Out of the past: Aug. 14

1993

Emergency services officials and volunteer flood workers aren't the only ones keeping an eye on the Mississippi River gauge at Cape Girardeau; on both sides of the river, school administrators have one eye on the calendar and the other on the gauge; they hope the river will drop low enough so school buses can travel over roads and highways that are now submerged; the river stage here is at 44.9 feet.

Boy Scout Troop 232 of La Junta, Colorado, also known as the Koshare Indian Dancers, perform dances of the American Indian from the Southwest to the Plains tribes at the Show Me Center; attendance at the event is 920.

1968

Gerald L. Powers, manager of Landgraf Appliance Center here, becomes the second candidate to file for the vacancy on the Cape Girardeau City Council; the other candidate is Frederick Fielder, an engraver.

A huge throng gathers for the opening of the large, new Carp's store near William Street and Kingshighway; in attendance are company officials, including Herbert M. Carp and Mrs. Bernard Carp; manger of the new store is Paul G Martin.

1943

The Cape Girardeau Dorsa Dress factory has completed a 60,700-piece order of skirts for the Woman's Army Corps two weeks ahead of schedule; it was the second order for the Army auxiliary turned out by the local plant, the other completed several weeks ago being for 95,000 skirts; the local plant, employing 150 workers, will next start immediate full production of the company's own product, Dorsa dresses.

The American Legion's regional junior baseball tournament opens in the afternoon with the New Orleans Jax defeating the Dallas Scotties 4-3 in a game in which the Louisiana boys are forced to overcome a 3-0 lead; in the second game of the contest, the Cape Girardeau team takes the measure of the Fort Smith, Arkansas, Victors, 7-0, behind the two-hit pitching of Herbert Upton.

1918

Cecil Wilson, undoubtedly the oldest resident of Cape Girardeau and possibly in the entire state, died last night at the home of her daughter, Emma Rodman; while the exact day of the month when she was born isn't known, her children say she was born into slavery in August 1809 in Cape Girardeau County.

The ice shortage in Cape Girardeau no longer exists, the Cape Girardeau Brewery Co. finding itself with such a large supply of ice on hand that it shipped a carload out of the city; for the past month or six weeks, there has been a shortage of ice, due to breakdowns in the local ice-making plants and a shortage of labor.

-- Sharon K. Sanders