Out of the past: Aug. 16

1996

A malfunction could have caused a fire early Thursday in a fuel tanker being unloaded at Lone Star Industries Inc., but Lone Star's fire-suppression system might have prevented a disaster; Fire Marshal Tom Hinkebein says the Cape Girardeau Fire Department was called to the waste-fuel recovery unit of Lone Star at 3:58 a.m.; when the first units arrived, firefighters found a fuel tanker in an unloading bay spouting flames about 2 or 3 feet out of a top vent; an entry port on top of the tanker had been opened slightly to alleviate the gas pressure inside; something sparked the venting fumes to start the fire.

It's official; Jo Ann Emerson has secured a spot on the November general election ballot for the 8th District congressional seat; Emerson needed 3,692 signatures of registered voters to get on the ballot as an independent candidate; she collected more than 8,300 valid signatures, Secretary of State Bekki Cook says; Emerson is seeking to succeed her late husband, Bill, who died this summer of lung cancer.

1971

A co-owner and operator of Howard Athletic Goods Co., 900 Broadway, is presumed to have drowned last night in the Mississippi River after he fell from a boat a short distance from Honker's Boat Dock; search operations resume for the body of Bob I. Howard, 41, who apparently struck his head when he fell from a large boat in which he was one of three passengers.

Members of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education discuss asking voters to approve a bond issue -- without tax increase -- to finance needed improvements in school buildings; Supt. Charles E. House estimates that approval for $1.6 million to $1.8 million could be sought without a tax increase; improvements needed are renovation of Franklin School and improvements at other buildings, including air condition for all buildings.

1946

Unable to find other quarters here, the Cape Girardeau plant of the Dorsa Dress Co. at 24 N. Spanish St. will be moved to Jackson, and its local employees will be transferred by bus to and from the expanded plant there; the company owns the Mueller Building in Jackson and has plans to expand its operation there.

Raymond H. Vogel is appointed assistant prosecuting attorney of Cape Girardeau County by Prosecuting Attorney R.M. Buerkle; Vogel became associated with Buerkle two weeks ago following his return from service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

1921

The marriage of Louis Schultz and Norma Shivelbine, popular Cape Girardeau young people, is solemnized in the afternoon at the Presbyterian Church; the Rev. C.H. Morton, who has been away on vacation, returns to perform the ceremony, leaving immediately after the nuptial knot is tied; only a few relatives are present, the wedding having been planned in secret.

The old Opera House at Broadway and Lorimier Street.Southeast Missourian archive

Papers completing a transfer of ownership of the Opera House, located at the corner of Broadway and Lorimier Street, from Dr. C.E. Schuchert to Louis Kipping are completed; the building is sold by Schuchert to Kipping for $6,500; Kipping plans to remodel the old building, making the lower floor into three rooms, suitable for a grocery store, a barber shop and some other business concern.

-- Sharon K. Sanders