Wyatt, MO McCracken Cotton Gin Destroyed Sept 1941

Reported in the Sikeston MO Herald Thursday September 25, 1941. The McCracken cotton gin at Wyatt, owned by Mayor W.R. McCracken of Charleston and associates was destroyed by fire Tuesday night. The blaze, which is thought to have started in the section of the plant where cotton is pressed into bales, failed to reach the seed house and a small office building at the plant.

Lack of water facilities hampered the work of the Charleston fire department which made a run to the plant, according to W.E. Frazier, gin manager.

Approximately 48 bales of cotton were lost in the blaze, with an estimated loss of the gin and contents placed at $25,000.

Two cotton sheds at the White Oak gin of the Boeving Brothers Cotton Company in Butler county, were also destroyed by fire of unkown origin Tuesday night, the loss being estimated at between $8,000 and $10,000.
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Mark D. Frazier