LETTER: CAIRO DOESN'T DESERVE CONSTANT BASHING

To the editor:

The Southeast Missourian recently published a letter from a Jackson couple who traveled on the American Queen steamboat. Their letter was another stinging example of Cairo-bashing by Southeast Missourians. They praised, as they should, their own area, but their unnecessary bashing of Cairo was mean-spirited and begs the question: Why?

The letter substantiates the view that your area is somehow committed to bashing Cairo at every opportunity. Your newspapers, the television and radio stations and your citizens constantly spew this sort of thing.

Cairo has economic problems, including boarded-up buildings, but these problems need not be aggravated by your constant bashing.

People in Cairo are working hard to rebuild their city, concentrating on tourism. Cairo has more historical points of interest that any other community of its size. You will not find anywhere else in this region the kind of Italianate homes in Cairo or the caliber of museums open to the public. You will not find anywhere else in the United States a Civil War-era post office-custom house like the one in Cairo. This magnificent building was the third busiest post office in the United States during the late 1800s, exceeded only by New York City and Washington, D.C. The Cairo Public Library and Museum, considered one of the finest in Illinois, has one of the best collections of Civil War memorabilia anywhere. Many famous writers, including Edna Ferber of "Showboat" fame, has used the library for research purposes. And, most of all, Cairo was Gen. U.S. Grant's headquarters during the Civil War when Cairo was considered to be the most strategic point in the United States outside of Washington, D.C.

Cairo has been on the National Register of Historic Places because of its richness of history and structures. And tourists come from all part of the world especially to see the awesome Mississippi-Ohio confluence at the well-groomed Fort Defiance Park. A visit to Cairo will show you that there is much more for tourists to see and enjoy. We hope you will help and not hinder us in attracting those tourists to this region. It will be good for all of us.

SANDOW MYERS, Member

Cairo Economic Development Committee