Out of the past: Aug. 3

1999

Stockholders in the financially ailing St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway at Jackson decided last night to seek status as a nonprofit corporation; approximately 15 of the tourist line’s 25 stockholders met at the station to make a decision about the future of the train, which currently is three months behind on its loan; nonprofit status would enable people to write off donations made to the train and for the train to qualify for federal and state grants.

Joe Bob Baker, whose family has been in the auto salvage business in Jackson for 30 years, is the newest member of the Jackson Board of Aldermen; Baker was sworn in last night after being appointed by Mayor Paul Sander to fill the unexpired term of Alderman Fred Leimer, who resigned from the board last month.

1974

Debris and pieces of fuses found at the home of Claude A. “Nip” Kelley III following a pair of dynamite explosions Wednesday night have been sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to find clues in the bombing that heavily damaged the house under construction in Cape Girardeau; about 150 pounds of debris were sent to the lab, along with what appeared to be gunpowder fuses.

Kohlfeld Distributing Co., 2002 N. Kingshighway, has purchased a tract of slightly under seven acres west of the Cape Girardeau city limits and along what was once the old gravel road between Cape Girardeau and Jackson and is completing plans for construction of a new distribution center; the land was purchased from Knaup Floral Co. and is part of what once was the old J.T. McDonald farm, lying adjacent on the south to Highway 61.

1949

Seven new infantile paralysis cases, none from Cape Girardeau County, were admitted yesterday to the polio ward at Saint Francis Hospital for isolation care, bringing to 28 the number received there since the wing was opened last week; two of the seven cases were from Hayti, where a number of others have been reported, and one each from Illmo, Ancell and Commerce in adjoining Scott County; the other two are from Cotton Point and Bloomfield.

In his annual report submitted to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education this week, superintendent Louis J. Schultz revealed that the average cost of educating a single Cape Girardeau pupil last school year was $131.11, considerably less than the state average, which was $150.97.

1924

The Rev. Reinhard Lehman, pastor of Christ Evangelical Church, occupies the pulpit at Maple Avenue Methodist Church in the evening; the Rev. J.A. Baxter, pastor of Maple, is on vacation with his family at Baxterville, Mississippi.

With the wedding of E.W. Moore and Nora Borchelt, both of Cape Girardeau, last night at Jackson, Justice of the Peace John G. Putz’s 1,000th marriage ceremony was recorded in the county books; in token of the new high mark, Putz refused any payment for his services, and then took the party to a nearby ice cream parlor for refreshments.

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.