The Veterans Hospital (known today as the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center) is under construction in 1949, yet houses its first patients: a stray dog and her puppies. Meanwhile, the National Guard claims it cooperated fully with the Armory Board as back-and-forth over jurisdiction continues.
100 years ago
Jan. 31, 1924
• Part of jury duty for one group of Poplar Bluff residents was inspecting county property. The grand jury visited county-owned farm houses, offices and the local jail, and found all in good condition. The only significant recommendation was to swap the county collector’s and treasurer’s offices — the collector’s office has only one door, making it “badly congested and very inconvenient” during tax season.
Also, the county farm houses need a new coat of paint.
• The Poplar Bluff High School Powder Puffers beat Puxico’s Puxipetticoats 22-5 last week, in a game played in a barn with a dirt floor. Fans are optimistic the Powder Puffers will beat the Stoddard County Sisters by an even wider margin at their next game, which will be played in a real gym.
• Two area schools have closed after state aid was withdrawn: Blue Water in northern Butler County and Riverside north of Fisk. Riverside closed last month and Blue Water shut its doors more recently.
75 years ago
Jan. 31, 1949
• The National Guard claps back at accusations made by the Armory Board. The board claimed yesterday (Jan. 30) that the National Guard was so uncooperative with local leadership during WWII that the board was forced to default control of the armory.
Delmar C. Abbott was a ranking officer of the State Guard during the war. He stated the National Guard sheltered severe weather victims four or five times during his tenure, and no member of the Armory Board requested or was denied a building key (as former chairman L.J. Lindsay claimed).
Controversy over the armory and its leadership began when the Red Cross and flood refugees were denied access for 24 hours last week on order of Brig. Gen. John A. Harris, adjutant general of Missouri. The armory was constructed on donated land and largely funded by Butler County residents, but jurisdiction defaulted to the National Guard instead of the elected Armory Board years ago. The defunct board claimed the Guard’s uncooperative attitude kept it from even making minor repairs.
• The Veterans Hospital of Poplar Bluff has its first patients: a stray dog and her newborn puppies in room 1093.
J.M. Littleton, head of the management branch for the Corps of Engineers, said: “The mother of the pups is an all around dog that made friends with the workmen at the hospital site and adopted them as her masters. She is no ordinary dog and the workmen believe that she can even read the hospital plans.”
Judging from the article’s photo, there are at least seven puppies.
50 years ago
Jan. 31, 1974
• A plane landing at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport crashed on the runway yesterday (Jan. 30) when its landing gear suddenly retracted. The pilot and two passengers were uninjured and airport mechanic Jim Humphrey said damage to the aircraft was “minor considering the circumstances.” The airport was closed for three and a half hours after the accident.