Out of the past: Dec. 16

1994

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Mel Carnahan could name a new secretary of state by the end of the week and will nominate someone no later than the end of the year, says Chris Sifford, communications director for the governor; the governor, who has the sole authority to name a replacement for ousted Secretary of State Judith Moriarty, has talked with several people interested in taking the job.

HAVCO employees and firefighters from Scott City and Cape Girardeau battled a blaze following two explosions yesterday afternoon at the HAVCO wood products plant off Nash Road in northern Scott County; no one was injured when the company's large, sawdust-vacuum system exploded twice.

1969

Among Christmas gifts received this year by men serving with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, in Vietnam will be letters of appreciation from "the younger set back home"; the writers will be some 300 pupils at Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau; a goal of 500 letters was fixed when the project got underway about a week ago, according to the principal, Sister Clarence.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- An original copy of the first edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper, dated Nov. 9, 1861, has found its way back to Bloomfield, where it was printed on a hand press of the Bloomfield Herald; it was found by Oliver Hudson of Valonia, Indiana, while cleaning out the attic of an old house; after his offer to sell it to the Smithsonian Institution was turned down, he negotiated a sale with James R. Mayo, president of the Stoddard County Historical Society for $250.

1944

The Christmas relief problem in Cape Girardeau this year isn't as serious as it has been in some past years; this year, apparently there is no necessity for an organized effort to spread Christmas cheer among needy families; the Salvation Army will handle most of the task.

A new record in stamp sales, particularly in airmail postage, may be set at the post office this month; 6-cent airmail stamps are often bought for soldier overseas letters, and the domestic rate, applying to mail headed for military camps, etc., is 8 cents; overseas soldier holiday greeting cards require first-class postage (3 cents) or airmail postage.

1919

Realizing the increasing population of Cape Girardeau will require expanded telegraph facilities, the Western Union Telegraph Co. yesterday closed a lease on the storeroom in the Masonic building at the southeast corner of Spanish Street and Broadway; it will occupy the room as soon as alterations are made and the building quipped with standard Western Union fixtures.

Nelson Dearmont, Tom Beard, Ralph Reed Clarence Drum and Mac Hunter of Cape Girardeau and Bunnie Walker of Fruitland have returned home from Columbia, where they have been attending Missouri University; they will spend the Christmas holidays at home.

-- Sharon K. Sanders