Out of the past: July 6

1998

The combination of industrial growth and increased housing construction in Cape Girardeau County should result in increased enrollment for several of the county's five school districts; more new housing developments are under construction as the county prepares for the expansion of several local industries, including Procter & Gamble and BioKyowa; while Cape Girardeau School District posted only a modest enrollment increase last year, Jackson School District the past five years has broken several enrollment records and stands to benefit most from P&G's expansion.

Preparations are being made for the 1998 Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival, which will kick off Friday evening with a hot air balloon launch; around 15,000 persons are expected to attend the three-day festival, which will feature both military and civilian aircraft.

1973

A 1,100-acre tract north of Neelys Landing purchased recently by Farmers Limestone Co. of Old Appleton will be used primarily to expand the business through river and rail shipments of stone from the new site; the land is located about four miles north of Neelys Landing and fronts on two miles of the Mississippi River; it was purchased in June from the C.A. Juden interests and Joe T. Buerkle of Jackson.

A new steak house is coming to Cape Girardeau; Western Sizzlin' will occupy a building to be erected by South "K" Inc., a Blattner family corporation, on its property west of Kingshighway and just west of the Pizza Hut structure; it will be leased to the franchise operators, Woody and Irene Finley of Jekyll Island, Georgia; this will be first Western Sizzlin' in this part of the country.

1948

A dump truck driven by S.L. Jones of Cape Girardeau breaks through a wooden bridge on a road two miles north of Williams Creek Bridge, northwest of the city, at about 8:30 a.m.; U.V. Welty of James Garage extricates the truck, loaded with about two tons of sand, which was lost in the accident; Jones is uninjured, and the truck is only slightly damaged.

A reluctant Cape Girardeau City Council gives permission to two organizations to hold separate Sunday entertainment events, but makes it clear to each that the request is a one-time permission; the two organizations are the SEMO District Fair Board and the American Legion; the former requested authorization to hold motorcycle races on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 19, and the latter to hold midget automobile races on Sunday nights instead of Monday evenings.

1923

C.C. Hearne, Cape Girardeau County farm agent, after returning from a visit with his father near Neosho, Missouri, resigns his position here and will accept a job as assistant county agent leader for this district, which embraces a territory from St. Louis to Caruthersville, Missouri; Hearne is considered one of the best county farm agents in the state.

A special effort is being made by the Sons of Veterans to mark the graves of all Civil War veterans in Cape Girardeau County, the government at this time offering monuments free of charge for this purpose; the Sons of Cape Girardeau have for years decorated the graves of Civil War soldiers on Decoration Day, but are greatly handicapped in this work because so many graves aren't marked; Herman Rabich, 433 Broadway, is taking the lead in the effort to obtain these markers; the offer of free markers from the government is good only through July 15.

-- Sharon K. Sanders