A college student on a 3,000-mile run stopped in Poplar Bluff for the night in 1974, and was welcomed into the home of the high school cross-country coach. Two other college students made headlines in 1924 for being the oldest and youngest people on campus in Cape Girardeau.
In 1949, a stray spark touched off a massive gas station fire in Sikeston.
100 years ago
Dec. 10, 1924
• There’s a 49-year gap between the youngest and oldest students at the State Teachers College in Cape Girardeau: 16-year-old Iris Wilkey and 65-year-old Mrs. D.D. Chamberlain.
Wilkey enrolled this year and her courses include history, psychology, trigonometry, biology and composition. Chamberlain is a sophomore. She has 13 years of teaching experience but seeks “further usefulness in the teaching profession.” When asked about retirement, she said “I wouldn’t know what else to do with myself.”
75 years ago
Dec. 10, 1949
• An electric spark set off a massive gas station fire in Sikeston yesterday. The blaze could be seen for miles as it warped nearby train rails, destroyed a power plant, and threatened buildings.
The fire started at 4:10 p.m., possibly due to a stray shock from the electric motor of a gas tanker.
It rapidly spread from the tanker to two storage tanks — devouring 20,000 gallons of gasoline — and a warehouse of auto supplies including oil and tires. The blaze was seen for miles.
“Against the gray backdrop of an overcast sky, lurid flames reached high at the peak of the conflagration as firemen battled to save the nearby buildings,” the Daily American Republic said. These were a lumber warehouse and a mill, and their exteriors were scorched but their contents unharmed. However, firefighters couldn’t save the pole and transmission lines of Sikeston’s municipal power plant. The poles burned and wires melted, triggering widespread blackouts across the city.
Firefighters from Sikeston, New Madrid and Charleston labored over two hours to bring the blaze under control. Several suffered the effects of heat and fumes. Only one man, Richard Barker, was reported hospitalized; he was operating the pump when the fire ignited. He was taken to Southeast Missouri General Hospital. Another man, Ned Cline, suffered mild to moderate burns on his hands while helping Barker.
The unnamed gas station was located east of Sikeston adjacent to Highway 60 and a Missouri Pacific Railroad siding. The damage was estimated at $100,000.
50 years ago
Dec. 10, 1974
• A different kind of cross-country runner stopped in Poplar Bluff yesterday. George Carlsson, a 20-year-old Oregon University student, overnighted in town on his 3,000-mile run from Florence, Oregon to Savannah, Georgia.
Carlsson and his high school friend Paul Gregory left Florence on Sept. 9, with Carlsson running and Gregory acting as his support from a vehicle. Carlsson averages 30 miles per day despite being slowed by weather, illness and sore joints. Gregory scouts routes, handles press inquiries, buys food and arranges lodging. In Poplar Bluff, Carlsson stayed with high school cross-country coach Barry Cody and got some physical therapy in the school’s whirlpool bath.
Carlsson crossed the Black River on the Highway 60 bridge this morning and continued eastward. After covering 2,300 miles in 92 days, he hopes to reach Savannah by Dec. 27. He’ll then ride back to Oregon with Gregory and resume his physical education studies in the next quarter.
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