150 years ago (1874)
How did people get in the habit of shaking hands? The answer is not far to seek. In barbarous times,
when every savage and semi-savage was his own lawgiver, judge, soldier, policeman and overseer of his
own safety, in default of all other protection, two friends and acquaintance, or two strangers desiring to
be friends or acquaintance, when they chanced to meet, offered each other the right hand- the hand
alike of offense and defense, the hand that wields the sword, the dagger, the tomahawk or other
weapons of war. Each did this to show that the hand was empty, and neither war nor treachery was
intended. A man cannot well stab another when he is in the act of shaking hands with him, unless he be
a double-eyed traitor and villain, and strives to give him a cowardly blow with the left while giving the
right, and pretending to be on good terms with his victim.
125 years ago (1899)
A Bank is to be organized at Williamsburg this spring. Should the Eldon & St. Louis railroad be built, the
depot will probably be 2 ½ miles from Williamsburg. The bank will be located on the railroad and will be
called "The Bank of Nine Mile." The following is a list of stockholders: J. A. Garrett, Sparrell McCall, C. W.
McCall, Ben Grant, Dr. J.J. Bolton, Huron Burt & Son, J. A. Leavell, C. E. Martin, Judge Sam T. Weeks,
Bailey Martin, Dr. W. S. McCall, Dr. G. D. McCall, G. W. Garrett & Son, Dr. R. N. Crews, John Yates, R. D.
Yates, J. W. Martin, T. G. Martin, Craig Hobson and Robert Arnold. John Yates is spoken of for President
and Sparrell McCall is to be the cashier. He is a young man of excellent habits, fine business ability and
will make a popular and efficient cashier.
100 years ago (1924)
(From advertisement) "Special 12:00 Dinner Every Day. Breakfast- Supper. Short Orders, Sandwiches,
Salads, Home Made Pastries, Fine Line of Cookies, Fountain Drinks. BUSY BEE CAFE. Zickos Brothers,
Mgrs. Fulton."
75 years (1949)
Cedar City Resisting Invasion From Across the Missouri. Jefferson City's move to annex a portion of
Callaway County is met with strong opposition from Cedar City. Mayor of Cedar City, Louie C. Corley has
directed the city attorney, Roger Krumm, to block Jeff City's annexation attempt. Corley claims that Jeff
City has not met with its obligation to provide services to the portion of Callaway already annexed and
will not be able to provide the services in the near future. As stipulated by the Sawyer Act, an annexing
city must provide two things: First, the annexing authority "must show such annexation is reasonable
and necessary to proper development of the city." Second, the authority must be able to "furnish
normal municipal services (such as fire and police protection, and water and sewer services) to the
unincorporated area within a reasonable time after said annexation is to become effective." Corley said
that these services are not being provided to the Westinghouse power plant or the airport. Jeff City
annexed this area several years ago. "They haven't done anything with the land they already have,"
Corley explained. "We're getting complaints from Holt's Summit residences that there is no water during
the morning and evening-- the peak time of water usage." Cedar City however, does have a mutual aid
agreement in which Jeff City provides fire protection to Cedar City and the surrounding area. The
agreement was recently revised by Mayor Corley directing the Jeff City Fire Department to accept calls
only from persons designated by Mayor Corley. The battle for the land revolves around the fact that
several large industries have indicated an interest in the area--both mayors said they have been
contacted but refused to give names. With industries moving in, one of the two cities is going to benefit
from large industrial taxes. Cedar City is currently seeking a levee bond which "will increase the value of
the land," Corley said. It will enhance Cedar City's chances for annexation in the future--if Jeff City's
move fails. The vote for the levee, proposed to increase the current levee to 22 feet, will be put to Cedar
City voters later this month.
{My father used to say, "If you don't know what it is, look it up. It is your responsibility to learn." Hence
the following on the Sawyer Act (mentioned in above text). An interesting read, I wish I had more time
(and space) to devote to it...Basically, the Sawyer Act made it harder for a city to annex surrounding
areas by setting parameters to be met by the city before the annexation can occur. The Washington
University Law Quarterly states, "In 1953, the Missouri legislature enacted Section 71.015 of the Revised
Statutes, popularly known as the Sawyer Act. Prior to this time, a city council, with the consent of a
majority of city voters, had power to extend city limits to include adjacent territory by the passage of an
ordinance. This procedure gave city officials the authority to expand 'the city limits in such a manner as
in their judgement and discretion may redound to the benefit of the city.' The ease of annexation often
resulted in such scramble for incorporation by unincorporated areas {often farming communities} to
avoid annexation that coordination, orderly planning and development were impossible." The late
James Baughn, webmaster of the Southeast Missourian, wrote on the Sawyer Act. He said, "Prior to
1953, it was easy for cities to expand as much as they wanted. They merely had to adopt an ordinance
and hold an election in which only city residents could vote. Landowners of the areas to be annexed
were almost completely shut out of the process. They could try to challenge the cities in court, but
judges gave wide latitude to city governments... (Thanks to the Sawyer Act,) cities had a greater burden
to show that their annexation plans were reasonable."}