Out of the past: March 1

1998

More than 1,000 people cheered for God at a Christian youth rally yesterday in Cape Girardeau; many of the participants at "The Joshua Generation: Taking America Back" rally were of high-school age and younger; they came to the Holiday Inn Convention Center from Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana; they stood and clapped to Christian music performed by singer Kristin Swinford and a band from the Faith Evangelical Free Church in Cape Girardeau.

The city of Cape Girardeau plans to demolish a former barbecue place across from Indian Park as part of its beautification efforts; the building, at 325 William St., formerly housed Akil's BBQ; it is one of three structures slated to be torn down by a contractor hired by the city at a cost of $6,760; "We have 20 tracts on the current condemnation list," Councilman Tom Neumeyer told a meeting Saturday of the Neighborhood Investment Committee.

1973

March, usually ushered in like a winter lion, saunters in gentle as a lamb for the area, as warm southerly winds nudge temperatures into the high 50s and low 60s by afternoon; March's entrance on the Southeast Missouri weather scene is almost the opposite predicted by 1973 almanacs, which said the month would begin cold and end the same way.

Ester M. Foley of Cape Girardeau, 85, who rose to the highest position a woman could hold in the International Shoe Co. during the 1930s, died yesterday at Saint Francis Hospital; Foley was employed by International 37 years and at the time of her retirement in 1953 was assistant office manager.

1948

Winter's freezes and thaws -- and a frost line 12 to 18 inches deep -- have played havoc with Southeast Missouri gravel and blacktop-surfaced roads; the deep freeze, plus a sudden thawing in warm weather two weeks ago, did most of the damage; crews from the 33 maintenance sheds over the district have been engaged in dawn-to-dusk duty filling in cracks and holes with gravel; more permanent repairs will have to wait until all threat of freezing is past.

Six Leap Day babies were born at hospitals here yesterday, two of them to Cape Girardeau families; weighing 7 pounds, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Beaudean, 115 N. Henderson Ave., at 1:43 a.m.; Julie Lynn has been chosen as the name of a daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. U.G. Pettigrew, 1251 Normal Ave., at 12:17 p.m.; other couples welcoming Leap Day babies were Mr. and Mrs. Herman Garland and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bushard, all of Chaffee, Missouri; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Mills of Perryville, Missouri, and Mr. and Mrs. Harold Corbin of Sturdivant.

1923

Central Hotel, the leading hostelry of Jackson, was damaged by fire March 1, 1923.Southeast Missourian archive

Central Hotel, the leading hostelry of Jackson, was damaged by fire March 1, 1923.Southeast Missourian archive

The most serious fire experienced in Jackson in 35 years sweeps the Central Hotel building at 1 a.m., gutting the second and third stories of the three-story brick building and reducing to ashes practically all the hotel fixtures and furniture; only the most heroic work on the part of the fire department, and the fact that there was little wind, confined the blaze to that one structure.

J.J. Dunnigan, head of the company that is constructing the West End sewer in Cape Girardeau, returns from a trip to Chicago and declares the prospects for high wages during the present year are so outstanding that contracting companies are afraid to bid on future work; Dunnigan says he has no work to go to after he finishes the sewer job here this spring.

-- Sharon K. Sanders