Out of the past: Aug. 10

1996

A fire at Sample's Floor Covering destroys the shop's entire stock and puts a family out of the carpet business; Doyle and Cora Lee Sample, owners of Sample's Floor Covering and Bob's Pizza next door, say they might put another business in the 401 N. Clark building after it is remodeled; "But it won't be carpet," Doyle Sample says.

Gov. Mel Carnahan says he still hasn't reached a decision on whether to schedule a special election for Missouri's 8th Congressional District seat; but Carnahan says it is very likely an election will be held and an announcement probably will be made next week; the governor and a bus-load of Democratic officeholders and hopefuls are in Cape Girardeau as part of the "Win '96" Bus Tour.

1971

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The last surviving Southeast Missouri veteran of the Spanish-American War, Peter N. Keller of Chaffee, a retired banker, insurance and financial businessman also active in civic, school, veteran and fraternal organizations here, died in the afternoon at the Veterans Hospital in Poplar Bluff, Missouri; he was 94 years old and had been a patient at the hospital since July 1968.

Bids for construction of a new elementary school in Jackson are taken under advisement by the Jackson School Board after opening; the apparent low bid is a combination of bids on various stages of the construction with Ben Sides Construction Co. of Cape Girardeau being the apparent low bidder for general contracting; the total combined bid comes to $736,292.

1946

Mark Seyer, 30-year-old Cape Girardeau stock man, was shot twice in the left foot and ankle yesterday afternoon as he slept in the cab of his cattle truck on Highway 3 near Ellis Grove, Illinois; Seyer had taken a load of cattle to East St. Louis, Illinois, the night before; he managed to drive himself to Ellis Grove, where he stopped at a filling station operated by a friend; the latter brought him to Cape Girardeau, where surgeons remove a bullet from his left ankle; authorities believe the shooting was a prank.

Elam Vangilder, the former American League pitcher, announces his son, Kenny Vangilder, has signed a contract to play with the New York Giants; young Vangilder has been sent to the Giants' Trenton, New Jersey, club for conditioning; Kenny Vangilder, 22, has been hurling in the Cape Girardeau since he was a lad, and this season, since his return in May from Army service, did mound duty for the Farmington (Missouri) Blues.

1921

Missouri's century of statehood is commemorated at the Centennial Exposition and State Fair in Sedalia; no public celebration of the centennial takes place in Cape Girardeau.

CULVER, Ind. -- Walter Meyer, the 14-year-old son of G.L. Meyer of Cape Girardeau, has been appointed sergeant of his division in the Culver School of Woodcraft here; the 400 boys in the school are organized in units for military training and instruction, and a division is the same as an infantry company; this is young Meyer's second year at Culver.

-- Sharon K. Sanders