On this date in 1924, Harviell mourned the four lives lost in yesterday’s rail crossing collision, shuttering businesses for the victims’ funerals. Spirits 25 years later were exponentially lighter as Poplar Bluff jokingly arrested city leaders during a parade. Their crime? Illegally shaving ahead of the county centennial, as local men grew out their best pioneer facial hair to show civic pride.
__100 years ago__
__Aug. 13, 1924__
• In the wake of a tragic grade crossing accident at Harviell, a veteran railroad engineer urged all cars to brake at railroad crossings. Harry Williams told The Daily Republican the speed and mass of trains makes them impossible to stop quickly — passenger trains weigh about 800 tons and travel between 45-60 mph. Williams has hit six autos in his 44-year career, the latest mere days ago at Newport.
“If that man had been my own brother, I could not have helped hitting the car,” he lamented.
Williams was instrumental in getting Arkansas’ “stop law” passed, requiring all vehicles to stop at railroad crossings. He believed yesterday’s accident at Harviell, in which a woman and three children were killed, could’ve been prevented with “due precaution on the part of the state government, and the individuals.”
Sixteen thousand people die in railroad accidents every year, he claimed.
The four victims of the Harviell crossing accident were Lillian Odom, her children Hoover and Henrietta, and her nephew Herman Ellis. The Odoms died within hours of the accident and Ellis succumbed to his injuries last night. Harviell closed all its businesses today for the Odoms’ funeral. Ellis will be buried tomorrow.
__75 years ago__
__Aug. 13, 1949__
• Poplar Bluff’s mayor, police chief and sheriff were all arrested in good fun amid preparations for the Butler County Centennial.
To get residents in the centennial spirit, Poplar Bluff issued a “law” requiring all men to grow beards like their pioneer ancestors under penalty of a small fine. During a parade of bearded men and bonneted women yesterday, Mayor E.W. Robinson, Chief Lester Massingham and Sheriff Bill Brent were arrested for shaving without a permit and placed in a stockade downtown. Their bond was the price of a shaving permit, allowing them to remain clean-shaven and on the right side of the law.
Proceeds from shaving fines and permits are funding an elaborate centennial celebration later this month. Volunteers remain on patrol for facial hair violators.
Other centennial headlines today included a “Whiskers Special” train trip to St. Louis, calls for oxen teams and other historical modes of transportation to join the main parade, and Dexter’s pledge to send their city band.
__50 years ago__
__Aug. 13, 1974__
• Over 100 new state laws went into effect today.
Among them was a bill extending full majority rights to 18-year-olds. This allows them to make and grant loans, sue and be sued, serve on juries, enter contracts, and do anything an adult can do except purchase alcohol.
Speaking of alcohol, Poplar Bluff businesses will now be able to sell and buy hard liquor by the drink. Hospitality businesses in cities below 20,000 residents were previously limited to selling beer, but are now eligible to get new liquor licenses.
Community leaders had mixed feelings about the new law. Rev. John Gilbert of First Baptist predicted dire civic regret. Meanwhile, Holy Cross Episcopal Church’s Rev. William Davis was neutral, saying drinking was a personal choice with individual responsibility. Business owner Ted Fuller predicted the new law would entice visitors, and a Missouri State Highway Patrol captain noted cities incorporating by the drink sales saw no real impact on drunk driving arrest. Troop E already had the highest drunk driving rate in the state, he added.