TIME TESTS ITEMS PUT IN CAPUSLE

Some things have stood the test of time better than others.

That point was clearly demonstrated Saturday afternoon in the opening of a 35-year-old time capsule that had been buried in Common Pleas Courthouse Park as part of Cape Girardeau's sesquicentennial celebration in August 1956.

The time capsule, a stainless steel drum containing city mementos from 1956 and the city's sesquicentennial celebration, was hauled out of its burial place and opened in connection with Cape Girardeau's bicentennial celebration.

Even though protected by a plastic bag, the items inside including a top hat, editions of the Southeast Missourian containing articles about the sesquicentennial, a telephone directory and other documents were found to have been damaged by moisture.

Melvin Gateley, chairman of the Bicentennial Commission, said Saturday night that the items had been taken to City Hall for safekeeping.

He said the items would be turned over to Bob Skelton, Southeast Missouri State University's archivist and a member of the history department.

"We'll try to get them cleaned up and get them back into some kind of decent shape," said Skelton, adding that he would seek assistance of experts from the state records program.

Skelton said the damage could have been caused by condensation from the moisture in the air within the plastic bag.

He said steps would be taken to dry out the paper materials and other items.

If the items are too moist "and it looks too difficult to deal with them on an immediate basis, probably what we will have to do is freeze them, because if you freeze them, that will stop the mildew," explained Skelton.

He said part of the problem in storing paper materials is that modern paper is of relatively poor quality, much of it having only a lifespan of about 50 years.

"Once we get it dried out and get it in any kind of shape, then we can encapsulate it, take individual items and put them between two sheets of Mylar and protect them from moisture and mildew," said Skelton.

"It's a very simple process and it doesn't damage a document in any way," he said.

Gateley said the Bicentennial Commission hopes to eventually display the items from the time capsule.

The time capsule was lifted out of its burial place and opened amid fanfare and speeches at a 40-minute ceremony in Common Pleas Courthouse Park. About 75 people attended the event, including city officials, members of the Bicentennial Commission and the former Sesquicentennial Commission.

The sesquicentennial in 1956 marked the 150th anniversary of the actual founding of the city. The bicentennial in 1992-93 will mark the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the trading post that led to the creation of the city of Cape Girardeau, Gateley said.

The opening of the time capsule occurred 199 years to the day after Cape Girardeau's founder, Louis Lorimier, received a commission officially establishing his trading post here, Gateley said.

"Cape Girardeau stands tall and proud today because of the pioneers of the past and the citizens of today," he said prior to the opening of the time capsule.