Out of the past: July 14

1999

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan’s decision to veto the partial birth abortion bill leaves local anti-abortion supporters upset; Carnahan called the bill “deceptive and extreme” because he said it went beyond banning partial birth abortions.

Peach production in Missouri may be down this year, but the 7.5 million to 8 million pounds expected to be harvested should make a good crop; David Diebold of Diebold Orchards near Benton says, “The taste is great. Weather conditions have been ideal for the peach crop.”

1974

General Baptists gather in the afternoon to dedicate their new church building at 1812 Cape LaCroix Road; main speaker is the Rev. Dale Porter of St. Louis, who served as pastor of the church from 1947 until 1953; the cornerstone is laid during the dedication ceremony; constructed on a five-acre site, the new brick church is six-sided, with a central sanctuary which seats 350 persons.

Members of First Church of the Nazarene take part in a cornerstone dedication service for their new building, which is to be constructed at the corner of Independence and Rodney; the service starts at the present church location at Park and Merriwether at 5:30 p.m., and around 7 p.m., the congregation forms a motorcade and drives to the new building site for the cornerstone service.

1949

The Southeast Missouri Telephone Co., which serves every community in this district and the Lead Belt area, announces it will ask the Public Service Commission to raise its rates; a company statement says losses for 1949 will reach $150,000, with expenses the first five months of the year $35,000 greater than what the company took in.

A preliminary hearing for 17 Marble Hill and Lutesville men, charged with the assault of two organizers with the A.F. of L. Boot and Shoe Workers Union, begins at Marble Hill before Magistrate Bryan A. Williams; Henry R. Saathoff and Cecil Sheppard say they arrived in Lutesville about noon April 28; while talking to a service station operator, they were accosted by a group of men who forced them back into their automobile and to drive it out of town on a flat tire.

1924

Henry A. Aufdenberg has sold his blacksmith shop at Burfordville to G.T. Allen; in the trade, Aufdenberg acquired a threshing outfit which he will operate as soon as weather conditions become favorable.

Search parties are scouring Cape Girardeau and the adjoining rural districts in a hunt for Mrs. A.S. Boucher, wife of the superintendent of the Training School at the Teachers College, who disappeared from her home at 1439 Bessie St. at 2 a.m.; she has been suffering from nervous trouble in recent days; Boy Scouts and about 75 young men from the college, together with police and deputy sheriffs, are assisting in the search.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.