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Correspondence from Roy Leffingwell to Karl Germer
May 31, 1944
Dear Karl:
93
Forgive me for not writing earlier. Frankly, I have had no heart to write anyone. In your case this was coupled with waiting for some word from A.C.—word that hasn't come up until now.
From such an introduction you can easily deduce that all has not been going well here at the ranch. That is putting it mildly. All has been definitely going NOT well, dating back to the beginning of the WTS [Wilfred Talbot Smith] fiasco.
First to answer your question. Smith left here right after I wrote you last. He decided not to wait for A.C.'s cable. (Thank God he didn't—it hasn't come yet!) Helen [Helen Parsons], except for the two short two or three day trips she made here in February, has never been out here. When Smith left, Culling [Louis Culling] of course went with him, promising to come back whenever I wanted him to do any carpenter work for me.
WTS tried hard to get us to change out viewpoint before he left. Tried hard, that is to sell us his viewpoint, and having Helen here, and all the rest of it. We were adamant, and so we have neither seen nor heard of him since the day he left.
Perhaps I had better amend that. His mark, or the mark of the forces he has attracted to himself, have definitely made themselves felt. Consider this:
While he was still here, coyotes came in one night, killed three valuable goats, nearly a year old, although said goats have been in the same spot for all their lives without ever being molested before. Goats mind you.
Next, my engine and pumping plant went completely haywire. Piston through cylinder wall, then $25 of belting ripped to ribbons, then a pulley flying apart and all but wrecking my whole engine frame—all within the space of one week.
Three turkey hens, setting on eggs, killed another night, inside a run where they were supposed to be safe from marauding animals.
Add to all that very serious financial difficulties, so serious that I may have to sell part of the ranch to straighten myself out—my daughter and son-in-law leaving the ranch for the city, partly because, so Ruthie claims, they couldn't stand the psychic pressure which they attributed to WTS, leaving me all alone to handle ever increasing work, pile on to this the forces we have had to combat ourselves—and you can understand, I am sure, why I have had no heart to write!
I do wish I would hear something from A.C. It might help my viewpoint a little to get his viewpoint. I am sure I did right in the matter of the ordeal he never intended to play it square, and he did intend to ply me to gain a soft berth for Helen (and himself), but these material annoyances, plus the magical monkeyshines, is not so easy to take. However, ten times as much wouldn't make me alter the decision, so he might as well call off his dogs!
Roy
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