Out of the past: March 14

1996

When Scott City Administrator John Saxton announced his resignation Monday, it left council members wondering why; Saxton gave no reason for his immediate resignation, which took effect at 1:07 p.m. Monday afternoon; "The letter said he wanted to resign immediately and wished the city well," says Mayor Larry Forhan.

Carol Rutherford returned home from work about 3:30 p.m. yesterday to discover that her house at 709 S. Benton St., had been destroyed by fire; Rutherford wasn't notified about the fire because no one knew how to contact her; the fire was a result of a neighbor burning trash in his backyard at 713 S. Benton earlier in the afternoon; the teen-age neighbor was burned on his back and arms when he went into the house to check if anyone was home; no other injuries were reported.

1971

Special prayers and litanies in behalf of prisoners of war and those missing in action are offered in congregations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; Cape Girardeau churches participating the special services are Trinity, St. Andrew, Good Shepherd and Hanover, as well as Trinity in Egypt Mills.

The Missouri Highway Commission in Jefferson City Friday awarded contracts to Steinhoff and Kirkwood, general contractors of Cape Girardeau, for two area projects -- one at the Highway 61-74 intersection there and the other at four bridge sites in Jackson; at the Cape Girardeau job, automatic traffic signals and lighting will be installed.

1946

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Sponsored by the Bollinger County Chamber of Commerce, a campaign is underway to raise approximately $50,000 for construction of a factory building in the vicinity of Marble Hill and Lutesville; the committee is negotiating with several shoe manufacturing firms looking to establish a plant, with an initial employment of about 125 persons.

The price of shaves appears on the way up; at least one Cape Girardeau barber shop advanced the price yesterday from 25 to 35 cents, and other barbers will likely follow suit; the price of haircuts remains unchanged at 50 cents.

1921

Upon the return of Lee Bagby, traffic manager for Cape Girardeau Portland Cement Co., who has been in conference in St. Louis with the traffic manager of the Frisco Railroad, it is learned freight rates from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau will be lowered on certain commodities; among these are print paper, prepared roofing, stoves and furnaces, canned goods, plaster, plaster boards, excelsior, glass bottles, oranges and other citrus fruits from Florida.

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education lowers school taxes from $1.80 per hundred to $1.20 on the hundred for the fiscal year, starting in July; the reduction comes as pledges from the members of the State Board of Equalization that the property assessment would be raised to full value; with the assessment raised to 100%, a tax of $1 on the hundred is all that is necessary to defray the expenses of the schools, it is thought.

-- Sharon K. Sanders