The Sun-News (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 48, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 13, 1952 Page: 1 of 6
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hockley County Area Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the South Plains College.
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Sunday, April 13, 1952
Three 8tate Liquor control
Go to Church
Easter Sunday
VOLUME XI FEATURING THE OIL NEWS
Go to Church
Easter Sunday
NUMBER 48
LEVELLAND, HOCKLEY COUNTY, TEXAS
WHISKEY IN THE
Board men who discovered this well Thursday, say there’s liquor
and broken bottles at the bottom. At intervals down the deep
shaft are networks of cro^s-bars through which bottles could
hardly pass unbroken. Broken pieces of bottles were all they
could "fish” up, but they said the fumes from the bottom of the
well were almost over-powering. (Staff Photo)
"BIG BUSINESS” . . . That's what M. M. Hood (above) of the
State Liquor Control Board said about this well found at a ser-
vice station two miles south of town on the Brownfield highway.
As In the case of the other well, wires led from wall switches to
a motor which tripped a door to send the cargo to the bottom of
the hole. “Took money to build these,” Hood said. (Staff Photo)
State Liquor Agents Play Havoc
With New-Fangled Hiding Places'
PART OF IT’S GONE . . . At the top of the well pictured above
can be seen the supports from which the motor has been removed
by liquor control agents. On the left side of the well-top was 1m
in let for wiring which ran from push-button switches In other
parts of the house, lie occupant, James Elton, was charged with
possession of liquor for the purpose of sale. (Staff Photo.)
Slow, Steady Rainfall Covers Most of County
One Man Captured, One Escapes As
Officers Surprise Burglars at Work
/v'm
A near-midnight burglary of
the Petty Food store, Thursday
night resulted in the apprehen-
sion of one of the intruders, the
escape of at least one more, the
firing of at least one shot, the
disappearance oi 5207 from the
store safe, and the gathering of
an excited crowd of local citizens.
Surrendering after Levelland
patrolman Bill Sage had fired one
shot at him as he made his way
along the roof of the building,
was Jack Archibald Ricketts, 34-
year-old Lubbock man with a
long police record dating back
to, 1935, according to Chief of
Police Ray Hardin. At least one
companion who was with Rick-
etts escaped through the roof of
the building and was still being
sought Friday afternoon along
with the missing $207.
The mysterious burglary, com-
f'plete with all the thrills of a pulp
magazine story, almost defied be-
.started early in the even-
ing somewhere around 9 o’clock
when nightwatchman J. R. Wis-
dom investigated a 1947 Chevro-
let parked at an angle in front
of the store. A short time later
Deputy Sheriff Earl Ford also
investigated the car. At 11:10,
Patrolman John Lawhon, in local
Police Unit No. 2 was passing the
grocery store»and noticed the car.
He looked it over, drove off in the
prowl car and then turned around
and came back. He called Unit
No. 1 at 11:25 and Patrolman
Bill Sage, Wisdom and Constable
H. N. Thompson arrived within
a matter of minutes.
Wilson and Sage then saw the
two men in the store. They call-
ed for more help and the sheriffs
department was notified. Sage,
at the rear of the building, peer-
ed inside a window and one of
the intruders inside looked out
at the same time. He had some-
thing in his hand that looked
like a gun and Sage stepped back
out of sight.
The two men then climbed up
into the attic of the
onto the
Sage spotted one, fired a shot at
him and the mao, according to
local police asked him not to
shoot again and promised to sur-
render. He then made his way
across the roofs of two buildiqgs
and down the roof of a small shied
and surrendered. Hardin theor-
ized that the other man, getting
to the roof ahead of Ricketts, took
the same path of escape and
was "probably in an adjoining
lumber yard making his escape
at the time Ricketts was surren-
dering.”
Sheriffs department men1 ar-
rived as Ricketts was surrender-
dering. Sheriff Charlie Bullock,
Ford and Deputy Floyd Humph-
reys noticed the Chevrolet in
front of the store. It was then
that a Mercury drove up among
the crowd of spectators that had
gathered, a man emerged, was
heard to tell the man and wom-
an in the car* ‘Til be seeing you,”
and got into the Chevrolet and
drove it away.
