The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 31, 1974 Page: 1 of 20
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THE SlLSBEE BEE
VOL. 55 — No. 50 SlLSBEE, TEXAS 77656, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1974 20 PAGES IN 3 SECTIONS — 10c PER COPY
Major Crime In Silsbee Increased
63.4% In 73, Police Report Says
Major crime in Silsbee dur- category, the total number of cellaneous investigations” (un-
ing 1973 increased 63.4 percent
over its 1972 level, and the
clearance rate for these of-
fenses dropped nearly 20 per-
cent between 1872 and 1973,
Police Chief Bob L. Ogden said
recently.
“While the crime rate rose
sharply in the major offense
C. B. STEVENS
C. B. Stevens
Asks Second Term
On School Board
C. B. Stevens, secretary of
the Silsbee Independent School
District Board of Trustees, has
announced his candidacy for a
second three - year term as
Trustee, Place 7. Stevens, a
vice president of Kirby Lum-
ber Corp. here, was first elec-
ted to that post in April, 1971.
offenses investigated in 1973
was 888—only 33 more crimes
than we investigated in 1972,'
Ogden said. “Our department
absorbed this steep increase in
major crime—210 offenses in
’72 compared with 331 serious
crimes in ’73—with no addi-
tional personnel.”
In 1972, the department
worked a total of 855 offenses,
including 210 major crimes,
and cleared 828 cases, 156 of
those in the serious crime
category. Last year, 888 offens-
es were investigated, including
331 major crimes, and 723 were
cleared through arrest, includ-
ing 183 major crimes. The
clearance rate for the more
serious crimes decreased from
74.3 percent in 1972 to 55.2 per-
cent in 1973. Overall, the de-
crease was not so drastic
from 96.8 percent in ’72 to 81.4
percent last year.
Ogden classifies 14 types of
crime as serious or major. Two-
J year totals kept by the Depart-
I ment are given below, with the
i&l 1972 figure listed first, follow-
ed by the 1973 total for each
type: Murder—0, 2; Armed
Robbery—5, 4 (decrease); Ag-
gravated Assault—13, 22; Burg-
lary—44, 52; Felony Theft —
41, 55; Misdemeanor Theft —
62, 90; Auto Theft—5, 6; Auto
Burglary (theft from auto) —•
4, 4; Vending Machine Burg-
lary—7, 3; Destruction of Pro-
perty (now Criminal Mischief)
10, 37; Forgery and Fassing
— 2, 6; Embezzlement — 0,1;
Receiving Stolen Property—3,
1; and Narcotics (including
both felony and misdemeanor
offenses since State drug laws
were modified Aug. 27, 1973)
—14 in 1972, 48 in 1973.
In Silsbee at least, burglary
and felony theft, criminal mis-
chief and drug offenses led the
protected property, unsecured
doors and windows, etc.); as-
sisted a total of 1,869 persons
(auto mishaps, directions); in-
vestigated two suicides and six
other instances of non-criminal
sudden death; and worked 298
traffic accidents, as compared
with 350 accidents in 1972, a
decrease of 14.9 percent.
Juvenile offenses also de-
creased by 28.7 percent, drop-
ping from 101 cases in 1972 to
only 72 in 1973.
Chief Ogden came up with
figures to demonstrate that
Silsbee officers spent about 13
weeks during 1973 just trans-
ferring prisoners back and
forth to the County Jail in
(See Crime, Sec. 1, Page 6)
New Law Requires
Campaign Managers
For All Candidates
Newly-enacted State laws
require that all political can-
didates—for any public office
— must appoint campaign
managers responsible for
fund accounting, Hardin
County Clerk Clarence Mc-
Neely announced this week.
McNeely said that candi-
dates who do not abide by
the new order face legal
penalties, and urged all
office-iseekers to check with
his office for further details.
53 INCHES IS NORMAL PRECIPITATION
Average County Rainfall
Totals 98 Indies In 1973
An average of 98.25 inches of of Village Creek (which
rainfall fell in Hardin County
during 1973, nearly double the
normal average of 53 inches,
according to readings made by
the Texas Forest Service dur-
ing the year.
