Out of the past: Dec. 8

1998

David G. Smith wants to make sure schoolchildren have a proper learning environment and all the help they need to get ahead; Smith, one of two finalists for superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District, talked to teachers and the public during an informal forum Monday evening at Central Junior High School; 12 people attended the hour-long forum with Smith, superintendent at Excelsior Springs, Missouri, while another 80 teachers attended meetings during the afternoon; Smith also visited several buildings in the district, including construction sites for the new elementary and high schools.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The 175 employees of Fleming Cos. Inc. in Sikeston will lose their jobs when the grocery distributor closes its warehouse within the next three months; the company is closing or selling four supply centers in a restructuring aimed at making it more competitive.

1973

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Ivan E. McLain says he is considering the possibility of his office establishing a fire protection service for the county, since there is no indication that a county fire district will become reality any time in the near future; the service would involve his deputies, equipment and men of Gene Huckstep's emergency extricating crew at Cape Girardeau and a water-hauling truck operator, he says; the disclosure comes in the wake of another fire -- the fourth in the out-county area in eight days -- which destroyed the former Eulenberg Restaurant on Highway 61 four miles north of Fruitland on Thursday night.

An estimated 1,200 cubic yards of concrete were used to form the structural mat, or foundation, for Building A of the new Saint Francis Hospital yesterday, in what may have been a record single concrete pour for a structure in Cape Girardeau; more than 20 trucks delivered cement to the site on Mount Auburn Road starting at 6:30 a.m.

1948

Despite rumors to the contrary, Girardeans will not be ushering in the new year at local saloons; there have been persistent rumors that open saloons will be back by Jan. 1; however, a check shows the state attorney general's office hasn't yet ruled on the question of the legality of the sale of liquor by the drink here, despite a special federal census showing the town's population is more than 20,000; in addition, neither the county nor the city has moved to even fix the amount they will charge for licenses to operate a saloon, much less get ready to issue any licenses.

E.W. Stovall and Louis Blades of Jackson each killed a deer yesterday, hunting from a camp set up in Carter County; Stovall's buck had four points and weighed nearly 500 pounds; the details of Blades' kill aren't known; hunting with Stovall and Blades are L.C. Jenkins and Henry A. Loos.

1923

Excavation of drainage ditches under contract by C.C. Hawley, Cape Girardeau contractor who filed a voluntary petition of bankruptcy in Federal District Court six weeks ago, will be completed according to contract with equipment owned by Hawley, it is decided at a meeting of creditors; R.H. McWilliams, drainage contractor of Memphis, Tennessee, who was named receiver of the estate, will complete the contract for the excavation of a ditch in the Rum Branch territory; this contract was let by the Little River Drainage District, which will allow the work to proceed.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Members of the Sikeston City Council are watching for results of their action Monday night, when they passed an ordinance which segregates Black homes to one section of town, the "Sunset Addition" west of the Frisco Railroad tracks and near the fairground; the law restrains property owners from renting homes in other sections of town to Blacks.

-- Sharon K. Sanders