Out of the past: Jan. 10

1997

Some see the 6 inches of snow blanketing Cape Girardeau as an opportunity to earn some green; the heavy accumulation means there are people willing to pay to have their sidewalks and driveways shoveled; the rate one young entrepreneur charges is $10 to $15 per home, depending upon the size of the driveway.

Fox Sports Midwest cancels plans to blackout St. Louis Blues hockey games on the local cable television system after striking a deal with Tele-Communications Inc.; Blues fans watching last night's game against the San Jose Sharks were surprised to see a crawling message on the screen informing viewers that after Jan. 15, Blues games on Fox Sports Midwest would be blacked out on TCI Cable systems; although the network placed the message, TCI mistakenly took much of the blame, with some local fans reacting negatively to the news.

1972

A 5-foot, 5-inch barefoot bandit made a getaway after robbing a feed store owner of $30 and threatening his life with a small, blue steel, snub-nose revolver; the robbery occurred shortly before 3 p.m. yesterday at Bud Ruesler Feed Store at Old Appleton; Ruesler was in the store doing bookwork when the unshod robber came in and demanded money; he threatened to shoot Ruesler if he didn't hand over the contents of his wallet: $30.

Monroe Glass Co. has purchased a lot at the southwest corner of South Main and Merriwether streets from Alvin Kimmich, a location formerly occupied by the Teichman family; John Monroe, the firm's head, says the two-story brick dwelling there will be razed, and plans are in the making for future expansion of the glass firm onto this property.

1947

When their amphibious-type airplane struck a rock or other submerged object while engaged in surface maneuvers in the Mississippi River near the Thebes, Illinois, bridge shortly before noon, the two men aboard -- James Corcoran of St. Louis, the pilot, and C.F. Rudesill, flight instructor of Cape Girardeau -- are forced to abandon the ship and swim in the icy waters to shore; after striking the object, the ship sinks slowly and, at last report this afternoon, is almost completely submerged.

Fur dealers in Cape Girardeau, looking back over a dreary season, say there was a 50% decline in the volume of furs this season in addition to a 30% to 60% decrease in price; the reason, they point out, is the large shipments of fur from Russia and China, where for a period of years since the war began, furs had been accumulating, and have now been released on the American market.

1922

According to an opinion just handed down by the Missouri Supreme Court, the Little River Drainage District is a municipal corporation and, therefore, is not amenable to taxation; a striking point of the opinion is the district was organized for the purpose of draining the land and incidentally the land was benefited, but the superior feature was to benefit the public health; in 1916, the Bollinger County tax collector brought suit against the district to force the payment of taxes on lands in the drainage basin, in the floodway and in the right-of-way.

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau continues to be free of ice, and both motor boats are making trips to Thebes, Illinois, Walters in the morning and Clifton in the afternoon; the ferryboat Gladys is also operating, but business is somewhat slack at present, and the crew is putting in its free time repairing the dock on the Illinois shore of the river.

-- Sharon K. Sanders