The weekend’s most notable headlines include a devastating bus crash in 1974, safe burglaries in 1949 and lofty plans for the Poplar Bluff centennial in 1924.
Saturday
May 11, 1924 — No issues available.
75 years ago
May 11, 1949
• The U.S. military has tentatively promised to put on a show in September for Poplar Bluff’s Centennial celebration.
The Centennial Jubilee Committee and local recruitment office are communicating with the St. Louis Army and Navy headquarters. Among the city’s requests for the centennial are display vehicles, an air show, a military parade and band, and a high-ranking officer to address the crowd.
The Centennial Jubilee Committee is also in talks with the White House to get a radio broadcast from President Harry Truman.
50 years ago
May 11, 1974
• Seven are dead and at least 35 injured in the aftermath of a violent Greyhound bus accident near Charleston.
While en route from Cairo, Illinois to Sikeston, the bus sideswiped an overturned tractor-trailer on the side of a bypass at 4:15 a.m. today. The entire right side of the bus was torn open, according to the crash report. Some of the less seriously injured were taken to a Sikeston hospital in patrol cars to free up ambulances.
The tractor-trailer was left on the shoulder after an earlier accident, though the truck had been removed.
In a May 12 article, Mississippi County coroner Elgin McMikle described the scene as “more like a plane crash” than a road accident.
Sunday
100 years ago
May 12, 1924
• The Poplar Bluff will help Arkansas establish a national park. The Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce will lend its influence to that of Mena, Arkansas and urge Congress to establish a 160,000-acre park at Excelsior Springs.
“In the event of its establishment the park would become a great forest, game and scenic preserve that would vie favorably with any national park in America outside of Yellowstone Park,” the Interstate American reported.
75 years ago
May 12, 1949
• Authorities hoped they’d solved a string of safe burglaries by arresting two men in Arkansas yesterday, but fresh break-ins in Dexter and Charleston suggest otherwise.
Arkansas State Police arrested William Weiss, 31, and F.C. Jones, 27, both of Black Oak, Arkansas. The suspects confessed to safe burglaries in Arkansas and Tennessee, and admitted to spending time in Poplar Bluff. The owner of a victimized car dealership in Pocahontas identified one of them, and officers were confident the men were also behind safe burglaries in Neelyville and Poplar Bluff, though no one from those towns could identify them.
However, two new safe burglaries were discovered this morning. Stoddard Implement Company in Dexter and Bryant Implement Company in Charleston were collectively robbed of $740. Stoddard Implement Co.’s safe was carried to the city dump in a stolen car, where the thieves knocked the combination lock off the safe despite a so-called burglar-proof tear gas device. Thieves in Charleston used an acetylene torch to open the door of the Bryant Implement Co. safe.
May 12, 1974 — No issues available.
Monday
100 years ago
May 13, 1924
• A state grant could be used to start a game preserve in Southeast Missouri. There is a reported $168,000 available to establish wildlife preserves across Missouri, and the Interstate American opined “Some picturesque spot in the foot hills of the Ozarks is a likely selection.”
• A survey revealed Poplar Bluff is one of two cities in the state with five highways running through it. The other is Springfield.
75 years ago
May 13, 1949
• A reverend from St. Louis is on a quest to eliminate “gambling and vice” from Missouri and claims to have personally investigated Poplar Bluff, but the details of his visit don’t check out.
Rev. Hollis B. London, former superintendent of the Nazarene Church’s Missouri District, is visiting cities on a publicized anti-vice campaign. Stops so far included St. Louis, Kansas City, Sedalia, Hannibal, Excelsior Springs and, reportedly, Poplar Bluff. He told Jefferson City reporters he visited here recently after receiving mailed reports from residents, but officials of Poplar Bluff’s Nazarene Church knew of no such visit, nor any reports made to London. No other churches, bar owners, or law enforcement had heard of the alleged investigation, either.
London conducted a similar anti-vice campaign in Arkansas while serving as that state’s Nazarene Church superintendent and attempting a run for governor.
50 years ago
May 13, 1974
• A survey by the Daily American Republic reveals Butler County has lower out-of-pocket insurance costs than the national average.
Due to insurance and government programs covering more medical expenses, 10% of Butler County residents had no health expenses in 1973 and 40% paid $100 or less. The area’s average was $168 including health insurance premiums, slightly below the national average of $183.
The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics equates $100 in 1974 to $642.66 in 2024.
• Mississippi County reported a morning earthquake registering 3.5 on the Richter scale. There was no damage.