Out of the past: Aug. 13

1999

Texas Gov. George Bush raised more than $100,000 for his Republican presidential campaign at a Cape Girardeau fundraiser yesterday; but he came away most impressed with Millie Limbaugh, mother of conservative radio-talk-show host Rush Limbaugh; “She’s fabulous,” Bush said after a Wednesday night visit to her home; along with the fundraiser, Bush spoke Thursday to a crowd of more than 300 supporters at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port near Scott City.

Dangling wires, missing ceilings and unfinished construction work won’t delay the opening of Cape Girardeau public schools or Southeast Missouri State University; officials for the school district and university say construction projects appear further behind than they are; in particular, the majority of extensive renovations underway on Greek housing at the university could be completed over the weekend, says Al Stoverink, director of facilities management.

1974

A special class in Cape Girardeau of "emotionally maladjusted” schoolchildren will be funded by the Missouri Law Enforcement Assistance Council; it is the only program of its kind in the state; classes were started at Franklin School last year on an experimental basis; a special teacher tutored the four children in the program for half-day sessions.

Two special port authority advisory committees have agreed to an expedient appointment of a joint port authority for Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in an attempt to receive priority government treatment in establishing a port district on the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau; the county courts of Scott and Cape Girardeau counties have vowed to work jointly to establish a port authority here, most likely at the mouth of the Diversion Channel.

1949

A blood-stained arrow is discovered near the home of Bill Watkins, 350 N. Fountain St., who yesterday morning shot the arrow through an upstairs door at his home at a prowler; Watkins, 21, found the steel-tipped shaft and took it to police headquarters; the arrow bore distinct marks of blood, and there is a fingernail-size shred of flesh clinging to one of the feathers.

The old covered bridge over Whitewater River at Burfordville, nearly a century old, will be preserved under maintenance of the State Highway Department, following action this week by the County Court in purchasing right of way to allow inclusion of the span under the supplementary road program; the small amount of land needed, giving right of way of approximately 60 feet on a short stretch to the bridge, was purchased for about $300.

1924

The largest crowd that has attended a Southeast Missourian motion picture show and community meeting assembled last night at the consolidated school at Delta; an estimated crowd of 1,000 was in attendance, filling the school’s large auditorium-gymnasium to capacity; the pictures, Wesley Berry in “The Country Kid”, and the comedy “Back Fire”, were enjoyed from start to finish; a Missourian representative, farm agent T.M. Keyser and C.F. Love, a representative of the Sugar Creek Creamery Co., talked briefly of the work being carried on by the Farm Bureau.

CAIRO, Ill. — A new ferry boat is to be built this winter and put into service next summer by the Cairo City Ferry Co.; the boat, with a capacity of 50 automobiles, will cost $75,000 and will be of all-steel construction and fireproof; the already heavy and increasing traffic across the two rivers makes the building of a new ferry necessary, company directors decided.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.