Out of the past: Aug. 18

1994

The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority Commission has authorized port executive director Dan Overbey to purchase a locomotive from government surplus property; the purchase hinges on whether it can be transported to the port from Fort Carson, Colorado, at a reasonable cost.

Fire chief Bob Ridgeway has persuaded the Cape Girardeau City Council to pass a resolution authorizing the city manager to embark on an agreement to provide special heavy-rescue services within Cape Girardeau County; in exchange for the service, the county has agreed to give the city $50,000 toward the purchase of a new rescue vehicle.

1969

Four Cape Girardeau County prisoners, including a trusty who apparently obtained a key, escaped from the county jail in Jackson during the night, reports Sheriff Ivan E. McLain; there were 19 prisoners in the jail Sunday night, one more than the cells regularly hold; as a result, the trusty was sleeping on a cot outside the cells but in a cell block.

Cape Girardeau may receive some of the weakened fury of Hurricane Camille tonight; the Weather Bureau predicts up to 8 inches of rain for Southeast Missouri counties, borne in on the wings of the spent hurricane.

1944

Effective tomorrow, the 20-man force at the Pipkin-Boyd-Neal packing plant on Highway 61 will be reduced to a skeleton staff and, while there will be little operation, the plant will remain open; George W. Neal gives no reason for the plan of operation, but says the arrangement will be in effect until Sept. 5; the packing plant was closed earlier this month in a work stoppage, but workers returned to their jobs after one day.

Freakish weather gives Cape Girardeau its chilliest day in four months, with the mercury slipping to an official 52 degrees early in the morning; this is the lowest reading since May 8.

1919

City counselor James A. Barks receives a letter from congressman Edward D. Hays saying B.F. Bush, regional director of the Frisco, has been ordered to proceed with the building of the new depot in Cape Girardeau; the announcement brings much rejoicing to Mayor H.H. Haas and other city officials, who have been working day and night for several years for the new station.

Mae Cotner has leased the Central Hotel at Independence and Frederick streets, and will conduct it as a rooming house for respectable working girls; Mary Woods says she has leased the building to Cotner and will move from the place.

-- Sharon K. Sanders