilling as he
Preventive Maintenance Program Planned
New Sewer Equipment Put in Use
A program of preventive
maintenance is soon to be un-
dertaken on Kermit’s sewer
qystem, in an effort to elim-
Aate much of the trouble
Caused by clogged sewer mains.
The new program, which it
is hoped will be started along
4r-;v •
about summer time, has been
made possible by the purchase
of a new sewer main clean-
ing device, known as a Flexible
Seweroder.
At the present time, accord-
ing to Jerry Haynes, superin-
tendent of the city’s water and
sewer department, the Sewer-
oder team is attempting to
clear lines throughout the city
where trouble has been report-
ed repeatedly.
“I think this program will
take us up through the spring
period and possibly into sum-
% ;
NEW SEWER EQUIPMENT—Three members of Kermit’s Water Department
are pictured operating a new Seweroder, device for cleaning out sewer lines. Operat-
ors are (left to right) Wesley Hestand, Ed Logan and Bob Green. (News Staff
Photo)
mer,” Haynes said. “But, aft-
er that, we will be able to
start into the preventive main-
tenance program.”
Working on the unit are Wes-
ley Hestand, Ed Logan, Bob
Green and Don Dyer. Dyer and
Green were instructed in the
use of the new equipment by
an engineer from the manufac-
turing firm. Logan and Hes-
tand have also been taught to
operate the equipment.
Operation of the new unit
requires three men. Haynes
said a crew probably will work
with the unit all the time.
Formerly, city work on the
sewer lines was accomplished
by an obsolete type sewer-
cleaning unit. It was made in
1947 and “it just didn’t have
the tools or power to do the
job,” Haynes remarked.
The Seweroder works by
forcing a flexible steel rod
through the main. On the lead-
ing end of the rod is some sort
of tool, depending on the job
to be accomplished. While the
rod is being forced in, it is
also continually turning.
“We have a number of tools
we can put on the rod,” Haynes
explained. “We have one de-
vice which is known as a root-
er and it simply cuts through
roots and tree limbs which gei
into the' lines.
“Another tool we find we use
frequently is a sand remover,”
the water and sewer depart
ment head explained. The sand
remover scrapes the sides o
the main, loosening the sand
Water is then forced through
from the other end and th<
sand is cleaned out.
“So far, although we have
only had the new unit in op
eration a few weeks,” Haynes
(Continued on Page Five)
called for a vote on the ques-
tion. “I am opposed to drilling
inside the city limits,” Stevens
said. “In the section where this
drilling is proposed the entire
area is built up. I think there
are lots of other areas in Wink-
ler County where they can drill
without coming inside the city
limits.”
Whaley Company holds a
lease on practically all of the
Underwood Addition. In order
to obtain a drilling site, Whaley
Company attorneys said, they
purchased four lots and re-
moved one small house.
‘ In addition, attorneys pre-
sented to the Council written
permission from all property
owners living within 150 feet
of the drill site waiving their
objections to, the drilling. A
$500 permit fee, a bond and
proper insurance were also pre-
sented to the Council.
“I believe this company has
complied in every detail with
the requirements as set out in
our drilling ordinance,” City
Attorney Calvin Wesch pointed
out.
In other Council business, a
slim majority of the Council
voted approval of the eonstruc-
Postul Service
Hurd to Meat
Kermit Post Office provides
excellent service . . . ask Fel-
ton Carr if you don’t believe it.
Carr recently lost his glass-
es while moving some furniture
and it wasn’t two hours after
ae missed them that they were
safe and sound in his posses-
sion again . . . thanks to
thoughtful employes of the Ker-
mit Post Office.
Seems that Carr, while load-
ng some furniture on a pick
ip truck, laid his glasses on
i dresser for a moment. Next
thing he knew they were mis-
ng.
While he looked for the
glasses and continued the
aousemoving operation, postal
employe Richard Jolley found
the glasses on Underwood
Itreet while operating his mail
delivery truck.
