Out of the past 7/4/14

1989

The city of Jackson combines its 175th anniversary observance with Fourth of July festivities; activities include a parade through the city's business district, with astronaut Linda Godwin as grand marshal, as well as a variety of contests and entertainment at the Jackson City Park.

Fire crackers and bottle rockets are shot at police officers responding to a disturbance in the 400 block of Good Hope Street around 11:30 p.m.; one person is arrested in connection with the incident.

1964

The Fourth of July is celebrated in the usual ways in Cape Girardeau, the largest official observance being the annual picnic sponsored by the American Legion at Arena Park; picnic activities include rides, concessions, stock car races and, as climax, fireworks.

Vernon H. Landgraf is the new president of the Cape Girardeau Lions Club; he is an 11-year member of the club and is vice president of the L.H. Landgraf Lumber Co., here.

1939

Cape Girardeau entertains the greatest crowd in its Fourth of July history as another Independence Day is celebrated here almost entirely at the American Legion's annual picnic at Fairground Park; an early morning rain apparently causes Girardeans to cancel plans for out-of-town visits in favor of the local celebration; Legion officials estimate that at least 30,000 persons view the fireworks display and hear U.S. Sen. Bennett Champ Clark of Missouri give a stirring appeal for America to maintain a neutral status in the European situation.

Harry Cole of Hillcrest Club and James Sproat of the Cape Girardeau Country Club tie for first-place honors in the invitational golf tournament held on the Country Club course with 67 strokes each; in the playoff, Cole wins out in the 19th hole with a birdie three.

1914

A man being held at the Jackson jail for a murder in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and who was sentenced to be hanged, escapes captivity in the afternoon.

The steamer Cape Girardeau disembarks a large amount of freight here, before slipping from the wharf precisely at 9 a.m. on its excursion to Cairo, Illinois; as the vessel backs out into the stream, its two decks are fairly well covered with gaily dressed men and women, bent on making a day of it.

-- Sharon K. Sanders