A mother used a Coca-Cola bottle to save herself and her daughter from a kidnapper in 1949, and while Dash to the Past isn’t a contest, this is hands-down the most dramatic headline of the day. Racehorse fraud and slippery highways are also points of interest.
__100 years ago__
Jan. 10, 1924
• A man convicted of fraud in circuit court was exonerated by the Missouri Supreme Court.
Paul G. Woerth of the Union Farm Land Company was convicted of obtaining money under false pretenses by misrepresenting UFLC land holdings in Stoddard County. When he appealed, the Supreme Court decided the evidence at his trial cleared him of wrongdoing — UFLC did own the land Woerth indicated, and payment on the land went into a partnership rather than to Woerth’s account.
Butler County Prosecuting Attorney R.I. Cope dismissed the case, which was tried under his predecessor.
• The circuit course also decided a lawsuit over a racehorse today.
J.A. Cardwell and Henry Barra of Harrisburg, Illinois, bought Canadian Prince from Fred Scott of Butler County. They initially agreed to pay $450 but then alleged Canadian Prince was sold to them with a career-ending tendon injury and refused. Scott sued, but the court ruled in the defendants’ favor.
• The women of the Elks Entertainment Committee are organizing a Leap Year Dance for Feb. 29. It’s been decided ladies will ask men out to the event and no woman can bring her husband as a date.
__75 years ago__
Jan. 10, 1949
• A mother and her child escaped their kidnapper by beating him over the head with a glass coke bottle.
The Hayes family of Dudley was hitchhiking home from Poplar Bluff on Jan. 9 when a man offered them a ride. Near Fisk, he pulled over and asked Mr. Hayes to drive for awhile, but when Mr. Hayes got out to change seats with him the man sped off with his wife and 3-year-old daughter in the back seat.
As they neared Dudley, Mrs. Hayes found a coke bottle on the floor of the car. The kidnapper suggested Mrs. Hayes sit in the front with him and she pretended to agree before bashing him in the head. While he was dazed, the car slowed enough for her to jump out with her daughter and run to Dudley. The kidnapper fled.
Mr. Hayes succeeded in flagging down state troopers and they found his wife and daughter safe in Dudley, but a search by law enforcement from Poplar Bluff and Dexter failed to locate the kidnapper or his vehicle.
The man is believed to be a sexual predator wanted in relation to other cases in the area.
__50 years ago__
Jan. 10, 1974
• A Fairdealing couple was only mildly injured when their car skidded off Highway 67 South and broke a utility pole.
John Robert and Ruthie Mae Campbell were reportedly “shaken” when their 1971 Ford sedan slid on ice while attempting to pass a truck last night (Jan. 9). The car smashed into a high-voltage pole, breaking it in two places and bringing the transformer crashing to the ground amid sparks, fire and exposed wires.
The couple left the car and took shelter in the vehicle of a state trooper who responded to the scene until an ambulance arrived and transported them to Poplar Bluff Hospital for examination.
The car, which John Campbell said he only purchased a day ago, was heavily damaged. Power was out for four hours in the nearby Metz Subdivision of Poplar Bluff.
Editor’s note: In situations like the Campbells’, experts advise staying in the vehicle until the downed lines are disconnected. Live power lines can charge a car’s exterior or the ground. Riders are insulated from danger while in the vehicle, but getting out means risking electrocution.