In the 1920s, three Poplar Bluff boys proved they bled maroon and white by embarking on marathons to PBHS away games. This day in history also held fierce dam debate and recognition for a prolific garden patch.
__Oct. 10. 1924__
• Following more-or-less in the footsteps of a determined sports fan, Poplar Bluff youths Arnold Guill and JP Kearbey set out for Sikeston by bicycle today. They expect to make the 50-mile trip in a few hours, arriving in time for a Poplar Bluff High School football game.
This is the only “cycle marathon” undertaken from Poplar Bluff, according to The Daily Republican, but not the first endurance test for a PBHS fan. Several years ago William Rethwisch used his school track training to run 35 miles to Doniphan. He, too, was motivated by a football game and didn’t have enough money for a bus ticket. He arrived in time for the game and fellow fans bought him a ticket back to Poplar Bluff.
• Three men who carjacked a taxi near Kennett were apprehended in Centralia, Illinois today. Poplar Bluff cab driver Rube Shaw reported the trio booked a trip to Caruthersville in the early morning hours yesterday, then forced him out of the car at gunpoint near Kennett. He and another passenger were left tied to a fence until a passerby found them.
The suspects are being held in Centralia pending action to extradite them to Missouri.
__Oct. 10, 1949__
• The Doniphan Court House hosted a standing-room-only debate on Oct. 8 between proponents and opponents of proposed Current River dams. Multiple speakers endorsed the project, among them Judge R.M. Ruthven of Baxter County, Arkansas, who claimed damming the St. Francis River doubled the population and multiplied the value of county land through tourism. He called the acreage impacted by the reservoir “valueless hill land.”
The Ozark Protective Association and Wayne County Superintendent of Schools Charles Randall countered. Randall claimed Wayne County residents would happily see the Wappapello Dam destroyed.
“The dam took the best part of our county and has lost three and one half million dollars for us (in property tax revenue),” he said, adding that the St. Francis River had flooded twice in two weeks despite the flood control assurances of the Army Engineers.
The proposed Current River hydroelectric dams would flood over 63,000 acres of protected forest and farm land, and displace several towns.
__Oct. 10, 1974__
• The garden of Mr. and Mrs. R.C. Robison rivals the produce sections of most grocery stores. The couple told the Daily American Republic that fruits and veggies have fallen off their shopping lists since spring and early summer, when the plot began churning out greens, peas, tomatoes and more. The Robisons have harvested 7.5 bushels of sweet potatoes, 18 bushels of Irish potatoes, and 51 quarts of green beans (which Mrs. Robinson canned). They’ve also grown pumpkins, field peas, beets, carrots, cabbages, cherries, peaches and gooseberries on their land. Pest control is handled by songbirds lured in with sunflowers.
Mr. Robison said his relatively small garden patch has an advantage: It’s the former site of a goat pen.