This exceeded the 1973 total
of 78.91 inches recorded by the
U.S. Weather service for mid-
Jefferson County. Their “nor-
mal” rainfall figure, compiled
from averages recorded over
the years, is 53.09 inches.
Forest Service officials re-
corded the following year-long
averages in Hardin County:
Smart Fire Tower, 89 inches;
Warren Fire Tower, 88 inches;
Sour Lake, 92 inches; and Hon-
ey Island was the wettest place
in the county with 105 inches.
Continuing rainfall caused
flooding in the flood plains
crested at 19 feet over the
weekend), Pine Island Bayou
and the Neches River. Hcavj
rains in the north (nine inche:
in Nacogdoches County on Jan
24 alone, according to the U.S.
Weather Service) were expect-
ed to cause continued high wa-
ter in the Hardin - Jefferson
areas this week.
An unofficial gauge reading
recorded by B. E. Rea of Har-
din County showed eight inch-
es of .rainfall in the County
during the 24-hour period Jan.
19-20, County Judge Emmett
Lack told' the BEE last week.
Officials of Kirby Lumber
Corp. and Eastex, Inc., large
woods - products corporations,
told the BEE that the weather
had hampered operations to
some degree, while Hart Stud
Mill of Evadale is currently ex-
periencing more serious diffi-
culty.
Glenn Steele, Hart general
manager, said Monday that
slowdowns at the firm had
caused 100 sawmill layoffs last
week. "We’re down at the saw-
mill for an indefinite period,"
Steele said. “On a normal
working day—that’s about 17
months ngo before all this rain
started—we -usually had 10
contractors working about 18
trucks in the woods. Now we
have no trucks out.”
Steele added that 1973 pro-
duction hud reached only 60
percent of the 1972 level and
"it should have been greater in
1973, because the market was
very good up until the last
months of the' year."
(See Rainfall, Sec. 1, Page 2)
$
Ore., in 1964. He and his wife
are parents of six children,
Mrs. John Williams of La-
Marque; Mrs. Michael Shuff of
San Antonio; Mrs. Jerry Rod-
riguez of Silsbee; and sons
Greg, a sophomore at Lamar
University; Mark, a senior at
Silsbee High School; and Scott,
a fifth grade student at O’Neil
Intermediate School.
Pete Lamar Loggins, 20, of
Evadale, has been charged with
armed robbery of a Willis,
Texas, service station attend-
ant, and is currently being
held in Montgomery County
__ Jail in lieu of $7,500 bond,
Stevens an*Jy| family mov-h|*t of. serious”primes,"7 -iMon^gomery Chief D ep u t y
I to Silsbee from Eugene, Included in total figures ahe F- G. SimpSon told the ukk
such cimes as Driving While
Intoxicated—47 in 1972; 10 in
1973; Liquor-related offenses
80, 58; and the large “Miscel-
laneous” category: 114 in 1972
and 100 last year. Miscellane-
ous offenses include domestic
disturbances, and other types
of minor disruptions.
Also in 1973, the local de-
partment conducted 530
3.5 Million Highway Program
Approved For Hardin County
$3,585,260 in State highway Commission, District 20 head-
funds for Hardin County pro-
jects has been included in a
three-year, $250,000,000 state-
wide program approved this
week by the Texas Highway
quarters in Beaumont announc-
ed Jan. 29.
The 1975-77 Consolidated
Highway Program provides for
construction or reconstruction
Pete Loggins Charged
With Armed Robbery
this week. He was arraigned by
Justice of the Peace James
Bailey.
At the time of his arrest Jan.
28, Loggins was free of Hardin
County Jail on a $5,000 bond
placed against him :n a charge
of burglary. He was accused of
breaking into Fred’s Package
Store in Silsbee on Jan. 12 of
“mis- this year. The suspect was re-
cently released from a four-
year prison term he drew in
November, 1970, for burglary.
