Out of the past: May 10

1999

Jennifer Zinner of Jackson has been appointed a Senate page for the 106th Congress by U.S. Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond; Bond cited Zinner’s scholastic achievements and leadership activities for her selection; Zinner, a Jackson High School senior, is the daughter of Chuck and Julie Zinner.

Members of Boy Scout Troop 17 from Nell Holcomb School were part of Tony’s Troops on Saturday during a St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis; 32 children from Cape Girardeau attended the event; Tony La Russa, the Cardinals’ manager, started the program in Oakland, California, and brought it to St. Louis; Scouts came out to the baseball field to enjoy a game and a pizza party.

1974

A state highway project that could relocate Route K through Illmo and Scott City and provide for an overpass across dangerous railroad tracks in Illmo may be given a higher priority and may be started in 1975, says Lionel T. Murray, District 10 engineer at Sikeston; he says that, depending on whether there are adequate funds available, the State Highway Commission hopes to be able to advance the overpass project by one year.

SEMO District Fair Association is planning another major permanent improvement to Arena Park, where the District Fair is held each fall; the directors have decided to replace all the wooden bleachers adjacent to the grandstand with new and larger metal bleachers; the 56-foot long bleachers that seat 714 people on the south side of the grandstand will be replaced with bleachers seating 1,080 persons; to the north of the grandstand, the 100-foot section that seats 1,265 spectators will be replaced with bleachers seating 1,320 onlookers, for a total seating space for 2,400 persons.

1949

Sunday’s sporadic rainfall was followed yesterday by heavy showers in the afternoon, much to the delight of area farmers and gardeners; Cape Girardeau County farmers had reported being unable to work the ground for planting corn because of the lack of rain; other planting had also been delayed due to the threatening drought.

The mobile x-ray unit starts its tour of Cape Girardeau County; before noon, it is visited by 120 persons at Delta, and scores more plan to come to the Delta High School grounds this afternoon to have x-ray pictures taken; furnished through the cooperative efforts of the Cape County Advisory Health Council, the Cape County Tuberculosis Association and the state Division of Health, the unit will spend the remainder of the month on the county tour; it next travels to Gordonville on Friday and Saturday.

1924

Cape Girardeau Mayor James A. Barks spent $75.50 in his recent campaign for re-election, according to a sworn and itemized statement of expenditures he files with the recorder at Jackson; such a statement is required of all successful candidates under the corrupt practices law; Commissioner Roy Brissenden spent $69 and Commissioner Martin Krueger $26.50, their respective statements show; E.W. Flentge, defeated candidate for mayor, spent $123.

An advertisement in The Missourian yesterday announcing that at the Park and Orpheum theaters a “real, live white baby” would be given away to the holder of the lucky number resulted in a police guard being stationed at the two theaters by Mayor James A. Barks; he warned that if the plan was carried out, the theater managers would be arrested; however, when the lucky numbers were called out, the winners each receive a live white baby chick; the theater managers have been ordered to appear before the City Council to answer for the publicity stunt; they have a placed new ad in the newspaper offering a public apology to “the citizens of Cape Girardeau and the City Council” for deceptive advertising.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.