Out of the past: Jan. 2

1999

Beuse Scott Matheney III joined his parents, Cicely and Beuse Matheney of Sikeston at 2 a.m. on New Year's Day at Southeast Hospital; he was the first baby to be born there in the new year, weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces.

In the year-and-a-half since it formed, the Cape Girardeau Ethics Commission hasn't had anything to do; since the City Council appointed the seven-member panel in June 1997, the commission has met only a couple of times to establish bylaws and elect officers; as no ethical complaints have been filed in that time, it has conducted no investigations.

1974

For a brief time in the morning, the sun plays peekaboo, but apparently loses the battle to change the unwelcome winter weather pattern that kept many area residents glued to their fireplaces over the New Year's holiday; more snow, and possibly freezing rain, are forecast to fall tonight upon an already icy white ground; while Cape Girardeau public and some parochial schools are back in session after the long Christmas break, many area schools fail to open because of hazardous road conditions.

Three of the 40 to 45 West German families who will undergo special training at the Charmin Paper Products Co. plant are scheduled to arrive in Cape Girardeau tonight, with two more families and a single man coming later in the week; all will be lodged at motels until suitable housing is found in Cape Girardeau.

1949

The following new members of the Trinity Lutheran Church board were installed yesterday at a New Year's Day service in the evening: president, Walter Moeller; secretary, Edgar Stehr; treasurer, Arthur A. Vogel; church trustees, A.M. Vogel, Arthur Fisher and Alvin Werner; school trustees, Elmer Luehring, Martin Loos and Paul Peetz.

Arriving two hours after the stroke of midnight, a boy, born to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Richmond of Advance, was the first baby to arrive in Cape Girardeau in 1949; the child was born at Southeast Hospital and, as the first youngster of the new year, is the recipient of a free hospital bill.

1924

C.E. Driver, dairy commissioner of the Missouri Pacific Railway Co., and farm agent T.M. Keyser meets with local farmers at the courthouse in Jackson in the afternoon; Driver is endeavoring to stimulate the interest of farmers in dairying; today's meeting is the first of a series to be held in various parts of the county, the last to be held at Pocahontas on Friday.

J.B. Heagler, engineer, formerly with the Phillips Engineering firm in St. Louis, is named city engineer of Cape Girardeau by the City Council; Heagler is hired at a salary of $200 per month, an increase of $50 over the wage paid former engineer Ed Sailer; Heagler will begin his duties immediately.

-- Sharon K. Sanders