Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-04-24
WAS MENTALLY WEAK
Lester Jones Was Physically Strong
But Always Had Been Mem
tally Shy.


this showed in a wonderful ply
sique. From his shoulders to tn
soles of his feet he was perfect,
formed, but his head, normal,
shaped, and face showed traits tha
characterized his life.
Neighbors say that he was pos
sessed of a violent temper, and tha
when angered would. resort to des
perate acts. At times, in the past
he has fired shots at people will
whom he had arguments, but gener.
ally to intimidate, rather than tC
kill. This happened in the case oi
a neighbor whose corn he trampled
down. People living close to his
cabin admitted that they argued with
him only when he was without his
gun. He was considered one of the
best shots in Jackson county.
Since his disappearance from this
county year ago he has been work
ing at the Mammoth mine in Shasta
county, California, this being deter
mined by boarding house check he
had in his pocket when searched by
Deputy Coroner Perl a short time
after the shooting. His pocketbook
contained 20 cents, and a, dozen cart
ridges were loose in his pockets.
Joe Launspach, employed as a
piano player at the Isis theater, knew
Jones well, living within a quarter
of mile of him for a number of
years. Launspach says that one
evening he called upon him and was
asked if he could play cornet. An
swering in the affirmative, Jones
crawled under the cabin and re-
turned with a valuable horn. Launs-
pach asked him where he secured
the instrument and was told that it
was given to him by a friend, and
that he hid it under the house to
keep it from his father.
Often at nights Jones would begin
a veritable bombardment with rifle
and shotgun, and this was so COM
mon that none of the neighbors paid
any attention to the shooting that
resulted so tragically for Sheriff
Singler. On another occasion he
awoke the quiet of that section by
exploding dynamite at midnight.
The Jones cabin where the tragic
shooting occurred was the Mecca of
number of Medford people We'd
nesday afternoon. The quarters were
not very tidy. The elder Jones,
father of the dead youth, was work
ing on the Applegate, and came to
Medford to view the remains of his
son. He had no comment to make.
Friends declare that he is a law
abiding citizen and that he neither
has nor seeks trouble.
Six bullets from the gun of Sheriff
Singler found Judgement in the out
laws body. One beneath the right
armpit ranged close to the heart and
is believed to have been fatal. An
other on the same side plowed it's
way through the abdomen, one per-
forated the right cheek, another hit
the left arm, and two found rest
ing place in the head. Jones' gun,
of small calibre, is now in possession
of Constable Estes.
Jones was we'll known to a number
of Medford people. He generally
w re blue overalls, hunting coat
and heavy shoes. His age is placed
at from IS to 21 years. He always
wore derby hat, pulled down close
ly over his eyes, and cooked to one
side. his most striking popularity of
dress. In disposition he was moody
and given to boasting.
Lester Jones, the young man who
met death Tuesday evening in an at
tempt to resist arrest, and who fa-
tally wounded Sheriff Singler, was of
peculiar character and had an un-
usual boyhood, according to Charles
Prim, Jr., one of the posse that set
out in pursuit of the young desper-
ado and found him dead in his cabin.
Mr.. Prim says that the young man
was mentally weak. Although he
was never able to get beyond the
sixth grade, he had a strange crav-
ing for education. This he was un-
able to obtain, partly on account of a
subnormal mental condition and
partly because he was compelled to
make his own living from early child
hood.
He lived in crude and almost un-
civilized manner, spending much of
the money he earned by working, in
buying ammunition with which he
practiced shooting. He became an
expert shot, and in spite of the bar
barous way in which he lived, grew
into splendid type of physical man.
hood. He was famed for his strength
but was awkward and slow in his
movements.
The supper that Jones was pre-