Looking Backward 6.21.2012
25 Years Ago
June 18, 1987
Marine Cpl. William Morpeth, whose former guardian is Carl Ankarberg of Thornfield, recently participated in the Mountain Warfare Training Center Evolution, Unit Operations Package with 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Steve Muilenburg, of Sparta, loves a big crowd at I-44 Speedway. Every time a big crowd assembles young Muilenburg performs up to excellent perfection with top notch finishes – such as winning.
Rex Taber of Bradleyville High School has been named winner of the Norma Horner Scholarship for Student Council achievement. Taber, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Taber, will be a junior at Bradleyville High next year.
Mr. and Mrs. Glen Plaster are the proud parents of a baby boy. He was named Travis Glen.
Merrill and Estalee Culvey will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception at the Squires Firehouse Community Center Sunday, June 21.
Jacqueline Batcheller, daughter of Diane Batcheller of Ava and Jack Batcheller of Willard, graduated this spring as valedictorian of the Mansfield High School senior class.
5th Annual Squires Volunteer Fire Department Independence Day Celebration, Squires, Mo., June 27. Live music with Cindy Dollarhide; Revelations Blue Grass Gospel; and Ava 49ers Country Band.
DENLOW –– Herb and Ann Shannon are in the process of building a house.
Oscar Cunningham, Ava, will be directing the annual Bible camping program at Camp J-O-Y starting July 13-17 for those age of 7 to 10-years old.
SQUIRES –– Today is a real bonus after the prediction of 95 degrees and humid. It is 72 in our house without the air conditioner. A nice breeze has been coming through the open doors and windows.
50 Years Ago
June 14, 1962
The Norman Rexall Drug Store, one of Ava’s oldest business establishments, was sold this week to Mr. and Mrs. Bob Turton of Springfield. The new owners took charge Tuesday. Clyde E. Norman, owner and operator of the business the past several years, is in ill health following major surgery several weeks ago, and is now in San Antonio, Texas, where he is a patient of his son, Dr. Ruskin Norman. Mrs. Norman is with him there. The new owner is a native of Joplin but has resided in Springfield the past six years, employed as special agent for General Motors Insurance Corporation.
Mr. and Mrs. Max Decker and their daughter, Becky, left Ava Friday enroute to Nashville, Tenn., where they will be spending the summer while Mr. Decker is working toward a doctorate degree at George Peabody College.
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Clinkingbeard and children, Kathy, Gene and Kent, of Phoenix, Ariz.,, arrived in Ava Tuesday, June 5, to begin a summer vacation with Mr. Clinkingbeard’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. C.V. Clinkingbeard and with his brother and his family, Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Clinkingbeard and children, Brenda, Kirk and Toni.
Larry Owens returned to his home in Ava Sunday afternoon after serving as a groomsman at the wedding of his cousin, A.I. Gaulding and Miss Phyllis Long, which was solemnized at 8 o’clock Saturday evening, June 9, in Wichita, Kan. Mr. Owens and his friend, Tom Williams, went to Wichita Tuesday, last week, and were guests of Mr. Gaulding while attending various pre-nuptial events.
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Williams (Janelle Lorenzen), Route 3, Ava, announce the birth of a son on Sunday, June 3, 12:43 p.m., at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. The baby weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and has been named Michael Lee.
When a man milks a cow, sells the milk and uses the money to buy margarine instead of butter, ice dessert instead of ice cream, adulterated milk instead of whole milk and cheese, he immediately creates an additional surplus of milk which lowers the price and improves the competitive position of the imitation manufacturers. Dr. Joseph Molner, syndicated medical writer, says, “Those worried about fat intake should trim the fat off their pork chops, eat boiled instead of fried potatoes, and thus avoid more fat than they would possibly consume in gallons of milk a day. Nature has chosen milk as a basic food in the animal kingdom, and I’m afraid we are going far off beam when we seek to indict it as a food while we munch our French fries!” Missouri cows produced an average of 5,760 pounds of milk in 1961.
BROWN BRANCH –– An unexpected reunion of former Walnut Grove schoolmates, 50 years ago to be exact, took place lately at a fishing hole when Jim Cunningham met Elery Turner and two sisters Bina and Ethel of Lebanon.
75 Years Ago
June 17, 1937
Preliminary hearing for Ralph and Bouy Taylor of Almartha, brothers, charged with the murder of Palmer Gilliland, 53-year-old farmer and stockman who lived half a dozen miles from them near Noble is set for 8:30 o’clock Saturday morning in the court of Justice E.W. Ebrite in Gainesville. Since their arrest the Taylor brothers have steadfastly denied guilt in the Gilliland slaying. They have been held in the West Plains jail without bond. Bouy Taylor is 40 years old. Ralph is 38. Four attorneys will defend the Taylors. They are H.D. Green of West Plains, John Bragg of Ava, Fred Barrett of Springfield and Tom Moore of Ozark. General W. Rogers, prosecuting attorney of Ozark County, will be assisted in the prosecution of the case by Lz Banta of Ava.
Work of improving and remodeling the New Wilson Theatre which has been under way for the past several weeks and which will require three or four weeks more for the completion of the present plans, recalls the old days of movie production before the common use of electric lights. Then movies were shown by a light made by heating a piece of lime rock to a white heat, using acetylene gas, and the picture machine was cranked by hand. That was in 1907. After using limelight about a year, Mr. Pettit and H.S. Wilson, bought and installed an electric light plant, just for the use of the theatre. That plant was used five or six years, then in 1913 an electric lighting system was installed for the city of Ava, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Pettit being associated with Mrs. Sallie Joe Adams, J.H. Hawkins and J.W. Pettit in what was know as the Ava Electric Light Company. The Ava Electric Light Company functioned until 1925 when it sold out and the Missouri Electric Power Company succeeded it here. Another page in the history of movies was turned on Nov. 1, 1931, when the Wilson Theatre showed the first talking picture here.
