Out of the past: July 1

1994

A 3% tax on bingo game sales lasted only seven months -- seven months too long, according to members of local civic groups who raise money for charity with bingo; earlier this week, Gov. Mel Carnahan signed a bill repealing the tax; when it was passed in the 1993 legislative session, the tax was designed to be used to help finance the building and repair of state veterans homes.

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Lelan and Joan Flor, owners and publishers of The Banner-Press in Marble Hill, have sold the newspaper to Concord Publishing House in Cape Girardeau; the Flor family had owned The Banner-Press for 18 years.

1969

President Richard Nixon has nominated Lt. Gen. Seth J. McKee for promotion to full general and named him commander of the North American Air Defense and Continental Air Defense Commands effective Aug. 1; McKee, who was reared in Illmo, graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School and attended State College here, is now deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Air Force, stationed in the Pentagon.

The Municipal Airport Board is continuing its search for a restaurant operator for the renovated terminal; on Monday the board called in Richard Barnhouse as a consultant; Barnhouse has various restaurant interests throughout the area.

1944

Hundreds of holiday travelers pushed and shoved each other in packed buses and trains Friday and today in Cape Girardeau in their near frantic efforts to be the first to get to their Fourth of July destinations; more than 100 travelers block the Broadway sidewalk in front of the Cape-St. Louis Bus Line Terminal this morning, and Greyhound officials say three buses were used on most of their last runs, this number likely to increase as the day wanes; Tri-State Lines also uses extra buses.

Jackson Hunter of Cape Girardeau has been named manager of airplane storage units at Harris Field and two other fields at McBride, Missouri, and Camden, Arkansas; 1,000 Army planes will be stored at Harris, arriving here at a rate of 20 or more a day.

1919

The new municipal swimming pool in Fairground Park may be opened and ready for use July 4; the excavation for the sidewalk was done yesterday, and it is put in today; dressing rooms are completed, and the showers are ready; it is merely a question of completing the sidewalk, installing the lights and cleaning up the site generally.

War-time prohibition went into effect at midnight; the saloons of Cape Girardeau closed at their regular time Monday night, after a quiet evening's business; this morning, some reopen for the sale of near beer and other soft drinks, while other saloon proprietors are packing away their inebriating stock and are not doing business.

-- Sharon K. Sanders