Out of the past: Jan. 9

1993

Elvis Presley fans and stamp collectors flocked to the Cape Girardeau post office Friday, buying up more than 39,000 of the commemorative stamps celebrating the "King of Rock 'n' Roll"; the stamps feature a picture of a young, lean Elvis.

BENTON, Mo. -- In one of his last acts as Missouri's governor, John Ashcroft on Friday appointed Democrat Cristy Baker-Neel of Sikeston, Missouri, as prosecuting attorney for Scott County; she was nominated by the Scott County Republican Committee.

1968

City and state move to end the confused traffic conditions at Cape Rock Drive and Highway 61; first reading is given a city ordinance providing for a revamping of the chaotic intersection and installation of a traffic-actuated signal system.

A fresh winter wallop slammed into Cape Girardeau and the district last night, leaving city streets and area roads and highways coated with ice; driving was extremely hazardous both inside and outside the city; the icy conditions caused 31 tractor-trailer trucks to become stranded on Interstate 55 between Sikeston and New Madrid, Missouri, overnight.

1943

With only a few scattered exceptions, automobile owners in Cape Girardeau and the immediate area have taken the gasoline rationing system for granted, and few attempts have been made to "jump" the regulations in efforts to get more fuel, according to gasoline filling-station operators.

The county Office of Civilian Defense moves from the Hotel Idan-Ha building to the ground floor of a building at 801 Broadway, owned by Mrs. C.F. Fluhrer and formerly occupied by the Joe L. Moseley Inc. jewelry store; the hotel quarters will be remodeled for other purposes.

1918

Slippery sidewalks and biting cold failed to keep a big crowd from hearing evangelist Lincoln McConnell at Centenary Methodist Church on Sunday night, and one of the heaviest snows of the winter didn't prevent fully 400 people from hearing him last night; because of the big snowstorm, the church was only half filled, and Lincoln switched his lecture topic from "The Python in the Cradle" to "Grouches and Their Cure."

While hunting in the woods about two miles south of Cape Girardeau with two friends, Finis McCune, son of William McCune of Cape Girardeau, is accidentally shot, a load of No. 6 shot from a 12-gauge shotgun entering the fleshy part of his left hip; the accident occurs when his hunting companion stumbles over a log and lets the gun fall from his hand, discharging when it strikes the ground; it is believed McCune will recover in a short time.

-- Sharon K. Sanders