Freak wind picks up home

Floods and freak storms marked this weekend in 1950. The overflowing St. Francis River left Dunklin County soggy while blasts of wind flattened buildings in Poplar Bluff and Silva.

Southeast Missourians celebrated road improvements in 1925 and a beloved principal in 1975.

No issues available: Jan. 11, 1925; Jan. 12, 1975.

SATURDAY

75 years ago

Jan. 11, 1950

• The height of the St. Francis River held steady today. Though flooding continued in Dunklin County, engineers believed the levees would hold.

The river rose about four inches in the last 24 hours. A water gauge at Holly Island near Kennett registered the river’s height at 276.60 feet above sea level today.

50 years ago

Jan. 11, 1975

• The Poplar Bluff School Board honored a teacher and leader this week. Portia Halferty, retired principal of Mark Twain School and 30-year veteran of the PB R-I district, was presented with a certificate of merit this week by Superintendent Fred Morrow. It read in part: “In appreciation of the fine service rendered to the youth of your community.”

Halferty has continued supporting local schools since her retirement in 1970. Before joining R-I she spent a few years teaching in county schools.

SUNDAY

100 years ago

Jan. 12, 1925

• A Broseley farmer died yesterday from acute blood poisoning. The deadly infection was caused by a single scratch.

John A. Roe, age 63, reportedly scaled a barbed wire fence and was nicked in the arm. Roe thought little of it until the wound became infected. His condition was serious by the time he was admitted to a Poplar Bluff hospital on Jan. 9, where he passed away days later.

Roe is survived by three children and a sister.

75 years ago

Jan. 12, 1950

• A Kennett case of robbery, arson and murder was solved through the combined efforts of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, city police and deputies.

On Dec. 6, 1949, the body of Dunklin County merchant John Moore was discovered in the rubble of his burned store. The Dunklin County Sheriff’s Department and MSHP began investigating immediately. Several tips directed MSHP to Lee Watson and J.C. Thomas. Both were arrested by Greenville, Mississippi police at the request of Dunklin County Sheriff Jack Barnes and were extradited to Missouri.

Separately, Watson and Thomas confessed they knocked Moore unconscious, robbed his store, and set the fire. They face first-degree murder charges.

MONDAY

100 years ago

Jan. 13, 1925

• Almost $8 million was spent on Southeast Missouri’s highway system in 1924, and the region saw the greatest progress in road work out of the state during the year.

Southeast Missouri gained 247 miles of paved roads last year, including Route 9 from Cape Girardeau to Caruthersville and Highway 16 from Birds Point to Springfield. Highway 23 from Poplar Bluff to St. Louis was upgraded to an all-weather road.

Another 184 miles of roadwork are planned for 1925.

75 years ago

Jan. 13, 1950

• As if rain and flooding weren’t enough, freak windstorms demolished three buildings this morning.

Around 9:30 a.m., a three-room home on North Grand Street in Poplar Bluff was lifted 8 feet off its foundation. Five member of the Butler family, including two children, were in the house but unharmed. None of their neighbors reported property damage but noticed strong winds.

At the same time in Silva, a farmhouse and barn were almost completely destroyed. Occupants Mr. and Mrs. George Wilks were uninjured and are being housed in the nearby Bounds Creek school. The couple are in their 70s.

The winds were accompanied by heavy rains.

50 years ago

Jan. 13, 1975

• A survey by the Daily American Republic found 36% of married women in Butler County were working. Consecutively, salary gains were outpaced by inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported weekly earnings rose 7% over the past year while consumer prices jumped 12%.