The news about the jail, reminded me I had come across this and had forgotten to share it. (obviously, had happened in Howell Co., MO but the court case had to be moved to Oregon Co., MO.) 22Jan1884 From Newspaper The Rolla News Era #9, pg 3 The DIXON NEWS is a little off on its Jeff Storts item. Jeff was indicted for shooting off his pistol in the vicinity of the courthouse, and it was this that he plead guilty to and was fined $5 and costs. He shot at prosecuting attorney Winninham, of Howell County, and hit Hurd instead. For this he was indicted for felonious assault and this case has been taken to Oregon Co. on a change of venue, with a bond of $500. Hurd the man shot has since died, but the papers in that section state that the shot he received was not the cause of his death. If you get things mixed up so often we shall begin to doubt whether you are true to the temperance principles you advocate. Since I didn't know any of the particulars about this story, it amused me about the obvious rivalry about reporting news by this newspaper. Anyone remember where the DIXON NEWS was published? Just curious! Beth The Oregon County jail is located on the 3rd floor of the courthouse. There were 6 inmates at the time. Supposedly, they intended to created a disturbance or wreck as much of the facility as possible. It seems some of them intententionally set the fire, which in turn created deadly smoke. The one that died was 17 years old, waiting trial for robbery, etc. The names of the others that are in a Springfield hospital have not been released, that I'm aware of. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. I'm concerned about all the valuable records stored in the courthouse. I've recently talked to some of the elected county officials about records being put on digital format. That will be considered in a meeting later this month. Doris Alton, MO