Out of the past: Aug. 5

1997

The federal government has no plans to build Interstate 66, but if it does, the Cape Girardeau City Council will commit $10,000 to lobby government officials to route the interstate through the city; the council last night unanimously approved money for the lobbying effort.

Local Teamsters Union members carried picket signs instead of packages yesterday, joining union members across the nation in a strike against United Parcel Service; picketers in Cape Girardeau decline to comment as they sit on lawn chairs in the hot sun; the union went on strike at midnight Sunday after negotiations with UPS broke down earlier in the day; the walkout's impact has already been felt in the area, as the Cape Girardeau Post Office and the Federal Express office both had busier days on Monday; the strike tripled the volume of parcels handled at the Cape Girardeau Post Office.

1972

A 21-year-old Californian promoting friendship among America's cities and river pollution awareness arrives on a raft in Cape Girardeau on the 30th link in what he calls a "Chain of Friendship" on the Mississippi River; nearing the halfway point on his 1,700-mile journey from Hudson, Wisconsin, to New Orleans, Louisiana, Glen Gerson of Malibu is traveling downstream on the Calamigos, a homemade "friendship raft" carrying a trailer, bicycle, lifeboat, stove, refrigerator, fireplace and miniature piano.

Gladys Stiver poses with her dog, "Aunt Clara Waifer," in May 1971.Southeast Missourian archive

Gladys Stiver, one of the GOP's most dedicated supporters, a leader in civic affairs and co-founder of the Rose Display Garden in Capaha Park, died yesterday at her home in Cape Girardeau; Stiver, 79, was the daughter of Maj. James and Florence Turnbaugh Brooks and the widow of Christian E. Stiver.

1947

With only light rains since June 27, the dry weather threatens to begin taking a heavy toll on summer crops; the recent torrid days, including yesterday's 102-degree temperature, have tested the condition of corn and other crops, and there is no rain in sight for Southeast Missouri.

T.L. McCuredy of Camadian, Texas, has reported to Sheriff Alvin Klaus that his airplane, forced down Saturday on the Albert Pfeiffer farm near New Wells, has been stripped of equipment valued at $455, including a radio, clock, compass and a nosewheel; the plane, with its wings and nose damaged, was brought through Jackson on a trailer en route to the owner's home town.

1922

Fire broke out at 4:40 p.m. yesterday in the D.A. Glenn Dry Goods store, 31 N. Main Street, and would have swept the entire block, if not for its quick discovery; firefighters broke in the front door shortly after the blaze was discovered in the northeast corner of the store, but all the way up a wall; when firemen reached the scene, it had burned through the ceiling in one place, and into the second-floor office of the Allen Realty Co.; total loss from fire and water is estimated at $4,000; D.A. Glenn, manager, says much of the stock of dry goods, rugs and furnishings was ruined.

Judge John A. Snider in Common Pleas Court yesterday approved a petition filed by J.W. Fristoe, receiver for the Cape Girardeau Northern Railroad, for the purchase of a motor car to cost $1,690.70, which will be used to haul freight over the road; he also approved the purchase of an engine to operate over the Perryville, Missouri, section of the road.

-- Sharon K. Sanders