Deputy Simpson said that
Loggins was charged with rob-
bing a Texaco service station
of $327 on Jan. 28, using a .410
shotgun to intimidate owner
caliber automatic pistol be-
longing to Bonner were recov.
ered by law enforcement offi-
cers when they captured Log-
gins after a high-speed high-
way chase whrch reportedly
wrecked Loggins’ auto and
damaged two officers’ cars. The
town of Willis is located seven
miles north of Conroe off IH
45.
urban and rural highway facili-
ties. Twenty miles of that work
will be done in Hardin County.
Construction cost is expected
to be $235 million, with an ad-
ditional $15 million included
for the State’s share of right-
of-way costs for US and State-
numbered highways.
Of the funds approved for
Hardin jobs, $2,100,000 is ear
marked for completion of two
lanes of the US 96 by-pass
which will connect US 96 from
point south of the present
Silsbee city limits with State
Highway 327 east of the City.
Four and four-tenths miles of
SISD Sells $1.8 Million In Bonds
of a total of 2,036.1 miles of surface will be laid on this pro-
• . 1 ' ■< 1 t ________ £__:1! „.n«4 nn iirlrlilinn'il COMnn _
ject, and an additional seven-
tenths of a mile of straight
surfaced highway will connect
Highway 327 , (near Silsbee
High School) with the propos-
ed by-pass.
An even million dollars is
allocated to provide 3.6 miles
of four-lane highway from the
US 96/US 69 “Y” in Lumberton
north to Walton Creek Bridge
on US 96 south of Silsbee. This
project will connect southern
Hardin County with continuous
four-lane highway systems all
over the State—as well as with
main Federal expressways.
Additional surfacing funds
are set aside for work on 4.7 Federal funds are allocated to
ipiles of US 69 from FM 418
northwest, $200,000, and $89,-
310 for 2.2 miles on FM 92
north of Silsbee, Nearly $16,000
will be used to repair base, lev-
el and provide seal coat for
4.4 miles of FM 418, southeast
from its intersection with FM
1122; and another $200,000 is
set aside for grading and sur-
facing the connective strip ber
tween Highway 327 and the US
96 by-pass.
Senior Resident Engineer
Lester Landgraf of Silsbee told
the BEE he was hopeful con-
tracting could begin this sum-
mer, depending upon when
^untyloins Government
Employe Insurance Croup
Republic National Bank
Dallas was awarded sale oflthe Board of Trustees Jan. 23.
$1,865,000 worth of Silsbee The Dallas banking firm of
independent School District fered the lowest interest rate—
5.5255 percent—of the four
[bidders for the i$sue. Others
bidding were Rauscher Pierce
Security Corp., 5.534679 per-
cent; Underwood, Neuhaus and
Co. Inc., 5.53154 percent; and
First National Bank of Dallas
5.62854 percent. The bonds will
of|bonds at a called meeting of be used to finance sweeping im-
provements to the District’s six
school plants and to construct
a new administration building.
Voters overwhelming approved
the bond issue last November.
Supt. Don L. Hough said the
first funds from the bond sale
should be received in about 45
days from the date the bid was
accepted. First down payment
of $5,000 is due in 1976 with
JACK DEMPSEY
Jack Dempsey
Asks Election As
Pel 4 Commissioner
Jack Dempsey of Lumberton
has announced his candidacy
for the Precinct Four Commis-
sioner’s post.
A native of Livingston
Dempsey has “built roads ir,
Hardin County and traveled
over County roads for 30
years.” He is a member of
Ironworkers Local 125 and has
experience in oilfield and con-
, struction w’ork, working as an
overseas contractor. In addi-
tion, he is owner of a business
in Nederland. He is a World
War II veteran, having served
in.the U.S. Marine Corps as a
master sergeant in the Pacific
theater. Dempsey and his wife,
the former Miss Juanita Green
* of Monahans, Texas, are par-
ents of a daughter, Sonia, 12.