Jolley brought the glasses to
the Post Office where Assist-
nt Postmaster Wendell Sharp
ooked at them and thought
hey belonged to Carr. He call-
d . . . and Carr had his glass
s back.
Carr did nave one complaint
-a lens had popped out and
me temple was kind of bent-
aut he wasn’t complaining
loudly.
tion of a six-foot fence around
the city dump grounds, located
on the Y/ink Highway, in an
attempt to control the blow-
ing of much of the paper.
The approval for the fencing
came in a split vote, 3-2. Coun-
Campaign
Results
Evident
A concentrated drive by the
members of Kermit Police De-
partment to cut down the num-
ber of accidents within the
city limits has resulted in an
increase in the number of
tickets issued during February.
In a report to Kermit City
Council, Police Chief W. E.
(Bill) Pence indicated a total
of 29 tickets was issued last
month, with 21 of them being
for moving and parking infrac-
tions.
“We have had far too many
accidents in the city recently,”
Pence said, “and this cam-
paign is an attempt to help
Kermit residents save them-
selves from causing property
damage and possible injury.”
In addition to the moving
and parking infractions, five ci-
tations were issued for license
violations and three other tick-
ets were written for speeding
violations.
The number of arrests and
the total fines collected in Cor-
poration Court declined during
February, the report revealed.
Fines collected amounted to
$817.50, compared with $1,351
the month before.
Thirty - four arrests were
made during February. Twen-
ty of those arrested were eith-
er drunk, drunk in car, or
drunk and disturbance com-
plaints. The remaining arrests
were on disturbance and fight-
tog issues.
The three police department
vehicles traveled a total of 11,-
359 miles during February, ac-
cording to the regular month-
ly report;
Other police action included
the following:
Accidents investigated, 15;
logs handled, 66; open doors,
tl; honky-tonk checks, 56; the-
atre checks, '28; complaints in-
vestigated, 4; other contacts,
159; cases to county, 2; cases
to juvenile officer, 5; funeral
escorts, 7; other escorts, 20;
and petty thefts, 25.
oilmen L. L. (Strawberry) Dea-
ton, W. T. (Bill) Wilson and
Joe Marlett voted in favor of
the measure while Councilmen
John Kirby and Ira Barrett
voted against.
A six-foot fence will be con-
structed around the present
dumping areas. It wil be con-
structed of 12%-gauge wire
with two strands of barbed
wire across the top.
“We have had a number of
complaints from travelers, res-
idents and property owners in
the area about the paper and
trash blowing around,” Stev-
ens said during the discussion.
“I think this will hold down
a lot of it.
Cost of constructing the fence
HS Student Wins
Speech Contest
Camilla Carr, Kermit High
School student, was named
winner of the District 16 ora-
torical contest Thursday at
Kermit High School.
She will represent the dis-
trict in divisional competition
later in the year: The contests
are sponsored by the American
Legion.
Winners of divisional contests
will progress to state competi-
tion and the winner of that
contest will vie for a $5,000
scholarship at a national con-
test at Washington, D. C.
Miss Carr presented a writ-
ten and rehearsed speech and
also spoke on an extemporane-
ous topic. She was presented
a medal for her efforts in the
local contest by R. R, Flattley,
commander of the local Legion
post.
CAMILLA CARR
, . oratorical winner
is estimated at $1,200 plus
labor and welding.
The Council voted to enter
into a contract with Brinson
Development Company for ex-
tension of a sewer main into
the Fleetwood addition, during
the meeting. An additional 400
feet of sewer line will be con-
structed.
City Secretary J. C. Hill re-
ported that with the size of the
project a contract will be ne-
gotiated, with the developer
paying 75 per cent of construc-
tion cost and the city paying
the balance. He told Council-
men the city’s cost will be
around $145.
Final payment on the Ker-
mit Master Plan, $7,066.66 was
voted by the Councilmen in
other action Thursday night.
The payment to the Kenneth
E. Esmond firm covers final
costs’to both Kermit and Wink-
ler County. The expenditure
had been budgeted for the 1959-
60 year but was carried for-
ward since it had not been dis-
bursed.
