Out of the past: March 15

1999

With just a week of winter left on the calendar, Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois got hit by a storm that left more than a foot of snow in some areas; snow began falling early yesterday morning and ended shortly after noon; Cape Girardeau County was hard hit, receiving 14 inches of snow in some spots; Jackson reports drifts reaching 20 to 30 inches, while Cape Girardeau had 6 to 8 inches by noon Sunday.

Rapco International, 3581 Larch Lane in Jackson, is planning to expand its manufacturing facility; a new 100,000-square-foot addition will house the sales, purchasing and accounting departments; vacated space in the existing facility will be used to expand Rapco’s manufacturing capabilities and warehouse capacity; Rapco manufactures audio and video cables and related products for professional touring companies and music retail outlets.

1974

The U.S. diplomatic approach toward achieving a permanent peace in the Middle East is “to take one step at a time in dealing with the various negotiating sides,” says Alfred Leroy Atherton, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East and South Asian affairs; Atherton is in Cape Girardeau to speak to a group of history and social studies teachers at the 98th session of the Southeast Missouri Teachers Association; the teachers meeting ends today.

There will be no air pollution from Cape Girardeau’s sewage treatment facilities when the proposed secondary plant is put into operation, said Jesse H. Barlow, chief sanitarian for Allgeier, Martin and Associates of Joplin, consulting engineers; Barlow made his remark yesterday afternoon at a public hearing on the secondary sewage treatment plant; less than a dozen persons attended the hearing, which was required by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.

1949

Informed by its attorney that there was doubt of the validity of the entire ordinance, the Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday repealed its court-contested electrical wiring code; city attorney Al Spradling recommended that the council repeal the ordinance and begin immediately to search for someone who is an electrical engineer to write an ordinance that is both practical and efficient.

Formation of the Goodwin Poultry Co. in Jackson, which will operate the plant formerly run by Absogood Packing Co., is announced; operators of the new business are president J.R. Bowman, who will also serve as manager of the plant, vice president R.B. Goodwin and secretary-treasurer J.J. Bowman; the plant will be in the building owned by the Dry Food Processor and Wisconsin Corp., which purchased the property in 1943; it had been operated by the Absogood company under direction of Sam Steinberg and Milton Ostrowski; Steinberg left for New York today, while Ostrowski will remain in Jackson; Goodwin Poultry will continue in the general poultry business, operating as a processing and dressing firm and egg plant and maintain ice plant and cold storage facilities.

1924

The fate of the Cape Girardeau Northern Railway will be decided Monday in Common Pleas Court; Judge John A. Snider will be asked to approve foreclosure proceedings on the road and order its immediate sale under an agreement made by attorneys representing various creditors; every attorney who represents any creditor of the road, either prior to or subsequent to foreclosure proceedings in 1914, has been notified of the hearing, and it is expected that at least 50 attorneys will be present Monday to take part, some of them coming from a distance.

Fire, originating in an upstairs apartment, gutted the interior of the second story of the building occupied by the People’s Store at Main and Independence streets at midnight Friday, causing water damage to the stock of goods in the store estimated at $15,000; a tin roof on the building prevented smoke from escaping in large quantities; police officers with their revolvers shot out the windows in the attic and second floor, allowing smoke to escape.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.