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that case and the current matter. Soon, word spread that the commission and Sadler were going to the room where the treasure was located, there to inventory what was on hand with a list Sadler provided. Newsmen and the two representatives hurried along to catch up with the group. On entering an anteroom Kilgore said to Sadler that the press was present in some numbers \(about a dozen at that best that the showing of the treasure be as open as possible. “My inclination at this time is that everything we do be public,” he said. Of course, Kilgore went on, he realized that the building was under Sadler’s supervision, so his wishes would carry great weight. Kilgore is a man of soothing manner; he seemed anxious to carry off his task with as few ruffled feathers all around as possible. Sadler seemed grim but resigned. He replied that he would see what could be done and made a remark that this all could be carried off with everyone “acting like gentlemen,” seeming to have the reporters most in mind at that point. Thereupon, the three commissioners, Sadler, and about half of the reporters made for the locked door on the w i all, opposite the anteroom’s entrance. Johnsbp, and Mrs. Farenthold followed near the rear of the group. After most had entered the locked area, Sadler stopped in the doorway, confronting Mrs. Farenthold and Johnson. The others \(except the second inside. Mrs. Farenthold extended her hand and greeted Sadler. He ignored her and turned to Johnson. Johnson asked if they were not to be admitted. Standing right by with a tape recorder, at this point, was reporter David Day of the Texas State Network, a news service subscribed r to by more than 100 state radio stations. Day recorded the following exchange immediately following Johnson’s request for entry. SADLER: I’m not going to let you in anywhere! JOHNSON: Why, Jerry? We’re here the commission asked us to come over here and see these things. [Here there was a pause, followed by sounds of a disturbance, then: ] SADLER: Get outta here! DAY: Mr. Sadler, were you going to choke the representative? [Another pause.] DAY: Are you gonna choke me now?! Day angrily departed then. He told the Observer that he saw Sadler grab Johnson by the throat, at the adam’s apple. When Day asked Sadler what he had intended to do to Johnson, Day says Sadler made a threatening move towards him, Day. The reporter says he isn’t sure whether Sadler touched him or not. He just couldn’t recall afterwards, trying to piece things together following the excitement. Johnson stood quietly and spoke in a normal though somewhat tense tone of voice to Sadler before the commissioner grabbed him. Johnson was pushed backwards after that, evidently when either a land office staff member or a reporter, or a combination of both, separated the two men. Marks were visible on the legislator’s throat immediately afterwards, and Johnson said he had some pain. Sadler turned and went into the secure area, the door locked behind him by two young men who stood by outside. Sadler said he took “necessary measures” to stop Johnson from “putting on a Quote of the Week Austin After a Dallas News reporter teletyped a brief summary of the Sadler vs. Johnson story, saying he would follow it shortly with his full report, someone at the News office in Dallas replied on the teletype to Austin: “I can hear it now: ‘I hereby choke you in the name of the school children of Texas.’ show for the benefit of the press and the public.” He acknowledged that he had grabbed Johnson, saying he had had him by the tie and shirt collar. “I hope the people of Texas realize that had it not been for my prompt action when we found out about the treasurehunting off our coast, these treasures would not have been preserved and protected by anyone else in the state,” Sadler said. Incorporating the State Observer and the East Texas Democrat, which in turn incorporated the State Week and Austin Forum-Advocate. We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of man as the foundation of democracy; we will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. Editor, Greg Olds. Associate Editor, Kaye Northcott. Editor-at-large, Ronnie Duggpr. Editorial intern, Mary Callaway. Business Manager, C. R. Olofson. Business Manager Emeritus, -Sarah Payne. Contributing Editors, Elroy Bode, Winston Bode, Bill Brammer, Lee Clark, Larry Goodwyn, Harris Green, Bill Hamilton, Bill Helmer, Dave Hickey, Franklin Jones, Lyman Jones, Larry L. King, Georgia Earnest Klipple, Larry Lee, Dave McNeely, Al Melinger, Robert L. Montgomery, Willie Morris, James Presley, Charles Ramsdell, John Rogers, Mary Beth Rogers, Roger Shattuck, Robert Sherrill, Dan Strawn, Tom Sutherland, Charles Alan Wright. The editor has exclusive control over the editorial policies and contents of the Observer. None of the other people who are associated with the enterprise shares this responsibility with him. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them the editor does not necessarily imply that he Sadler has drafted a version of an antiquities bill he says he would like the Legislature to pass this month, should Gov. Preston Smith extend the call of the session to permit consideration of the treasure-hunting situation. It is expected at this point that Smith, who is concerned about Sadler’s activities, may permit the Legislature to take up the question, once the taxing and spending bills are passed. Also, Smith plans to permit reintroduction of the several dozen regular session bills he vetoed on a technicality in June after adjournment of the regular session. He killed the bills because they had not been signed in the presence of one or both houses, as constitutionally required. Inside, the Observer and reporters of other papers watched as the commission inventoried the treasure. Sadler watched nearby, his face blank, arms crossed. The treasure at the land office was behind a wire cage extending some 25 feet or so along one wall. A locked metal vault and three open tanks full of Lake Austin water were the receptacles for the loot. In the first tank was what appeared to be a disassembled cannon. In the second was an anchor chain, a few tools, and some miscellaneous metal items. In the third were some cannon balls and more metal items. In the vault were smaller, more valued items, among them a gold cross one inch high, quite fine in detail, and valued at $100,000 by Sadler. Also in the vault was a gold bar about a half-inch in diameter and about six inches long. agrees with them, because this is a journal of free voices. The Observer is published by Texas Observer Publishing Co., biweekly from Austin, Texas. Entered as second-class matter April 26, 1937, at the Post Office at Austin, Texas, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Second class postage paid at Austin, Texas. Single copy, 25c. One year, $6.00; two years, $11.00; three years, $15.00; plus, for Texas addressees, 4% state sales tax. Foreign, except APO/FPO, 50c additional per year. Air-mail, bulk orders, and group rates on request. Editorial and Business Offices: The Texas Observer, 504 West 24th St., Austin, Texas 78705. Telephone 477-0746. Editor’s residence phone, 472-3631. Change of Address: Please give Old and new address and allow three weeks. Form 3579 regarding undelivered copies: Send to Texas Observer, 504 W. 24th, Austin, Texas 78705. Subscription Representatives: Arlington, George N. Green, 300 E. South College St., 277-0080; Austin, Mrs. Helen C. Spear, 2615 Pec’os, 465-1805; Beaumont, Betty Brink, 2255 Harrison, 835-5278; Corpus Christi, Penny Dudley, 12241/2 Second St., 884-1460; Dallas, Mrs. Cordye Hall, 5835 Ellsworth, 821-1205; El Paso, Philip Himelstein, 331 Rainbow Circle, 584-3238; Ft. Worth, Dolores Jacobsen, 3025 Greene Ave., 924-9655; Houston, Mrs. Kitty Peacock, PO Box 13059, 523-0685; Lubbock, Doris Blaisdell, 2515 24th St.; Midland, Eva Dennis, 3523 Seaboard, 694-2825; Snyder, Enid Turner, 2210 30th St., 443-9497 or 443-6061; San Antonio, Mrs. Mae B. Tuggle, 204 Terrell Road, 826-3583; Wichita Falls, Jerry Lewis, 2910 Speedway, 766-0409. Washington, D.C., Mrs. Martha J. Ross, 6008 Grosvenor Lane, 530-0884. THE TEXAS OBSERVER The Texas Observer Publishing Co. 1969 A Journal of Free Voices 63rd YEARESTABLISHED 1906 A Window to the South Vol. LXI, No. 16 7e le August 15, 1969