Out of the past: July 17

1995

It's finally OK to quench your thirst with a cool glass of water; the City of Cape Girardeau lifted a boil water order yesterday morning; water sample analysis tested negative for contaminants; previous residential and commercial water use restrictions were also lifted over the weekend; the prohibitions were the result of the city's water pumps breaking down Friday.

PATTON, Mo. -- Meadow Heights School District superintendent Tom Waller has resigned, but some residents of the district still aren't satisfied; at a school board meeting, a group of residents call for resignations of five of the seven board members and ask that the former superintendent's wife be fired from her secretarial job at the school.

1970

Work on the 7.5-mile portion of Interstate 55 near Fruitland is about 15% complete, state highway officials report; Bernard McMenamy Construction Co. of St. Charles, Missouri, is now involved in work preliminary to paving of the Cape Girardeau County section of the highway; the McMenamy contract covers an area between Highway 61 near Jackson and Route E north of Fruitland.

It's not often that citizens have a chance to abolish a government office; but on Aug. 4, Cape Girardeau County voters will decide whether or not to abolish the office of county school superintendent.

1945

After being without a board of health for three years, Cape Girardeau officially has one again; those appointed by the City Council are Dr. R.A. Ritter, physician; Dr. H.F. Baumstark, dentist; professor A.C. Magill, head of the science department at State College; and Dr. O.L. Seabaugh, physician; Commissioner Phil Steck, as head of the city health department, is an ex-officio member.

Workers began excavating for the kiln for the new pottery plant to be erected in Jackson; the kiln will be placed adjoining a barn on the lot of the Kasten Bros. brick yard; once in operation, it will make only flower pots; after equipment and machinery are released following the war, it will expand to make glazed earthenware.

1920

Arno Koenig, 14-year-old son of Herman C. Koenig, well-known Cape Girardeau farmer, is crushed to death when logs in the wall of an old barn fall on him; young Koenig was assisting tear down the barn, when the logs began to roll and fall in such a manner he couldn't escape; death is instantaneous.

Chief Steward Joe Scherf of the U.S. Navy and his wife have been visiting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Scherf of Cape Girardeau; they will leave Monday on their return trip to Pensacola, Florida, where Joe Scherf is the chief steward of the Navy yard; he has been in service 13 years and recently enlisted for another term of four years.

-- Sharon K. Sanders