Out of the past: March 27

1999

Repair work on the Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau continues another day next week, but travelers should expect additional repairs to be scheduled in the coming months; this week, work went slower than expected because of rain early in the week and an equipment breakdown Thursday; Tuesday, the bridge will be closed to one lane of traffic from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

An 8-year-old with a lighter and a piece of paper catches his family’s home, 1536 Independence St., on fire in the afternoon; the youngster has first- and second-degree burns to his face and is being treated at Southeast Hospital; when firefighters arrive, flames are shooting from the rear of the home; the boy’s grandmother and 6-year-old sister are at home at the time of the fire, but neither is injured.

1974

Dale A. Rauh of Jackson, rehabilitation counselor for the University of Missouri Crippled Children’s Service for the past four years, will assume new duties as the community coordinator of Saint Francis Hospital’s new community mental health program April 15; he will join Louis E. Masterman who, after working for the past 22 years in the fields of mental and public health program planning and evaluation, community development for mental health and mental health research, was named administrative director of the program; the program has a start date of July 1.

The final touches are being put on Fire Station No. 4 at Kurre Lane and Kingsway, and firemen expect to move in within two weeks; workers are installing the telephones and finishing some of the carpentry work, but there has been a delay because the handles for cabinets and lockers haven’t arrived.

1949

The Crusade for Christ opens at First Baptist Church in the morning, with a second service set for 7:30 p.m.; Charlie Taylor and Laurie Taylor, internationally known evangelists from Pasadena, California, are conducting the two-week crusade; the brothers flew to St. Louis yesterday morning and arrived in Cape Girardeau in the afternoon; the crusade is being sponsored by seven district Baptist churches: First Baptist, Southside and Red Star in Cape Girardeau, First Baptist at Jackson and the churches at Illmo, Fornfelt and Delta.

The Rev. C.E. Fleshman, pastor of Church of the Nazarene in Cape Girardeau for nine years, was extended a call for three more years at a recent meeting of the congregation; the church has grown from 63 to more than 190 members, and the financial volume has grown from $3,000 to nearly $22,000 per year.

1924

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce pledges to vigorously fight the adoption of the increased freight rates proposed by the Frisco Railroad for this territory and will ask the cooperation of other similar organizations in this section to carry the fight to the Missouri Public Service Commission; the proposal would raise rates from 10 to 20% on shipments from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau.

The Marquette Cement plant in South Cape Girardeau is transporting a hill from one field to another; the hill, which covers approximately 40 acres, is being moved from its present location west of Kingshighway, across the road and railroad tracks to a field east of the highway; and it’s being done without disturbing traffic either on the highway or the railroad — although it will take two years to complete; by means of hydraulic engineering, the hill is being washed down with water.

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 www.semissourian.com/history.