Out of the past: Feb. 9

1993

The "Chicken Shack" in the 400 block of Good Hope Street was leveled yesterday morning, but not before law enforcement officials over the weekend launched a parting shot at drug sales there; four buildings were razed on the south side of the 400 block by their owner.

The Salvation Army has topped its $1 million capital fund drive, and construction of its new headquarters could begin in May or June; a $200,000 contribution from the Oklahoma-based Mabee Foundation and a $100,000 donation by the Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club were big lifts to the campaign.

1968

Girardeans William F. Suedekum Jr., and Carlton J. Lorberg credit their flight training for their escape from serious injury when their airplane made an emergency landing yesterday afternoon near East Prairie, Missouri; Suedekum was piloting the plane, which was owned by Lorberg; both escaped the muddy landing with bruises.

The largest water well of its type in Missouri is being drilled at the State College farm and is expected to be completed by the end of February; work on the $79,910 air drilled water well began Dec. 2; it will supplement the two wells the college already has.

1943

Cape Girardeau firemen were called to near Reynoldsville, Illinois, about 12 miles east of here, last night when oil leaking from the war pipeline caught fire; the blaze had been distinguished by the time the firemen arrived; the line was blocked off until repairs can be made.

Declaring Cape Girardeau is in the best financial condition it has been in for nine years and that all bills are up to date, Mayor R.E. Beckman issues a statement showing that as of Feb. 1, the city had $50,094.49 on hand; this compares with a balance of $46,326.56 a year ago.

1918

Traffic to the south of Cape Girardeau is cut off by the loss of bridges and trestles and the washing away of tracks by ice and water; the bridge on the road leading to Fornfelt and Illmo has been washed away, so automobile traffic between those points and Cape Girardeau is halted until the bridge can be repaired; all trains from the south due here during the morning and at noon are being held below the washouts on three divisions of the Frisco.

The Little River drainage system isn't noticing any trouble from the present ice and floods; at noon the water at Allenville was a foot from the top of the channel banks and was falling; had the water gone over the banks, it would have run into the middle basin, a tremendous storage place for flood water.

-- Sharon K. Sanders