1975: Bridge plans sink fast due to permit confusion

A new crossing for farm machinery became a bridge to nowhere in 1975 when Butler County officials and farmers funding the project learned they were missing a vital permit from an unexpected source. A state representative stepped in to facilitate a meeting between the county and the U.S. Coast Guard, which has jurisdiction over all navigable riverways.

Other weekend news included mysterious disappearances, radio hysteria and the conviction of a major forger.

No issues available: Jan. 25, 1925; Jan. 26, 1975.

Saturday

75 years ago

Jan. 25, 1950

• Two Southeast Missouri men tunneled out of jail last night. Residents of their hometowns are urged to watch for them.

Leo Lawrence, 32, and Charles Luther Hester, 22, dug through a brick wall at the Madison County jail in Fredericktown at approximately 2 a.m. Lawrence was being held on burglary charges and has relatives in Fisk. Hester was a resident of Bernie charged with auto theft.

50 years ago

Jan. 25, 1975

• A former Poplar Bluff woman was ambushed and shot by her ex-husband this morning and fights for her life in a hospital. A manhunt is underway in Southeast Missouri, especially Pemiscot County.

Wanda Culberson recently separated from her ex-husband Terry Culberson. She was preparing to move back to Poplar Bluff from St. Louis and returned to her hometown a few days before the attempted murder and left her 4-year-old son in the care of relatives. She drove back to St. Louis to retrieve her belongings and finalize the move.

Wanda’s sister and niece, plus a telephone repairman, were all present at her South St. Louis house when Terry drove up, shot her five times with a pistol, and fled the scene. She survived but remains in critical condition.

Sunday

100 years ago

Jan. 26, 1925

• Butler County farmers are on the up-and-up, according to an economic study by the Blue Valley Creamery Institute. The average county farmer’s income was $2,060 in 1924, beating the highest previous state average of $1,504 in 1919. The estimate covered crop yields and animal production.

The same institute found that 13,000 Missouri farmers were women, and 8,000 owned the land they farmed. Their cumulative 880,000 acres was 3.3% of the state’s agricultural land, and its total value was estimated at $76 million.

75 years ago

Jan. 26, 1950

• “An unsupported and thoughtless news broadcast” sent Poplar Bluff into a panic last night. The radio message declared tornadoes were incoming from Kansas City, causing people to evacuate buildings and wake their families to prepare for twisters that never arrived. Daily American Republic employees stayed at work past midnight answering frantic phone calls, and assuring people there were no legitimate reports of tornadoes — furthermore, meteorologists couldn’t determine tornadoes paths or formation at the time.

The only bad weather Poplar Bluff received was a lightning storm with some high winds. Veteran reporters at the DAR compared the scare to Orson Welles infamous “War of the Worlds” broadcast in 1938.

Monday

100 years ago

Jan. 27, 1925

• A man who forged $600 of checks in Poplar Bluff will serve two years in prison, the circuit court decreed.

John W. Davis was arrested in St. Louis on Jan. 9 and tried in Butler County. He was convicted on one count of third-degree forgery for signing his employer’s name to a $52.77 check at a local business. He worked as a traveling salesman for the Delhi Battery & Supply Company of St. Louis at the time.

Davis told reporters he forged the checks to buy a $75 toy car for his 9-year-old son, who is being raised by his sister. This didn’t explain the hundreds of dollars of other forged checks, or the $400 in cash on his person when he was arrested.

Investigators also learned Davis was a World War I veteran who was caught in a gas attack.

75 years ago

Jan. 27, 1950

• Alice Webb, 20, of Dexter vanished from a parked car in St. Louis yesterday afternoon. Also missing was $3,100. Her husband Darrow suspects foul play.

Darrow Webb told police he parked their car outside a shop around 3 p.m. and inside. He returned to find his wife and the money gone, replaced by a note that said “Be back in a minute.” He insists the handwriting isn’t Alice’s.

Even if she left the car voluntarily, he said, she could still be in distress because her mind sometimes “went blank.” Alice was reportedly anxious about an upcoming operation, and Darrow hypothesized she may have suffered an episode and wandered off looking for family members, none of whom live in St. Louis.

50 years ago

Jan. 27, 1975

• A state representative is wading into a dispute between the Coast Guard and the Butler County Court. At issue are two new bridges for farm machinery.

The project began in 1970 when about 50 farmers approached the county court with a proposal to create alternative Black River and Swift Ditch crossings near Oglesville since the only other bridge in the area was the Highway 53 span in Poplar Bluff. This bridge was miles out of the way for many farmers and its incline blocked visibility for oncoming traffic.

After extensive plans, revisions and permit applications, Butler County and its farmers sank $20,000 into the project — plus many volunteer hours from the farmers — and completed the Swift Ditch bridge. Foundations were laid for the Black River crossing before progress froze last summer when the Corps of Engineers notified officials that all bridges over navigable waterways needed Coast Guard permits. The Coast Guard gave Butler County a Feb. 15 deadline to justify the project and prove the structures won’t dam the waterways and cause flooding.

Rep. Bill Burlison of the 10th District has agreed to arrange a meeting between all parties.