Among the headlines in this weekend’s roundup: The Poplar Bluff Fire Department reports fire damage dropped last year, a bill to found a Black university in Southeast Missouri goes before the General Assembly, a mail carrier bails when his Jeep slides off a bridge, typhoid is found in a local creek and a man practicing fast draws accidentally shoots his wife.
Jan. 20, 1924 and Jan. 20, 1974 — No issues available.
__Jan. 20, 1949__
• Poplar Bluff cut its fire losses in half in 1948, compared to what they were in 1947. A report by Fire Chief Sam Knight says in 1947 the department responded to 357 alarms, fires caused $100,000 in damage and there were three fatalities. In 1948, the department received 268 alarms, fires caused only $67,000 of damage and there were zero deaths. There were also fewer grass fires.
Knight attributed the improvement to newspaper coverage of fire prevention and community cleanup campaigns, and fire department inspections of downtown buildings.
The department added two new radio-equipped “pumper trucks” and two new members last year.
__Jan. 21, 1924__
• “The sunshine and cold temperature are believed to be doing excellent work in getting rid of the boll weevil,” proclaims the Interstate American. Boll weevils are a destructive cotton pest.
• A “young shantyboat man” named Charles Lee is arrested on burglary charges after stolen home goods were found in his houseboat and at a former residence. The items are valued at $175. Lee’s wife tried to confess to the robbery, but police believe she is trying to shift the blame from her husband. Since Lee was found with brass knuckles on his person when he was arrested he could also be charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
__Jan. 21, 1949__
• A Broseley mail carrier swam to safety after his Jeep lost control on an icy bridge and plunged into 10 feet of water.
The road was apparently covered in sleet when Horace Bates began his rounds around 6 a.m. Monday (Jan. 17). The county bridge spanned a deep drainage ditch, had a “bad abutment” and was in such bad repair that the local school bus driver changed his route to avoid crossing it.
Since Bates’ vehicle was a doorless Jeep he quickly exited the wreck, swam to shore and walked a mile home in freezing cold weather. His Jeep was towed from the ditch and is drying out at the Casey Motor Company. The bridge has been formally condemned.
__Jan. 21, 1974__
• The federal bank robbery trial of a man already serving three life sentences for murder began in St. Louis today.
The defendant is Dallas R. Delay, who was convicted of killing a Grandin bank president and his family: Robert Kitterman, his wife Bertha and their teenage daughter Roberta. The three were found tied to trees and shot to death in a wooded area near Grandin last January.
The robbery charges against Delay carry maximum 20-year sentences. He has also been charged with killing while committing a bank robbery. Delay is serving three consecutive life sentences at Missouri State Penitentiary.
His accomplices Jerry Rector and Lloyd Cowin are also serving life sentences for the murders and will be tried for robbery at a later date.
• A fatal tavern brawl appears to be a case of self-defense, says the Ripley County Sheriff’s Department.
Bobby Darrell Grissom, 35, of Pocahontas, Arkansas, was taken into custody Jan. 19 after shooting Gary Ellicott George, also 35, at the Oasis Club south of Doniphan. Witnesses stated Grissom shot George six times after the George ran at him with a knife in the club’s parking lot.
The incident is still under investigation.
__Jan. 22, 1924__
• Cane Creek is contaminated with typhoid, according to a local physician.
The physician began his investigation after Wendell and Joe Leach, ages 8 and 6, fell ill with typhoid fever. He concluded the stream was contaminated by a neighbor who died of typhoid a short time ago.
Joe Leach is recovering, but Wendall Leach’s condition is reportedly unimproved.
• Three businesses were burglarized last night (Jan. 21) and early this morning.
Nothing of value was taking from the Frisco train depot, whose offices were found in disarray this morning, though the thief or thieves helped themselves to canned blackberries. Hamburger meat, buns and chewing gum were stolen from a popcorn wagon parked on Main and Vine streets.
A cleaning and pressing shop owned by Jack Gillespie was hit the worst. The perpetrator walked off with about a dozen suits and a lady’s coat and dress collectively valued at $300.
The break-ins are believed to be connected.
__Jan. 22, 1949__
• A bill establishing a Black university in Southeast Missouri is before the 65th General Assembly. House Bill No. 8 provides for the establishment and construction of the proposed George Washington Carver Agricultural and Vocational School.
Representative Arnold Montgomery outlined the bill in a local press meeting today. A university in the area would be advantageous to Southeast Missouri’s large Black community and could improve individuals’ lives. However, he believed the bill could also be a front to “maintain segregation standards” by funneling Black students away from the University of Columbia, which is required by federal law to give “equal educational advantages” to all students.
If approved, the university would teach “general fields of agriculture, home economics, mechanical trades, industrial subjects and related matters.”
__Jan. 22, 1974__
• A Puxico woman’s death by gunshot is ruled to be an accident.
Betty Wolford died in her kitchen on Jan. 5. A coroner’s inquest found her husband Johnny Wolford was holding the pistol that killed her in his hands at the time of the shooting. His friend and witness Murlin Kaufmann said Wolford had been examining the pistol and practicing fast draw tactics when it went off.
The Stoddard County coroner, Sheriff’s Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol stated their investigation and a polygraph test given to Johnny Wolford “fully supported the contention of accidental shooting.”
• Walsh Big Star advertises pork roast for $0.89/lbs., ground beef for $0.88/lbs and bacon for $0.98/lbs. The store was located in the Mansion Mall of Poplar Bluff.