Mules on ice and the winter of 1923-24

The winter of 1917-18 is still remembered as one of the worst in Cape Girardeau history. Along with a blizzard and a total of 35.7 inches of snow, it's the winter ice on the Mississippi River crushed four Eagle Packet Co. steamboats.

I have to wonder if area residents didn't wonder if history was repeating itself in the winter of 1923-24.

In January 1924, with the river frozen solid, daredevils for the first time drove automobiles across the ice at Cape Girardeau and at Commerce. At Cape Girardeau, that feat was performed Jan. 27, 1924, by Ed Lottie and two companions in Lottie's Ford "wreck". I have to wonder, however, if that last name wasn't misspelled. I think Ed Lottes probably should get the credit for the drive.

On that same date at Commerce, "Norval Anderson and Everett Beiswingert, local men, drove across the river from the Missouri to the Illinois shore... in a Ford coupe and motored to Cairo, Illinois, for dinner. On the return the car broke through the ice near the east shore late Sunday afternoon." It remained in the shallow water near the Illinois shore the following day, but an attempt was to be made to pull it out of its icy hole using a block and tackle.

You would think the news from Thebes, Illinois, a short time earlier would have warned Anderson and Beiswingert to steer clear of the river. Earlier that month, four men were marooned 20 hours on the Manning's Landing ferryboat and were forced to walk "on treacherous ice cakes to the Missouri shore, 1,000 feet away." I can't say I have too much sympathy for the men, but I do feel bad for the four mules they abandoned on the ferry.

Here's the Missourian's coverage of the events.

Published Jan. 16, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

FOUR MEN MAROONED 20 HOURS IN RIVER BY TREACHEROUS ICE

SKIPPER MOORE OF MANNING'S LANDING FERRY AND PASSENGER SPENT NIGHT IN BLOCKADE AND THEN MAKE WAY ON FOOT TO MISSOURI SIDE THIS MORNING.

Marooned for 20 hours on a small ferryboat in an ice jam in the middle of the Mississippi River one mile below the Thebes (Illinois) bridge, four men abandoned the boat early today and walked on treacherous ice cakes to the Missouri shore, 1,000 feet away, after previous attempts to rescue them had failed. Four mules, a wagon and an automobile truck, which were on the boat at the time it was caught in the ice gorge, were left behind, while the men narrowly escaped with their lives.

The boat — a ferry operated by J.B. "Snaky" Moore of Illmo — is wedged firmly in the ice floes and all attempts of the men to move it failed. After spending the night on the boat, with ice grinding against the sides and threatening at any time to smash its hull, the men took a desperate chance soon after daybreak today to make their way to the shore.

During the night, the ice around the boat froze harder. After testing the ice, the men left the boat and started their perilous journey to the shore. The floes cracked and groaned beneath them. In some places the ice slipped under the water, but the men pressed on, fighting their way across the frozen stretch.

The men on the boat were: J.B. Moore, owner of the ferry; Bob Whaley, of Illmo; Charles Morrow, of Illmo; and a (Black man) from Ware Station, Illinois.

The boat was caught in the ice gorge shortly after noon on Tuesday (Jan. 15, 1924). The boat took on its cargo at Manning's Landing, during the forenoon, and Moore said that the river was practically clear of ice when he started the trip across the river to the Illinois side. Soon after they reached the middle of the river, they noticed the ice floes closing in on them from the south, but they believed they could reach the Thebes landing, Moore said.

As they swung to the Illinois shore, the ice floe cut them off from the landing, and the boat was swung back quickly to race to the Missouri shore in an effort to avoid the gorge. But, as they neared the middle of the river, the ice crossed in and the boat was halted by ice floes near the center of the stream.

The men worked desperately to free the boat, but the ice shifted, the boat moving slowly downstream. The men continued their labors until late in the night, but without avail, and when morning came, abandoned the craft to make a last desperate effort to escape with their lives.

Rivermen on both shores attempted to aid the men marooned on the boat, but were unsuccessful. Rivermen could not put a boat into the river because of the ice, while the only chance seemed to be that the river would freeze sufficiently to allow the men to escape. This is what happened.

The men were without food for 20 hours and worked intermittently in a driving rain in an attempt to free the boat from the ice jam.

Rivermen at Commerce, only a short distance away from the marooned boat, today turned their attention devising means of releasing the boat with its cargo from the ice jam. Moore, the boat owner, said that he would probably await until the ice shifted before attempting to move the craft, but that efforts would be made to take food to the marooned livestock.

Rivermen say it would be dangerous to attempt to walk back over the ice to the boat. They explained that the ice shifts constantly and that where the men walked this morning, is not likely to be safe this afternoon.

