100 years ago Nov. 1, 1923
• Local architect M.J. Laubis was awarded the contract for furnishing plans, specifications and estimates of the cost for the new Neelyville High School when the school board met last night (Oct. 31).
The new high school will be a four-room, two-story brick structure and cost $10,000. The building will be modern in most every detail, with the two rooms on the second floor having folding doors allowing the two rooms to be turned into an auditorium.
• Bob Healey is undergoing treatment for a bad scalp laceration suffered from being struck by a poker allegedly wielded by a suspect by the last name of Drew, who is said to be the 19-year-old son of ex-policeman H. Drew. Healey and the younger Drew reportedly quarreled and fought yesterday in a local pool room.
75 years ago Nov. 1, 1948
• A fire of undetermined origin caused an estimated $50,000 in damage to the Cruce building and contents Saturday afternoon (Oct. 30). The Cruce building sits at the corner of Moran and Poplar streets and is a one-story structure with a balcony along the west wall. It is used as a warehouse by Montgomery Ward and Company and is owned by Guy Cruce, who also owns the Cruce Motor Company.
• The day before the presidential election, a headline topped the Nov. 1 edition, “50 million Americans to cast votes,” “Truman and Dewey both expect to be elected.”
Despite that, interest in Southeast Missouri election was “very mild.”
“In Butler County and throughout Southeast Missouri interest in tomorrow’s election is not great insofar as local races are concerned. Many of the Southeast Missouri races are already settled...”
• The most enthusiastic taxpayer in Butler County has been found. The man who literally rushes forward with his tax money is big John F. Akers, who owns a 200-acre farm south of Poplar Bluff. This is the 10th consecutive year that Akers has been the first man in the county to pay his taxes. He is found sitting on the front steps of the courthouse, waiting for the county collector.
“No, not that I am so found of paying taxes,” says the farmer. “I just want to get it off my head.
“A farmer has enough worries without brooding over his taxes for a month or two.”
50 years ago Nov. 1, 1973
• More than 400 Poplar Bluff school children participated in the Halloween Window Painting Contest, sponsored by the Poplar Bluff Park Department and the Downtown Merchants Association. Judging was completed on Halloween and the first-place winners include Holmes Bryant (grades 1-3), Susan Casey and Karen Daniels (grades 4-6), Karen Uebelein and Melamie McMillan (grades 7-9) and Mike Rouse (grades 10-12).
• Eugene and Linda Britton of Highway 53 were both found guilty of making fraudulent insurance by a jury in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau yesterday afternoon (Oct. 31). The Brittons were convicted on several counts in a federal indictment following an alleged automobile accident from March 1972.
Charles Henry Moyer, the other driver in the alleged accident, testified for the U.S. Government the accident did not occur.