SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN PUBLISHES FLOOD `EXTRA'

The Southeast Missourian published an "extra" on the flooding Saturday. It marked the first extra produced by the newspaper in nearly two decades.

More than 5,000 copies containing information about the curfew and rising waters was distributed without charge to homes in potential flood areas as well as to the Salvation Army, and some Cape Girardeau stores.

The extra has also been incorporated into today's edition, and can be found in Section B, on pages 7-10.

The Missourian last brought readers an extra with the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on Aug. 9, 1974. Prior to that edition, the last extra was published by the Missourian Nov. 22, 1963, on the occasion of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The last time an extra was printed about a local event was May 22, 1949, the day after Cape Girardeau was devastated by a tornado. Twenty-two persons were killed and 72 others were hospitalized. Financial damage caused by the twister was estimated at between $3 and $4 million.

The first time an extra was printed in Cape Girardeau was in 1906, and was published by The Daily Republican, forerunner of the Southeast Missourian. It detailed the devastation caused by the great San Francisco earthquake.

A permanent Saturday edition of the Southeast Missourian will begin Oct. 2.