Out of the past: Dec. 3

1998

Five people were taken into custody Wednesday by the Cape Girardeau Police Department in connection with two shooting incidents in the downtown area earlier in the afternoon; no one was injured in either of the incidents; police say the first incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. at the Thrif-T Car Wash on the corner of Themis and Middle streets; witnesses reported hearing multiple shots as occupants of two cars exchanged gunfire; additional shots were reportedly fired at a second location a few minutes later, two blocks from the original location.

The Area Wide United Way has exceeded the 1998 fund-raising campaign goal of $625,000; the goal was the highest ever attempted by the local United Way, which serves Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City; the exact amount raised will be announced at a victory party Jan. 7.

1973

COBDEN, Ill. -- Workers continue to search in the morning for the body of a brakeman trapped in the wreckage of two Illinois Central Gulf freight trains which collided head on yesterday morning one-half mile north of here; three bodies have already been found, and a fifth man was seriously injured; six locomotives, three on each train, were heavily damaged and 22 cars containing non-hazardous freight were derailed in the collision.

The first weekend of December brought the chill of Sunday gasoline station closings and price increases up to 45 to 50 cents a gallon, causing noticeably less city traffic in spite of the unusually warm temperatures; Cape Girardeau police report only one traffic accident and a marked decrease in the number of vehicles on the street; only three stations remained open here Sunday: Coburn's Gulf Service Station, 1404 Independence St.; Thoni's Oil Co., 402 S. Kingshighway, and Cape Skelly, 401 S. Sprigg.

1948

Stricken early in the morning, Roy E. Goodwin, 38, representative-elect from Cape Girardeau County, landowner and prominent sportsman, dies from a heart attack at his home in Jackson, having returned a few hours earlier from Jefferson City; Godwin had attended the Democratic party caucus at the capital which yesterday outlined the work for the coming session.

Four tons of coal are dumped on the traffic bridge early in the morning, when the endgate of a truck dislodges, allowing the load of fuel to spill on the bridge floor; the truck, driven by E.H. Parks of Lilbourn, is crossing the bridge to the Missouri side; while he is stopped to fix the endgate, a second truck owned by the Peters timber firm of Murphysboro, Illinois, collides with the parked vehicle, knocking out more coal; a third truck is brought to the scene, and the coal is shoveled from the bridge.

1923

By order of the County Court, the Cape Girardeau County Farm will be run on a whole new plan; Charles D. Randol, a farmer residing on Kingsighway near the poor farm, is elected superintendent, replacing Theo. Busch, who resigns; Randol's duties will be only to take care of the inmates and to operate the new $40,000 almshouse as advantageously as possible as a home for Cape County's indigent poor and helpless; the 320-acre farm will be under the management of the court; disposal of this land hasn't been decided, whether it will be sold or rented.

According to chief of police H.F. Wickham, his department, in the last 13 months, has collected enough fines to more than pay the salaries of the six officers on the force; collection during the 13 months Wickham has headed the force totaled $7,426.62, an average of $571.27 for each of the 13 months; monthly salaries of the five patrolmen and chief amount to $560.

-- Sharon K. Sanders