Out of the past: Aug. 21

1996

The amount of litter on Cape Girardeau's streets led some to declare this summer the most trashy ever; members of the Chamber of Commerce's Beautification Committee want to change people's attitudes about litter, making them care about their community's cleanliness; litter trouble spots include much of Good Hope Street, a path between Central High School and McDonald's, the area around Don's Store 24 and Capaha Park after weekends.

Bullets were fired into the showroom of a Cape Girardeau car dealership last night while employees and customers were inside; police spokesman Cpl. Kevin Orr says three shots were fired at Coad Chevrolet, 517 S. Kingshighway, Tuesday at about 8:14 p.m.; two of the bullets went completely through two showroom windows and were discovered that night; the bullets were embedded in a wall on the inside of the showroom; a third bullet went undiscovered until today, when a store employee found a bullet had pierced the tire and rim of a new car.

1971

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Clarence J. Roth, 46, of Ste. Genevieve Route 1, will appear in Magistrate Court here Monday on charges of traveling on a roadway under construction and destruction of property; the charges stem from a drive Roth made Aug. 13 down an unopened stretch of Interstate 55 near the Perry-Ste. Genevieve County line, leaving tire tracks in more than 800 feet of fresh concrete and plowing across 400 feet of reinforcement steel.

BENTON, Mo. -- Bob Kielhofner, Scott County clerk, reports work crews have almost completed a four-mile section of blacktopping in northern Scott County, between Perkins and Randles, Missouri; another road-paving project scheduled is the blacktopping of a county road in the Kelso-New Hamburg, Missouri; this will bring the total to 31 1/2 miles of paving when completed by the county.

1946

Manager Weir M. Barcus of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce says Sam Werber, owner of the Dorsa dress plant, has advised him he has secured a year's extension of a lease on the building where the factory now operates and that he will continue operations here.

Fire, igniting a heavy gasoline transport truck after an axle of the vehicle breaks while driving on the Bend Road, at 11 a.m. destroys the truck and its entire cargo of 3,800 gallons of gasoline; the driver, Olen Stafford, 37, of Cape Girardeau escapes by leaping to safety after he heads the heavy vehicle into a ditch to prevent its running wild and crashing into nearby buildings.

1921

A.P. Behrens, city clerk, presents a gift of a beautiful gold watch and a bag of gold, amounting to $200, to Jean Dale, the Capahas' phenomenal pitcher; Behrens says, "Mr. Dale, your loyalty, clean playing and manly conduct has won for you the admiration of every baseball fan in this vicinity, and to show our appreciation we have designated this Sunday as Jean Dale Day"; Dale doesn't let his fans down, hurling the Caps to an 8-1 victory over the visiting Chaffee, Missouri, club at Fairground Park.

Cape Girardeau's first golf tournament will start Saturday at the links of the Country Club; it is thought 50 will be entered in the qualifying round; of this number 32 players with the lowest scores will qualify for match play in the tournament; a handsome trophy will be awarded to the champion.

-- Sharon K. Sanders