100 years ago: Armed soldiers scour the area for escapees from the guard house

Looking back at stories that appeared in the O’Fallon Progress 100, 75, and 50 years ago:

100 years ago, May 22, 1924

Considerable excitement was caused Sunday night shortly after 9 o’clock when a number of armed soldiers from Scott Field began to patrol the highways leading from the air camp.

A detachment of soldiers was also dispatched to this city who scoured all sections in search of two fugitives who escaped from the field Sunday night.

In a number of cases automobiles traveling over public highways were halted and searched for the missing prisoners.

Two soldiers, William Blaw, 24 years old, and Zella McLean (McClain), 19, who were held prisoners in the guard house, made a successful break for liberty when they escaped from a guard who was taking them to a toilet. The prisoners had requested that they be taken to another building and made their escape while being marched from one building to the other.

The guard fired several shots at the men and then gave a general alarm.

No trace of the fugitives was found, although all highways and byways were gone over thoroughly.

Officers at the camp are of the belief that the soldiers received outside help and that the escape was planned, the men being taken away in an automobile.

It is believed that Blaw’s sweetheart was a confederate in the escape as she visited him Sunday afternoon. Blaw is under sentence of two years to Leavenworth prison, being convicted on a charge of larceny, following thefts at the field. He was convicted of stealing automobile tires from the post by court-martial and was to have been taken to Leavenworth this week.

McLean (McClain) was being held on a charge of desertion.

75 years ago, May 26, 1949

Through the cooperation of O’Fallon Township High School board and the Community Park board the high school gymnasium will be open this summer from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Mondays through Fridays beginning June 1 and continuing until mid-August for recreational purposes.

The sports to be carried on at the gym will be ping pong, volleyball, badminton, horseshoe pitching, basketball and softball. These activities will be under the direct supervision of Coach Charles L. Niblock, recreational director.

Any grade or high school student is eligible to participate, providing they first register with Mr. Niblock. Mr Niblock has been advised by Joe Monohan, scout for the St. Louis Cardinals, that boys who aspire to a career in professional baseball are being invited to the tryout camp being held at Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, today, Friday and Saturday.

50 years ago, May 23, 1974

The O’Fallon city water department has been warned by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that the O’Fallon public water supply is “not satisfactorily protected against the entrance of contamination.”

The warning came Monday night in a letter read at the O’Fallon City Council meeting. Letter was accompanied with nine recommendations for guarding against the contamination. However, City Engineer Dave Davis feels the EPA is “nit-picking” with its various recommendations.

“Some of the recommendations will be considered possibly and others aren’t necessary to have done,” Davis said.

The recommendations were made by the EPA after an inspection of the facilities was performed by Brenda Brown of the EPA office in Collinsville.

The nine recommendations made by the EPA office in order for the O’Fallon water department to “conform to present public water supply laws, rules and regulation,” are: Initiate a value maintenance program. The stub overflow on the old elevated storage tank should be brought down near the ground surface and discharged over a drainage inlet structure or a splash plate.

The two remote booster stations located near French Village should be provided with automatic signaling apparatus which would report when the stations are out of service. Collect routinely six samples once per month from the supply and submit the samples to the agency for analysis.

Repaint the exterior of the two ground storage tanks and elevated tank. Inspect the interior of the ground storage tanks and elevated tank. Inspect the interior of the ground tanks and the elevated tanks for deterioration. Bacterial analyses on 21 samples collected from the distribution system should be performed monthly be a certified laboratory.

The city should proceed as soon as possible on a program of replacing the small-sized, privately-owned water lines in the system.

The manhole cover on the old elevated storage tank should be provided with a means of locking.

Ms Brown said the items mentioned were serious ones and that the recommendations would have to be met to conform with the rules and regulations concerning public water supplies. Ms. Brown said if the city does not meet the standards, a hearing may have to be held before the Illinois Pollution Control Board in Springfield.

Davis, however, feels the matter should not be taken so seriously and that the letter is sent routinely to other water departments.

“This is not true,” said Ms. Brown “The inspections by the EPA are made once a year and no routine letters warning of possible conditions for contamination are sent out.”

Davis said that some of the recommendations can be considered by the city but the majority of them are not needed. Such is the case with emergency signaling of the booster stations in the French Village area. Davis said the inspection of the storage tanks that the EPA recommends was done last year but that no inspection was made this year yet.

The item concerning the sub overflow, says Ms. Brown, is to prevent birds and insects from entering the water tanks unnoticed. While the sub overflow is above th tank, the possibility is there for birds or insects to enter. The last item, concerning locking the manhole atop the storage tank, is essentially the same in principle.

“The locking of the manhole would safeguard your (O’Fallon’s) water supply from vandalism and malicious sabotage,” said Ms. Brown.

The EPA also recommended three other items that should be given “serious consideration” to improve the operation of the system. The EPA recommended that an emergency power supply be provided for the two booster stations west of the city.

It also recommended an additional employee be certified for work. The final recommendation was for re-chlorinating the water received from the East St. Louis and Interurban Water Company.

“I don’t see anything that can’t be complied with by O’Fallon,” said Ms. Brown. Davis said that some of the items would be considered.