While it is not a frequent occurrence for boats to be marooned in the river, local rivermen say that it has happened on several occasions but seldom with serious loss.

Published Jan. 17, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

FOOD FOR MAROONED MULES
* * *
ANIMALS TAKEN FROM FERRY

The ice gorge which has formed in the Mississippi River a mile below the Thebes (Illinois) bridge and in which four men were marooned on a ferryboat for 20 hours has moved down the river until it is now approximately one mile north of Commerce, it was reported today. Four mules, a wagon and an automobile truck are still on the small ferryboat in which the men were trapped.

A rescue party of six men left Commerce this morning equipped with a block and tackle. They plan to load the mules, one at a time, into the wagon, hitch the block and tackle to the track of the Frisco Railroad, which parallels the river, and pull the wagon across the ice to the Missouri shore, 700 feet from the boat.

The ice jam, strengthened by the freezing weather of last night, is thought strong enough to bear the wagon's weight, but there are many air holes and the rescuers do not consider it safe for the mules to walk across. An attempt will be made to take the truck off with the block and tackle, the ice being too jagged and rough for the truck to run under its own power.

Feed for the mules was also taken along by the party. This will be the first food they have received since Monday night.

The work of getting the mules, wagon and truck to shore is expected to last the whole day, owing to the treacherous and rugged conditions of the ice formation.

Published Jan. 18, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

HUNGRY MULES ARE RESCUED FROM PRISON ON ICE-BOUND RIVER BOAT

Four mules, marooned without food or shelter on a ferryboat trapped in an ice gorge in the Mississippi River near Commerce, from which four men escaped after being held on the boat for 20 hours by the ice, were rescued late Thursday (Jan. 17, 1924) afternoon after several spectacular attempts to get them had failed.

One by one the mules were loaded into an automobile truck body, which had been placed on sled runners, and which was pulled to the shore 700 feet away by block and tackle. The mules, one at a time, were placed in the improvised sled and pulled to the shore, as the ice under them slipped and slid.

The only difficulty was with the last animal, a young mule. When the rescuers attempted to place him in the sled, the mule bolted and broke away and leaped onto the ice and started trotting to the shore. He had taken only a few steps when the ice cracked and broke beneath him and he went into the icy waters up to his neck.

Jess Williams, one of the rescuers, rushed daringly over the ice to the mule's rescue, grabbed hold of the bridle on the animal's head and, with the aid of others, literally pulled him from the river. Once out, the mule shivering from his bath meekly followed his rescuers and was loaded into the sled and pulled to the shore.

The mules had been on the boat for three nights and were stiff from the cold. They were fed before being taken from the boat, their first since Tuesday.

The automobile truck still remained on the boat today, but attempts will be made to get it, by following the same plan used in getting the mules off. The boat however, can't be moved, ice piling around it to a depth of several feet. It is believed that it will be left there until ice begins to move and an attempt will be made then to get it from the gorge.

Published Thursday, Jan. 31, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

FERRY, STUCK IN ICE, IS NOW FACING DOOM

COMMERCE — J.B. Moore of Illmo was here early this morning with a crew of men to start work to release his ferryboat from an ice gorge in the Mississippi River near here, marooned 16 days ago when it was caught in the ice floes. The ice in the channel of the river broke loose late Wednesday night and Moore was notified that if he hoped to save his boat he should act at once.

The boat is held firmly in the ice one mile north of here, out of the main channel of the river, but veteran rivermen here say that the ice floe in which it is held may break at any time and that if the boat is to be saved, there must be quick work when it is once released from the gorge.

It is believed that the ice will give way beneath the boat some time today, since the river dropped 7 feet here Wednesday and is still falling. If the boat can be navigated into the main channel it will be possible to save it.

Ice was piled up on a bar in front of this place to a depth of 8 feet today, as the river dropped suddenly. Frank Anderson said that he had never seen such an accumulation of ice in his 65 years of residence here.

The ferryboat, which during the summer months plies between Manning's Landing, Missouri, and Thebes, Illinois, was caught in the ice gorge on Jan. 15. Four men, including the owner, were on the boat at the time, but escaped by walking over the ice to the shore after being marooned for 20 hours. Four mules on the boat were later taken off over the ice.

Published Feb. 4, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

FERRY SERVICE NOW AT THEBES

J.B. "Snaky" Moore, a ferryman of Illmo, announced today that he had resumed ferryboat service across the Mississippi River from Manning's Landing to Thebes, Illinois, following the rescue of his boat from the ice gorge late last week. The boat was freed from the ice when the gorge broke away, without mishap.

Moore resumed ferrying service on Sunday and has built up the road approaches to the landing so that vehicles may get on the boat easily, he said. He says he is operating the only ferry across the river between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois.