Out of the past: Aug. 5

1999

The new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge will be the first in the Midwest to include sensitive, state-of-the-art equipment designed to measure the impact of earthquakes; it also will be the first cable-stay bridge to be outfitted with such equipment; only a handful of bridges in the world have seismic devices, and most are in California and Japan.

The memory of local heroes who fought for the Union Army during the Civil War won’t be lost for future generations; the Cape Girardeau chapter of the Richard J. Oglesby Camp 61 Sons of Union Veterans is seeing to it that the graves of Union soldiers buried in Old Lorimier Cemetery have bronze markers place in their honor; there are about 200 soldiers buried in the cemetery, but over time the gravestones have worn out.

1974

Voting is expected to be light in Cape Girardeau County at tomorrow’s primary election, with only one contest on the county level and little interest in district and state races; the local contest is on the Republican ticket in which Gerald L. Ainsworth of Jackson opposes Clarence C. Schade of Cape Girardeau for the nomination for county clerk.

A zoning change to allow a shopping center to locate on Highway 72 near West Lane is approved by the Jackson City Council, despite objections of about 30 persons who attend a public hearing on the request; with all but one member present, the council votes unanimously to change the zoning of an 11.2-acre tract owned by Troy Gladish from residential to commercial to enable construction of a Walmart store, Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and possibly a supermarket.

1949

Elimination of a soot and smoke nuisance in Cape Girardeau, particularly in the north part of town, is being sought by 244 petitioners, who have urged the City Council to take immediate action to abate what the petition terms “the soot menace which falls several times a week”; city attorney Albert M. Spradling Jr., has been instructed to notify the Missouri Utilities Co., identified by petitioners as the offender at its power plant, to meet with the City Council to see whether an abatement plan can be worked out.

It is learned that the low bids for grading and bridging of the new section here of Highway 61 west of its present location were submitted by the R.B. Potashnick Construction Co.; low bids for construction of Route SW from Fruitland to Perryville Road near Cape Girardeau, a gravel route, were submitted by L.V. Steinhoff & Kirkwood Construction Co. of Advance.

1924

International Shoe factory in Cape Girardeau will return to normal operation by Sept. 15, according to superintendent D.B. Smith; in April the company was forced to curtail production “due to business conditions throughout the country,” Smith says, “and it was necessary to reduce our working force about 30%”; the company will rebuild its work force to about 1,300 people.

Patrolman Ivan Robinson, for three months an officer of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, was relieved of duty yesterday by Mayor James A. Barks, following an investigation by the City Council of Robinson’s conduct in firing a volley of shots a a fleeing Black youth on Good Hope Street on Friday; Barks declared, “Robinson used bad judgment in firing his revolver in such a public place and without proper provocation.”

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.