"If I am elected to serve as
Commissioner of Precinct 4,"
Dempsey said, “I pledge to do
my best with the available
money and equipment to im-
prove the roads of the pre-
cinct.” ■>
Tigers Get Chance To
ven Slate With Little
Cypress On February 5
Silsbee’s Tigers will host the
Little Cypress - Mauriceville
Bears this Tuesday, Feb. 5, in
the second meeting of the two
District 10-3A basketball pow-
ers.
The Silsbee quintet will be
out to avenge a 55-50 loss to
the Bears they suffered on Jan.
18, the first Tiger loss in regu-
lar District play since the 1971
season. In the last bout, Silsbee
led the Bears for three quar-
ters, but fell apart in the last
period. Coach Dan Montgom-
ery’s defense should key on
Bear Mike Procella, whose
shooting demolished the Tigers
in the match.
Tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 1)
the Silsbee team travels to
Miss Patricia Eppes
On Honor Roll At
McNeese University
Miss Patricia Eppes, a stu-
dent at McNeese State Univer-
sity in Lake Charles, La., was
listed on the University honor
roll for the first semester of
the school year, August
through December 1973.
A senior major in Animal
Science, she is a 1970 graduate
of Silsbee High School and is
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Ross Eppes of this city.
West Orange for a second match
with the Chiefs, who lost 74-37
to the Tigers Jan. 15.
The Tigers stacked up a 20-5
season record with 6-1 in Dis-
trict this week when they wal-
loped the Bridge City Cardinals
94-75. The win marks the sev-
enth time the team has won 20
games in a season during the
past eight years.
Mike Dabney scored 28 points
for Silsbee, as did Anthony
Jones, and Jerry Galloway got
13 points. Gallqway also grab-
bed a'baker’s dozen rebounds
to Dabney’s 11.
The Junior Varsity won over
the Cardinals 84-47 to come
out undefeated so far in Dis-
trict play.
Jasper went the way of most
other teams in the District, los-
ing 78-41 to the Varsity and
67-44 to thd JV in games Jan.
25. Dabney was good for 30
points and 15 rebounds, while
Jones got 13 points and Artie
Shankle grabbed 11 rebounds.
In junior high play, the
Freshmen lost to Beaumont
High 47-43 Jan.. 28 and the
eighth grade delcated Odom
37-32 in a three-minute over-
time. Today, the Freshmen host
South Park and Marshall Jun-
ior High meets the eighth
graders here. On Feb. 4, the
freshmen host Forest Park and
Stephen F. Austin plays the
eighth grade team, also here.
the issue maturing in 1999.
Trustees also called the an-
nual Board election for Satur-
day, April 6, at the Silsbee Fire
Hall on Avenue I and at the
Wiley Mae Church in C a n e y
Head. Polls will be open from
8 a.m.-7 p.m., and city election
judge will be Bill Hobson, as-
sisted by Mrs. Herman Adams.
Caney Head judge will be Les-
lie Ashworth, assisted by Mrs.
Nellie Ashworth. Mrs . Doris
Langton and Mrs. Emma Dean
Glenn will serve as judges for
absentee voting to be held
March 18 through April 2 at
the administration building, 9
а. m.-5 p.m. five days a week
Deadline for candidates to file
for election is noon on March
б.
Both incumbents, Mrs. John
Meade, Place 6, and C. B. Stev-
ens, Place 7, have announced
intentions to seek re-election.
In other action, Trustees em-
ployed Mrs. Brenda Cooksey to
replace Mrs. Katie Bullock,
who resigned as a special edu-
cation instructor.
Silsbee Youth Is
Booked For Coin
Machine Burglary
A 17-year old former patient
at Rusk State Hospital
has been charged oy Silsbee
Police with coin machine burg-
lary, Chief Bob L. Ogden told
the BEE last week..
Arrested at the lo^al Police
station Jan. 23 was Vernon Al-
bert McKenzie, 17, of Route 4.
