Out of the past: Feb. 26

1999

With a $350-million-plus expansion project at the Procter & Gamble Co. plant still being carried out, the company says it is considering yet another expansion.

Repair work and inspections of the Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau will continue next week; both lanes will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday; traffic will be reduced to one lane two hours preceding and following the closure; crews this week repaired a damaged floor beam discovered during a recent inspection; next week's work will be on another floor beam located on a different span near the center of the bridge.

1974

Motions to secure costs and to determine whether a lawsuit brought Jan. 25 against the Cape Girardeau County Court by a citizens group opposed to construction of a county law enforcement complex outside of Jackson is a proper class action were filed yesterday in Cape County Circuit Court; a hearing on the two motions is scheduled for Monday afternoon in Circuit Court with Judge Marshall Craig of Scott County presiding.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson city officials have been granted additional time to file further briefs in the 7-month-old Jackson annexation controversy; attorneys for both cities learned Monday the St. Louis Court of Appeals has issued a temporary writ of mandamus sought by Cape Girardeau in an effort to stall the annexation hearing in Circuit Court at Jackson; Cape Girardeau had sought to intervene in the case, but Circuit Judge Stanley A. Grimm said the city's request would be denied, and the city then sought the Appeals Court ruling.

1949

Winding up a less-than-spectacular basketball season, the State College Indians last night defeated the Springfield, Missouri, team 42-38; Springfield had been the only undefeated college basketball team in the country, when players took to the court at the Arena Building; the Indians broke a 20-game consecutive winning streak for the Bears.

For his outstanding accomplishments in club activities during 1948, Norman H. Ueleke, 1616 Good Hope St., was given the Cape Girardeau Jaycees' key award last night at the club's inaugural ball at Hotel Marquette; Herb Suedekum and his orchestra played for the dance.

1924

Death claims another Civil War veteran; C. Phillip Cooter, 88, who served throughout the war in the Union Army, dies at his home on College Street in the morning; he was born in Greenville, Tennessee, and moved with his parents to Lewis County, Missouri, when he was 9 years old; he moved here in 1881; he is survived by three children, a brother and a stepsister.

Navigation on the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau and southern points opens; the towboat Memphis, with five barges of Pittsburgh steel and ore, leaves Cairo, Illinois, at daybreak for St. Louis; it's expected to pass Cape Girardeau early tomorrow; river traffic has been shut down for two months because of unusually heavy ice floes.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.