Sonic Drive-In to locate here

-SequoyahCountyTimes,Aug.30,1973

From the files of Your Sequoyah County Times 25 Years Ago

(From the Aug. 30,1998, issue of the Sequoyah County Times)

—Billowing clouds of black and grey smoke could be seen for miles as motorists traveled on Interstate 40 through Sequoyah County Saturday evening.

A series of fires burned several areas on the eastbound side of 1-40 between Vian and Muldrow. Witnesses reported the fires started at about 6:30 p.m.

At least three property owners between Vian and Muldrow suffered losses of several acres of pasture due to the fires.

Fire departments from all over the county, including Vian, McKey, Sallisaw, Muldrow, Roland, Redland, along with the forestry department, responded to the fires.

—The third school bus wreck, in just the third week of school at Sallisaw Schools, occurred at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday just south of Wild Horse Mountain on U.S. Highway 59.

The OHP reported Bus No. 3 was southbound and was stopped at the foot of Wild Horse Mountain on the south side to unload children when a 1984 Chevrolet pickup truck struck the bus from behind.

Burley Middleton, assistant superintendent of Sallisaw Schools who is also in charge of school transportation, said the 1993 International bus sustained estimated damages of about $2,000.

50 Years Ago

(From the Aug. 30,1973, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) —It was announced officially this week that a Sonic Drive-In will locate in Sallisaw.

Jerry Vandergriff, representative from Shawnee, said construction was expected to get under way this week.

Vandergriff said it was hoped the business, which will locate across from Eastgate Shopping Center, will be open to the public by mid-November.

Sonic, whose trademark is “Service with the speed of sound,” will be able to accommodate 24 cars when completed. The drive-in will be equipped with a call-in speaker system.

—The “off-limits” ban by the armed services still applies to five Moffett food and liquid dispensing businesses.

The Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board voted Friday to keep the businesses on the black list “because the establishment failed to meet minimum Army health and sanitation standards.”

Parts of Moffett have been off limits to military personnel since nearby Ft. Chaffee was constructed southeast of Fort Smith, Ark., in the early 1940s.

75 Years Ago

(From the Sept. 3,1948, issue of the Sequoyah County Times) —Federal officers continued Thursday afternoon with investigations they believe will soon bring arrests in a Muldrow post office burglary Monday night.

County officers were cooperating with FBI in the case but were letting the federal post office inspector in charge, take the lead.

Two service stations in Muldrow were burglarized the same night, Sheriff Henry Jones said.

A mail sack was carried from the post office and slashed open. No mail was believed missing. No registered mail was in the pouch.

Reported taken by burglars by the Clarence Martin station was about $100 in cash. The other burglarized station owned by Melvin Gibbins, said loss amounted to about $25.

—Modernization of five miles of U.S. Highway 59 north of Sallisaw will begin this fall with extension of the blacktop northward from the end of the present hard surface, it was revealed here this week.

H.F. Bailey, state highway director here for an inspection of eastern Oklahoma highways and Paul Carlile, attorney, and member of the commission, announced the project.

—“So far, so good,” on the city operated garbage disposal plan, said Fred Johnston, city manager in reviewing the project Thursday.

Merchants are cooperating wonderfully and only one report of an attempt to burn trash in alley incinerators had been reported, said the city manager.

The plan, sought by Chamber of Commerce members and placed into service on a pay-for-its-self basis, by the city commissioners, went into service Wednesday.

100 years ago

(From the Aug. 31, 1923, issue of the Sequoyah County Democrat) —After giving Ed Lockhart a six month’s leave of absence from the state penitentiary last week, Governor Walton, as usual, changed his mind and revoked the parole. However, Lockhart evidently received advance information of the Governor’s change of tactics for when Sheriff John E. Johnston received official information of the revocation from Warden Townsend, about noon Sunday, Lockhart had left this city for unknown parts and is still unlocated by county officers.

The parole was revoked Friday, after Lockhart had appeared in this city with a six months parole in his pocket, but the sheriff of this county was not notified until noon the following Sunday.

—Three county dipping vats were totally destroyed sometime during Sunday night, when they were dynamited by unknown parties. The vats to suffer from dynamite and put out of working commission were the Cheek vat located on the George Cheek farm near Akins, the Campbell vat located between Akins and Long and Miller vat 12 miles northeast of Sallisaw.

Dynamiters made their second raid on dipping vats in this county early Tuesday morning, when the vats at Vrona and Obi were successfully eliminated by the explosive route.

According to the sheriff’s office cattle dipping in this county will continue until everything is cleaned of the tick. Dynamiting vats will not get anyone any place, when it comes to dipping the cattle in the community where the vats were blown, as the cattle must be dipped according to the government regulations.

—A mail pouch delivered to the local post office on the morning of August 16 was accidently dropped into a refuse can at the post office and later burned with the other contents of the can as the office was being cleaned up.

The pouch was put off the early Missouri Pacific train reaching here about 6 a.m. and was carried to the office where it was placed on a receiving table and evidently was knocked off into the can while other mail was being handled by the office force.

It contained first class mail from Little Rock and all intervening points from there to this city.

The pouch was missed but the postal officials were unable to locate it for several days when the lock and snaps, all that was left of the pouch, were found at the rear of the office where the refuse of the office is usually burned.