Out of the past: Aug. 21

1999

Construction is slated to start Monday to replace the Interstate 55 bridges at the Fruitland exit; Bob York, construction inspector for the Missouri Department of Transportation, says the bridges over U.S. 61 will be replaced with seismically-designed bridges by Penzel Construction Co. of Jackson; the project is expected to be completed by Sept. 1, 2000.

Southeast Missouri State University has received a $247,703 federal grant for the 1999-2000 academic year to continue the Upward Bound program; the program helps low-income high school students prepare to enter college and succeed academically; director of the program at SEMO is Debra Mitchell-Braxton.

1974

The decision not to book rock groups at the Arena Building was made about a year ago and reaffirmed after an audience attending such a concert was given a second chance Aug. 9, says city manager W.G. Lawley and park superintendent Donald R. Horlacher; according to Horlacher, after “The Styx” performed there Aug. 9, “We picked up a shoe box full of hypodermic needles, syringes, different kinds of pills and marijuana cigarettes,” along with bottles and cans that held alcoholic beverages; the Blue Oyster Cult is booked to perform at the Arena Building Aug. 29, but that may be canceled by the city.

In a move to increase their voting strength in the 10th District Central Committee from two to six votes, Cape Girardeau County Democrats last night elected a chairman and vice chairman for each of the two legislative districts in the county as well as for the county committee in accordance with a state statute which had previously gone unheeded; Frank M. Lewis, a Cape Girardeau Realtor, was reelected county chairman by acclamation.

1949

With an advanced detachment and mess personnel already at Fort Leonard Wood, the main body of the 140th Infantry Regiment rolls out in truck and jeeps in the morning from four separate assembly points for its annual two-week encampment; both Cape Girardeau National Guard units, Headquarters and Service companies, assemble at the Arena Building at 6 a.m.; they depart a short time later in an 18-truck convoy.

A special afternoon service honors the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, the Rev. F.H. Melzer, on the 50th anniversary of his ordination as minister; the service is held on the church lawn, 55 N. Pacific St, with the Rev. E.L. Roschke president of the Western District of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, delivering the sermon; a buffet luncheon is served immediately after the service; Melzer, a graduate of Concordia College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, was ordained a Lutheran pastor on Aug. 20, 1899, in Murphysboro, Illinois.

1924

Charles L. Hill, famous Guernsey breeder of Wisconsin, spends the day in Cape Girardeau County in consultation with the directors of the Egypt Mills-Cape Girardeau Guernsey Club and visits several of the herds owned by the club; plans are being made for the dispersion sale to be held at Fairground Park in Cape Girardeau Oct. 7 and 8; when the club was organized five years ago to promote dairying in the county, it was provided that at the end of five years all the cattle owned by the club should be disposed of at public auction; between 200 and 225 head will be auctioned off.

An out-bound streetcar, loaded to capacity with tired workers from the shoe factory on Main Street, jumps the track near where the extension of Normal Avenue is being paved; all four wheels of the car are derailed, dirt from the road work having accumulated several inches at the crossing.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a weekend column called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper.