Oklahoma City Times (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 80, No. 266, Ed. 1 Friday, December 26, 1969 Page: 1 of 36
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Oklahoma City Times and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
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Horse Throws Boy;
To a Record
He Throws Everyone
883 Deaths
BLUE 5TEEAK
Sanford Howton
Oklahoma City Times
10c on Newsstand; 5c Home Delivered
VOL. LXXX, NO. 266
FOUR CHILDREN DIE
IN FLAMING HOME
yet,” the boy
I just covered
(See BOY—Page 2)
Mom Hurt
Late Bulletins
LBJ Had No Doubt
In Rescue
Attempts
Of His Re-election
City Woman Gets Surprise Chase
Thousands
Just Keep
Christmas Trip a Chiller
Stranded
Forms Coming
By Storm
most excit-
also
the excite-
CLOUDY
What’s Inside
w.m.
(See FIRE—Page 2)
■F
a.m.
am.
so fast, in
Readnour's
mother
injured
family
BiT
.■
By Shorty Shelburne
Patsy Readnour of Okla-
homa City had the most
exciting Christmas of her
life Thursday but she had
just as soon pass up any
more like it.
The 34-year-old Western
Electric Co. employee sud-
denly found herself an un-
expected participant in a
high speed police chase on
1-40 with a highway patrol
trooper she had never seen
before at the wheel of her
car.
It all started when
Trooper Chester Black’s
patrol car ran out of gas
while he was pursuing a
Lyndon B. Johnson says his most trusted coun-
selor, Lady Bird, did not want him to seek re-election
in 1968. (AP Wirephoto)
11:1
111
l:i
"The truth is, I didn’t
sleep much all night,” she
said.
Trooper Black said he
driver who was going the
wrong way in the west-
bound lane of 1-40 between
Weatherford and El Reno.
The trooper pulled up
behind Mrs. Readnour's
car just as his fuel ran out.
He quickly ran to her car,
asked her to scoot over
and took the steering
wheel before she knew
what was happening.
Need help? Write to Okla-
homa City Times, P.O. Box
25125. Oklahoma Cit* 73125
or telephone 232-3311 be-
tween 10 a.m. and 8 p m.
Monday through Friday and
ask (or "Action Line.''
Mom dabs at eyes following reunion with her horseback-riding son. Lester,
14. (Times Staff Photo by Robert Taylor) ____
IrW a.m.
1:00 a.m.
0:00 am.
W. Walker, a
7, also of Chou-
Motorists set a new all-
time Oklahoma record in
traffic fatalities today.
Three deaths, two of
them children, on state
roads this morning boosted
the total to date for the
year to 883. With five days
left in 1969, that tops the
all-time record of 881 for
an entire year set in 1967.
Latest dead are:
Hiram Walker, 15, Chou-
teau.
. Jerry
brother,
teau.
James
Jr., 22, Duncan.
The deaths increased
Oklahoma's Christmas hol-
iday traffic toll to 10 with
two full days remaining of
the holiday weekend. This
compares to eight killed
over a four-day holiday in
1988.
Trooper Jim Coffman re-
ported the Walker boys,
their parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Bobby Gene Walker
and a sister. Bobby Jean,
12, were on a holiday trip
to Louisiana when their
car crashed on an icy ov-
erpass a mile north of Wa-
goner.
The accident occurred
about 7:10 a m. on U.S. 69.
Coffman said Walker, 38.
apparently lost control of
his car, which veered into
another lane.
The car hit the bridge
abutment, jumped a guard
By Howard Davis
Police, friends and fami-
ly all underestimated ear-
ly today the courage and
stubbornness, of a 14-year-
old polio victim lost since
Thursday afternoon in a
thickly wooded, thinly set-
tled rural area of south-
east Oklahoma City.
Lester Eugene Rich-
mond, last seen Christmas
day riding in the neighbor-
hood on his brother’s red
Shetland pony he had been
forbidden to ride, was
feared dead by the more
going the wrong way in the
westbound lane.
