How the burning Buick and Good Eye Smith knocked out power to Charleston

There was once a burning Buick Century set ablaze in the night near Fort Chaffee.

The car fire spread to an electric transformer that went up in flames and then exploded near Fort Chaffee. This was reported about 1941.

Here comes another, let's say, tale from Fort Smith passed down to me by the one man apparently involved; well, two men, but the one who told me about it was my grandfather, Harmon Asa Durden Jr. I can't say it is a tall tale because that would mean it is not true.

Since I've had the honor of becoming editor at the same newspaper my grandfather read all of his life, I have been writing about the stories he told me about his life. This one involves some criminal activity, I'm afraid. I know my relatives want to take the laptop away from me soon, but here it goes. Fort Smith has to hear this one.

Harmon always loved Buicks. I have a black-and-white photo from the 1950s that was taken near an overgrown bush. The branches of the bush look like whiskers and it is hard to tell if you're looking at the front end of a Buick or a giant catfish. There are a lot of pictures of Buicks and GMCs he owned over the decades before he died in 1994.

Harmon sold Buicks in the 1930s in Fort Smith.

He often started his day at the cafe near where he lived on Elm Street.

It was a lemon, as in a sour Buick engine, that caused all the criminal activity to start.

There was this Buick Century that had a new type of automatic transmission called a Dynaflow, Harmon told me in a 1992 interview.

The new transmission had a flaw, and the car was returned before there was ever a recall. It was returned several times. It gave new owners fits, Harmon said.

When the Century was sold a second time from the lot, it was towed back with the same transmission failure, and there were more repairs.

It was back on the lot for a third time in six months one morning as Harmon and others arrived at the neighborhood cafe for breakfast.

Harmon was "shooting the bull" in the cafe when he may have shot off his mouth a little too much.

There was a man of questionable character known as "Good Eye" because one eye was blind, who was sitting in a booth next to him, Harmon recalled. Good Eye also had good ears. He had a reputation as someone "who would murder you for $5," Harmon said.

Apparently, Good Eye heard what was said as the conversation continued about the Century, the lemon.

Harmon recalled a conversation about the Century with the dealership owner.

"Harmon what are we going to do with that old Century? We got that thing back again," the owner asked.

Harmon said he told owner, "I don't know. We've overhauled that transmission three or four times. I guess we've lost three times what we paid on it already. I just wish to God it would burn up or something."

Apparently the good ears of Good Eye perked up.

Harmon and Boon left the cafe not realizing the criminal mind of Good Eye was also going to work.

The following morning, the Buick Century was gone. The used car manager said the Century had been stolen from the lot. It had also been found near the gates of Fort Chaffee where it had been set on fire right under a power transformer. Not only had Fort Chaffee lost power, but so had Charleston.

It was a real head-scratcher as to why someone would steal the one car on the lot that had engine trouble, Harmon said.

Power was restored to Charleston and Fort Chaffee. And about noon, into the dealership walked Good Eye.

Good Eye said, "Well, you don't have that car here do you?"

There are so many other stories that need to be told, and I'll continue to preserve these tales of Fort Smith in our Saturday digital editions. The digital world has opened a wide avenue for preservation of stories and photos and links to ancestry and history. Please help us continue to save oral history too and subscribe today to the Southwest Times Record.

Robert Medley is editor of his grandfather's newspaper, The Southwest Times Record. He can be reached at rmedley@swtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: The story of Good Eye Smith and the burning Buick