A criminal carnival, protesting police, and summertime sickness — read all these stories on this weekend across history.
Saturday
100 years ago
June 22, 1924 — No issues available.
75 years ago
June 22, 1949
• The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating clownery at the Southern Valley Shows carnival.
A spate of break-ins and reported pickpocketings accompanied the carnival as it traveled through Dexter, Poplar Bluff and towns north of here. Yesterday, troopers found a cashless wallet with a Dexter driver’s license lying empty on a fairground in the Lead Belt. The wallet’s owner, Winston Smith, was one of several people who reported being pickpocketed on the carnival grounds, and Dexter police responded to several break-ins while Southern Valley Shows was in town.
In Poplar Bluff, a man reported losing money in a gambling game at the carnival, and would’ve lost an extra $400 if his wife hadn’t stepped in. Several children also reported thefts — money fell out of their pockets when the the Loop-O-Plane ride turned them upside-down, which the ride operators scooped up and refused to give back.
50 years ago
June 22, 1974
• Four Poplar Bluff police officers submitted a signed petition to city officials on June 17 requesting an investigation into alleged misconduct by their peers. It’s the latest development in a long period of unrest in the PBPD.
Patrolmen Steven DePriest, Bill Taylor, Eddie Crook and Larry Bacon presented statements to the police chief, city manager, city council and a Daily American Republic reporter. The four officers reportedly didn’t include all the violations they knew of, but Bacon singled out Lt. Haywood “Dynamite” Harris in a separate signed statement for negligence and beating a prisoner.
The four said they were risking their jobs by sharing departmental affairs with non-officers, but were driven to drastic action because prior complaints by 15 officers and two sergeants were ignored by Police Chief Bill Pierce.
“...We are placing our jobs and our livelihood in jeopardy. We also feel that the people of Poplar Bluff have a definite right to know what has happened and is happening to the police department and to the men who protect their children, their property and themselves,” they wrote.
Most of the department resigned in 1970 after demands for better pay and benefits were turned down. A year later, a group of police complained to city councilmen of unfair treatment by supervisors. The department has a high rate of turnover and many officers only stay a few weeks or months.
Sunday
100 years ago
June 23, 1924
• The Daily Republican declared “one of the most daring highway robberies ever committed in this city” took place last night when a Poplar Bluff man was tied to a tree by a fake police officer.
The victim was George Roark, age 23. He was walking home from the Brooklyn Cooperage Factory, following the railroad tracks, when he was help up by a self-proclaimed policeman with a pistol. The pretender demanded to search Roark, claiming he matched the description of a known thief — Roark doubted the man’s story, but the gun convinced him to follow along when he was directed into the woods.
The fake policeman tied Roark to a tree, ostensibly to contain him while fetching a fellow officer, then took Roark’s salary checks from his pockets and vanished.
“I worked my hands around for some time before I could get ahold of the knot to untie the rope. Finally I got away,” Roark said.
The real Poplar Bluff police have a suspect in mind and believe he had an accomplice. A hours-long search last night turned up neither. The Bank of Poplar Bluff has been ordered to freeze payment on Roark’s stolen checks if anyone attempts to cash them.
75 years ago
June 23, 1949
• A new three-way stop light is operational on Second and Pine streets. Unlike the previous light, this one allows left turns by signaling with a white light and green arrow. The street was re-striped to include a left turn lane.
50 years ago
June 23, 1974 — No issues available.
Monday
100 years ago
June 24, 1924
• Butler and Ripley county residents received good news about two local projects. Contracts will be let next month to pave a Doniphan-area road deemed “the worst road necessary to travel in this county” by the Daily Republican, concrete pouring has begun on another road near Fisk, and a 215-foot bridge will eventually span Cane Creek at a point northwest of Poplar Bluff.
75 years ago
June 24, 1949
• Polio cases are mounting quickly this year. The Public Health Service reported cases are 36% higher than this time in 1948. This warrants “every precaution” during summer travels. People are advised to prevent exhaustion, avoid sudden chills like cold water, and beware of crowds and swimming pools in towns where the newspaper reports polio cases.
Nationally, 2,309 cases have been reported to date, compared with 1,697 last year. Missouri currently has 23 cases compared with 11 last year, and Arkansas has 56, up from 12. With present trends, the PHS estimates between 27,000-30,000 cases will appear by the end of the year.
50 years ago
June 23, 1974
• An early morning fire destroyed a trailer home and adjacent liquor store in Fisk. Firemen were called to the scene at 4:30 a.m. June 23 and managed to save a third structure, which was partially damaged by the flames. The loss was estimated at over $28,000.
A witness told the Butler County Sheriff’s Department he saw three youths draining fuel from a nearby gas station, then walking behind the liquor store. A short time later he heard three explosions.