She said she, her sister
and nephew were return-
ing from Clinton where
they had spent Christmas
day with relatives.
"It was the
ing Christmas I ever had
but I had just as soon not
have another,” Mrs. Read-
nour said today after re-
You bet. With a little help from Congressman John
Jarman and the Navy, Action Line has now sent your
discharge papers to you.
By Jerry Childress
A swift, super-hot fire
killed four Oklahoma City
children early this morn-
ing. leaving their
and another child
and the modest
home destroyed.
Death came just before 5
a.m., in a blaze that fire-
men said probably
stemmed from faulty liv-
ing room stove flue in the
small frame home at 1119
N Laird.
Mrs. Herschel E. Bowen,
the 27-year-old mother, suf-
fered severe burns over 20
per cent of her body in
frantic, repeated efforts to
return inside after escap-
ing through a window.
Husband Unaware
Red Cross officials were
trying this morning to noti-
fy Mrs. Bowen’s husband
of the tragedy. He is an
army sergeant stationed in
Germany.
The dead children, by
previous marriages, are
Marcell Wilshire. 10; Vin-
cent Wilshire, 9; Quenna
Brannon, 7, and Renardo
Brannon, 5.
The three boys were
found huddled in the bath-
room, where they appar-
ently sought refuge from
the flames. The girl’s body
remained on her bed.
One Body Scorched
Dist. Fire Chief Jim Ha-
taway said the youngsters
apparently died of the in-
tense heat. Only one of the
little bodies was scorched.
Mrs. Anita McVey wit-
nessed the entire tragedy
from her home next door.
"It was all over with so
fast,” she said. "You just
can’t imagine how horrible
it was. I don’t think I’ll
ever be able to forget it.
Windows Pop
"I woke up about 5 when
I heard Louise kicking out
the windows in her bed-
room," Mrs. McVey said.
"I could hear the others
popping from the flames.”
She said Mrs. Bowen
climbed out a window
feet of new snow.
Traffic was snarled in
New York City and airport
ENTIRE CONTENTS COPYRIGHTED IW OKLAHOMA PUBLISHING CO.. 500 N BROADWAY
36 Pages—Oklahoma City, Friday. December 26, 1969
than 40 officers and volun-
teers who set out in a 25-
degree dawn to find him.
"If he fell off that
horse,” a cousin, 36-year-
old Willy Heath, told them,
"there’s no way in hell he
could get back on."
The Richmond boy was
found not only alive but
still riding his pony at
mid-morning about two
miles from his home.
“The horse threw me.”
Lester said, “so I just fig-
ured I'd have to catch
him.”
Lester, a slight lad
dressed in corduroy trou-
sers, black leather jacket
and red wool cap, did not
find it easy to catch his
horse.
His left leg is completely
paralyzed from polio. He
was stricken at age 18
months. His right leg is
partially mobile, but both
limbs are fully braced.
Unaware of the trouble
and heartbreak he was
about to cause, Lester just
went out “to ride around”
Thursday.
Shortly after dark, he
said, he was thrown from
his horse.
“I tried for a long time
to catch him, but he
wouldn't stand still for it
. . . he's not fully broke
for riding
said.
“Finally
myself up for the nighl
and decided to catch him
in the morning.”
Lester says he finally
BOSTON (AP) — A
northeaster surged across
New England today,
stranding thousands of hol-
iday travelers.
The Weather Bureau
said some sections would
receive as much as two
Veto Threat Backdown Expected
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. William Proxmh-e said
Friday he thinks President Nixon will back down on his
threat to veto the health and education money bill. He
added the Senate may be able to override a veto if it
comes.
"I think he’s reconsidering hi* threat to veto that
bill,” the Wisconsin Democrat said of Nixon.