A check on the license of. the
Chevrolet revealed that it was
registered to C. W. Lane, Clebur-
ne. Police, investigating Friday
asertained the driver of the Chev-
rolet. However, Joe Lane, the
driver of the car, was not located.
T. O. Petty, proprietor of the
store, officially reported $207
stolen after a Friday morning
check of the safe, office, and pap-
ers littered all over the back
rooms of the store. The money
wJs all in small bills with the ex-
ception of a roll of dimes.
As near as could be pieced to-
gether, the story of the break-in
was told by Chief Hardin, He
said the intruders gained entrance
through the roof of the store by
cutting a tin air vent with a pair
of tin snips and sliding down in-
to a low attic area between the
ceiling of the store and the roof
of the building. They evidently
got "lost” in the cramped quar-
ters and first made their way
to the front of the building crawl-
ing on stouter ceiling joists, and
breaking several holes through
the light composition ceiling.
Then they circled back through
the entire length of the building,
broke holes in the ceiling direct-
(See BURGLARY page 2)
PLUNDERED OFFICE . . . Pictured here it the office of the-
Petty Food Store where burglars got $207 from a safe Thursday*
night. The office is on a balcony overlooking the store’a interior
from the window shown in the picture. After coming through
the roof by way of an air-vent, the burglars wended their way
over the Joists between the ceiling and roof and entered the office
through the opening shown above. After being flushed by officers
the intruders went back up to the> office and onto the roof over
the same route they had entered. One was caught; the other one
got away. (Staff Photo)
A slow, steady, drizzling rain
that started falling early Friday
morning and continued on into the
afternoon left Levelland and most
of Hockley county with up to one-
half inch of welcome moisture 8y
2:30 o’clock.
Although an accurate check was
not available, it was believed that
the rainfall was general, covering
at least parts of several counties
on the South Plains. Morton re-
ported the same type of rain.
Shortly after noon, the Brasch-
Mitchell Hardware rain gauge
showed .31 of an inch of rainfall
in Levelland.
The rain, sorely needed through-
out the entire South Plains area,
came suddenly and not long after
a cool wave had descended upon
the area Thursday.
Unpredictable and unpopular
weie perhaps the most apt words
to describe Levelland’s varying
weather conditions that prevailed
for the past few weeks and, more
exa£{, for the past few days.
The angle of unpopularity, in-
cluding dust, varying shades of
temperature and lack of moisture
almost was remedied in Level-
Local Firm Makes
Spelling Awards
Eddie Paxton, a representative
of Mann-St Clair Insurance agen-
cy in Levelland, made $50 in a-
wands to three Levelland High
school students, Friday in a spec-
ial school assembly. The awards
first of what is to become an
annual affair, were for top hon-
ors in school spelling competi-
tion.
First place awaird of $25 went
to Charlene Ellison; second prize
of $15 was presented to Dan
Green, and $10 to Jimmy Black.
Mrs. Lillian Brashears and Mrs.
Nina Birtciel conducted the con-
test. Each of the students com-
peting was given 120 words to
spell.
Paxton, in making the pre-
sentation, said "We who are now
out in the business world have
found how tremendously impor-
tant good spelling can be. We
hope, through this annual pre-
sentation, we will be able to fos-
ter better spelling for all our
High school students.”
UNLY UNI UUT away . . . The dotted line In this picture shows the route burglars took from the
Petty Food Store after being discovered there by officers Thursday night. After climbing back up
onto the reef of the store building, at right, they crossed the adjoining building end then dropped to
the roof of the smell cafe building at the left. From there they dropped to the ground—one to cap*
ture, the other to escape. (Staff Photo)
Lambert Enters Race
For Justice of Peace
S. A. Lambert of Pettit has au-
thorized The Herald-Sun-News
to announce hie candidacy for
justice of peace from precinct 3.
Mr Lambert has been a citi-
zen of the Pettit community for
22 years/ and has been operating I
the Lambert s Grocery and Fill-
ing station for the last four
years.