Box 395E, Silsbee. He is al-
leged to have attempted to open
a lock on a soft-drink machine
located at the Bell Oil Co. ser-
vice station at 1140 North Fifth
Street. Arrest was made by Of-
ficer Darrell Hartman at 9 a.m.
Wednesday.
McKenzie was arraigned be-
fore Justice of the Peace Kyle
Reeves, who set bond at $2,000
on the burglary charge. The
suspect was being held in Har-
din County Jail on Jan. 25.
Hardin County Commission-1 part of an inter-governmental
ers Friday agreed to become | workmen’s compensation in-
surance group that is expected
to save the County between
$7,000-$8,000 in annual premi-
ums.
The unanimous vote came
upon the recommendation of
County Auditor Horace Moye,
who joined Vance Warner of
the Deep East Texas Council
of Governments to explain the
program t o Commissioners.
Moye told the Court that rising
insurance costs had inflated
the County’s annual workmen’s
comp premiums from $11,000
in 1971 to an estimated $27,000
in 1974 and, estimated that an
insurance organization made up
of area governments could
save Hardin County “a mini-
mum of $7,000 in premiums.”
The Deep East Texas Coun-
cil of Governments began work
on the government-group plan
about two years ago when it
became apparent that the
State- Legislature would re-
quire all governmental bodies
to carry compensation insur-
ance on its employees. (Hardin
County has carried such poli-
cies on its workers since 1970,
even though not required by
law.) Under the new laws,
many area governments must
CECIL V. OVERSTREET
Cecil Overstreet
Seeks JP Post In
Kountze Precinct 3
Cecil V. Overstreet announc-
ed his candidacy this week for
the office of Justice of the
Peace of Precinct 3, Hardin
County, (Kountze area).
Married to the former Bessie
Lee Gardner, Mr. and Mrs.
Overstreet are parents of three
children, Mrs. Sonya Snyder,
Mrs. LaRee Calame, and Win
ston Overstreet. They have
made their home in the Koun
tze area since 1929.
Overstreet recently retired
from the United State Postal
Service where he was employ-
ed for 35 years except for the
time spent in the military ser-
vice during World War II.
Overstreet said that if he is
elected he intends to sell his
present business interest and
devote his full working time
to the Office of Justice of the
Peace.
The principal towns included
in Justice of the Peace Precinct
No. 3 arc Kountze, Saratoga,
Batson, Votaw, Thicket, Honey
Island, Village Mills and Pine
Ridge Community.
Overstreet said that he feels
he is well-qualified in the hu-
manities with a thorough un-
derstanding of the people of
this area through years of work
and experience with them. He
has asked for the vote and sup-
port of all of the people and
promised that upon his election
he will faithfully perform the
institute coverage by this fall,
and the sudden change may be
extremely costly if the munici-
palities contract individually,
Moye said. “DETCOG is near-
ly one year ahead of the South
East Texas Regional Planning
Commission in this study,” the
Auditor added. “SETRPC may
even go into this plan we are
considering,” he said.
Warner told the Court that
the County would be obligated jf
to the group only when enough !
commitments were received to*f
insure annual payment of at |
least $100,000 in premiums. Hef
added that of the approximate- ‘
ly 170 governmental units in \
DETCOG, the first 50 to be f
contacted (including Hardin
(See County, Sec. 1, Page 6)
make up the 50/50 highway
program match.
Projects were recommended
rtSee Funds, Sec. 1, Page 6)
Attempted
Rape Filed
On Boy, 16
88th District Judge Clyde E.
Smith has Ordered a psychi-
atric examination for a 16-year
old youth charged with at-
tempting to rape a Silsbee
housewife, County Attorney
MW**
The youth was arrested Jan.
29 by Chief Deputy Jesse Cart-
wright on a charge of attempt-
ed rape. Justice of the Peace
Bennie Como said that the
woman had not been injured.
After a detention hearing was
held Jan. 30, juvenile officer
Roger Harvill placed the youth
in the custody of his parents.
