Second Week of January in the Year: Walton Opera House, Orphan Train, Gen. Shelby

1882 –  Butler financier, William E. Walton announces he will build a $25,000 opera house in Butler.
1929 – Bates Co Sheriff Hartley and a deputy go to Kansas City and return with Dr. Howertz, thought to be the head of the gang that has been robbing Bates Co homes, stores, and the Ballard Bank. 
1902 – The Butler City Council moves to get a railroad car of cinders from Rich Hill to be used in construction of the cemetery road.
1874 – Mr. Rose moves his mill from on the Miami Creek to the Marais des Cygnes River two miles south of Bells Mill.
1886 – 29 boys and 8 girls, orphans from New York, arrive in Butler, to be given to different applicants in the County.  The train was 2 hours late because of the blizzard in Bates County.  Their ages varied from 4 to 18 and they were accompanied by Reverend Maltiere.
1886 – Manager Sanders of the Rich Hill Opera House announces the opening day will be the 23^rd with The Hoyt Comedy Troupe.  The Opera House had burned on October 14, 1895.
1875 – All six Butler ice dealers have been putting up ice this past week from surrounding creeks.
1882 – Financier and railroad magnate Jay Gould passes through Butler at 1:30 pm on his special train of five coaches.  He’s one of the owners of the Missouri Pacific Railroad.
1918 – Fish are reportedly dying by the thousands in the Walnut Creek near Hume, which feeds into the Marais des Cygnes river.
1906 – The first house in Butler, heated by a hot water heater, is the residence of Mrs. M. S. Powers, on South Delaware St.
1875 – Flynn & Slater’s distillery is dismantled by government officials near Coleville.
1889 – Former Confederate General J. O. Shelby is arrested by his son, Bates County Sheriff’s Deputy J. M. Shelby, on a subpoena which states J. O. hadn’t paid fines from the trail of Frank James in Gallatin on August 30, 1883.  J. O. has his receipts and when they get to Butler there is an urgent telegraph message saying there was a mistake.  He had paid.  ///  J. O. later hired all of Butler’s attorneys, sued, and received more than his fines and lawyer fees.
1918 – The school wagons have arrived and with the mercury at 10 degrees below zero, and the roads blanketed with snow, the oil stoves in the wagons keep the kiddies warm, going to and from the Hume School.