SEPT. 16
Sept. 16, 1923 — No editions available.
Sept. 16, 1973 — No editions available.
75 years ago Sept. 16, 1948
• Three arrests are made in connection with a series of chicken thefts in Neelyville.
Harold Turner, 18, Howard Turner, 20, and Charles Windle, 20, are arrested by the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol. The trio confesses to stealing chickens and selling them in Naylor and Corning.
SEPT. 17 100 years ago Sept. 17, 1923
• A vehicle carrying 18 passengers, including the Doniphan baseball team, crashes into a rural house in the night.
Last night outside the community of Taskee, a driver ferrying passengers from Piedmont to Doniphan lost control on a hill and missed the turn at the bottom. The vehicle flew off-road and slammed into the bedroom of the Smith home at 50-60 mph.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith said they had stayed up unusually late talking and were just preparing to turn in when the crash happened. Their conversation saved their lives — witnesses said the impact destroyed the corner of the room where their bed sat.
Several passengers were reportedly thrown from the wreck. Five members of the Doniphan baseball team were treated for cuts, bruises and some head wounds by Dr. J. W. McPheeters. The team was returning home after winning a game in Piedmont yesterday afternoon.
• East Poplar Bluff plans to celebrate the completion of street paving with live music and dancing on Bartlett Street, starting at 8 p.m. Sept. 26.
75 years ago Sept. 17, 1948
• Hundreds of people listen in person and over the airwaves to arguments against a new form of city government. Three local business and judicial figures harshly criticize the proposal, which comes from the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce and has the potential to lower taxes by combining services and centralizing the city economy.
Bank of Poplar Bluff President Ed Abington, former Circuit Judge Robert Cope and former prosecutor David Hill denounce changing to a city manager or council-manager model, where a five-person city council is elected by the public and in turn hires a city manager and elects a mayor themselves. The trio’s objections include comparisons to Russian dictatorship, appeals to American values and insinuations that the Chamber of Commerce is power-hungry.
Current prosecuting attorney Ralph Bloodworth threatens, “I’ll prosecute any body [sic] who rides to the polls to vote if the City Manager system is adopted.”
50 years ago Sept. 17, 1973
• The Stoddard County Fair begins tonight with a parade and float contest, carnival rides, a swine show and pig scramble. It continues throughout the week, culminating in the Kids Day on Saturday when the fairgrounds and rides are open at no charge until the evening.
• Susan Hathaway of Bernie is crowned Miss Stoddard County at Dexter High School. Sheila Williams is first runner-up and Thea Glendenning is second runner-up. Both runners-up are from Dexter. Pictured: Hathaway, center, flanked by Williams and Glendenning. Attributions printed with this photo do not say which is which.
Sept. 18 100 years ago Sept. 18, 1923
• Judge Almon Ing of Poplar Bluff is asked to preside over a trial related to a family feud.
Joe Cooper of Bloomfield is charged with assaulting his brother James Cooper and niece Mary in a drive-by shooting several months earlier. James Cooper was seriously injured and Mary escaped with minor injuries.
The Coopers’ bad blood runs deep. Three members of the family have been slain in the last two years: Joe Cooper’s son, Clarence Cooper, reportedly killed his uncle William Cooper and cousin Edgar Cooper. Clarence Cooper was murdered before trial by his other uncle, James Cooper, who was Edgar Cooper’s father and William Cooper’s brother.
Joe Cooper reportedly sought to avenge his son by killing his brother. Whether he deliberately targeted his niece as well is unclear.
• The City Council of Poplar Bluff adopts an ordinance stating automobiles may only park on Main Street for less than an hour at a time between Oak and Maple streets. The same article says the cost of recently completed paving on B Street is $11,285.37.
75 years ago Sept. 18, 1948
• The last of America’s 18-year-olds sign up for the draft. The Selective Service will not know until next week how many draftees of all ages were tallied. The penalties for failing to register are five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
50 years ago Sept. 18, 1973
• The Poplar Bluff City Council votes to request local merchants shelve Playboy magazine out of reach of children. Two local ministers, Rev. Gene Sells and Rev. Odus Eubanks, object to the magazine’s presence in local stores, but city attorney David Keathley explains municipalities do not have the same latitude as states in passing anti-obscenity laws.
The September 1973 edition of Playboy is brought to the meeting by Sells, who informed the board it included three nude photos of women. A Daily American Republic reporter inspected the issue and found “the same type of photographs and articles it (Playboy) has carried for several years.”
In other news, City Manager David Pence reports “good cooperation” from Missouri Natural Gas Co. and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company on moving utilities to make way for street paving. The council filed formal complaints with the Missouri Public Service Commission earlier this month after ongoing delays from the companies prevented road work.
• Twin Rivers School District will vote on Sept. 25 on an $835,000 bond to renovate and expand Broseley High School, improve Fisk Middle Elementary School and upgrade Qulin’s Junior High.
Editor’s note: This is part of a new regular series looking at today in Poplar Bluff’s history through the pages of the Daily American Republic and its early predecessors.