Out of the past: May 13

1996

If successful in November, Secretary of State Rebecca McDowell "Bekki" Cook will become the first Cape Girardeau County native elected to Missouri statewide office in 100 years; the last was James Monroe Seibert, elected state auditor in 1896; Cook started down the election highway yesterday at the Common Pleas Courthouse, where she formally announced her candidacy for secretary of state; about 100 people turned out in the Mother's Day cold and drizzle to hear Cook speak.

Cape Girardeau voters can expect a sales tax measure on November's ballot, this time for water system improvements; city officials want to move quickly to protect the water supply; a recent study revealed Cape Girardeau's current system may be at maximum production in three years; that depends on whether the city's growth rate continues the upward bolt started in 1993; water usage was steady in the city from 1985 to 1991, averaging around 4 million gallons a day; now the average is closer to 5 million gallons a day; the city can't produce more than 7.3 million gallons a day.

1971

Narcotics raids last night by authorities over a three-county area in Southeast Missouri resulted in the arrest of 27 persons, 21 in Cape Girardeau; authorities say a "substantial amount" of drugs and narcotics was seized during simultaneous raids in Cape, Scott and Butler counties; among those confiscated were marijuana, hashish and LSD.

There were 3,073 names of unqualified voters on the city's registration books, says registrar Sara O. Andrews; she has just completed the lengthy task of checking the books to determine names of voters who haven't balloted in a primary or general election on the county level or above for the past four years; this is the year for removing names of such voters from the books under the four-year cancellation method set out in Missouri statutes.

1946

Raiding the Blue Hole barbecue stand on South Sprigg Street early in the morning, burglars break about even, leaving behind a number of used tools and other odds-and-ends, but stealing cigarettes and the like; cruising in a patrol car at 2:15 a.m., police Sgt. F.L. Schneider and Sgt. Pink P. Niswonger discover the broken window used to gain entry.

Steamer Golden Eagle passing Cape Girardeau.G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive

The steamer Golden Eagle, one of the two famed river packet steamers left in the nation's inland waterways service, stops at Cape Girardeau under new ownership for the first time in 28 years; Rose Willers, owner of the Forest Inn at Marissa, Illinois, one of the new owners, and her husband, Ed Willers, who is the new general manager on the craft, are aboard; Mrs. Willers is co-owner with Dewey Miller, a wholesale grocer at Belleville, Illinois.

1921

Trying to determine if rice can be grown at a profit in Cape Girardeau County, L.O. Groseclose of Randles last season planted 10 acres of rice; his yield was 800 bushels, or 80 bushels to the acre; while the market isn't particularly attractive, Groseclose has decided to put in between 40 and 50 acres of rice this season.

The Buckner-Ragsdale store is displaying some special golf shoes made at the International Shoe factory in Cape Girardeau; they are in three shades of tan, have patented rubber soles and are made of a splendid quality of leather; the store is taking orders for the shoes at $7 per pair; none will be carried in regular stock.

-- Sharon K. Sanders