Out of the past: Aug. 21

1997

Southeast Missouri State University students begin moving into campus housing in preparation for the start of fall classes; some 1,800 students are expected to fill the residence halls for the fall semester, which begins Monday; the university has space for about 2,000 students.

Sixty employees of Fru-Con Construction Corp. working on assembly lines at Procter & Gamble Co. will be laid off; the company lost a contract with P&G to Manpower Temporary Services through a bidding process; Fru-Con employees learned of the layoff Aug. 4; it takes effect Aug. 31.

1972

A construction trailer was damaged when struck by lightning last night as a sultry, muggy day climaxed with heavy thunderstorms that brought 1.3 inches of rain to the city of Cape Girardeau, but only .22-inch to the municipal airport, south of the city; the construction trailer was parked at 20 E. Cape Rock Drive and is owned by Eugene Luhr and Co.; firemen say the front end of the trailer had fire damage, while the rear portion was damaged by smoke and heat.

A new microwave system expected to be constructed by a cable television firm in Southeast Missouri by early 1973 will serve 14 area communities and initially provide at least five more television channels for its customers; the system is being set up by See-Mor Cable TV of Topeka, Kansas; Missouri communities it will serve are Cape Girardeau, Chaffee, Charleston, East Prairie, Illmo, Jackson, Lilbourn, Marston, Miner, Morehouse, New Madrid, Oran, Scott City and Sikeston.

1947

While Cape Girardeau has an ample supply of ice on hand to care for any needs of its residents, many other communities throughout Southeast Missouri are rationing the product or taking other measures to conserve it as the hot weather hangs on; the prolonged heat wave has exhausted the reserve most ice manufacturing plants maintain, and there has been no opportunity to build up a secondary supply.

Preliminary work, incident to actual excavation for the foundation footings for Myers Hall, the new dormitory at State College, begins; a dozen men are put to work by the contractor, Ray M. Dilschneider, some of them razing the old Indian Hall, a two-story brick dwelling at the northwest corner of Houck Field Stadium; most of the roof has been torn off, and in another few days the structure will disappear.

1922

Closing out the revival meeting at Centenary Methodist Church yesterday, the Rev. John B. Andrews delivered two powerful sermons; he strongly denounced parents for allowing their young flapper daughter to roam the streets and take late-night automobile rides, and letting their young sons run at will on the streets and highways in nocturnal hours.

Linus Penzel of Jackson takes a large crew of workers to Commerce, Missouri, in the morning, where he has the contract to construct a large school building.

-- Sharon K. Sanders