1950: Grocer fights off gunmen in attempted robbery

In 1950, a store owner thwarted armed robbers with his keen eye for detail and resourcefulness. Law enforcement across the Bootheel began a manhunt for the suspects.

Also in the news are updates on two strange sagas from 1925: Investigators found out fraudsters used turpentine in fake injury claims, and two couples were sentenced to jail time for a plan to trade spouses.

No issues available: March 8, 1925; March 9, 1975.

SATURDAY

75 years ago

March 8, 1950

• A quick-thinking grocer fended off burglars last night. Elmer Williams, the 53-year-old owner of Williams Grocery in Malden, was alone in the store when he suddenly found himself facing two men with a pistol. Williams noticed the cylinder on the gun was partly empty. At that moment, his wife walked in from their adjoining residence; he told her to call the police and started fighting back.

During the struggle, one attacker jerked the wall telephone off the hook, but Williams realized the phone wasn’t disconnected and yelled for help, alerting the operator, who immediately called for law enforcement. The suspects ran without taking any money. Williams was treated for scalp lacerations from being beaten with the pistol.

A Malden policeman later spotted two men in a rail yard and opened fire when they ran away. He believed one was hit. An hour later, the wife of the Dunklin County Sheriff reported seeing two men matching their descriptions leave Kennett in a taxi headed toward Hayti.

50 years ago

March 8, 1975

• The Sikeston Bulldogs overpowered the Poplar Bluff Mules at the Class 4A regional tournament in Cape Girardeau, creating a 23-point lead in the first half and, true to their name, refusing to let it go. The final score was 66-54. The Mules’ season record ended at 13-14.

Poplar Bluff’s top scorer was senior Scott Harrell with 16 points This brought him to a new school record of 535 points in a season. The other graduating players were James Dement, Robert Dodd, John Casey Steve Threlkeld, Tyrone Blackman and Chris Shrum.

SUNDAY

100 years ago

March 9, 1925

• Investigators believe a mix of turpentine and water was used in Ripley County’s bizarre “serum ring.”

The Daily Republican said the mixture was injected into willing participants to cause joint swelling and discoloration, and the symptoms were used to back up phony insurance claims for broken bones. The article added, “The appearance was such as to deceive a skillful physician, and no blame is attached to the physicians who certified the cases, though use of x-ray equipment in some cases might have kept them from being deceived.”

The serum’s makeup baffled doctors for several days after the case broke.

The suspected ringleader is Emmanuel Gartman of Doniphan, who himself won $13,000 from the Frisco Railroad Company after a work injury several years ago. He is charged with using the mails to defraud, and has a separate arson charge pending in Poplar Bluff.

• Two Bloomfield couples face prison time after planning to trade spouses.

The Wallaces and Cravens were arrested earlier this week on adultery charges after a family member learned the couples planned to divorce, then get remarried to each other’s partners. Otis Cravens, Nellie Cravens, Curt Wallace and Cora Wallace all pleaded guilty this morning and were sentenced to five months in prison, after which they intend to proceed as planned.

“The peculiar love affairs of the two young farmers and their wives has attracted nation wide attention,” the article noted.

75 years ago

March 9, 1950

• A Red Cross camp for flood victims is rapidly decreasing in size as floodwaters recede and more families return to the Bootheel. Heavy rains in January, and the potential destruction of the Bird’s Point-New Madrid levee, forced many residents to flee. The Malden camp is now down to about 250 people, including 19 families.

MONDAY

100 years ago

March 10, 1925

• A catastrophic fire razed the Missouri Pacific train depot and three other buildings last night. It began in a store across the street from the depot, possibly caused by a dropped cigarette, and high winds spread the flames to two neighboring residences and the Moark station. All were total losses — cumulatively, about $10,000 — and nothing was saved from inside. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

Two freight cars on a side track will serve as makeshift offices until the depot is rebuilt.

75 years ago

March 10, 1950

• The Daily American Republic published an editorial survey today asking if Poplar Bluff’s many charity drives should be combined into one “Community Chest.”

“On every hand you hear increasing murmurs of discontent over the constant push for money for one cause or another,” the editorial reasoned. Inflation and lower business profits also lowered donations, and “...Most of the campaigns come near end of the year or at the beginning of the new year — right when the federal government is taking a major hunk of earnings from individuals and business establishments.”

Drives for polio and cancer funds, the Red Cross, the Boy and Girl Scouts, local charity projects, and others were therefore competing for limited resources.

“It seems to us that if any of these worthy causes are to receive a reasonable share of contributions, a united effort will be necessary. A campaign once a year on a large scale, the fund to be apportioned by a commission, seems to us to the only solution,” the DAR said.

50 years ago

March 10, 1975

• Schoolkids throughout Missouri got a three-day weekend thanks to late-season snow. Some towns in the southwest region found 11 inches of powder on the ground this morning, but 5-7 inches was sufficient to shut down roads and schools from Poplar Bluff to Cape Girardeau.