Out of the past: Jan. 25

1999

More than 60 people gathered beneath a funeral tent Sunday afternoon in Cape Girardeau to pray together and sing hymns of faith; behind them stood rows and rows of white crosses representing the abortions that have taken place in the United States since the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision; the people were participating in an ecumenical prayer service at the Cemetery of the Innocents near Interstate 55, an annual service held in connection with the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing abortion.

For Southeast Missouri State University and other institutions, the new millennium comes with a hefty price tag; the year 2000 computer problem known as the Y2K bug has sparked businesses and institutions to invest heavily in computer upgrades; the computer problem lies in two zeros; decades ago, computer programmers began using two digits to refer to years in software and the billions of microprocessor chips embedded in electronic devices; a computer would recognize "94" as 1994; but on Jan. 1, 2000, computers that aren't Y2K compliant could interpret 2000 as 1900, generating all sorts of computer malfunctions.

1974

Proposed construction of Cape Girardeau County's $750,000 law enforcement complex outside the city of Jackson is an effort to "thwart the will of the people" by changing the County Court location of some public offices "without the vote of the people," alleges a lawsuit brought against the County Court; the motion for an injunction against the court also charges that Presiding Judge Clarence W. Suedekum and Associate Judge J. Ronald Fischer, both of Cape Girardeau, are attempting to "subvert the constitution of Missouri" by proposing to allow the county to become indebted for an amount exceeding funds available this year or left over from previous years; the petition is filed in Cape County Circuit Court by Jackson city attorney Kenneth L. Waldron and Albert C. Lowes, attorney for a citizens group opposed to construction of the complex on the County Farm at Cape Girardeau.

Dr. H.L. McClanahan, a major figure in the Missouri Baptist Convention, has been named to succeed the Rev. Earl W. Tharp as pastor of Red Star Baptist Church; McClanahan was named interim executive secretary of the convention last year following a fund-handling controversy in the 600,000-member church.

1949

Cold weather arrives in the morning, choking off the continued rain which was in its third day; small creeks in rural Cape Girardeau County begin to subside somewhat as a result, permitting more normal travel; but the Mississippi River roars upward, and several towns in lower Southeast Missouri are seeking ways of getting rid of surface water accumulating during the downpour; 4.51 inches of rain fell in Cape Girardeau in three days.

Frank S. Kenyon Jr., operator of Leming Service, Highway 61 and Independence Street, was elected president of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees last night; he succeeds John Cargle; other officers elected were vice president, Frank Horton; secretary, Robert Renfrow; treasurer, Hugo Lang; board members, C.A. Bohnsack, Jack Hoffman and M.G. Lorberg Jr.

1924

George Englehardt, superintendent of schools at Morley, former student at the Teachers College in Cape Girardeau and plaintiff in a $6,000 damage suit against Dr. Joseph A. Serena, president of the college, collapses while on the witness stand in Circuit Court at Jackson; after treatment by a local doctor, it is expected Englehardt will continue his testimony next week; Englehardt filed suit against Serena because the president ejected him from the men's dormitory at the school in July 1923.

A.R. Ponder of San Antonio, Texas, president of the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad, is in Cape Girardeau to attend the meeting of the board of directors of the Cape Girardeau Bell Telephone Co., of which he is a director; Ponder is a former resident of Cape Girardeau and was associated with Louis Houck in the building of several railroad lines in Southeast Missouri; he is also a pioneer of the telephone industry here.

-- Sharon K. Sanders