He had farmed in the commun-
ity prior to that time.
land Tuesday night when the
skies puckered up and tried hard
to produce rain. But the trace ot
moisture that was recorded here,
followed by a chilling cold blast
that caught many Levellanders
in their summer clothes, served
only to heighten the unpopularity.
One section of Hockley county,
in the vicinity of Ropesville, re-
ported approximately one inch of
moisture, enough to give consid-
erable aid to the farmers.
It had not been learned here at
noon Friday how much additional
moisture had been received at
Ropesville. Around Levelland, the
dry fields soaked up the water
like a sponge.
Mondhy and Tuesday, the hot-
test days so far this year, saw the
mercury climb to 90 degrees
and then hover between 86-90
during the period between sun-
rise and sunset, '^t was consider-
ably warmer than last year but
temperatures were about on a
par with those recorded here in
1950. . ’ .
The official weather chart kept
by Artie Forehand, Hockley
county agent, showed 21 dusty
days during March, four days
with a trace of rain, and only
seven days during which dust had
settled. Every one of those seven
days was partly cloudy.
The worst dust occured on
March 12 athough the velocity of
the wind on that date is not not-
ed. The mercury reached 80 de-
giees on the 30th and 31st, the
highest reading during the entire
month. Minimum temperatures
below freezing were recorded on
11 nights during the month and
on one occasion, March 23, the
thermometer dipped to nine de-
grees.
Here >re the maximum and
minimum temperatures through-
out the month of March.
The bottom dropped out of the
bucket in two of the new-fangled
whiskey “wells” here Thursday
afternoon.
Three State Liquor Control
Board men from Lubbock put two
of the expensively - constructed
well stashes out of operation' ih
raids at a residence east of town
on the Lubbock highway and at
a service station two miles south
on the Brownfield highway.
No liquor was confiscated at
either place, but thd officers made
two arrests and hauled in as evi-
dence the steel tops of the wells
after having them cut off with
acetylene torches.
James Elto.i, arrested at the
residence east of town, was charg-
ed on three counts Friday morning
by County Attorney E. W. Boe-
deker. One of the counts is for
por session of whiskey at the time
of Thursday’s raid, a second for
possession at the time of a raid
on March 27, and the third for a
prior conviction in Lubbock coun-
ty. He has been released under
$1,000 bond.
Doyle Gentry, arrested at the
service station, which has been
raided a number of times within
the past few months and against
which an injunction suit is pend-
ing in district court, was charged
with sale of whiskey on two oc-
casions—April 6 and 7. His bond
was set at $1,000.
Both well stashes put out of op-
eration here Thursday are new
and almost, identical in construc-
tion. Each is located in a well-
house adjoining the main building.
One of the liquor control men
said the well at the Elton place
was in process of construction on
March 27 when he and other of-
ficers raided the house and dis-
covered a cache of whiskey and
beer beneath the kitchen floor.
"Wj asked them at the time
what they were having dug and
they said a cess-pool,” he re-
called.
The wells, each from 25 to 30
■feet deep, are lined with large
oil drums from which the bot-
Four Candidates in
Race for Constable
V. J. Humphreys this week en-
tered the race for precinct 5 con-
stable to bring the number of
candidates for that particular of-
fice to four.
Other candidates are H. N.
Thomason, who is asking re-elec-
tion; E. R. Nickerson and Jim
Nail.
Woody Sullvan of Sundown is
the only candidate for precinct
2 constable.
toms have been removed. At in-
tervals in the wells networks of
cross bars are arranged in such
a manner as to make it virtually
impossible for bottles to drop to
the bottom without being broken
The top compartment of the
well, which sets about two feet
above the floor, is large enough
to contain at least a case of whis-
key. The bottom of the compart-
ment is electrically controlled in
such a manner as to be sprung
open and let the contents plunge
to the bottom of the well when
a switch button is pushed. A tiny
electric motor at the tdp of the
well compartment supplies the en-
ergy for throwing the- swinging
bottom.
