Out of the past: March 14

1997

Some opponents of an effort to build a Cape Girardeau-Bollinger counties lake apparently are using coercion in their attempts to sway opinion; following reports from state Sen. Peter Kinder and Marble Hill, Missouri, businessman Stan Crader said they have been cursed by lake opponents; a lake opposition group -- the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger Counties Land Owners Group -- last night threatened legal action against anyone using such tactics in its name.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- A group of men made a deposit 97 years ago in what would become the First Midwest Bank of Chaffee that has accrued a value far beyond its monetary worth; the building was torn down recently after being vacant for four years and deteriorating to a dangerous state; when the owners of the bank had J.W. Strock Construction in Cape Girardeau demolish the structure, they discovered the cornerstone contained a copy of the Chaffee Review newspaper dated Dec. 8, 1905, the signed business cards of some local men, a typed description of Chaffee dated Dec. 9, 1905, and a 1903 silver dollar.

1972

A Cape Girardeau County landmark since its construction in 1948, Cedar Lake north of Millersville is about to become another "first" for the county; John Monroe, the owner, has drained the lake and intends to convert it to commercial production of channel catfish; Monroe says he is associated with Tom Hill of McClure, Illinois, in the venture and will stock the lake with 20,000, 18-month-old catfish this spring.

Jefferson County, Missouri -- recently placed in the new 10th Congressional District by a special three-judge court -- has produced the first competition for incumbent Rep. Bill D. Burlison, D-Cape Girardeau; Dr. James C. Rehm, 43-year-old Jefferson County coroner, announced he will file today in Jefferson City as a Democratic candidate for Congress.

1947

Cape Girardeau city attorney R.P. Smith yesterday postponed Cape Girardeau's municipal airport bond election, set for March 25, after he learned a legal technicality -- failure to advertise notice of registration -- would void the issue; it is now up to the City Council to set a new date for the election.

Elimination of all livestock entry fees and increase of the premium list by approximately $1,500 have been approved by the directors of the SEMO District Fair, effective for the 1947 fair; the premium increase, with stress in the agriculture department, will bring the total purse for premiums, exclusive of the horse races and the horse show, to around $12,000.

1922

Determined that Cape Girardeau shall be in the lead in the enterprise, a committee is at work making preliminary arrangements to dispose of not less than $100,000 of the probable $250,000 stock of the Joint Stock Land Bank for Southeast Missouri; a representative of each of the 16 banks of Cape Girardeau County and Clyde A. Vandivort, one of the leading spirits in the enterprise, make up the committee that is to apportion the stock in this county.

Equipped with larger cars to haul rock from the quarry into the crusher, output of the Hely Rock Crusher in South Cape Girardeau this year is expected to double, according to Norman L. Hely; the crusher resumed operations yesterday after being idle since Dec. 29.

-- Sharon K. Sanders