The Script ink contest conducted by the Norman-Gentry Drug store closed Saturday night and Max Bushman won the first prize, a streamline Mercury bicycle, with a total of 8,255 votes. Billy Hale won second prize, a Shaffer pen and pencil set, with a vote of 7,165, and Ross Power won third prize, a two-dollar baseball glove.
Mr. and Mrs. Everett Brasher of Mansfield moved to Ava last week and are living in the A.A. Adams property just south of the high school campus. This property was recently vacated by Mr. and Mrs. Ray Hailey. Mr. Brasher moved to Ava to manage and operate the new cheese factory here, in the north part of town.
The poem, “Grandfather Gray,” on the merits of which Luna Newton, of near Arden, a school teacher in the rural schools of Douglas County, was named poet laureate of the Ozarks, was read over radio station DWTO in Springfield Sunday afternoon by the author. Newton graduated from Ava High School in the class of 1932, and was valedictorian of the class.
100 Years Ago
June 20, 1912
JEFFERSON CITY – According to the 1911 Red Book just issued by Commissioner Austin W. Biggs, of the State Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri leads every state in 1910 in the value of the poultry output and easily maintained her proud position as “Poultry Queen of the Union.”
Bureau of Railway Economics has completed the second of its comparative studies of railway conditions in the United States and principal counties of Europe. The average annual compensation of enginemen in the United States in 1907, on an estimated basis of 300 days service, was $1,335; of firemen, $792. In Belgium enginemen received in 1907 from $23.16 to $38.60 a month; firemen, from $17.37 to $22.16 a month; conductors and station employees from 46 to 96 cents a day. In the United States, in the same year 1907, enginemen averaged, on the basis of 25 days service, $107.50 a month; firemen, $63.50 a month; conductors, $3.69 a day; station employees, from $1.78 to $2.05 a day.
The Pension Act of May 30, 1912 provides for the payment of pensions by check instead of by vouchers as heretofore. It is said this will save the handling of over 4,000,000 pieces of mail each year.
There will be a free barbecue at Alwanda near Bryant next Sunday. The K.C.O.&S. Ry. will run excursions from both Ava and Mansfield. Round trip fare from Ava is 50 cents.
Judge John B. Deeds of Cross Roads was in Ava last Tuesday. He came up after his horses, which had strayed away and come to town. They were here only a short time until Uncle Henry Klineline had them in the city pound.
We have a letter from Edgar A. Curry, of near Garden, Nebraska, in which he states that he has filed on a section of land in that state. Edgar was a teacher in the Ava schools last year.
GIRDNER JOTTINJGS – We had a general move on Whites Creek a few days ago: John Manning on F. Spurlock’s place, Mr. Bauch moved where Manning’s lived, Mr. Martin moved on the farm he purchased of Mr. Bauch. Wish all parties contentment and prosperity.
PANSY –– Miss Grace Perkins has been employed to teach the White Oak school for the coming year, Miss Bray having given up the school to go west.
There will be 2,000 cars of apples from the Ozark division, which includes Cedar Gap and other points between Springfield and Memphis. The yield on the division may exceed this conservative estimate.
125 Years Ago
June 2, 1887
About 17,000 pounds of silk cocoons, averaging $1 per pound, have been raised in Utah during the last year. The industry is still in its infancy, but the outlook is very flattering.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. –– Chief Officer Gay of the bark MacLeod of St. John, N.B., which arrived at this port to day from Buenos Ayres, tells a frightful story of death from cholera in that portion of the Argentine Republic. He says that while his vessel was lying in the harbor of Buenos Ayres the people of the city and the suburbs were dying off like sheep and the disease seemed to spread like wildfire.
James Smith and John Howell were passing through Fulton County, near the Missouri line yesterday, when they were attacked by a pack of hungry wolves. Two leaping upon the horse seized Howell by the neck wounding him so seriously that he died. Smith was dangerously wounded but succeeded in escaping to the house of Jack Auette, closely followed by the vicious animals. From there the wolves went to a creek nearby where three gentlemen were fishing and attacked James Thompson, fatally wounding him and seriously injuring his companions. A party started out last night to hunt the brutes down and succeeded in killing one, but the rest are still in the neighborhood.
Capt. Pennington has his new business building completed.
Joseph Bean and wife are now the happiest couple in the state. Dan Sloan says Dr. Osborne yelled “a girl” and Joe yelled, “Bully!” The mother is doing nicely.
Work will soon commence on the Singleton Hotel. The framing is now all on the ground and the mechanics are sharpening their tools. This addition will make the Singleton House the first class hotel of the city.
The high muck-muck who drank 26 schooners of lemonade at once at the reunion, seemed to be a drinker from drinkersville. But later in the week when it came to the 4th quart of the gallon of pure alcohol he was drinking, he had to cry quits. Yes, he threw up the sponge on the 4th quart and furling his sales he hove-to by the wayside for some four or six hours. He finally weighed anchor, however, and taking a snort or two of the genuine article by way of bracing his main jib, sailed out of town for ports unknown and we can’t say whether he has returned yet or not.
VERA CRUZ –– Some interesting anecdotes are told of the merry wives of Wilson Hollow, which go to show that they will not be trifled with by we of the stronger element of humanity. Some poor fellows are having to bake their own bread on account of making some unnecessary remarks about women in general. They can’t find boarding places.
Mr. Leathers has moved into Mr. Pendergrass’ house. James Miller has moved into Thomas Riley’s house.
Sheriff Lyons has recently purchased a fine covered carriage. It’s a daisy and no mistake.
Capt. Reed has purchased the city property known as the Haws residence. He domiciled himself and family therein this week.
