Predictions for 1924 in the year-end edition

Last week's blog mentioned the 1923 year-end edition, published, appropriately enough, on Dec. 31, 1923.

Not only did it review accomplishments attained in Cape Girardeau during that year, but several articles predicted what would happen the following year... or maybe the year after that.

The Brinkopf-Howell Funeral Home on Broadway in Cape Girardeau, as seen in the 1950s. (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive)

BRINKOPF'S MODEL MORTUARY SOON TO BE READY

Arrangements for the formal opening of the Brinkopf Funeral Home at Broadway and Frederick Street are being completed, and the new mortuary -- the finest between St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee -- will be opened within the next six weeks, according to Al Brinkopf, the owner. Construction work has been under way on the building for six months, and it now stands as one of the most up to date and modern of its type in Missouri.

The building, which is 60 feet long and 50 feet in width and of two stories, is to be given over entirely to the care of the dead and for the comfort and aid of the bereaved relatives and friends. The mortuary embodies in its construction every modern device in the care of the departed, and adds to this arrangements for the comfort of relatives and friends. The mortuary, defined as a place for the reception of the dead, will be more than that -- will be a place for the living, also.

The chapel is so equipped that relatives may hear the services without being seen. The ground floor of the building has six major rooms. On entering the front door the visitor steps into a spacious hall, from which he may enter either the first room or the office, both elaborately equipped. Adjoining the front laying-out room is the chapel, which is fitted up with church pews and an elevated altar, all done in a dark oak finish. This chapel will accommodate 100 persons, and adjoining rooms may be used if necessary, giving accommodations for another 50. Across the hall from the chapel is the display room, air tight and dust proof, in which the caskets and other funeral equipment are on display. An anteroom at the rear contains the clothing, from which selection is to be made by relatives. Besides closets and washrooms, there is the morgue and laying-out room at the rear on the first floor.

The second story is given over to the living apartments of the undertaker, M.A. Braiswell, who lives there with his family. Two rooms have also been set aside on the second story for relatives, who may wish to spend the night there.

That every thing has been arranged to a detail is shown in the arrangements for inquests, for which a specially built chair for newspaper reporters to secure testimony given at inquests has been arranged.

The outside of the building has been finished in stucco, giving the building an attractive appearance. Concrete driveways give entrance either from Frederick Street or Broadway, and a four-apartment garage gives ample room for motor vehicles.

The modern mortuary was built, Brinkopf said, to accommodate a growing need for funerals away from private homes, where often there is not room for friends and relatives. "It has always been my ambition to give Cape Girardeau a modern funeral home and this is the result," Brinkopf said. "I believe that the city has advanced to feel the need of such an institution, and I believe that it is not in advance of the general development of the city."

Undertaking charges, which are the same for every establishment, will remain the same, but it will be the ambition of the company to give better service, this being the purpose of the new structure.

2 APARTMENT HOUSES WILL BE ERECTED

Construction work on a new 12-family apartment house, to be the largest of its type in Cape Girardeau, is to start early in January, according to Theo Ochs, who is arranging plans for the new structure. It will be built on a site at the corner of Ellis and Themis streets, near the present Mildred flats and across the street from the Chapin apartments, and will cost approximately $35,000.

The structure will have three floors and will front on both Themis and Ellis streets. It will be 79 feet long on Ellis and 75 feet on Themis, with a main entrance from each of the streets. It is to be built of brick, with white stone trimmings and will be modern in every respect, Ochs said.

Fifty-eight rooms

Tile floors will be laid in the corridors, while each apartment will be either four or five rooms and will have bath and all modern facilities. The building will have 58 rooms, with a large banquet hall in the basement, a cafeteria and a private room for luncheons and similar affairs. The banquet room will be 42 by 24 feet (and) will be well equipped for such gatherings. The private dining room will be 24 feet long and 10 feet wide.

The building will be so arranged that each apartment will have an outside view. Demand for the apartments in the new structure have been so great that contracts for seven of the 12 apartments have been signed.

Ochs said that he is also preparing plans for a 24-family apartment house at the corner of Themis and Lorimier streets to be built on a site which he recently bought from Fred A. Groves. Work on this structure is expected to start in the early spring.

The packet "Cape Girardeau," 1929. (G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive)

NEW STEAMER CAPE GIRARDEAU TO GO INTO SERVICE IN SPRING

The new steamer Cape Girardeau is in her winter port near East Alton, Illinois, receiving the last touches of paint and the final adjustments before she is formally placed in the service of the Eagle Packet Co., on the Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis. If the winter breaks quickly, as in former years, the boat will make its first appearance in a Cape Girardeau port early in March, officials of the company say.

The new steamer will supersede the old packet, Bald Eagle, which made its last trip to Cape Girardeau late this month. The new boat was built near Louisville, Kentucky, last summer and was formally launched on May 23. She was ready for the trip to winter quarters early in November and shortly after noon on Nov. 16 passed Cape Girardeau on her trip up the river.

Girardeans were given little opportunity of seeing the new steamer then, as she sped majestically past here at a high speed, and the first inspection will be made when she makes her maiden trip here in the spring.

Modern craft

The boat has been built for river traffic, but the comfort of the passengers has not been neglected. One hundred and fifty spacious staterooms have been provided, each equipped with running water and all modern conveniences. The boat has four decks, giving ample opportunity for excursion trips, and has a dance hall and other accommodations. She is 225 feet long and 46 feet wide, and in all respects is a larger and more powerful boat than her predecessor.

Capt. (William) "Buck" Leyhe will command the new steamer on the initial trip here and has promised Cape Girardeau a real show on that occasion.