At both the Elton residence and
the service station, I he officers
found switch-buttons convenient-
ly located for turning on the elec-
trical current controlling the
well’s mechanism. They said they
heard a loud crash such as break-
ing glass might break upon ap-
proaching the back door of the
house.
At both the house and the ser-
vice station, the liquor agents rip-
ped loose electrical wiring leading
from the switches to the well’s
motor.
Efforts by the liquor agents to
“fish” objects from the bottoms of
the wells proved fruitiest, except
for a few pieces of broken bot-
tles. The agents said the only way
they could get to the bottom of
the wells would be to have a mail
go down and cut away the cross-
bars.
County equipment was used to
cut away the steel tops of the
wells at both places.
M. M. Hood, one of the liquof
control men making the raids, said
the costly well stashes put out of
operation Thursday definitely are
proof that the liquor traffic iq
Hockley county and other West
Texas areas is on a well-organized
basis.
“We are not dealing with hip-
pocket bootleggers when we run *
across things like this,” said Hood
as he indicated the well stash at
the service station. He said the
two wells found here Thursday
arc the first discovered in Hockley
county, but that one was destroyed
in Lubbock county last week.
Thursday's raids followed by
less than 36 hours a 72nd District
Court grand jury report that the
liquor traffic in this county has
been, and still is, a major law
enforcement problem.
Other liquor control board of-
ficers taking part in the raids
u«ere F. E. Parker and Loyd W.
Owens.
Date
1
10
11
12
18
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
20
30
31
High
52
68
58
58
62
67
68
72
73
65
74
62
57
62
59
62
74
74
78
77
64
42
49
60
57
S9
69
87
77
80
80
Lew
35
35
27
15
19
26
43
36
52
35
28
35
29
28
19
30
49
34
33
36
33
17
9
23
20
29
3$
?7
42
48
1.
$1,500 BLAZE
Oil Treater At Sundown Is
Enveloped In Flames Friday
A $1,500 blaze in an oil field
near Sundown was brought under
control by Sundbwn and Level-
land firefighters early Friday
morning after blazing for about an
Construction Work
Underway on bank
Work has started on the, con-
struction of the new $120,000
Levelland State Bank building
located on the southeast comer
of the square.
It is estimated that it will re-
quire about six months to com-
plete the neiy and modern build-
ing, according to D. E. Collins,
president.
The building will be 50 by 122
feet and will be two stories high.
All of the critical materials,
including steel, have arrived and
the fixtures contract has been
awarded to Adleta Showcase
Manufacturing company bf Dallas.
i;
HM
Forms Ara Ready for
Political Candidates
Filing application and loyalty
path forms tor candidates are now
available at the office of H. H.
Mann, chairman of the Hockley
county Democratic executive com-
mittee, he said Friday morning.
It is necessary that candidates
fite these forms before their
names can appear on the election
ballot, Mann
hour.
The fire occurred one mile
north and one mile east of Sun-
down on the Sid Richardson place
Blazing was a brand} new oil
treater installed just two days ago.
The first alarm of the fire wp*
turned in at 6:20 a. m. and Sufl£
down sent a call to LeveUaadj dB
more equipment at 6:45. Chief H.
B. Johnson took a booster truck
to the scene and arrived at 7 I.
m The combined aid of the two
trucks resulted in smothering the
blaze in about 10 minutes through
the use of fog and water.
Chief Johnson said he could of
fer only a rough estimate of f 1,900
in damages. He said the blaze cvw
idently started from a faui
dump valve that kicked oil ovcf
onto the fire box. The blaae
blowing badly, but, according
the chief, oil was spewing out
that very little danger of an
plosion was present. If the o
not spewed out, Johnson said
an explosion could twlhl
The blaze caused the third kttaii'
a la i in in 12 hours Thursday C
ing at about 6 o’clock, the
station received two
name time. A blaze
103 Houston street
be only smoke from a
The other blaze was ea ai
bile set on fire et
on Houstoq at
| being “burned «(
an attendant $1
bed high again
and alarmed *
mym
;• ',''V
m S ’ I
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The Sun-News (Levelland, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 48, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 13, 1952, newspaper, April 13, 1952; Levelland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1117487/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting South Plains College.