A LOOK BACK AT JACKSON

25 years ago, 1972

Cape Girardeau County will be out of surplus commodity program July 1; program will become state-operated after that date; County Court recently received notice of switch; up until this year, county had been paying 50 percent of cost of program; county share dropped to 20 percent this year, however, and with new state law, county will be phased out of program completely.

Cecil J. Unter was reelected president of Jackson R-II School Board; elected vice president was Gene Wills; Unger was reelected to third term on board; other members of board are newcomer James L. Jones, Harlan Hager, Lloyd M. Birk and Joe T. Kurre.

There is now candidate on both Democratic and Republican tickets for office of Cape Girardeau County coroner; R. Gene Wiggins of Jackson,l insurance company representative, has filed for Democratic nomination; George F. Rouse of Jackson, who operates Cape County Private Ambulance Service, previously filed as Republican candidate for office.

Regional approval has been give to $7,500 grant to Cape Girardeau County to operate prisoner work program next year; grant, which comes through Regional Law Enforcement Assistance Council, is one of two for Southeast Missouri; St. Francois County has also been approved for a grant.

50 years ago, 1947

Lt. Col. R.C. Johnston from Manila, Philippine Islands, is en route home on leave; he has been away more than a year and has been unable to move is family there; three members of family will be graduating this spring: Sally and Dick Johnston from high school and Jim Johnston from eighth grade.

Workers are engaged in courthouse rebinding permanent record books which are badly deteriorated; through usage and age, paper binders have given way and threads have broken; first work of rebinding is cutting away initial binding and sewing; each page is then given strip of stout linen-like tape which is later rebound; each book costs $64 to rebind; Recorder A.A. Schade is attempting to purchase shelves for all sections, making books lie flat and thereby preserving them.

Following Easter services at St. John's Evangelical Church, near Jackson, pastor, the Rev. Joseph H. Mayer, submitted his resignation to congregation which was accepted reluctantly by voice vote; Mayer came to congregation from Oberlin Graduate School of Theology, Oberlin, Ohio, in 1941; he has been called to pastorate of Evangelical Protestant Church of Columbus, Neb., 100 miles west of Omaha.

Francis McCormick of Commerce has been named teacher of agriculture for training of a class of 25 war veterans; there are now four men employed in this capacity, each teaching large class.

75 years ago, 1922

In village of Pocahontas, spring election for board of trustees resulted in choosing of following residents; A.M. Vogel, Leo Kahnert, Fred W. Lichtenegger, Guy Cotner and Henry W. Putz; these members of board will chose one of their number as chairman, who will be mayor and police judge also; on same day, Pocahontas school district reelected John R. Abernathy to its school board.

Several Shawnee Township farmers were in Jackson this week to haul out from machine works here the re-built boiler for new creamery at Pocahontas; creamery at that place was destroyed by fire early in winter, and about only thing salvaged was boiler; it has been rebuilt and will be installed at once; creamery should be operating again in few months.

While driving along Hope Street recently near residence of Homer O'Neal, August Sander lost control of truck in which he was riding, and machine shot down embankment and turned over; Sander saved himself by leaping out of machine; truck is owned by Columbus Gladish of Jackson, and is greatly damaged.

Federal Land Bank of St. Louis, through Jackson Farm Loan Association, which has its headquarters in Jackson, is making good many loans to farmers in this county on first mortgages on farm land; these loans are made on long, easy payments and rate of interest is 6 percent; installment on principal and interest comes due semi-annually, and loan made now will run until year 1955.