A 32 caliber pistol I bought while stationed in Libya
was confiscated from me at McGuire Air Force Base
along with the registration card given me at Wheelus
AFB. I was told 1 had improper registration even though
it was issued by the U. S. Government, and that I had no
import license. I did not need one because I brought in
only one weapon for my own personal use. I have mailed
five forms to the Director of Customs at McGuire and to
Internal Revenue Service in Washington as directed, yet
I can get no acknowledgement to my forms and letters.
Sgt. R. G. C.
Would you believe more information is needed? Sen.
Henry Bellmon contacted Internal Revenue Service on
your behalf and has mailed you a letter from the Direc-
tor of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division which
indicates the gun can be released to you when the infor-
mation requested is received.___________ . -
“I assumed it would be Bobby Ken-
nedy or Hubert Humphrey”—except
that Lady Bird persuaded him to run.
In 1968 he stepped out of the office
because Mrs. Johnson urged him to,
he said, and because “1 was con-
vinced that there were forces in my
own party, that there were forces in
the molders of public opinion in this
country that would continue to op-
pose a tax bill, to arouse questions
that would make peace (in Vietnam)
impossible, that would continue to
agitate in the cities for the effect it
would have on the president who
would be the Democratic nominee."
He said Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy's
strong showing in the New Hamp-
shire primary and Robert Kennedy’s
entrance into the battle for the nomi-
nation did not affect his decision.
Nor, he said, was he worried about
the eventual outcome.
"If you’re asking me in an indirect
(See LBJ—Page 2)
caught the animal this
morning., The pony was
still grazing just a few tan-
talizing yards away when
he awoke, he said.
Meanwhile, the boy's
mother, Mrs. Emmanuel
Richmond, who supports
six children on welfare
money in a one-room
shack heated by a wood-
burning stove, had called
police.
“We started looking for
him about 10, and I called
the police after midnight,”
she said.
At dawn the three police
cars which had spent the
night in unsuccessful
search of the boy were
joined by other police,
Cleveland County sheriff’s
forces, about 15 citizens
band volunteers, members
of a local saddle club and
the Midwest City Surveil-
lance team.
Three light planes began
an aerial search, while
Sgt. Bill Price of the police
department dispatched
searchers, including awk-
wardly mounted police, to
scour a 6-square-mile area
surrounding the home,
north of SE 104 and Hiwas-
see near Draper Lake.
Lester said when he
woke up “I sorta knew
where I was and sorta
didn’t.” He was returning
home when he was found
by Cleveland County Depu-
ty Sheriff Bob Franklin.
Lester was taken to
meet his mother at the
1 NEW YORK (AP) - Lyndon B.
• Johnson says he had no doubt that he
• could have been re-elected if he ran
for president in 1968 but that he felt
his inability to unite the country
would ultimately prevent him from
administering the office to his satis-
faction.
In a CBS-TV interview with Walter
Cronkite taped last September, John-
son discusses his decision not to run
again in 1968 and calls his wife. Lady
Bird, "one of the wisest and certainly
the most trusted counselors I’ve
had.” She did not want him to be a
candidate last year, he said.
He also relates that after he an-
nounced his decision not to run again
Sen Robert F. Kennedy visited him
for a "very friendly conversation”
and told him. “You’re a very coura-
geous and very dedicated man.”
Johnson said he never wanted to be
president of the United States and
would have left the 1964 Democratic
nomination open for the best man—
Note in Car Admits Slayings
CARTERVILLE, HL (AP) — Police investigating
the slaying of two young women in a trailer home near
Carterville said today Tennessee authorities reported
finding a car containing a note in which the writer said
he had killed the two women and a 14-year-old girt.
Authorities in Tennessee ordered a statewide search
for Kenneth Rogers, husband of one of the victims,
charged with strangling his bride of three months and a
woman companion Thursday and strangling a young girl
three weeks ago.
Black Power Aide Suspended
LONDON (AP) — British black power leader Mi-
chael X suspended one of his chief lieutenants today aft-
er a dispute over plans for a black supermarket.
Michael Abdul Malik, known as Michael X, said Lio-
nel Morrison would no longer speak or act for the organ-
ization Michael X heads, the Racial Adjustment Action
Society.
He Plays Dead, and Lives
A captain in Vietnam whose family lives in Law-
ton tells how he played dead and survived an enemy
By Kay Dyer
rail and flipped on its top.
Jerry Walker was thrown
from the car.
Walker and his wife and
daughter were taken to St.
Francis Hospital in Tulsa.
Howton was injured
about 5:10 a.m. today
when his car ran off SH 7
east of Duncan and struck
a parked vehicle.
Trooper Gene Loman
(See TRAFFIC—Page 2)
• More Details- Page 4.
~ 7 ______ ______
operations were shut down
i at some of the major ter-
minals.
An estimated 2,000 per-
sons were snowbound at
Logan International Air-
. port in Boston, New Eng-
land's largest air facility.
Another 1,000 were snow-
bound at Bradley Interna-
tional Airport in Windsor
Locks, Conn., halfway be-
tween Hartford, Conn.,
and Springfield. Mass.
“We’ve had 10 inches of uj
though he didn’t know
7:« »MmU"LY » what was going on.
♦ ■So Im. m Loo Im. 2* Mrs. Readnour said she
” got an idea of what was
“ happening after a moment
u because she remembered
” having seen the vehicle
snow and 35 mile per hour
winds, and our plows can't
keep up with It." said a
spokesman at Bradley.
i • Hundreds of stalled cars
• dotted the region’s major
wasn’t sure whether the
Oklahoma City woman
protested his takeover of
her car or not because it
happened so quickly.
Black said he had been
pursuing a car which was
going east in the west
bound lane, using the east
bound lane himself.
Mrs. Readnour
was going east in the east-
Black was talking as he turning to work at Western bound lane when he
got in but Mrs. Readnour Electric. stopped her to borrow her
car for the chase.
Black said he finally
was able to get far enough
(See CHASE—Page 2)
didn’t catch what he was
saying in all
ment.
It happened
fact, that Mrs.
sister, Mrs. Betty Kisin-
ger, Oklahoma City, was
left standing beside the
highway when she didn’t
move quickly enough to
get into the back seat after
sliding out of the front seat
to make room for the
trooper. hands in the air. Story on Page 22.
Local: Cloudy with . Nine-year-old Tony Kis-
chance of showers through Mrs. Readnour s
Saturday. Overnight lows , nePhew and 8011 of her
upper 30's. High Saturday si8ter’ was in th® dac^
around 47. (Details, Page 8eat 8°‘ the thrill of
his life, however, even
wnewHi wwen auien ms < umw ne mmo ne »r.eu c a r r y j n g her youngest
to surrender, but the enemy shot him while he had his Rnwon i
c™d' - s5™a lBo*e" , I am very proud of the fact I served in the Marine
She handed the baby io forps for three yean, bat I was supposed to receive a
me and then we both start- dis<.harge Feb 28, 1968 and I still don’t have It. I wrote
ed yelling at the nt ler ki s the eommandjng officer at Kansas City and went to the
to come out the back- recruiting office downtown, but without success. Could
door, lie said. help me? Mn> p D R
"Louise tried and tried
to get back in to them.”
she said. "We never did
hear them scream — may-
be they never did know
what happened." I ordered some book poles from the Meridith Co. in
Flames also defeated Kansas City, Mo. on May 5. In June I got a card saying
(See ACTION LINE—Page 2)
Amusements
16-19
Our World Today
1
Bridge
Business News
14
27, 28
Sports
TV Tidbits
23-25
, 28
Classified Section
29-35
Vital Statistics
29
Comics
26
Women's News
13-15
Friday Forum
21
National Affairs
4
want Ads 235-6722
-90S Other calls 232-3311
Oil Reports
29
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Gaylord, E. K. Oklahoma City Times (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 80, No. 266, Ed. 1 Friday, December 26, 1969, newspaper, December 26, 1969; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1708788/m1/1/?q=del+city: accessed July 4, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.