Out of the past: Oct. 3

1999

The Missouri Conservation Department has approved plans to spend $75,000 to improve Lake Girardeau; the money will be used to install two new handicapped-accessible, precast concrete privies, construct a pavilion and a new trail, renovate the existing fishing dock, build another dock and install new barbecue grills.

Jackson School District has a record enrollment for the fifth straight year; based upon official enrollment counts taken Wednesday, Jackson’s enrollment has grown nearly 3.5% to 4,484 students this year; for the second time, Jackson recorded a higher enrollment than that of the Cape Girardeau School District; Cape Girardeau’s enrollment is 4,063 students, a drop of 4% over last year.

1974

The season’s first killing frost — accompanied by record-setting temperatures that drop below the freezing mark in several cities — inflicts heavy damage to soybeans and leaves the condition of the corn crop questionable; the overnight lows at Cape Girardeau and at Jackson were at the freezing mark — 32 degrees — shattering a 73-year-old record low of 33 degrees set Oct. 3, 1901; other cities from south Scott County northward have similar lows ranging from 30 to 35 degrees.

Picketing at the construction site of the new Student Union on the Southeast Missouri State University campus enters its second day, halting all work on the building; but work continues on the $13.5 million Saint Francis Hospital, a spokesman for McCarthy Brothers Construction Co., general contractor for both projects, says; sheet metal workers began their strike at the Student Union on July 30; work at the hospital hasn’t reached the stage were sheet metal workers are needed.

1949

A new Buick automobile stolen from Rueseler’s storage garage Sept. 21 by a youthful gunman, after he had robbed the Hotel Marquette clerk of $390, was found abandoned last night in Jackson, Mississippi; although police there learned that the gunman and a woman stayed at a hotel there two nights, the fact wasn’t known until after they checked out and abandoned the Buick, leaving in a 1949 Ford automobile.

Establishment of a collection of Mississippi River lore particularly applicable to this area is advocated by Charles van Ravenswaay, director of the Missouri Historical Society and curator of Jefferson Memorial in St. Louis; he is here for a talk at the Rotary Club luncheon and for an address at the Missouri Day exercises and dedication of the memorial entrance to Old Lorimier Cemetery this afternoon.

1924

The Southeast Missourian celebrates its 20th anniversary by awarding the contract for the construction of its new building to the J.W. Gerhardt Construction Co., the plans having been made by the T.P. Barnett Co. of St. Louis; Edward F. Regenhardt, who built the main buildings for the State College in Cape Girardeau, will act as superintendent for the architect; work is progressing well at the work site, southwest corner of Broadway and Lorimier Street, and will be rushed with all possible speed.

Col. A.A. Ebert, the man who established the fair at Sikeston and who since that time has had much experience in developing properties of various kinds, is organizing a corporation to operate an amusement park near Sikeston; he has an option on a tract of land a mile and a half east of town on the highway leading to Charleston and proposes to build an amusement resort that will attract thousands of people

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a weekend column called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper.