Out of the past: Aug. 9

1999

Despite the hot weather, approximately 25,000 persons attended the annual Seminary Picnic on the grounds of St. Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville over the weekend; proceeds from the buffet dinner and picnic benefit St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Parish and its school.

Rust Communications Inc., headquartered in Cape Girardeau, has purchased two newspapers in Arkansas — The Tri-City Tribune in Poinsett County and the Trumann Democrat of Trumann; Rust Communications owns 10 Arkansas papers, including a daily at Blytheville.

1974

WASHINGTON — President Richard M. Nixon resigned his office last night, effective at 11 a.m. today, telling the nation, “America needs a full-time president and a full-time Congress” freed of the pressures of Watergate and impeachment; in his final address from the Oval Office, Nixon said he leaves without bitterness toward his foes, and with thanks for those who have supported him through months of Watergate disclosures and crises; Gerald R. Ford, sworn in as the 38th president of the United States in the East Room of the White House by Chief Justice Warren Burger, tells the nation “Our long national nightmare is over.”

Clarence Gary, a 21-year-old Indiana man, is fatally shot in the morning in a scuffle on the parking lot of New York Lunch, 318 S. Middle St.; police officers are holding six out-of-state suspects in the shooting.

1949

Despite a reduction of 31,000 bales in the cotton yield in Southeast Missouri this season, as forecast by the agriculture department yesterday, the cash returns from the staple will be the second highest on record; the reduction is compared to the 506,000-bale yield last year, a return that in itself set a new mark; wet weather has largely been responsible for the reduction in Southeast Missouri, with most of the cut being due to abandonment of acreage also seeded.

The present session of Congress might and it might not put final touches on a bill approving the Mississippi Valley Scenic Highway Association and appropriating $250,000 for a survey, reports Judge I.R. Kelso, home from Washington; the bill had no trouble in the House, and its approval in the Senate is expected; for several years, the association has promoted a scenic highway on the west side of the Mississippi River from St. Paul, Minnesota, to New Orleans, Louisiana, and every state along the route has approved it.

1924

Cape Girardeau’s newest department store, J.C. Penney, opens in the former Sherman building, 33-35 N. Main St.; J.B. Carpenter, who came here from Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was connected with a Penney store for a number of years, is manager of the new business.

A petition from workers asking the Frisco Railroad to operate a special train daily from Cape Girardeau to Chaffee to allow 100 or more men, employed in the railroad shops there, to reside here, has been presented to Frisco officials; supporters of the petition say it is impossible to secure lodging places at Chaffee for workers and their families.

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.