Out of the past: Dec. 14

1991

MARQUAND, Mo. -- At the direction of his school board, Marquand-Zion school superintendent Gerald L. Deardorff has sent a $31,237 bill to Gov. John Ashcroft for expenses incurred in asbestos removal; Deardorff asked the state reimburse the district.

Robert W. Foster, executive vice president of Southeast Missouri State University, is the guest speaker at the commencement exercises at Southeast; Foster, who served as the 13th president of the institution, will retire this month; he will continue in a part-time capacity as executive director of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

1966

Failure of any one of the three men seeking to become Cape Girardeau County's first auditor to receive majority support of the county Democratic committee apparently has stalled action of the governor's appointment; the men vying for the job are Terry Begley, Homer E. Cooper and W.F. McKee.

Two railroads operating in Cape Girardeau County -- the Missouri Pacific and the St. Louis-Southwestern Cotton Belt -- have reduced payment of their 1966 taxes on the grounds the school districts in the county should have reduced their levies to offset the blanket increase in motor vehicle assessments; the Frisco Railroad has not paid its taxes for the year.

1941

The annual Christmas vesper service at Teachers College, sponsored jointly by the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian associations, is held in the afternoon in the college auditorium.

C. Alexander Wills, last of the Civil War veterans living in Cape Girardeau County so far as is known, dies at his home near Daisy; Wills, 95, was born on the farm where he died and where he spent his entire life with the exception of the time he served in the Confederate Army; he served in Col. William Jeffers' cavalry regiment, in which many county men saw service.

1916

A good deal of interest is being stirred by two Cape Girardeau banks, which have started the idea locally of saving money in special funds for use at Christmastime; the idea is to get people to put aside a small amount each week, for 50 weeks, so when Christmas time comes around there will be a neat sum of money on hand to buy presents.

Cape Girardeau is gripped by the first real wintry weather of the season; by 3 p.m., the ground is covered with about three inches of snow, and flakes are still falling.

-- Sharon K. Sanders