Corpus Christi Caller-Times from Corpus Christi, Texas • 1

Document to deny Hughes worth billion the documents simultaneously here and in Houston Last week attorney James Dilworth representing aunt Annette Gano Lummis of Houston said he does not think that Hughes was ever a billionaire He said his research indicated Hughes' assets may have hit a high point of about 1750 million in the 1960s after Hughes sold his stock in Trans World Airlines Morse declined to give specific figures but said he agreed with Dilworth that worth had been greatly inflated by the news media A spokesman for the Summa Corp thq holding company for much of Hughes' operations declined to comment on the slse of the estate Morse said the estate was given permission to hire an outside business accounting firm to do an inventory on the estate but that the report will not be ready for "several weeks" Morse said his court report was compiled with the help of the First National Bank of Nevada and includes some figures from the accounting firm audit The estate now owns large tracts of undeveloped land in Nevada and several pieces of land on the Las Vegas trip Other significant holdings include the Hughes Television Network Hughes Air-west and several Las Vegas resort hotels and casinos The Morse report is being filed both here and In Houston because Texas authorities claim Hughes was a resident of their state and they are therefore entitled to the state inheritance tax on the estate Texas officials have estimated that the tax could run to $300 million or more but Morse said those estimates are mere speculation Nevada has no estate tax LAS VEGAS Nev Howard Hughes was not a billionaire at the time of his death sources said a document to be filed in Clark County District Court on Tuesday will show Sources close to the estate said Monday that the Hughes estate will fall below the $1 billion mark especially considering liabilities against it Published reports on the value of the estate have estimated it might have been as large as (25 billion William Morse a local attorney who is compiling the report for the court will file Howard Hughes Our readers speak were they when Mr Ramsey Munis was assessed a $3 million bondT" JULIAN BAYARDO Letters to the Editor pago 1IA WMf AdtHMNI OttMr Dtph M-MII 94lh No 54 CORPUS CHRISTl TEXAS TUESDAY MARCH 15 1977 32 Page-- Price 15 crntu Manges ranches up for auction to cover note Hanafi leader ducks photographer Hamaas Abdnl Khaalis leader of tographer and then ducks around with the takeover of three buildings the Hanafi Moalema cornea out of the aide of the house Abdul Khaalla last week and holding more than IN the Hanafi houae in Washington later went to police headquarters people hostage Monday morning spots a news pho- where he was booked In connection By JOE COUDERT mswuit SAN DIEGO Clinton Manges' 100000-acre Duval County Ranch Co Is scheduled to be sold at auction April 5 on the courthouse steps here Also to be sold are an additional 18000 acres of Manges-owned ranch land In Starr and Jim Hogg counties A notice of trustee's sale was posted on the courthouse bulletin board yesterday declaring the ranch company had defaulted on an $8600000 note to the Connecticut General Life Insurance Co of Bloomfield Conn The property will go to the highest bidders and for cash The principal sum still owing on the note executed Jan 31 1973 was listed as being $7203632 plus interest late charges and attorneys' fees The sale notice lists all the property of the Duval County Ranch Co located west and north of Freer Approximately 75000 acres of the ranch is in Duval County with the remaining 25000 acres in Webb County The ranch company headquarters is located three miles west of Freer at the formed by Highway 59 and State Highway 44 Manges and Morris Ashby his general manager were out of town yesterday and could not be reached for comment Manges bought all the stock In the Duval County Ranch Co for slightly more than $5 million in 1971 the same year he created a stir in banking circles by purchasing controlling interest in the Groos National Bank in San Antonio The original loan Manges made to buy the Duval ranch was handled by the Bank of the Southwest In Houston The bank also financed the purchase of the Groos National Bank Manges apparently consolidated his notes or some of them with Connecticut General At the time he bought the ranch company its headquarters was located in Houston Manges moved the headquarters to Freer He built a home on the ranch and has lived there since then Prior to the sale the ranch had been leased to Lykes Brothers a Houston-based steamship company Manges acquired the property in Starr and Jim Hogg counties from the Guerra family of Starr County which at one time owned 72000 acres most of it in the northest part of Starr and about 10000 acres in the southwest part of Jim Hogg Manges and members of the Guerra family were in the courts for years battl- Phase-in integration urged Plan would let students finish present high schools Shaded areas locate ranches ing some students especially the '79 seniors At the same meeting Carroll Student Council President Homer Cavazos called an exemption provision "a good idea" The seven school trustees will not vote on the administration recommendation until next week but Darlington may have the support of at least one other trustee Franklin Bass showed some concern for the students facing potential reassignment She could well have the support of others also Exemptions also have the backing of the Superintendent's Teacher Advisory Committee