THE RAPE OF
HOWELL AND HAMBURG, MISSOURI
(An American Tragedy)
by
Donald
K. Muschany
COPYRIGHT © 1978 BY DONALD K. MUSCHANY. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.
The Announcement of
Procurement
And then it happened. That dreadful
headline, “ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS FOR TNT PLANT.” Those big black letters stood
out like a smudge of dirt on a nurse’s uniform. The article stated that a TNT
plant was to be located in the southeastern part of St. Charles County. That is
where we live! Surely they are not going to take this beautiful countryside and
build a TNT plant?
Yes, the article said some 18,000 acres of
land will be acquired for that purpose. That will take in all this part of the
county. Better go over and see what my neighbor thinks of this. There must be
some mistake!
Everyone said it was a mistake. No one had
told us that his land might be taken for that purpose. Surely we would have
heard something about it. Just one of those mistakes those city papers make
nowadays.
Then came a letter. Dad came back from the
mail box holding it in his hand. His face was pale and his mouth twitched as he
attempted to tell Mother. There were no adequate words that could explain the
way Dad felt. He handed the letter to Mother and she read it. There was a
stillness which filled the air for several minutes, and then Dad said, “Well,
if the government needs my land and business for national defense, I am ready
to do my part.” Yes, that was the reaction that was seen several times.
