Out of the past 12/14/13

1988

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The familiar white cross on the hill east of Chaffee gleams more brightly, thanks to Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.; the 40-foot cross, erected in 1976 by the Chaffee Chamber of Commerce, has been sanded and repainted by telephone workers, and the vandalized spotlights that illuminate the cross at night were replaced.

An effort is underway to develop a citywide trash recycling program that would involve the city, VIP Industries' Recycling Center, and the Cape County League of Women Voters; a committee involving the three has been formed to pursue efforts to establish such a program.

1963

Members of the Kiwanis Club man the kettles for the Salvation Army's Tree of Lights for the day, raising $160.36, enough to light 16 white lights on the tree; campaign income to date is $3,890; the goal is $5,000.

The State College Indians blast the basketball team from the University of Tennessee-Martin Branch, 110-80, at Houck Field House; the Indians break the school scoring record set Feb. 28 and tied Dec. 7; hot hand for the home team is guard Naemon Townsend; playing with a cast on the broken little finger of his left hand, Townsend hits on 10 of 14 field goal attempts and adds three free throws for 23 points, tying him for high-point honors.

1938

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A terrible explosion of one of four diesel engines in the municipally-owned electric light plant here early in the morning rips out doors and windows of the building and virtually wrecks the engine; miraculously, the explosion doesn't seriously hurt a worker standing within a few feet of the equipment.

A lot for a library site has been deeded by the County Court to the Jackson library board, with the provision that if no library is built on the lot within 10 years, the real estate will revert to the county; the lot faces on North First West Street.

1913

The Handmacher pressing and cleaning shop on Main Street is being sold at public auction; Mrs. Handmacher, who has been in charge of the shop for some time, will leave for St. Louis in a few days to join her husband.

The biggest fire in Southeast Missouri for some time destroys the famed Astor Hotel at Chaffee, Mo., in the morning, driving dozens of guests into the street with barely enough clothing to protect them from the cold and with complete loss of their property; the Chaffee post office is also burned out.

-- Sharon K. Sanders