This weekend brings with it a complicated roundup of headlines, spanning local politics, criminal justice and a tragic train accident. A weeks-long manhunt ended in 1974 when two people accused of murdering a Steele businessman were arrested in Washington state. In 1949, Dunklin County residents were up in arms over seemingly targeted property value hikes. The year 1924 saw a man narrowly survive a knife attack, and a tragic train crossing collision.
No issues available — Aug. 10, 1924; Aug. 11, 1974.
__75 years ago__
__Aug. 10, 1949__
• Poplar Bluff saw economic gains in 1948, according to a survey by Sales Management. Retail stores brought in $14,138,000 of revenue, a figure $17,000 higher than in 1947. Income increased by around $600,000 — it’s estimated Poplar Bluff’s 5,300 households now have over $17 million of buying power. The survey found 81% of local earnings were spent at retail stores.
__50 years ago__
__Aug. 10, 1974__
• After a seven-week international manhunt, the prime suspects in a Steele man’s murder are in custody. Couple Valerie Schmidt and Mark Combs, alias Pogey Schmidt, were arrested without incident in Washington.
Local, state and federal law enforcement had sought Schmidt and Combs since June, when the body of a Steele businessman was found in Mark Twain National Forest. Riley Hastings, 54, was shot twice in the back and left in a densely-wooded area of Oregon County. The suspects were last seen leaving his Ripley County campsite in his truck.
As the couple fled north, Schmidt’s mother received two postcards in July indicating they planned to cross into Canada. Canadian authorities were alerted. Hastings’ truck was discovered abandoned in a Montana park on July 26 and impounded by the FBI.
The search ended yesterday when a multi-agency task force arrested Combs and Schmidt in Bellingham, Washington, a city south of Vancouver. An FBI spokesman said they’ll be taken to Seattle and arraigned for interstate flight, then likely extradited to Missouri.
The couple faces first-degree murder charges in either Oregon or Ripley county. Though Hastings’ body was found in Oregon County, investigators are still determining where the murder was committed.
__100 years ago__
__Aug. 11, 1924__
• In response to apparent controversy the largest liquor raid in city history, two Poplar Bluff churches issued declarations of approval.
The citywide raids on Aug. 3-4 were carried out by hired detectives, federal agents, local law enforcement and over 30 deputized private citizens. In response to apparent controversy, the Christian Church and Second Baptist Church passed resolutions declaring the raids legal and praising law enforcement. The Christian Church went a step further, saying it “deplores the seeming tendency...to take the part of men charged with violation of the liquor laws, rather than that of respectable and law-abiding citizens endeavoring to enforce the laws.”
Representatives of the Law Enforcement League are visiting local Protestant churches.
• A feud followed a local man from Oklahoma to Arkansas. A.H. “Paddy” Lambert of Naylor is in critical condition after his brother-in-law attacked him Aug. 10.
Lambert and his brother were fishing over the state line near the Black River that evening. While camped, Lambert awoke to someone calling his name and claiming to be a friend. Lambert left his tent and was attacked by his brother-in-law George Lusk, who carried a knife and promised payback for “trouble in Oklahoma.” Lambert’s brother rushed out to help and Lusk fled into the woods.
Lambert was badly slashed and passed out from blood loss while his brother rushed him to Naylor for treatment. He remains unconscious.
Lusk was arrested in Arkansas. He said he and Lambert feuded while living in Oklahoma, and a few days ago he learned he’d settled in Southeast Missouri.
__75 years ago__
__Aug. 11, 1949__
• Campbell residents are furious over the Dunklin County Board of Equalization’s “arbitrary” decisions to raise their property values by 55%.
Residents of Union Township and School District 7-C will appeal in Kennett tomorrow. These areas repeatedly voted down the school board’s proposed four-year, $1.40 tax levy before reaching a compromise this year for a one-year, $1 levy. The board of equalization then raised the property values in the school district by $385,000 — far more than other areas of Dunklin County, residents said.
• Poplar Bluff’s polio ward is officially occupied. Eighteen-month-old Mary Elizabeth Brasfield of Stoddard County was diagnosed yesterday after two weeks of illness. The ward opened under Red Cross nurse Josephine Weligoschek.
__100 years ago__
__Aug. 12, 1924__
• Despite severe blood loss, stabbing victim Paddy Lambert is still alive today. Dr. White, a Naylor physician, expects him to recover.
George Lusk is at liberty after being released by Arkansas authorities. He was reportedly seen in the Neelyville area.
• Harviell grieves a horrific train crossing accident today. Lillian Odom, 30, and her children Henrietta and Hoover, ages 6 and 5, all died when their car collided with a train. Another passenger in the car, 12-year-old Herman Ellis, is in critical condition.
Witnesses said Lillian Odom reached the crossing at 8 a.m. and failed to see the train until she was already on the west rail; she stopped and tried to reverse, but the car lunged forward instead. All the occupants were thrown from the vehicle on impact.
After 600 feet of braking, the train stopped just long enough for bystanders, including husband and father Lee Odom, to carried the victims aboard. They were rushed to Brandon Hospital in Poplar Bluff. Lillian Odom and her children succumbed to their injuries and Ellis, the only survivor, remains in critical condition.
Train No. 2 was running late as it passed through Harviell, leading family to speculate Lillian Odom didn’t expect rail traffic at that hour. The train’s visibility may have been impaired by a curve and the engineer was away from the controls. Railroad officials are investigating.
__75 years ago__
__Aug. 12, 1949__
• The Butler County 4-H clubs swept the District Round Up in Van Buren yesterday, securing six of seven state competition spots. The local winners and their presentations or categories were: Phyllis Wood, Twin Springs Club, “Setting the Table”; Jack Hassell, Eureka, “Controlling Lice on Cattle”; Lyndle and Lyle Kearbey, Cane Creek, “Using Sodium Fluoride to Worm Hogs”; Norma McGruder, Pleasant Hill, in Dress Revue; and Richard Thruston, Baskey, in Boys Grooming. The final winner was Winnie Faulkenberry of Reynolds County in Girls Grooming.
__50 years ago__
__Aug. 12, 1974__
• The circuit court dismissed a petition to remove two Butler County Fire Protection District board members today. The suit sought to oust Harry Templemire and Louis Kalkbrenner after they cut the fire district’s tax levy in half. After the funding cut and petition, most county firefighters went on strike or resigned.
Judge Rex Henson ruled today that the petition didn’t state a cause of action, and a municipal boards weren’t under trial court jurisdiction unless they set levies above or below state limits.