For the second time in a week, Kennett residents in 1949 were hammered by a powerful thunderstorm — instead of hail, this one rained lightning down on homes and businesses at 9 a.m. Other news highlights are a bootlegging and car theft ring bust, and national generosity for a kidney transplant patient.
100 years ago
June 21, 1924
• A moonshine bust this afternoon led to seven arrests and the recovery of a stolen car.
The car was a Ford reported stolen in Poplar Bluff several weeks ago. The culprits were Lucile Johnson and Jeff Tolliver, who intended to sell it to compatriots Dan Hooper and Earl Miller after getting forged ownership papers. These were being prepared by a man named William Capper. Meanwhile, Miller and another man, Rolla Nicholson, used the car to transport moonshine from their massive still operation.
Police arrested Miller and convinced him they knew all the details of his moonshine and bootlegging operation; he furnished a complete confession and led officers to the car and still, both hidden about 12 miles south of Poplar Bluff. Miller realized upon arrival that he’d been tricked, but it was too late. The car was seized while the 60-gallon still, 500 gallons of mash and 25 gallons of whiskey were all destroyed. Other moonshine paraphernalia was brought to the police station.
Miller implicated Hooper in the operation of the still, and Johnson, Tolliver and Capper were arrested this afternoon. Nicholson was already serving time for a Qulin bank robbery.
• A new competition is coming to the Butler County Fair: the miniature chicken coop contest. High school students must build tiny henhouses to scale featuring self-feeders, nest boxes and roosts sufficient for 150 itty-bitty chickens. The first and second place winners will take home $5 and $3 prizes.
75 years ago
June 21, 1949
• Kennett had an electrifying morning — three lightning bolts struck the same city block within 20 minutes.
One person was injured during the powerful electrical storm: 35-year-old Mary Gates, who was disconnecting her appliances from outlets when lightning struck her house. Gates suffered “burns and shock” and the electrical wiring in her home was burned out.
Another starting a fire at the Looney Grocery Story. Between the downpour and the drama of the storm, no one noticed it until most of the roof and part of the storefront were gone.
The third lightning bolt jumped from a tree to a car to a power line and zapped the Blankenship Printing Office. The office interior was “pretty badly wrecked,” the Daily American Republic noted, but no one was injured.
More damage was reported a mile south of Kennett when lightning fried an underground cable at a radio station. The station was knocked off the air but recovered in a couple hours.
The damage occurred between 9-9:20 a.m. Just a few days ago, another storm in the Kennett area dished out violent hail and flattened approximately 1,500 acres of crops.
50 years ago
June 21, 1974
• Donations are pouring in from across the country in support of teenager Masha Hawes, who just underwent a successful kidney transplant in St. Louis.
Regional contributors included four businesses and 15 churches, but organizations and individuals from as far away as California have donated to Hawes’ charitable fund, in care of Commerce Bank of Poplar Bluff.
Poplar Bluff High School, where Hawes is a student, is planning a “Musical Marathon for Marsha Hawes” featuring local youth singers.
Hawes suffered from chronic kidney disease and underwent regular dialysis treatments before the operation. Her new kidney came from her father, Rev. Otis Hawes.