Complied by Patsy Young
105 years ago: 1910
L. H. Coleman, Jr. was injured by a charge of dynamite Saturday morning, while engaged in blasting a well west of this city.
Mr. Coleman and J. H. Norsworthy were engaged in the blasting, and a fuse had been lighted by Mr. Coleman, who then ran under a shed to prevent the dirt and rock from falling on him. Mr. Norsworthy did not think the fuse had taken fire, and was attempting to light it, when Mr. Coleman returned and looked down into the well just as the explosion occurred. His face was badly lacerated and bruised by the dirt and fragments of rock, but it is not thought that the injuries will be permanent.
76 years ago: 1939
Death has thinned to 82 the number of Confederate veterans on the state Confederate pension rolls, the state auditor’s office reported yesterday.
The check on the number of veterans is being made in connection with certification of pension eligibles to the Department of Public Welfare as authorized under a 1939 act.
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46 years ago: 1969
Three men, already in Leavenworth Federal Prison on bank robbery convictions, have confessed their part in the June 16, 1967, Dierks bank holdup. All three are spending time in the federal prison for separate bank robberies. William C. Edwards of Illinois and James G. Grooms of Indiana had convictions from northern states and Doyce C. McCrary of Wright City , Oklahoma had a conviction from a holdup of the Haskill, Oklahoma bank.
According to Sheriff Tollett, Edwards and Grooms were the men who entered the Dierks Tellers Window of the Horatio State Bank midmorning Thursday over two years ago.
Veiled by western hats, cloth masks and dark glasses they demanded money. One man held a gun on bank vice president Flynn Justus. Taking the cloth sack filled with $22,500 of the bank’s money, the bandits forced Justus and another employee, Mrs. Wayne Winton, into the bank vault. Then the bandits fled in a blue and white Chevrolet with red wheels.
According to Tollett, McCrary was lying in the back floorboard to avoid possible recognition by Dierks, people.
Their escape route through King, Arkansas, to Oklahoma is the same route taken by the Dierk’s bandits of 1932. In ’32, however, the bandits had a hostage and were wounded by a sharpshooting bank vice president.
26 years ago: 1989
Law enforcement is battling a growing problem with bizarre crimes linked to the occult, witchcraft and Satanism, according to Texarkana attorney Clarice “Pat” Allen.
“It is not against the law to worship satan,” she told members of Nashville Lions Club and local ministers here Monday night. Allen said that both the Internal Revenue and the military recognize satanism. “All police can do is track the group,” she said.
Allen said that the spread of satanism must be addressed by churches, law enforcement, education and mental health agencies. “It’s a growing problem, not just a fad.”
