Out of the past: Jan. 19

1999

Americans must be "a chip off the old dream" of racial equality advocated by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., if they want to keep alive his vision, Cincinnati lawyer Leslie Isaiah Gaines said yesterday; Gaines, a former judge, spoke to some 500 people at the 14th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast at the Show Me Center.

Observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is cited as one reason for absenteeism in the Cape Girardeau School District yesterday; students originally were to have been off, but school officials decided to use the King holiday and upcoming Presidents Day to make up for days missed because of bad weather; principals at most of the district's nine buildings say absenteeism was higher than normal Monday, mainly because of observance of the King holiday.

1974

CAIRO, Ill. -- A Missouri couple drowns and two other persons escape early in the day when a car plunges into the Mississippi River at Fort Defiance State Park; Larry Jackson, 25, of Charleston and Katherine Streiler, 18, of Perryville drown when the car goes off U.S. 51 into about 12 feet of water; both are in the back seat of the car; the driver, Ernie Walker, 25, and a passenger, Janet White, 19, both from Charleston, escape from the submerged vehicle and swim to a tree.

Development of a nature preserve at historic, scenic Tower Rock near Wittenberg should be completed by early summer, says Carl R. Noren, director of the Missouri Department of Conservation; the 34-acre nature preserve was deeded to the state in August 1972 by the former owner, Charles Bussen; the tract is located in Perry County, across from Grand Tower, Illinois.

1949

Cold weather comes to the Cape Girardeau area, but for the third time since Jan. 1, the worst of a predicted blizzard out of the Northwest fails to reach this district; rain, which was supposed to freeze, came to an end yesterday afternoon.

Serving as special Marine Corps guards on the Capitol grounds during Harry Truman's presidential inauguration ceremonies tomorrow will be two Southeast Missouri Marines: Pfc. James L. Pettigrew, son of Mr. and Mrs. U.G. Pettigrew of Cape Girardeau, and Pfc. James H. Feemster, son of Mr. and Mrs. F.R. Feemster of Fornfelt.

1924

Marion Pattengill, 13-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. W.C. Pattengill of Bloomfield Road, dies at a Cape Girardeau hospital of hydrophobia, contracted from the bite of a pet dog five weeks ago; local physicians say it is the first case here in years of a death from rabies.

Declaring that business stands at its highest point of prosperity in the history of America, John C. Howell, vice president of the Brookmire Economic Service, in an address before the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce last night, predicted business prosperity will continue throughout the United States at its present high level and with unabated progress; nothing of a serious nature looms in the offing to give any indication that there are pitfalls of disaster for business, he asserted.

-- Sharon K. Sanders