Hill reported to Councilmen
that with the payment of the
final estimate, the County will
owe the City of Kermit $5,600
which is reimbursable through
paving repair projects.
ported, and went into, a spin.
The left wing tip struck the
ground, throwing the aircraft
into a ground loop, smashing
the nose of the plane into the
ground.
Both gas tanks on the plane
exploded and the fire complete-
ly destroyed the passenger
compartment of the four-seat-
er aircraft. The bodies were
found in the seats.
The Coles operated welding
establishments in Odessa and
Tulsa, while Tulbert had re-
cently moved to Odessa and
gone to work for the welding
concern. Thrasher was a rep-
resentative of Southwest Port-
land Steel of Sand Springs, a
suburb of Tulsa.
The four men .leave 10 chil-
dren.
The last persons to see the
quartet alive apparently were
working on a drilling rig lo-
cated a couple of miles from
the crash site.
According to Locklear, the
plane had landed at the rig
site and one of the plane doors
had been taken off and left
at the rig. Tom Linebery,
Winkler County rancher, re-
ported he spoke to the men
while they were at the drilling
rig.
The crash scene was about
three and a half miles from
the nearest road and emer-
gency vehicles and investigators
had to travel cross country to
reach the wreckage.
Services for the Cole men
are pending at Chapel of the
Roses in Odessa while the oth-
er two will be taken by Maples
Funeral Home hearse to Tulsa.
Identification of the four
was made from personal ef-
fects. The bodies were burned
beyond recognition.
Officials said they thought
the plane probably crashed at
about 4 p.m. Saturday. Found
in the wreckage was a movie
camera and also a shotgun.
Part of the stock from the shot-
gun had been thrown from the
plane and was lying on the
ground.
The elder of the Coles was
believed to have been flying
the plane at the time of the ac-
cident. Both wings, except for
crumpled areas where they
struck the ground, and the tail
section were intact.
A few sections of the wind-
shield of the plane were scat-
tered around the area, mostly
lying within 50 feet of the
plane.
^/WW\AA/V\AAAA/>AAA/VWWSA/WW
Jaycees Looking
For Your Ideas
Do you have an idea which
you believe might help im-
prove our city?
The Kermit Jaycees are
looking for such ideas in a
community-wide survey now
under way.
The community survey has
been undertaken, according
to Bill Armstrong, chairman
of the survey committee, with
the idea of arriving at prob-
lems which residents of the
city have found . . . and
would like to see corrected.
A form for ideas is print-
ed elsewhere in The News.
They should be mailed to
Kermit Jaycees, Community
Survey, Box 107, Kermit.
“There is no need to sign
your suggestion if you do not
want to,” Armstrong said.
“We are not interested in
who makes the suggestion
primarily. Rather, we are
looking for suggestions, pure
and simple.”
He added that the use of
the form is simply as a con-
venience. Suggestions written
on any sheet of paper will be
appreciated.
Police Holding
Man for Early
Sunday Shooting
Kermit Police officers are
holding a 28-year-old transient
oil field worker for investiga-
tion in a fight and shooting
early Sunday morning outside
a tavern on North Spruce
Street.
Treated at Vvhnkler County
Memorial Hospital for bullet
wounds in his left arm was Ra-
mon Berzoza, 28, of Kermit.
Also receiving medical at-
tention'for numerous scalp and
facial cuts and bruises was
Lloyd Seybold, 31, of 821 Un-
derwood Street.
Police Chief W. A. (Bill)
Pence reported Edwin Wren
Ledlow, 28, is being held on
an open charge in connection
with the affair.
According to officers, the
the fight occurred outside the
La Conga Bar, shortly after
midnight Saturday. Seybold ap-
parently was struck over the
head and in the face a num-
ber of times with a pistol and
also was kicked and beaten
about the head and body.
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Williams, Nev H. The Winkler County News (Kermit, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 90, Ed. 1 Monday, March 13, 1961, newspaper, March 13, 1961; Kermit, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth848671/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Winkler County Library.