Out of the past: June 6

1997

Vandals struck Cape Rock Park on Wednesday, knocking over wooden railings, ripping a post from the ground despite its concrete base, knocking a bench down the hill and generously distributing trash about the park; Cape Rock itself wasn't exempted from miscreants' efforts; the plaque on the rock was smeared with a yellow, egg-like substance.

COMMERCE, Mo. -- Tired of waiting for the Missouri Conservation Department to fulfill a repeated, 25-year-old promise, Darriel Williams, owner of K.D.'s Tavern in Commerce, has been constructing a boat ramp on the banks of the Mississippi River just off Water Street here; Williams applied for the necessary permits, had the area inspected by both the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the conservation department, and began digging.

1972

Although enrollment figures for the summer session at State College aren't known yet, it appears the enrollment will be comparable to that of last summer when the count was 3,022 students, according to David A. Strand, dean of the college; registration was held yesterday, with lines forming quickly as students wanted to register their vehicles for campus parking.

A three-way Democratic race for the State Senate in the newly created 25th District of extreme Southeast Missouri narrows to a two-man contest pitting a small-town mayor against a veteran legislator; with the withdrawal of Sen. J.F. "Pat" Patterson, D-Caruthersville, Sen. Nelson B. Tinnin, D-Hornersville, will face Randall E. Ramsey, 34, five-term mayor of Parma, a New Madrid County town of 1,100 population.

1947

Work on a small scale resumes at the Superior Electric plant, and all employees should be back on the job starting Tuesday, says Joseph Quatmann, plant manager; the end to the 36-day strike came yesterday, when a formal contract between the company and the union providing for a 20% increase in pay was signed.

Plans are being completed by the Optimist Club of Jackson for the purchase of an Army building at Weingarten, near Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, as the former prison camp is being dismantled; the buildings will be sold only to cities, and the local club is cooperating with the Jackson City Council and the park committee in taking advantage of the opportunity; the Optimists plan to house the Cub Scouts of Jackson in the 40-by-60-foot building, to be placed near the ball diamond.

1922

Jeff Hutson, undated.Southeast Missourian archive

Police Chief Jeff Hutson promises rigid enforcement of the liquor law in Cape Girardeau, following the passing of an ordinance yesterday by the City Council prohibiting the manufacture, possession or sale of intoxicating liquors in the confines of the city; revenue, which had been obtained from the arrest and conviction of bootleggers, that heretofore has gone to the county, will now flow into city coffers, following the action of the council.

Books will be classified and in place in time for the opening of the new Cape Girardeau Public Library on June 15, says Margaret Baughn, librarian; the library will house 3,000 volumes, these including fiction, poetry, history, biography, travel, dictionaries and encyclopedias; the new library will have six tables in the reading room for adults and five for children, accommodating 36 adults and 36 children at one time; the Rotary Club has collected funds for an American flag for the new facility; it will be run up when the new building is formally dedicated.

-- Sharon K. Sanders