Other days

100 YEARS AGO

June 17, 1922

FORT SMITH — Circuit Judge John Brizzolara has sent several men to the county jail this year or failure to remember matters in connection with certain questions asked them when they appeared before the Grand Jury, but yesterday he sent two women, the Misses Bessie Hull and Catherine Davis, sisters, to the county bastile until their memories improved and they could relate incidents to the jurors. The women had been in jail on liquor charges, and had just been released under bond when they were notified the Grand Jury would like to interview them. According to reports, they forgot names, dates and places, and when they were sent back to the court he sent them to the quiet hoosgow to collect their thoughts.

50 YEARS AGO

June 17, 1972

HOT SPRINGS — B. J. (Jack) Long, executive assistant to the vice president for the Space Division of North American Rockwell Corporation, will speak at the meeting of the Arkansas Society of Professional Engineers Tuesday. Long will discuss the future of space exploration and will use slides and film not generally available concerning the Apollo space program.

25 YEARS AGO

June 17, 1997

MURFREESBORO — Lightning apparently caused the fire that destroyed Murfreesboro High School, Principal Mike Jackson said Monday. … Jackson said experts believe the electricity ignited the tar on the original flat roof, which was covered in recent years with a seamless metal roof. He said the tar apparently smoldered about four hours until staff members arrived and noticed the smoke. When firefighters tried to get to the smoldering fire, Jackson said, it received oxygen and “boom, it went from one end to the other.” The fire devoured 13 classrooms, which accommodated 261 students, the home economics room, the administration and counselors’ offices, the library and a new writing laboratory. No one was injured. … Jackson said residents on Saturday held a “show of support and offer of thanks,” with a picnic supper for the volunteer firefighters who battled the blaze. More than 100 area firefighters called to the scene also helped save other buildings, including the gymnasium and lower elementary school.

10 YEARS AGO

June 17, 2012

■ A collection of 140 American cars, accumulated by twin brothers over the course of 50 years, sold at auction in North Little Rock on Saturday for more than $6 million, officials said. The auction drew more than 1,000 bidders from around the world with every item selling within about five hours, said Sam Murtaugh, a spokesman for Mecum Auctions, which handled the sale. The vehicles made up the Salmon Brothers Collection, the namesake of native Arkansan twins Don and Tom Salmon, 72, which included cars ranging in years from 1908 to 2008. The collection stands out among others because it was accumulated by the twins and every vehicle was American made… The top-selling car at Saturday’s auction a 1934 Cadillac Fleetwood V12, which was the second of three produced that year, and was restored in 1994 sold for $200,000… The Salmon brothers auction drew people from as far away as Italy and Australia, Murtaugh said.