Out of the past: Jan. 29

1998

Trying to accommodate parents of Gordonville and Millersville, a proposal presented to the Jackson Board of Education Tuesday night designated South Elementary as a "town school" populated with children mainly from the Primary Annex and West Lane and Orchard elementary schools; if the proposal is approved, the boundaries of the outlying schools, including North Elementary School, will remain virtually untouched; in addition, Gordonville will remain a first-through-fourth-grade center, while fourth-grade classes at Millersville will be replaced with a kindergarten class.

Southeast Missouri State University's Board of Regents approved plans Wednesday for the school to offer an industrial technology degree program in St. Louis; the regents also approved issuance of $8.65 million in revenue bonds to fund improvements to the recreation fields at Sprigg and Bertling, expand the Student Recreation Center, and retire the center's prior bond issue.

1973

Formation of a new association for subcontractors in the construction industry -- National Subcontractors Association Inc. -- is announced; the headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri, but Cape Girardeau will be the location for one of the six branch warehouse distribution centers in the state; the local facility, for which a site is being selected, will provide from 12,000 to 14,000 square feet of warehouse and distribution space.

A committee is searching for a new home for the Cape County Historical Society Museum, which has been in Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau for nearly 12 years; the committee, headed by Dr. Felix E. Snider, director of libraries at Southeast Missouri State University, will determine whether to move the museum into an existing building or to build a permanent location; the society was notified recently it would have to move the museum out of its room on the second floor of the courthouse because the court needs more space.

1948

There are indications that an ice gorge has formed in the Mississippi River upstream from Cape Girardeau, and as a result water transportation is at a practical standstill, except for local movement; however, efforts to locate the gorge, if one has formed, haven't been successful, although it is thought that the barrier may be in the area immediately south of Chester, Illinois.

Water, streaming from a "bursted" sprinkler system pipe in the third-story loft of Hecht's store on Main Street, cascaded down through the ceilings of two other floors early Wednesday night, doing damage to the merchandise and building which will run into the thousands of dollars; the miniature flood was discovered about 9:30 p.m. by Sam F. Tucker, merchants' night patrolman, who observed the water falling into the display windows at the front of the building.

1923

Wayne Berry, plant superintendent of the Cape Girardeau Bell Telephone Co., has returned from Jacksonville, Florida, where he spent three weeks visiting his father; he returns considerably improved in health; his return serves to put a little pep in the local baseball talk, and fans are discussing the possibilities of a good baseball team for the coming season; Berry was at the helm of the local association two seasons ago.

A large crowd gathers outside Clark Music Co. store on Main Street, attracted by the pounding music produced by Jesse Stacy, piano wizard, on a handsome baby grand; the music is transferred from the display window to the street by means of a loud speaker, which is loaned to the store by E.E. Campbell, who uses it on a radio outfit; the show is put on to advertise sheet music.

-- Sharon K. Sanders