The last week in September and the first week in October saw the heaviest rains ever known in this part of the country. A four day and night rain accumulated to eight inches of water. Bridges and culverts were washed out; railroad traffic was suspended for two weeks. An accompanying hailstorm beat down crops. Van M. Barr reported that his cotton was almost completely ruined. Dr. Jefferson Denby’s farm south of Carter lost two windmills, a barn and granaries due to the floods.
The rain washed away Hugh Blurton’s home at Crawford. His wife and six children, from infancy to 16 years, were at home alone. Sixteenyear- old Leroy shielded the children from the hail with a fodder shock and took them, one by one, to higher ground, but Mrs. Myrtle Blurton and 9-year-old daughter, Lavina, were swept away with the house. Myrtle escaped with her life by clinging to a tree limb and pulling herself out of the water before the hail beat her insensible. But Lavina? Two days later, a message from Camargo, about thirty miles down the Canadian River, verifi ed that the body of a little girl had been recovered from the water. It was the Blurton child! She had drowned in the stream known as Canal Creek, tributary to the South Canadian near Crawford.
Another tragedy early in October occurred when Henry Keahey of Crawford attempted suicide by drinking carbolic acid. Mr. Keahey was “heavily involved,” and his crops were badly hit by the drought. The destructive hailstorm and rain destroyed his entire harvest, besides killing 28 head of horses and mules, which were mortgaged. When he consulted an attorney about bankruptcy, he did not have the $30.00 ($768 in today’s values), for the fees. The next morning, he made the attempt to settle his troubles himself. Doctors expected him to recover.
While working with a corn binder, Charlie Martin had two of his fingers badly mangled. Dr. Thomas D. Palmer amputated one forefinger, and the second finger of his left hand was in bad shape.
William Burr was severely burned about the face and hands when a bucket of hot tar fell on him. He was helping to tar a new roof, and as the bucket was being drawn up, the pulley broke dropping the pail. Although workmen called to Burr, he did not hear them, and the bucket struck him on the head.
Eighteen-year-old S. E. Beckwith had just placed a jack under the track on the M. K. & T. near Leedey when he saw a train coming. He tried to remove the jack but when it stuck, he abandoned it. As the train ran over the track, it released the jack and it flew back, striking Beckwith in the abdomen and rupturing his stomach. He died a few hours later in the Elk City hospital.
Robert S. Pepper who lived northwest of town left four sweet potatoes weighing a total of fifteen pounds with the editor of The Elk City Press. He claimed he got 5 cents ($.88)apoundfor‘em. Harder L. Harper from Canute presented a couple of fine apples. One was a York Imperial and the other a Stayman Winesap. Each weighed 15 ounces and was twelve inches around! He had 290 trees in his orchard and expected to have 250 bushels of apples.
A spokesperson for the Broom Corn Association reported that it had shipped 33 carloads of product plus the 24 carloads other buyers had shipped. It was anticipated that the Association would receive 100 carloads. And despite the record rains, the county shipped $100,000 ($1,756,200) worth of cotton.
Back in September, Governor John C. Walton declared martial law in response to Ku Klux Klan activities. The third week of October, he was suspended from office when the Senate adopted a resolution temporarily relieving him of his duties. This followed the adoption in the House of two Articles of Impeachment. Lt. Gov. Martin E. Trapp assumed the governorship. While Walton was charged with misuse of public funds by having his chauffeur put on the State Health Dept. payroll, the underlying issue had to do with his anti-KKK activities.
Miss Phil Mann from Canute heard her mouse trap snap and went to investigate. To her surprise, she found a centipede in it, five inches long and three quarters of an inch wide.
Mrs. Dodie Woods won The Elk City Press’s prize of a new Buick sedan, but she preferred a sports roadster instead. The car was the first of its kind here and was bright red!
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 microfi lm at the Elk City Carnegie Library; https://www.dollartimes. com and Heritage Quest provided supplementary information.
