Out of the past: July 15

1996

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- After a two-year grace period, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be writing "tickets for real" for violators of a 1993 regulation requiring a use fee pass for certain outdoor activities at Wappapello Lake; the Corps use fees were a part of President Bill Clinton's 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act; many boat-launching and swimming areas on Corps properties were required to charge use fees.

Legislation signed into law by the governor last week will allow the Missouri Veterans' Commission to create a system of state veterans cemeteries; however, specific locations of those cemeteries and the exact number to be built -- details included in the original version of the bill -- were removed before the final draft; such decisions will be left to the discretion of the Veterans' Commission.

1971

Gary Seesing, son of John T. Seesing, co-owner of Cape Central Airways, gazes at the heap of debris left by the early-morning fire which destroyed the Municipal Airport's main hangar after it was struck by lightning. (Southeast Missourian archive)

A raging electric storm, accompanied in many places by high and probable tornadic winds, bombards Southeast Missouri for hours early in the day, causing damage in the hundreds of thousands of dollars; lightning strikes the No. 1 hangar at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport about 4:30 a.m. and, before firemen can arrive, the World War II structure collapses on planes and equipment with a loss estimated at $500,000.

The covered bridge in Burfordville Mill State Park in Burfordville, dating to the late 1800s and included in the National Register of Historic Places, is extensively damaged, and the Assembly of God Church in Jackson is destroyed by fire during a storm that ravages much of the Cape Girardeau area early in the day.

1946

Cape Girardeau consumers begin paying 2 cents more per quart for milk as four dairies announce a raise in price and another discloses that a further increase may be expected about Aug. 1; they explain they must raise the price to meet the amount paid St. Louis dairies which come into the Cape Girardeau milk shed; otherwise, they say, the producers would naturally sell for the higher price offered by metropolitan dairies.

CHESTER, Ill. -- The new Mississippi River bridge at Chester, which will replace a bridge destroyed in a storm July 29, 1944, will be opened to traffic at the annual American Legion Homecoming ceremonies Aug. 24.

1921

The public band concerts will be given at Fairground Park from now on, according to Dr. C.E. Schuchert, director; the change is being made because Courthouse Park is too small to accommodate the large crowds which have been gathering for the concerts; last night, the crowd was larger than any previous time this year.

Final arrangements for the Boy Scout encampment on Castor River have been made and letters sent to parents by Scoutmaster A.C. Nielson; Capt. H.F. Wickham will act as camp director; the cooking will be done by Monk Abernathy, who will serve nothing but plain, substantial food.

-- Sharon K. Sanders