Out of the past: May 24

1998

In an effort to establish greater presence and visibility in the community, the Cape Girardeau Police Department is poised to install two new police substations by the end of the year; tentative plans call for one of the "community offices" in the 600 block of Good Hope Street and the other in West Park Mall.

A memorial service is held in the morning at Barks Chapel Cemetery in Crump, with the Rev. Frank Shanks leading the service; a basket dinner follows; in the afternoon the annual memorial service is held at Proffer Cemetery in Crump; the Rev. Joe Allen is in charge of the service, which is followed by a business meeting.

1973

JEFFERSON CITY -- Population growth data and statistics on the large number of banking facilities already available in the Cape Girardeau are presented in support of objections to a proposed fourth bank in Cape Girardeau; these arguments are presented in opening testimony at a two-day hearing here on objections filed to the granting of a charter to Mark Twain Cape Girardeau Bank; the charter was approved April 12 by William R. Kostman, Missouri commissioner of finance.

Purchase by Georgia-Pacific Corp. of a site on Nash Road from the Greater Cape Girardeau Development Corp. for location of an area distribution center was made final late yesterday; the Portland, Oregon-based firm, one of the nation's largest in the manufacturing and distribution of building materials, took title to 14.9 acres of land in the development area and will begin construction immediately on its complex of six buildings having an aggregate size of a little better than 58,000 square feet.

1948

Over 1,000 persons toured the National Reserve Training Center at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport yesterday afternoon to see the near million dollars worth of equipment installed there for training purposes of the 129th Division; eight officers and 40 enlisted men were on hand to explain the equipment and how it is used aboard ship.

A vastly improved midget race speedway will greet spectators tonight when they gather at Arena Park for the first of the season's series of races, expected to draw 18 to 20 entrants; American Legion members spent the weekend at the park putting up the final sections of the new bleachers, wetting down the track and caring for scores of other details incidental to the opening race of the season.

1923

The "Cape Girardeau" -- a new steamer being built by Eagle Packet Co. for service on the Mississippi River -- is launched on the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky; the boat will be completed and ready for service within 60 days; it will take the place of the steamer Bald Eagle, transporting freight and passengers between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau.

St. Vincent's Young Ladies Academy, for 85 years an educational institution of Cape Girardeau and one of the oldest schools in the Midwest, will be abandoned following commencement exercises June 14; the decision to close the school comes after a visit here of the mother general of the Sisters of Loretto, the order in charge of the academy; lack of money to repair the buildings and a falling off in patronage are given as the principal reasons for the closure.

-- Sharon K. Sanders