__Aug. 25, 1923__
• Drilling to continue at Broseley until oil is struck. H.E. Springer said this afternoon the Standard rig at the Broseley well was started today. It “will be in operation night and day ‘until oil is struck.’”
“We expect to strike a good deposit of oil,” Springer said. “We have the best outfit to be found in any oil field, now at Broseley, and we are going down into the earth at a rate of from 25 to 30 feet a day.”
• Officers located about 700 gallons of mash and four gallons of whiskey in a raid on two completed stills near Corning, Arkansas.
“The men and equipment were found in a small cabin which was declared to be built for the purpose of making whiskey,” according tot he article. “Authorities state that the Little River Island is noted for being one of the worst moonshine districts in any place in the state of Arkansas.”
• A group of college students from Illinois embark on a journey to the Grand Teton mountains where they plan to climb to the highest peak. At the time, this feat had not been accomplished by anyone since 1898, and only one other person before then had ever climbed it.
__Aug. 25, 1948 __
• A 2-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother took a fatal trip to grandma’s house in Joplin. Linda and Elliot Mitchell’s parents went away on a vacation trip to Maryland and left the children to be watched by their grandma and grandpa. Linda was found dead after consuming a bottle of commercial nerve pills. She had shared the pills with her brother Elliot, who was announced in “near death condition” when he was rushed to the hospital. Officials worked toward getting in contact with the parents, who at the time were oblivious on their vacation getaway.
__Aug. 25, 1973__
• Advertisements for bids started yesterday on construction of the new Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E headquarters at Poplar Bluff. Col. Sam S. Smith, superintendent of the state patrol, is hopeful several contractors will bid.
The location was initially vetoed by Gov. Warren E. Hearnes, in a $693,000 appropriation bill, the article reports, which led to a long court action brought by the city of Poplar Bluff “to keep Troop E’s headquarters in Poplar Bluff where it has been for 34 years.”
The Poplar Bluff had help from the Chamber of Commerce in getting the issue delayed until Gov. Kit Bond took office and Smith was named superintendent of the MSHP. Shortly after Smith was appointed, it was announced Troop E would remain in Poplar Bluff.
• With 404 earth orbits completed, Skylab 2 astronauts became history’s longest-flying space travelers today. The astronauts had traveled 11.5 million miles since their launch July 28.
Editor’s note: This is part of a new regular series looking at today in Poplar Bluff’s history through the pages of the Daily American Republic and its early predecessors.