Out of the past: April 24

1998

Maxine Breezeel had been thinking about having the oak tree on the east side of her house cut down; but Mother Nature made the decision for her yesterday, when the giant tree crashed into Breezeel's home at 1952 Briarwood; no one was hurt, but the house suffered extensive damage and is no longer safe for habitation.

The last of the Cape Girardeau homes damaged by the floods of 1993 and 1995 should be torn by the end of June, says Ken Eftink, who is overseeing the city's buyout program; in Cape Girardeau, 151 homes were affected by the flood; of those, 114 were designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as eligible for the buyout program; the city has acquired 94 of the eligible homes, and the remaining 20 are not participating.

1973

Residents of flood-susceptible areas in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois are again bracing for what is predicted to be the second record-setting flood of the year as the rain-swollen Mississippi River is rising at an unprecedented rate of nearly an inch an hour; record flood crests are predicted all along the river, swollen by runoff from relentless rains that have pounded the state for five days; at Cape Girardeau, a 44-foot crest is predicted on Sunday, .83 of a foot higher than the record stage of 43.13 feet set here April 6.

Mysterious lights continue to be seen in the skies by residents of Southeast Missouri, but investigators are as yet unable to offer an explanation; numerous sightings have been reported since mid-February; last week, two Mineral Area College students from Flat River, Missouri, photographed an unidentified flying object they observed, and two experienced pilots reported chasing a glowing, disc-shaped object near Farmington, Missouri, before it outdistanced them in a burst of speed.

1948

Coming back to Cape Girardeau for the annual scholastic and athletic contests, high school boys and girls -- more than 1,000 in number -- gather on the State College campus; represented are 53 district schools; scholastic contests are held in the morning, while main events of the colorful track and field carnival are held in the afternoon at Houck Field Stadium.

Night baseball will be inaugurated at Illmo on May 11, when the Sikeston (Missouri) VFW team furnishes the opposition; the field at Illmo is being put into shape, and the grandstand is being renovated from top to bottom; the field is surrounded by a new fence and 92 lights from nine poles illuminate the diamond; officials of Westinghouse are quoted as saying the field is the best lighted of any between St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee.

1923

Albert P.J. "Hap" Bernard, Cape Girardeau Teachers College football star and an expert in school athletics, will have charge of physical education work in the Cape Girardeau public schools next year and will coach all athletic teams; Bernard will take charge of the athletics at the opening of school next fall and will devote a part of his time to school work in the grade schools; for the past three years he has been doing this type of work in the Kirkwood, Missouri, schools.

The new Farmers & Merchants Bank building, erected at a cost of $55,000 at the corner of Good Hope and Sprigg streets, will be formally opened tomorrow; constructed of brick and Bedford stone, the structure presents an imposing appearance, standing on the intersection of two of the city's principal thoroughfares.

-- Sharon K. Sanders