74 Auto Plates
Go On Sale In
County On Feb. 181
MRS. L V. ELDREDGE
Mrs. Betty Meade
Asks Third Term
On School Board
Mrs. Betty Meade will seek
a third term as a member of
the Silsbee Independent School
District Board of Trustees, she
announced this week. This is
one of two places to be filled
at this year’s annual election,
set for Saturday, April 6.
Mrs. Meade was first elected
to Place 6 on the Board of
Trustees in 1968; and won
second term in 1971. She is
chairman of the Board's Build-
ing and Transportation Com-
mittee. “I seek a third term as
Trustee because I wish to see
the fruition of the bond issue
approved by voters in Novem-
ber. Our Board has committed
itself to a very necessary task
that of providing our chil-
dren the best possible educa-
tional facilities,” she said.
A native of Wichita Falls.
Mrs. Meade attended Midwest-
ern University. She and her
husband, John Meade, moved
to Silsbee from Beaumont in
1965. They are parents of a son
Mark, a student at Silsbee High
School. Her husband is owner
of Morris Pharmacy here. Mrs
Meade currently serves as
duties of his office in the equal president of the Twentieth
administration of justice to all. Century Club*
Asks Re-election
To City Council
Mrs. I. F. Eldredgc Jr. an-
nounced this week that she will
be a candidate for reelection to
Place 2 on the Silsbee City
Council in the April 2 election.
She has named her husband,
Cap, as her campaign manager.
will go on sale in Hardin Coun-MrS. I. F. ElureUg6
ty in Kountze and Silsbee on - -
Monday, Feb. 18, and in Sour
Lake, Saratoga, and Lumber-
ton on Monday, March 4. Tax
Assessor-Collector Fred Anders
unnouftted last week.
Hours at the main tux office
in Hardin County Courthouse.
Kountze, will be from 9 a.m.-
5 p.m. Silsbee station will be
located at the Fire Hall on Ave-
nue I, and hours in Silsbee and
at Sour Lake and Lumberton Mrs. Eldredge was appointed to
will be from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
In Sour Lake, plates will be
sold at White-Luce Insurance
Agency; at the Post Office
Building in Lumberton; and
from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Miss Beu-
lah Skinner’s home near Sara-
toga. All of the five station;
will be open Monday through
Friday through April 1, the
deadline for registration.
No personal checks will be
accepted for license plates pur-
chased between March 25 and
April I, due to time involved
for check processing, Anders has
said.
A total of 28,426 license plate,
sets have been ordered for sate
in Hardin County thib year
Anders added. This represents
a sizeable increase over the
1973 order of approximately
20.000 sets.
The 1974 county total is com-
posed of 14,610 passenger fear
plates; 6,000 for trucks; 350,
farm truck; combination, 200;
farm truck-tractor, 6; trailers,
3,000; token trailer, 300; mobile
home, 550; motorcycle, 3,400,
and 10 for farm tractors opera
ted on public roads.
the place on March 3, 1971, to
fill an unexpired term, and
successfully ran for a two-year
term in April 1972. That year
she was elected to serve a term
as mayor pro-term As a free-
lance newspaper correspondent,
she attended council meetings
more than 10 years prior to
her appointment.
Mrs. Eldredge, a partner in
a local real estate firm, holds
a bachelor of science degree in
business administration from
Louisiana State University and
i taken post-graduate cours-
es at Lamar University.
She was one of the original
nine women responsible for re-
activating the Silsbee Public
Library in 1960 and presently
represents the city on the Li-
brary bpard of trustees. Also,
she is a member and past presi-
dent of the Silsbee Woman’s
Club.
The Eldredges are members
of the First United Methodist
Church and have three sons,
George, a senior at LSU Law
School; Frank, a senior at Tex-
as University, and Chris a sen-
ior at Silsbee High School.
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Read, R. L. The Silsbee Bee (Silsbee, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 31, 1974, newspaper, January 31, 1974; Silsbee, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth821092/m1/1/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Silsbee Public Library.