Out of the past: June 12

1993

The sound of steam escaping from safety valves and steam-powered whistles echo through the hills around Gordonville; the Friends of Steam Railroading and Shelby and Mildred Brown of Jackson are sponsoring a weekend Spring Steam Festival that includes operating steam-power tractors and steam engines; the event is taking place today and tomorrow at Gordonville City Park.

Riverfest '93 concludes with an evening performance by Zaca Creek, a country rock band, and a $7,000 fireworks display launched from a barge on the Mississippi River; despite hot, humid weather, organizers say attendance at the two-day festival appears to be up over last year's event.

1968

Speaking before thousands of spectators at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, U.S. Sen. Edward V. Long praises Cape Girardeau and the city's leadership for building the airport with the future in mind; Long delivers his dedicatory address with the new 6,500-foot runway in the background, and the Blue Angels poised to perform.

The Jackson R-2 School Board last night voted to accept the Oak Grove district, which voted to annex to Jackson in May; the actual change, however, won't become effective until July 1, with both districts closing their books on the current fiscal year before merging.

1943

Lyman A. Matthews, son of the late A.J. Matthews with whom he was associated in farming and in the stock business, has been elected second vice president of First National Bank; for the past two years, Matthews has been cashier in the office of the state treasurer in Jefferson City.

The synagogue on South Main Street in Cape Girardeau suffered damage in the recent record flooding, necessitating the expenditure of $1,500 in repairs to the 6-year-old building; the buckled oak floor was removed and, with no oak to be had, a maple floor is being installed in the 75-foot-long auditorium; the heavy benches couldn't be removed during the flood and may have to be painted; about 8 inches of water was in the synagogue.

1918

A mass meeting has been called at the Common Pleas Courthouse for tonight to discuss the proposition of bonding the Cape Girardeau Special Road District for $200,000 for building bridges and permanent roads.

Because of the scarcity of labor, farmers of the Cape Girardeau area are sorely in need of harvest hands; the young men have all gone off to war; in an effort to help bring in the crops, Christ Freeman of the Broadway garage in Cape Girardeau offers to furnish an automobile each morning and evening to haul workers out into the country to help the farmers save their crops.

-- Sharon K. Sanders