NEW HOSPITAL FOR GIRARDEAU ASSURED, SAYS COMMITTEE IN CHARGE OF PRETENTIOUS PLAN

Final arrangements for the taking up of an option on a 55-acre farm on the Cape Girardeau-Jackson road (Broadway), just outside the city limits as a site for a new $175,000 hospital, are being completed by members of the hospital committee, and it is planned to open a lot-selling campaign to raise the funds for the erection of the hospital within two months.

An option of the Thilenius farm, which is located on a beautiful hill overlooking the state highway and extending from the Cape-Jackson road to the Gordonville highway, was secured by the hospital committee three months ago and will expire on Jan. 16. The committee announced today that notes of 20 professional and business men of Cape Girardeau would be tendered a local bank, which will act as trustee for the project, and the purchase price of $25,000 will be paid before the expiration of the option.

Following the purchase of the land, it is to be deeded to the local bank, and the bank as trustee, working through the committee, will sub-divide the tract of land and offer it for sale in town lots, the lots to vary in price according to location. The committee believes that $50,000, in addition to the purchase price, will be raised. However, the original price is to be paid from the sale of the first lots.

The plan being followed is similar to the one which was carried out when a local shoe factory was first located here.

Non-sectarian

The hospital, which will be the second in Cape Girardeau and modern in every respect, will be built of brick and will cost $125,000, not including the equipment and landscaping of the grounds which may be an added $50,000. It is to be operated as a non-sectarian institution, members of the committee say, and will likely be known as the Cape Girardeau City Hospital.

The present hospital committee, which is handling details of the preliminary organization and headed by Russell L. Dearmont, local attorney, will be re-organized and only those who sign the notes will be members, Dearmont explained. This committee will handle the details of the lot sales, and will secure a hospital organization to take over the hospital when it is completed.

Five acres of the farm tract -- the hill overlooking the highway -- will be set aside for the site of the building, which will have an additional campus. The remainder of the land will be divided into lots and sold to prospective home-builders.

Negotiations are under way with several agencies to take over the hospital, but members of the committee said that agreements have not reached the stage where public announcement may be made. However, it was indicated that there would be little trouble in securing a hospital agency for the new structure.

American Cotton Gauze Co.'s plant in Cape Girardeau, 1929. (Southeast Missourian archive)

AMERICAN GAUZE CO. PLANT HERE TO OPEN MARCH 1

The American Cotton Gauze Co., one of Cape Girardeau's newest industries, will be opened March 1 in its new building erected this year in South Cape Girardeau, on the Frisco Railroad line, at a cost of approximately $60,000. A force of 60 employees, to whom a weekly salary of more than $1,500 will be plaid, will be used at the opening of the plant, one of six of its type in the United States.

Machinery for the new industry, which will manufacture gauze, absorbent cotton, and other sanitary accessories, is being placed in the building by W.J. Gravenour, manager, who has had 30 years of experience in this line of work. The machinery arrived last week and a force of 20 men is busy installing it, with indications that every piece will be placed by the time set for the opening.

The building, which is constructed of reinforced concrete and with special attention to the light for employees in the operation of the machinery, is located on a two-acre plot of ground just south of the St. Vincent's College property, and within a short distance of the main track of the Frisco Railroad, from which a spur has already been placed. The building faces the south, is 80 feet wide and 156 feet long. In appearance it resembles a gigantic saw, this effect appearing from the arrangement of the roof to secure the best possible light from the north to get away from the glaring rays of the sun in the east and south. Practically all the light will come from this overhead system, there being only few windows in the sides, except at the upper end of the south part of the structure, which will be used as offices and dressing rooms.

Modern machinery

An unloading platform has been erected of reinforced concrete on the west side of the building, near the switch extension from the Frisco tracks, while nearby is an unloading place for coal, which will be used to heat the boilers and supply steam to operate a giant dynamo which will supply electrical power for the machines.

The entire floor space in the inside of the structure is given over to the machinery. The principal part of the inside is taken up with the major machines, only a small room at the north end housing the boiler. The basement, which is 15 feet in height, will be given over to the power plant and machinery, which will be used in the preliminary work for the treatment of the cotton.

An idea of the method by which raw cotton is taken to the plant and converted into absorbent cotton and other sanitary products is hardly conceivable from the present maze of machinery, but Manager Grovenour assures visitors that it will be only a short time until the machinery is in place. The cotton before going to the machines, which will roll, tear and work it into absorbent cotton and other products, will be actually boiled in vats, holding several thousand gallons, which will remove all germs and purify it. The other processes will also tend to this same point, in addition to smoothing out the product and getting it into shape for use.

Sanitary methods

Sanitary methods in handling the cotton products, which are sold only after a careful inspection by state authorities for use in the care of sick and wounded of hospitals, are to be stressed in this plant. The employees, of which the greater part will be women and girls, will wear white uniforms, will have dressing rooms set aside for them, and will be warned to keep themselves clean at all times. Their finger nails are to be carefully manicured before going to work. The interior of the building will be painted a white, and will be kept spotlessly clean, intricate machinery used in the process makes it necessary only for the employees to handle the products when ready for packing.

The growing importance of cotton as the principal farm product in Southeast Missouri, and the recognition that this section is getting as a cotton-growing country, resulted in the establishment of the plant in Cape Girardeau -- the threshold of Southeast Missouri, according to Charles L. Harrison, president of the company. The fact that there are only six similar plants in America, which furnishes sanitary cotton products for 12,000 hospital and numerous factories and for private home use, led to the establishment of the plant here, he explained.

This plant will sell to jobbing concerns in all parts of America, and the sales will be handled by A.C. Randol of St. Louis, sales manager for the concern. Other stockholders, in addition to Harrison, Randol, Grovehnour, are members of the Harrison Securities, Inc., a local corporation.