Out of the past: Dec. 20

1997

Even in an age of electronic mail and home computers, many children still write letters to Santa Claus, even though Santa's been online since 1994 at santaclaus.com; in Cape Girardeau, the post office receives about 400 letters addressed to Santa each year, says Mike Keefe, postmaster; but Santa doesn't just communicate by mail; about 300 children received phone calls from Santa this year; the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department sponsors the annual phone calls.

It may not be an Oscar contender, but Jackson High School students -- led by Nick Murphy -- have completed a movie on video for the local public; "Why Be Normal?" is available at Super Video Warehouse.

1972

Unless something special should arise, Circuit Judge W. Osler Statler has ended his 12-year tenure on the benches of Common Pleas Court and Circuit Court; no cases are set in either court in Cape Girardeau or Circuit Court in Jackson; Statler held court in Jackson yesterday and Cape Girardeau this morning; the next case settings are after Jan. 2, when newly elected Circuit Judge Stanley A. Grimm will take the bench.

The Cape Girardeau City Council authorizes the purchase of five new American Motors Ambassadors for the Cape Girardeau Police Department; the new police cars will be purchased from Mandina Motors Inc., which is the low bidder for standard-size cars with a total cost of $16,556 and trade-ins of the police cars now being used.

1947

With Monday certain to see a near record mail volume, much work will be necessary this weekend in the Cape Girardeau Post Office, says Postmaster Nat M. Snider; cards, one of the bigger work-making divisions, numbered about 70,000 yesterday alone; and the end is not yet in sight; for the past four days, there have been 203,000 machine stamp cancellations; this compares with 174,000 in a similar period a year ago.

Fire, which starts in the wood shingle roof of the dwelling of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Koerber on Perryville Road, guts the entire upper portion of the dwelling and burns off the roof; damage is estimated at more than $5,000.

1922

A total of 145 persons received thorough heart and lung examinations by Dr. John Mahoney in the Life Extension Clinics given by the County Health Service last week; these clinics were held in Cape Girardeau, Oak Ridge, Whitewater, Delta and Jackson; of this number there were 15 cases of tuberculosis.

For the second time in two days a passenger train operating on the Frisco Railroad between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau has been delayed in the vicinity of Ste. Genevieve and St. Mary, Missouri; southbound passenger No. 801, due here at 12:20 p.m., is nearly an hour late owing to difficulty at Ste. Genevieve in getting water for the engine; because of the low stage of the river, the intake pipe for the water tank at that place is above the water, and a new one has not been installed.

-- Sharon K. Sanders