DASH TO THE PAST: Poplar Bluff's electric leap and a New Year's celebration to remember

The New Year is marked by a thwarted bank robbery and other celebrations.

TUESDAY

100 years ago

Dec. 31, 1924

• Would-be bank robbers in East Prairie were thwarted by a small dog and a child.

Donald Chapman, 21, and Harry Oliver, 20, were arrested while holding up the New East Prairie Bank at gunpoint yesterday afternoon. Both were locals. They borrowed guns and a car, donned masks, and successfully ordered bank employees on the ground while a cashier named J.R. Presson began clearing out the safe. They also drew the blinds in the bank’s office to hide the holdup.

Unfortunately for them, Presson’s dog raised the alarm. Young passerby Juanita Presson heard the barking and realized it was unusual for the bank to have its blinds drawn, and managed to peek under one of the blinds. She quickly recognized the situation and called for help. Chapman and Oliver were apprehended by a posse of citizens and arrested by a deputy sheriff.

This was reportedly East Prairie’s first attempted bank robbery.

Juanita Presson’s age was not published, nor was her relation to J.R. Presson.

75 years ago

Dec. 31, 1949

• Poplar Bluff received a massive upgrade to its electrical infrastructure today. Five transformers measuring 11 feet high and weighing 8,000 pounds arrived from San Diego, California, to be installed in the city’s substations. They’ll convert the 69,000-volt current carried on M&A Electric Power Cooperative lines to lower voltages for general use.

50 years ago

Dec. 31, 1974

• Sikeston native Kathryn Tenkhoff has been named 1975 Maid of Cotton by the National Cotton Council in Memphis, and she’ll spend 1975 traveling internationally to promote the cotton industry — though she admitted her biggest connection to cotton is a love of blue jeans.

Tenkhoff is a 21-year-old journalism student at the University of Missouri. Her sorority sisters nominated her for the award, and she said her selection from 300 applicants came as a surprise.

“I feel like I’m a fish out of water,” she said, noting her affinity of denim and birthplace were her greatest links to the crop. She added her father is a pharmacist who’s “been stuffing cotton in medicine bottles for 20 years.”

She plans to put her studies on hold while traveling. During her reign she’ll meet President Gerald Ford, whom she plans to ask for skiing lessons, and travel nationally and internationally. Afterward, Tenkhoff intends to finish her degree and work in journalism or public relations in Memphis, Atlanta or Dallas.

WEDNESDAY

100 years ago

Jan. 1, 1925

• Poplar Bluff rang in the new year with parties, noisemakers and a bit of booze. The Daily Republican reported gatherings were held by the Elks, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Hornets Baseball Club, in addition to numerous smaller watch parties in homes. Midnight was celebrated with gunshots, whistles and other noisemakers.

The police court revealed “no indication of undue hilarity” or reports of drunkenness, but it was no secret that some of the toasts last night weren’t Prohibition-approved.

The year 1925 “promises to be one of the most prosperous in history,” the paper opined.

No edition: Jan. 1, 1950, Jan. 1, 1975