Out of the past: May 23

1999

Members of First Pentecostal Church in Cape Girardeau celebrate the 80th anniversary of the church with guest ministers and a potluck lunch; the church, which moved from the Red Star district to its current location on Lexington Avenue, has restored a bell that had once been part of the original building.

Westminster Presbyterian Church observes its 35th anniversary with a special worship service in the morning and a picnic on the church grounds; Dr. Robert Reynolds, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, preaches at the service; the church was formed in 1964 at its present location on Perryville Road, but meetings began two years earlier with just five families.

1974

Although the Mississippi River is still rising at a rapid rate, the National Weather Service is calling for a crest at Cape Girardeau of 1.5 feet less than was predicted earlier this week; the river, which is at 34.3 feet, up 1.8 feet from Wednesday’s reading, is expected to rise to 35.5 feet by tomorrow morning, but to begin leveling off after that, cresting at 36.5 feet Monday.

David G. Beeson has joined the Buerkle, Buerkle and Lowes law firm at Jackson; a 1969 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, he received his law degree from Memphis, Tennessee, State University last December and was admitted to the Missouri Bar in April; he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald S. Beeson of Perryville and is married to the former Diana Eddleman; he served in the Army, including a year in Vietnam.

1949

Residents of the Rand, Johnson and Water streets area in the east side of the Red Star suburb search for a few precious possessions after the May 21, 1949, tornado. This is the general area in which eight persons lost their lives.

G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive

The death toll from Saturday’s tornado stands at 21, and the list of the injured still in hospitals numbers 72, as Cape Girardeau begins the tremendous task of recovery; a rough estimate of the damage done by the twister is between $3 and $4 million; a Red Cross survey team found 202 dwellings destroyed, 231 homes damaged, 19 business structures destroyed and another 14 damaged.

Eight of the 21 persons killed in Saturday night’s storm were killed in a 150-yard area in the vicinity of Johnson and Rand streets at the east side of the Red Star suburb: brothers Jack and Luther Welker and Luther’s son, Marvin Welker; Mrs. Jewell Thorne and children, Merlin and Colleen; Parker Zimmerman and Bertha McCain.

1924

There is a possibility that a tent colony may be started on the Teachers College farm, just back of the Home of the Birds, to care for the big increase in summer students; if the demands for light housekeeping rooms continue as they have for the past few weeks, this may be a necessity.

Workers under the direction of the city street department are repairing some of the unpaved downtown streets in Cape Girardeau; a tractor pulling a heavy scarifier is operated over Middle Street, from Independence to North; the holes in the street, which have been a handicap to traffic, are filled up and the street smoothed considerably when a heavy grader is run over it after the scarifier loosens up the surface earth and gravel.

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.