- A third steamer Cape Girardeau was christened 100 years ago (3/26/24)
- Cape Girardeau christens its namesake (3/19/24)
- The humanist philosophy of Lester Mondale (3/12/24)1
- Cape Osteopathic Hospital opens its doors (3/5/24)
- 8 killed and a million dollars damage done in 1924 tornado (2/27/24)1
- Jackson's militant priest, county recorder at odds over marriage licenses (2/20/24)
- Streaking fad comes to Cape (2/13/24)2
Items from my 'Boys Will Be Boys' file
From time to time, I like to dig out a file on my computer I've named "Boys Will Be Boys."
It contains amusing items I find while doing research for this blog or for the "Out of the Past" column. I collect them until I have enough to share with readers of this blog.
I hope you'll find the stories as entertaining as I do.
Starting things off is this 1972 photograph by former Missourian photographer Tom Neumeyer taken in Kent Library on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.
Here's another item that centers around the university and one its students.
Having been through a bout with an unruly appendix myself, I'm left to wonder how Hahs was able to go "on with the show."
Next we have an item about some local boys who wanted to defend the river city against Hitler and his pending invasion.
Not all youths in 1940 had patriotism and love of country on their minds, however. Some were more set on petty theft.
I recall my uncle, Mark Seyer, telling about the practice of hitching rides up Tollgate Hill (referred to in the article as "the Sprigg street hill") on the backs of watermelon trucks for the purpose of tossing the produce to compatriots. The story was very real to me, as I grew up just at the top of the hill.
Here's a 1914 story that tells how an Army recruiter defended the uniform.
From the same time period is an accident story with a twist. The Chero-Cola mentioned was manufactured in Cape Girardeau. According to Wikipedia, Royal Crown changed its company name to Chero Cola in 1905 and to Nehi Corp., in 1925.
Flames also played a part in this next story. In 1940, work was being pushed on the new city park on Highway 61. The park was so new, it didn't even have a name yet. Now it goes by Arena Park. One day, two brothers decided to test the new racetrack at the park.
And, finally, proving that it's not only boys who earn a spot in my "Boys Will Be Boys" folder is this item.
Reprinted from The Daily Republican newspaper, Feb. 22, 1915.
TERRIBLE EXCITEMENT AROUND DEAL HOME
Jerry took a shot at man and the cook took a spasm.
According to all reports today, there was intense excitement around the E.J. Deal house early this morning. The excitement lasted throughout the night and was finished only when a policeman was taken on a jump to the place to investigate the report that a man was swinging from a tree in the front yard.
Mrs. Deal, her daughter, and her son, Harmon, rigged up a suit of old clothes, stuffed with something to make it resemble a human being. They tied it with ropes to a tree in the front yard so that Russell, another son, who had fallen into the habit of remaining out on Sunday nights, would get a scare that would keep him around the fireside in the future.
Along about midnight, Russell breezed home, discovered the hanging form, investigated it and after discovering that life had fled and that it could do no harm, slipped into the house and into bed.
All of which didn't suit Harmon at all. To start something and have a little excitement, he pulled the trigger that set off a fire alarm which the boys had rigged up to catch a thief. Father heard the racket and jumped out of bed to grab his gun. Running to a window, he discovered what he though was someone hiding behind a tree in the front yard.
"Come out of there, you rascal," He called, but the fellow only swayed a little behind the tree. E.J. thought he had better dislodge the skulking thief and so blazed away. He then was informed by Mrs. Deal what the fellow was, and E.J. returned to bed.
The night went on peacefully thereafter until the ... cook arrived at day break. She got one sight of the "man" strung up in the front yard and went tearing for the downtown district to summon a policeman. They say, those who saw her breeze by, that she took not more than six leaps on the whole trip.
On Main Street she encountered Health Officer Charles Stone, to whom she breathlessly told her tale of horror. Stone summoned a citizen to accompany him, and they made for the Deal house on the double run.
As they approached the "strung-up" man, the old (woman) walked around at a safe distance to pass the "man" and get into the house through the back way.
E.J. Deal, a banker and lawyer, moved his family to Cape Girardeau in 1914 from Charleston, Missouri. They resided on the College Hill.
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