January was a month of New Year’s Eve parties and warm temperatures mixed with snow.
R. D. King opened a greenhouse for growing flowers in the northwest part of town. King attended A. & M. College taking a short course in flower culture and landscaping. He had also studied floral design and the work he made for funerals and other occasions was equal to that seen shipped to Elk City from other places. King was also putting in a line of ornamental shrubs, roses and evergreens.
The new Methodist Episcopal Church on South Broadway was under construction. The structure was of beautiful classic design of gray brick and stone and dimensions of 50x 84 feet. The auditorium had a seating capacity of approximately 500. Twenty-two Sunday school rooms were provided in the new building, some arranged so that they could be opened to provide additional seating in the main auditorium. The pastor’s study was a commodious room located on the main floor. Other features were two parlors, one of which was equipped with an open fireplace. There was also an athletic room with showers. The ladies of the church had visions of a pipe organ. The basement was equipped with a dining room and kitchen with all the necessary furniture for entertainment. A “Buy a brick” campaign was adopted. It would take 200,000 bricks to build the structure, which, at 15 cents per brick, ($2.66 in today’s values) would for the completed building.
Mrs. W. H. Singletary received the joy of a lifetime when her son who was stolen from her seven years prior was returned to her; the boy’s father died when the child was but two weeks old. While undergoing surgery in Oklahoma City, she placed the child in a kindergarten school. While hospitalized, the former partner of her husband assumed custody of the child. After consulting a fortune teller, the mother was told not to give up hope and that she would soon hear of her child. The day after Christmas, Mrs. Singletary received a letter from her mother in Louisiana telling her that the former partner was in the area with a child about the age of the missing boy. Mrs. Singletary and others approached the partner who turned the boy over to the authorities. He was seven years old when he was stolen and was approaching fourteen years of age when recovered.
Helen, the ten-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pat Watson of Sayre, met with a profoundly serious accident, when, in some manner, the gas in the room in which shwas was in, was turned on; she was not found for about four hours. After many hours of hard work, she was revived but her complete recovery was not guaranteed.
H. O. Harr built a new business on Jefferson St. for the DeVeny Auto Paint Shop. The Elk City Manufacturing Co., manufacturers of leather goods, belts, pocketbooks, purses, etc. bought the corner of Sixth and Jefferson and placed orders for material for the construction of a large factory on the site. The proposal was to employ two hundred people.
One of the saddest events occurring in the area occurred near Rankin when Arthur Gray backed a truck over his small son killing him almost instantly. Before starting the truck, Gray told his two sons to stand to one side, and he saw them standing side by side before starting the truck. Soon the older boy, about six years old, cried out that 3-year-old A. J. Gray Jr. was killed. The father found his little boy lying under the truck, the solid rubber tires passing over the boy’s chest.
O. E. Huffman had the surprise of his life when his brother, Reese Huffman of Pekin, Ill., called to say that he was at the Elk City depot and wanted to know how to see him. It did not take Mr. and Mrs. Huffman but a few minutes to get to the station where there was a glad reunion. It was the first time Mrs. Huffman had met her brother-in-law, and it had been 32 years since the brothers had seen each other.
Luanne R. Eisler authored this article from the Carter Express, The Elk City Press and the Elk City News-Democrat, which may be found at the Carnegie Library. Supplemental information was taken from DollarTimes.com.
