The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1920-01-03
A|RPLANE MAN into
TROUBLE At AUBURN

or considerable interest to Winnie
muccans is the story of the arrest in
Auburn, California, last Tuesday, OF
Ernest S. Hightower. as he is one OF
the men who was here several months
ago to designate Winnemucca as a
permanent airplane landing station
on the transcontinental North Ameri-
can Air Route" AT that time he was
accompanied by Lieutenant A. Clair
Sager, supposed to be an experimental
flyer for the Curtiss company. A
meeting of local men was called for
them, and they then explained II
would be necessary for thirty Winnie
muccans to join the North American
Air Line Association, and to pay a
membership fee of $40 each. They
then would mark the landing field and
put it on the map.
They were insistant that the matter
should be closed the same evening and
the money paid over to them imme-
diately. This was refused and al
though the money was collected and
put in a safety deposit box 1t has
never been paid to Hightower. Sew
eral kilograms from him since, asking
that the money be forwarded. have
been ignored, the men in charge oi
the collection wanting to know more
about the reliability of the association
before letting go Of the cash. At that
the proposition was put up in mos'
convincing manner. Hightower having
letter and kilograms from assistant
postmaster generals of the United
States and claimed active backing by
the war department.
Landing fields were also located
Mt Lovelock. Elko. Wells and several
other cities in this State, probably un-
der the same conditions.
Anyhow, the following account OF
Hightower's career as promoter OF air.
plane routes and as q locator of air.
plane cities is taken from the Sacra-
mento Bee:
Starting an alleged career OF riotous
spending that began in Kansas. and
extended to San Francisco and to New
York City and return. Ernest s. High
tower. a prisoner in the Placer county
Jail. has told Sheriff f. II. Gum that
his daily expenses have been around
$125 since last August.
with but seventy eight cents in his
pockets. no employment and two
meals behind. Hightower, according
to the sheriff. has admitted that he
conceived a plan to organize mil
lion dollar corporation for the pur-
pose of establishing the North Ameri-
can Air Service Association. Playing
sectional pride between cities and
working upon the civic sympathy OF
Of moving spirits in the cities and
towns he has visited. Hightower got
along swimmingly and always was
well in funds until he neared Auburn
last Friday He now is in Jail
charged with issuing a $50 fictitious
draft on a bank in Paola. Kansas.
Sheriff Gum says he has learned
that Hightower has sent as much as
$1,000 to the bank as result of his
sale of memberships in the aero con-
cern. but that for travelling expenses
he has drawn upon the bank some
hundreds of dollars in excess of the
deposits.
According to Sheriff Gum. although
the Auburn Commercial Club became
interested in Hightowers scheme and
a landing station was selected. nc
local money had been subscribed in
the venture because of skepticism on
the part OF those asked to purchase
memberships.
The scheme, Gum says. Hightowei
has outlined to him was TO send teie-
grams to the commercial bodies OF
chambers of commerce prior to the
appearance of Hightower He then
selected a landing station and sold
twenty stock memberships at $40 per
share. The proceeds were submitted
to the bank at Paola. with the ex-
ception of $50 left with the local
club. Hightower then drew heavily
upon the funds of the bank to pay his
expense account.
difficulties came when he was in Me-
vada towns. He managed to extri-
cate himself, however, and came to
Auburn, after telegraphic interchange
had been made for about a month
with the Auburn Commercial Club.
Gum states Hightower has made a
full confession of the methods pur-
Continued on Page Four.)