Law enforcement are busy on this date in history: they’re cleaning up botched fines and tracking down moonshiners in 1924, and seeking a would-be bomber in 1949. Hopefully officers got some downtime to go shopping in 1974 — the Mansion Mall Shopping Center just opened.
__Feb. 16, 1924__
• Mayor Davis of Poplar Bluff is launching an investigation into an “irregularity” in the police department’s handling of gambling arrests. Of the 24 people arrested Feb. 9 in a sting at The Crown Hotel, six provided false names to avoid fines, and citizens uninvolved in the gambling ring were fined instead.
The six men are being taken back into custody on state warrants.
Police judge H.E. Johnson said the payment of fines was the purview of the police department and not the court.
• A comical story in yesterday’s paper about hunters finding a moonshine still takes a twist today: the hunters were deputy sheriffs engaged in a ruse to keep their quarry from fleeing the county.
Deputy sheriffs J.M. Wagonner and J.W. Roberts of Fisk were looking for a different moonshine operation when they ran into the camp of George Williamson and L.G. Brown. Wagonner and Roberts recognized them, but feared publicizing their discovery would drive the two out of their jurisdiction. Instead, they seized the still and the Butler County Sheriff’s Department gave the newspaper a report of hapless hunters seeking souvenirs.
Williamson and Brown were arrested without incident at 8:30 a.m. this morning. They have waived examination and pleaded not guilty.
Deputy Sheriff Clyde Hogg said stills on the Butler County side of the St. Francis River are scarce due to law enforcement presence, but they operate openly across the water in Stoddard County.
__Feb. 16, 1949__
• People have strong opinions about interior design, but few make bomb threats over it. An unknown caller is the exception.
Local businessman Earl Baumgardner received a phone call to his office yesterday evening, threatening to dynamite his new home on Barron Road if he didn’t change his plans for the interior plastering. The man on the line referenced an unsolved case in New Madrid County where a steam shovel was destroyed with dynamite. He refused to identify himself and hung up when Baumgardner asked if he represented a union.
Baumgardner heard a juke box playing in the background and believes the man was calling from a bar. If the caller was connected to a union, Baumgardner is at a loss to explain the threat, since his house is being built through union labor and he has good relations with local unions.
• “One of the most important traffic improvements to be made here in a long time went into action yesterday afternoon,” states the Daily American Republic.
This is a tri-color stoplight, or “automatic stop and go signal,” at the intersection of Pine and Second streets.
So far the lights are smoothly moving traffic every 30 seconds on Pine Street and 20 seconds on Second Street. However, drivers are creating traffic hazards by ignoring posted signs and making illegal left turns, according to Police Chief N.H. Massie. Officers have been instructed to arrest offenders.
Another light is going up at Fifth and Vine streets. Lower-tech signals at the Main and Broadway intersections of Pine Street will continue to operate, and left turns are permitted at these stops.
__Feb. 16, 1974__
• The Mansion Mall Shopping Center in Poplar Bluff opened with a full line of merchandise this week. A grand opening is planned for March.
Sikeston native Paul Hill, an employee of P.N. Hirsch & Co. Department Stores for the past seven years, has been named mall manager.