This Month in Missouri History

A steamboat race that didn't happen, and more

On June 10, 1947, the last two wooden-hulled steamboats were scheduled to race from St. Louis to St. Paul, MN. But, a month before the race, the Golden Eagle packet boat sank, ending one phase of riverboat history here.

In 1878, a man from New Madrid, MO, sold a reporter at the St. Louis Evening Post on the idea he'd invented a lie detector machine.

Then, there was the debate about whether the weight of flood waters on the Mississippi could put enough pressure on the earth to cause an earthquake.

The Missouri Commission on Human Rights was created in June 8, 1957. The cornerstone of St. Vincent's Home for Children was set on June 15, 1916.

(Every month, the Missouri History Museum looks for anniversaries of significant historical events during the current month. Then, Young Saint Louis.com shares those area history moments with you.

(Some events have big historical significance. But, others provide interesting footnotes to the long, varied history of our area. For more about area history, visit www.mohistory.org.)

The steamboat race that wasn't

Steamboat races are still an occasional feature on the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

But, the race scheduled for June 10, 1947, was to have special significance.

On that date, the race was to be between the Golden Eagle and the Gordon Green, which were the only two wooden-hulled steamboats still plying the waters of the Mississippi.

But, as fate would have it, the race didn't happen because, a month before, the Golden Eagle, sank in a river accident. The steamboat began its final journey at St. Louis on May 18, 1947.

It had 45 passengers and 47 crew members on what was to be its maiden voyage of the season. The ship's captain was E. Nathan Smith of St. Louis. He said damage to the steering apparatus didn't enable him to avoid a rocky-ribbed river bank.

The gigantic pilot wheel of the Golden Eagle was reclaimed from the wreckage and is now on display at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.

The "steamboat era" was a colorful part of St. Louis history.

For more on the planned race, visit www.lib.niu.edu/2004/ih030604.html.

About packet boats, view: www.museum.state.il.us/RiverWeb/harvesting/transportation/boats/
steamboats.html.

For photo of Golden Eagle's pilot wheel, see: www.johnhartford.org/images/History%20Museum.htm.

An early lie-detector machine

On June 1, 1878, the St. Louis Evening Post published a story about an inventor from Missouri's Bootheel who claimed to have invented a machine which could tell whether you were lying just by hearing your voice.

The inventor was John Husson of New Madrid. He claimed that his little black "mash-een" could detect whether any person was telling the truth or lying.

This was a time when Thomas Edison had the nation's attention focused on new electrical inventions, such as the phonograph and the telephone. Husson said his invention tapped into the electricity in everyone's body.

The reporter asked what good such a machine would do. He quoted Husson as saying, "The Mayor could hold one in his hands while reading his annual message. And, it would give every crooked sentence away."

"Or congregations could supply their preachers with them and then the ministry would have to practice what it preached," he was quoted as saying.

To read this entire fanciful story, check www.phonozoic.net/n0070.htm.

For more on real lie detector, check polygraph in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Can floodwaters cause earthquakes?

The GeoScienceWorld publication raised an interesting question about the possible connection between an earthquake in the Mississippi Valley June 30, 1947, and the flooding in the same area at the same time.

For a long discussion of this issue, you can go to: http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/40/1/7.

Or for a shorter discussion, go to: www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99051.htm.

In the shorter discussion, the scientist said the weight of impounded water can definitely cause earthquakes. But heavy rainfall probably couldn't.

Missouri Commission on Human Rights

On June 8, 1957, the Missouri Commission on Human Rights was created to "develop, recommend and implement ways to prevent and eliminate discrimination."

The breakthrough that led to the enactment occurred in 1954. The Missouri Association of Welfare and other groups persuaded a bipartisan and biracial group of senators and representatives to back a bill to establish a civil rights commission.

They also got a promise from Governor-elect James T. Blair, Jr., that he would back a commission on human rights.

The strategy paid off when the legislation was enacted in 1957.

This was the first time since 1918 that a serious legal effort had been made to wipe out discrimination in Missouri. At that time, Gov. Frederick Gardner had set up a Negro Industrial Commission.

On civil rights in Missouri, visit: www.duboislc.org/MissouriBlacks/p07_CivilRights.html.

St. Vincent's Children's Home cornerstone set

The cornerstone for the St. Vincent's Home for Children was set on June 15, 1916. The institution was an orphanage founded after the 1850s cholera epidemic and fire in St. Louis.

The institution is still active today. For the St. Vincent's story, visit: www.saintvincenthome.org/history.shtml.

For the 1949 St. Louis fire, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Fire_(1849).

For St. Louis cholera, visit: www.stlgs.org/DBpublicationsNewsCholera.htm.