whose members said unanimously last week that 78 seniors should be allowed to finish their high school careers at the schools in which they were already enrolled See Schools page 14A By RONALD OZIO I1HI Wrtfr School board Secretary Marsha Darlington suggested yesterday a "phase-in approach to high school desegregation that would exempt students who do not want to be reassigned to another campus Her suggestion came at yesterday's school board meeting The school administration has recommended changes in the Carroll Moody and Ray high school attendance zone boundaries to reassign 551 present and future Carroll students to Moody and switch 167 present and future Carroll students to Ray The Carroll-to-Moody shift is intended to beef up the Anglo student percentage at the predominantly Mexican-Ameri-can school Overcrowding at Carroll prompted the Carroll-to-Ray change The proposals formulated by Supt Dana Williams and his staff do not include reassignment exemptions for any students in the affected areas At meeting however Darlington questioned the wisdom of forcing students who are juniors and sophomores at Carroll this year to attend another school for their junior and senior years A "phase-in" approach she said would affect only ninth graders These students originally bound for Carroll but who have never attended any high school would go directly to Moody and Ray while allowing those who had already started their high school careers at Carroll to remain there At a meeting yesterday of the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council and the Superintendent's Advisory Committee on Integration-Desegregation Williams said "The (school) board is basically sympathetic" toward exempt ing over the ranch which had been in the Guerra family for many years Manges also has had numerous court battles involving the Duval County Ranch Co Currently 15 law suits against Manges or the ranch company are pending In district court in San Diego The plaintiffs seek more than $700000 mostly for oil field services or equipment The suits in- elude one filed by the Alamo Lumber of Alice for more than $381000 for the construction of home The ranch company allegedly owes about $700000 in delinquent taxes for the years 1971 through 1976 to Duval County 1 the Duval County Conservation and Reclamation District the county vocational school district and the state See Maages page 14A 3 area doctors Testifies on marijuana Mathea Falco science adviser to the secretary of ttate testifies before the Houte special committee on narcotic which is considering an administration proposal that penalties for marijuana possession be reduced Story page 7 A Amusements 6B Hijacker gets money child takes jet back Mlrfltfrfr rr SEVILLA Spain An armed Italian hijacked a Spanish Jetliner Monday with 36 other persons aboard forced it to fly from Spain to West Africa collected $140000 In ransom and his young daughter and then had the plane flown back to Europe -Iberia Airlines said the Boeing 727 landed early Tuesday at Sevilla In southwest Spain on its way to Turin Italy after a flight from the Ivory Coast on the West African bulge The hijacker seized control of the plane after it took off from Barcelona for the Mediterranean is- land of Mallorca He forced the pilot to fly to Abld- Jan the capital of the Ivory Coast and then or- -dered him to fly to Casablanca but Moroccan officials refused to permit a landing there Iberia said all aboard the plane the hijacker his daughter 29 other passengers and the seven crew members were safe Authorities said the hijacker was Luciano Por- carl an Italian about 36 years old who once lived in Abidjan After the plane landed in Abidjan Porcari de- manded that his young daughter by an Ivorian I woman be brought to him and that he be paid the equivalent of $140000 in French francs Ivorian authorities agreed to all the demands it was reported Spanish Ambassador Teo Domireo de Aguilar Colomer who helped negotiate with the hijacker and saw the child taken aboard the plane said she Bee Hijacker pago 14A on $100000 list By LLOYD GROVE wffWrttf Three area physicians including one in Corpus Christi are among more than 400 doctors nationwide who collected $100000 or more in Medicare payments in 1975 according to the Department of Health Education and Welfare Named in a list of 409 "solo practitioners" released yesterday by HEW are Dr Fant of Corpus Christi Dr Rodriguex-Aguero of McAllen and Dr Ashcraft of Harlingen HEW has never before released such a list Fant a radiologist was the biggest beneficiary of the three the HEW list indicates with total government payments of $279066 in 1975 Reached for comment last night Fant denied that he had received that much money saying that the figure was probably "the gross take" of a partnership of himself and eight other radiologists Asked why HEW singled him out Fant said 'Til be damned If I know' "I probably received less than one-ninth of that figure" he said HEW said some members of medical groups may have been listed as lone recipients of all Medicare money sent to a specific clinic or partnership even though money could have been paid to more than one doctor the Associated Press reported Rodriguex-Aguero meanwhile said it was entirely possible that he had received $123911 in 1975 the sum indicated by the list See Medicare page 14A Classified 9B Comics Crossword Deaths Editorials 12A Gores 7B Markets 5A Movie Clock 7B Sports 8A TV Today 6B Walravea IB Weather map 2A news 4B Cloudy to partly cloudy High mid 80s Low low 60s Details on page 2A SSWIrtpkM a i I a.