Out of the past: July 23

1999

The lack of rain, coupled with more water use, is forcing a depletion of Cape Girardeau’s water reserve, and city officials are asking residents to cut back their usage; to make matters worse, a water main broke yesterday evening at the corner of Old Sprigg and Bertling streets; according to Kevin Priester, Alliance Water Resources manager, the city is exceeding its daily production levels.

Former Cape Girardeau school superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent has been hired as director of the Perry County Higher Education Center; he began his duties July 1; Tallent is charged with developing, implementing and expanding education programs offered at the center.

1974

A major renovation proposal for the Jackson School District, which in its entirety would cost more than $2.3 million, was submitted last night during a special meeting of the school board; William McLaughlin of the Hanner, Breitweiser and McLaughlin architectural firm of Chester, Illinois, presented the board with a list of 24 recommendations for improvements to the high school and construction of a new elementary school to replace the ones at Pocahontas and Fruitland at a cost of $690,000.

The Cape Girardeau Jaycees have agreed to take over local management of the flag display service of Patterson Flag and Decorating Co. of Carbondale, Illinois, which has contracts with 116 local merchants to display the American Flag on 12 holidays each year; David Poe, Jaycee director in charge of the project, says the club will hire a third party to put up the flags each holiday.

1949

The State College Board of Regents yesterday appointed five new instructors to the faculty, including John Adams, a graduate, who will serve as basketball coach succeeding Joe McDonald; he will also assist coach Wayne Goddard with the football team and will teach physical education; the other new faculty members are Charles E. Bess, English Department; Margaret Kurtz, assistant librarian; R. Graham Wagoner, industrial arts, and Charles Cooper, Department of Education.

Work on the $10,721 road and bridge construction project on Hopper and Kage School roads is progressing well, despite the frequent rains since the project got underway two weeks ago; the overall project, the work being done by personnel of the Cape Special Road District, includes grading, some fill work and construction of two concrete culverts within a 2 1/2-mile area on the two roads, and the construction of an 80-foot bridge across Cape LaCroix Creek on Hopper Road.

1924

The Cape Girardeau Northern Railroad is again to be offered for sale at public auction, possibly within the next two months; this much, at least, is decided at a spirited session of Common Pleas Court, when the formal report of the special masters of the other attempted sale, held July 2, is presented; what isn’t decided, even after two hours of wrangling, is the minimum price which the road must bring, if sold.

The Cape Girardeau Building & Loan Association purchases from L.B. Houck the piece of vacant property at the northeast corner of Main and Themis streets, the consideration being $6,500; it is said the board of directors plans to erect an office building at the site; a three-story building occupied the corner for many years, but was destroyed by fire a few years ago; it has remained unoccupied since then.

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.