Out of the past: Jan. 1

1999

The new year is ushered in with an icy vengeance in Southeast Missouri and the entire state, with a triple whammy of snow, sleet and windy conditions; Cape Girardeau streets are passable through most of the day as Department of Public Works crews go out at 1 p.m., shortly after snow flurries start, spreading salt with calcium chloride; but many streets, especially secondary ones, glaze over as the sun goes down and a freezing rain continues to fall.

Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Brown III last week upheld the legality of Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon's hiring of outside lawyers to handle the state's tobacco lawsuit; Brown rejected a constitutional challenge from state Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau; Kinder says he will appeal.

1974

While no precipitation falls during the day, gusting winds and arctic air plunge the thermometer to a low of 4 degrees above zero in the morning at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; snow yesterday caused many New Year's Eve revelers to cancel plans for a night of merrymaking at nightclubs and other public places.

BENTON, Mo. -- The Scott County Court, having problems finding a base from which to operate an ambulance service in north Scott County, has reached an agreement with Amick-Burnett Funeral Home for the firm to continue its ambulance service until April 1; Senate Bill 57, which goes into effect today, sets up stricter qualifications and regulations for ambulance services, some of which would be too expensive for funeral homes to meet, thus virtually putting them out of the ambulance service business.

1949

The annual community New Year's Day service is held in the morning at the Presbyterian Church under sponsorship of the Kiwanis Club; professor E.A. Collins presides and the address is given by the Rev. R.C. Holliday, pastor of Centenary Methodist Church; music is provided by the Presbyterian choir, under the direction of Clara Drew Miller, with Mrs. L.J. Schultz at the organ; a vocal solo is given by Stephen Limbaugh.

Subdued celebration, and moderation along other lines, marked the advent of a new year for the Cape Girardeau district; like the Christmas weekend, the New Year's holiday passes with activity mostly of a routine nature for city police and highway troopers.

1924

The little daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. G.C. Bass of 20 S. Hanover St. at 2 p.m. is probably the first New Year baby born in Cape Girardeau in 1924; the babe, who is the third child in the Bass family, weighs about 9 pounds and is doing satisfactorily.

Romance crept into the Cape Girardeau County Home just as the last hours of 1923 were fading; Edith Foster, 51, a resident of the County Home more than 10 years, and Charles Johnson, an inmate two years, were married Monday afternoon by Justice C.M. Gilbert; other residents of the home say the pair had been close friends for some time, but none suspected an approaching marriage; Mrs. Johnson did most of the cooking for the inmates and was a great help in caring for the other, less active inhabitants.

-- Sharon K. Sanders