Out of the past: Aug. 24

1999

Classroom space is limited in the Kelly School District at Benton, and school officials want patrons to tell them what to do next; questionnaires were sent to district patrons last week seeking solutions to the lack of space for the district’s 1,056 students; the district’s narrow hallways are packed with students between class periods, and lunch periods are kept crowded and short so that everyone can be fed.

Bud Eley, Southeast Missouri State University’s all-time leader in rebounding and blocked shots, has gone a long way to play professional basketball; the 6-foot-10 Eley, the 1999 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and also the league’s Male Athlete of the Year, recently signed a contract with the Istanbul team of Turkey’s top league; Eley arrived in Istanbul Sunday and practiced with his new team yesterday; the league is scheduled to begin its season next month.

1974

It’s another year, but a new policy for the forthcoming SEMO District Fair; everybody over the age of 12 will pay $1 to get into the fairgrounds in Arena Park during fair week, Sept. 10 to 14; for the admission charge, they also may attend the grandstand entertainment and other special attractions, visit the many livestock exhibits, additional displays inside and outside the Arena Building and tour the midway.

James R. McHaney, an attorney with offices at 101 N. Frederick St., has purchased a building at the northeast corner of Themis and Pacific streets from the estate of the late Dr. Garland Reynolds; definite plans for the structure haven’t been announced.

1949

In an exceptionally light vote, but by an overwhelming majority, Scott County voters yesterday approved formation of a county health unit to provide organized health facilities for its residents; County Clerk H.C. Watkins Jr. reports that in 22 precincts reported out of 26, the vote in favor of the measure was 850 and 129 opposed; still to be heard from are precincts at Rootwad, Perkins, Illmo and Ancell; he doesn’t believe these can cause a material change in the results, which required a two-thirds majority for passage.

The Cape Girardeau County Chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis is spending March of Dimes funds at the rate of approximately $1,500 a week to care for district patients in the poliomyelitis center at Saint Francis Hospital; currently, the patients number 40, with three cases having been dismissed yesterday; no new cases were admitted yesterday, the first time in a week that a new patient hasn’t entered the ward.

1924

The Rev. J.H. Haymore, field secretary of the St. Louis District, occupies the pulpit of First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau in the morning; he is a general evangelist of the Baptist denomination in the state of Missouri and is a widely known minister in the state of Georgia; he will preach at Jackson in the evening.

Foul play is suspected in the death of Willie Giboney, a Black 25-year-old, whose body is found lying near the Frisco Railroad tracks a short distance south of Blomeyer in the early morning hours; his head had been partially severed; approximately $29 in cash, his week’s pay as a laborer for a highway construction company, is missing.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.