Out of the past: May 25

1996

The days of free medical treatment are over at the Cape Girardeau County Jail; after the jail exceeded last year's $40,000 budget for medical expenses, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan decided to implement a program in which county prisoners are charged $10 for every visit they take to the doctor's office; so far, the plan has paid off with the sheriff's department already claiming a savings of more than $15,000 over last year.

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- The Memorial Day service to be held at the Mound City National Cemetery Monday will be dedicated to the late Frederic M. Winkler, long-time mayor of Mound City, who died earlier this month, and was buried in the national cemetery; Winkler was a glider pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II; the Monday service will be sponsored by the cemetery's Preservation Commission.

1971

Company officials continue their testimony here in support of the Missouri-Pacific Railroad's request to abandon its Bismarck-Whitewater rail route; they testify at an Interstate Commerce Commission hearing at the Federal Building on the proposed abandonment of the 65 miles of line known as the Belmont Branch; the company claims this section isn't profitable.

ST. MARYS, Mo. -- The Chester, Illinois, toll bridge was paid for in 1959, but the City of Chester purchased another $1,200,000 worth of bonds for the purpose of building a roadway which would shorten the distance to the bridge for Kaskaskia Islanders, says Rep. Vernon E. Bruckerhoff; however, the two-mile road, which would have eliminated about 10 miles of travel from the island to Chester, was never built; according to Bruckerhoff, a portion of the money was instead used to build streets in Chester.

1946

The local first class mail situation -- which had been handicapped by the rail strike -- was helped out considerably by the overnight bus service from St. Louis, with 11 pouches of mail coming in; meanwhile, the local staff has instructions to help set up a shuttle truck service; a truck is due here from St. Louis early in the afternoon, and it is expected to do so each day, serving points ordinarily given mail service by Frisco Railroad.

R.E.L. Lamkin of Cape Girardeau, Buckner Ragsdale of Charleston, Missouri, and George Lough of Sikeston, Missouri, all with the Buckner Ragsdale Co., are stranded between New York City and Cape Girardeau by the rail strike; they left New York an hour before the strike began Thursday afternoon, but they are stranded in Syracuse, New York; the three had gone to New York a week ago to buy merchandise.

1921

A pitchers' duel seems to be in the offing Sunday, when the Sikeston, Missouri, baseball team will pit Todd Sloan against the home team Capahas' Gene Dale; it is doubtful if two more capable moundsmen have clashed in this district.

J.H. Metzler, Morris David and Dave Stevens barely escape injuries in the morning, when the framework of a roof they were putting on a garage at the rear of Metzler's cleaning shop on Broadway gives way and topples over; Metzler, who was superintending the job, had overlooked putting up braces to hold the rafters and as he was about ready to begin tacking on the roofing, the framework fell; Metzler jumps safely to the ground, while David and Stevens "stay with the ship" and likewise aren't injured.

-- Sharon K. Sanders