February was a month of mixed news. Ex-President Woodrow Wilson died after an illness of four years; 10,000 people gathered at the fair ground in Oklahoma City to pay homage to the former president. Measles and pneumonia were rampant. Farmers were sowing their oats and women were setting their incubators.
Sheriff E. M. Green and his force captured the largest still ever found in the county on the old Hiatt place north of Sayre! When confiscated, it was cooling offer after just turning out a ten-gallon run of what was said to be Number One Corn Whiskey. Three vats of mash were also found and destroyed. The still and equipment were taken to town on a large truck and displayed in the Sheriff’s office. Two strangers who refused to give their names were taken into custody.
Emmett Morris’s dogs ran a coyote into his garage west of Cheyenne. Some hogs loose in the corral ran the dogs out of the garage and held the coyote at bay. Mrs. Morris who was home alone, telephoned her husband who was in town to come home and kill the coyote. Before he arrived, Mrs. Morris secured a piece of wire and successfully fastened it securely to the coyote’s tail, which was protruding through a crack in the garage door and then tied the wire to a two by four. She then secured a rifle and killed the critter.
The Ku Klux Klan paid for a membership application printed on the front page of the Elk City News Democrat. They sought members who believed in Christian Religion, White Supremacy, Just Laws and Liberty, Free Public Schools, Limitation of Foreign Immigration and Law and Order, among other principles. A special KKK train for Klansmen and their families was to leave Elk City for Oklahoma City to participate in the “300,000 parade.”
Mrs. Arthur Creach of near Hammon shot her brother-inlaw, Owen Haddock, while playing with a gun supposedly unloaded. The gun was a .32 caliber, and the bullet entered his right side, piercing a lung. Mrs. Creach’s son, Elmer, was in line of the bullet and was shot in the hand.
Deputy Sheriff Hibbler of Hammon came to Elk City and arrested Hollie Bowman and Will Morgan on a charge of making hootch. The Deputy found some barrels, mash and other important evidence. The two culprits lived about halfway between Hammon and Elk City.
The election for a twenty-five-year light plant franchise in Elk City carried 491 votes for to 105 opposed; over at Carter, thereferendumcarried61to16. TheStatesPowerCompany expected to begin work on the plant very soon to provide twenty- four-hour service. The maximum rate would be 12 cents per kw hour ($2.13 in today’s values).
Mayor Sam Brown closed the domino halls in another step toward making Elk City a better town. People should be too busy to waste time playing cheap amusement games when there was so much work to be done!
The Canute Post Office was robbed of $80 ($1418) but no stamps. Attempts were made to rob three other establishments without any luck. Amateurs!
A partial list of what was marketed out of Elk City from Dec 31, 1922 to January 1, 1924 included 186,895 pounds of butter fat, which provided $71,404.65 in revenue ($1,266,074). Other items marketed were 701,462 pounds of poultry (excluding turkeys and chickens), 104,400 dozen eggs, 145 cars of broom corn, 53 cars of hogs, 37 cars of wheat and 64 cars of flour. In addition, 3550 mattresses were made and sold and the Merchants Belt Factory sold $75,000 ($1,329, 824).
The Beckham County Interscholastic Basket Ball Tournament was held in Carter for the first time. The best part of the occasion for the little town was that both of their boys’ teams won first honor in the finals and were awarded silver loving cups. In the girls’ contest, Erick won in Class “A” and Elk City in Class “B.” The door receipts amounted to over $100 ($1773) exclusive of the season tickets.
Luanne R. Eisler authored this article, which was taken from items published in The Carter Express, The Elk City Press and The Elk City News-Democrat; you can find these newspapers on microfilm at the Elk City Carnegie Library; https://www.dollartimes. com, mountsinai.org/health-library/diseases-conditions/ mastoiditis, and Ancestry.com provided supplementary information.
