Disasters and tragedies appear in this weekend’s archives, from deadly storms to drownings. Heroism and humor are also found — a school principal is praised for saving students’ lives, and Butler County’s beard contest opens with a comic mayoral proclamation.
Saturday
100 years ago
May 18, 1924 — No issues available.
75 years ago
May 18, 1949
• The Missouri State Highway Patrol warned drivers today to stay off Highway 67. A fresh coat of oil on the blacktop has sent cars into ditches and resulted in minor collisions, and drivers are urged to avoid the section between the Butler-Wayne county line and Taskee for several days.
• Mayor E.W. Robinson has formally told residents to man up and grow beards for the county’s upcoming centennial. His tongue-in-cheek proclamation today ordered all men between 18 and 100 to set aside their razors, under penalty of a fine between $1 and $52 million for those “who do not show a proper respect toward their ancestors” by embracing their “hirsute growths.”
Previous articles stated the county-wide beard contest is being sponsored by the American Legion, and the proceeds from slap-on-the-wrist fines and shaving voucher sales will fund centennial celebrations later this summer.
Clergymen were exempt from the proclamation since their whiskers “might cause unseemly mirth and disrespect” at work.
50 years ago
May 18, 1974
• To prepare for widespread floods, the Missouri Boat Patrol has acquired 10 “unsinkable” flat-bottomed boats for water rescues. The boats are berthed at locations throughout the state. In 1973, MBP spent 93 days operating in flood conditions.
Sunday
100 years ago
May 19, 1924
• A former bank president walked into court this morning facing six charges related to a Poplar Bluff bank’s collapse, but walked out with only two remaining.
The first trial of T.W. Doherty, leader of the failed Farmers’ Savings Bank in Poplar Bluff, was held in Ripley County. His defense argued four charges against Doherty were inconsistent — at his preliminary hearing he was charged with receiving deposits while knowing the bank was insolvent, but the prosecuting attorney filed the charges as assenting to the reception of deposits. This meant Doherty technically had no hearing on the charges he faced during the morning trial, and Missouri statutes dictate no one can be tried on a felony charge without first having a preliminary hearing.
Judge Ing dismissed four charges related to receiving deposits. Two similar charges remain.
The prosecution unhappily noted Doherty’s case began under a former administration, “but the authorities express the hope that even yet the cases remaining will be tried on the issues and not lost because of technical blunders.”
75 years ago
May 19, 1949
• A gas pipeline near Qulin exploded yesterday afternoon with a boom heard for miles.
The “big inch” pipeline suffered a catastrophic failure in a field two miles south of Qulin, but no injuries or property damage were reported. Residents of southeastern Butler County said the explosion and escaping gas sounded like “a giant airplane zooming overhead” before valves at Fagus and Oran were closed. The escaping gas didn’t ignite. Local and trans-continental natural gas service was cut for 24 hours until repairs were finished.
The line is a former oil pipeline built during World War II, then bought by the Texas Eastern Transmission company and converted to natural gas. The Daily American Republic classified such explosions as “uncommon,” though several have occurred in Arkansas over the years.
50 years ago
May 19, 1974 — No issues available.
Monday
100 year ago
May 20, 1924
• Weighing in on a stinking situation, a state sanitary engineer ruled leaking sewage lines “(do) not endanger the health of the East Side community” in Poplar Bluff.
G.W. Putnam with the State Board of Health said the slow sewage seeps caused by leaking lines weren’t a vector for disease, since germs causing dysentery and typhoid were killed by “sewage solution” before reaching the surface. He recommended running new lines into the Black River above the broken lines, since replacing the entire system was prohibitively expensive, and that only property owners using the city sewer system should be taxed to repair it. Many East Side residents use private sewers or outhouses.
The Poplar Bluff City Council and witnesses reportedly “feel that at last a competent expert has settled the matter.”
75 years ago
May 20, 1949
• A severe windstorm struck Stoddard and New Madrid counties yesterday. Injuries were reported in the Parma, Puxico, Bernie and Fisk areas; the only fatality was an infant killed when a farmhouse near Parma was struck. The damage is estimated to exceed $1 million.
In the aftermath, Principal Lester Fadler of Fisk was credited with saving multiple lives when the storm hit. Fadler saw the storm approaching and quickly gathered all the students — some of whom were outside waiting for the bus — into a first floor corner. None of the 250-300 students on campus were harmed, even though the school itself was heavily damaged. Almost every building in Fisk was damaged, including a church blown off its foundation.
The Red Cross responded immediately to the affected areas.
50 years ago
May 20, 1974
• An outing on the Current River ended in a double drowning on May 19. The victims were Paula Woolridge, 19, of Charleston and Harrel MaGee, Jr., 16, of Sikeston.
The Woolridge and MaGee families were picnicking near the Old Boat Landing in Doniphan, reported Ripley County Sheriff Lewis Dawes, when Paula Woolridge went wading. The river was two feet above its normal level.
“Mrs. Woolridge got into some swift, deep water and went down,” he said.
Her husband, Donald Woolridge, and MaGee both jumped in after her. MaGee too disappeared beneath the water.
Donald Woolridge found Paula Woolridge 5-10 minutes later and she was rushed to Ripley County Memorial Hospital. Physicians found a pulse and established breathing, then transferred her to Doctors Hospital in Poplar Bluff, where she died around 8 p.m. Her cause of death was listed as “secondary to drowning.”
MaGee’s body was found earlier in the afternoon, over an hour after he jumped in the water. He was submerged in a 22-foot-deep gravel pit.