Out of the past: May 27

1996

Memorial Day. Rain leads to the cancellation of several outdoor Memorial Day events; among them is the Joint Veterans Council's annual ceremony at North Cape County Park; chairman Ron MacCubbin says the event has been conducted in light rain before, but today's downpour, coupled with tornado warnings, makes the ceremony inadvisable.

Even the weather seems to pay homage to the arrival of the Olympic torch in Cape Girardeau; on a rare stormy Memorial Day in Southeast Missouri, as many as 2,000 people gather at the steps of the Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau to view the passing of one of the world's oldest symbols of peace; a number of activities scheduled for the courthouse lawn are canceled because of the steady rain, but the Sweet Adelines International singing group still is able to perform from the relative cover of the courthouse's front entrance; the crowd waits through a downpour, through a chill wind and through an hour-long delay for the arrival of the train; so when the locomotive does pull up at 2:05 p.m., with the towering Olympic flame sitting atop its specially-designed car, the crowd cheers enthusiastically; even the rain stops, the wind calms, and the clouds open just a little.

1971

The Jackson Optimist Club voices strong opposition to any move to locate a county jail outside of Jackson in a letter received by the Cape County Court; the letter states county residents would view such a move as a back-door attempt to shift the county seat from Jackson to Cape Girardeau, and this in turn would cause bitterness that could seriously hamper any project requiring cooperation of various parts of the county.

From about 7 to 8 in the morning, at noon hour and around 4 in the afternoon, motorists traveling through Jackson have been getting snarled in traffic jams that develop at the four main bridges in town; and its apt to continue like that for another four to six weeks, says Ivan Craig, superintendent for Steinhoff-Kirkwood Contractors in Cape Girardeau; it will take that long for widening projects on the bridges to be completed so that two-way traffic can be maintained on the spans during work days.

1946

Railroad operations have returned to normal in Cape Girardeau, following the settlement of the nationwide rail strike, and freight is again moving into the city by rail; several carloads of coal and other freight arrive in the morning; mail service has also returned to normal.

Students swamp registration facilities at State College during enrollment for the summer term; college officials say if the terrific pace set during the early hours continues through much of the day, recent years' first-day registration marks will fade out in comparison; actual registration up to noon is 803, although more than 900 cards were given out to applicants.

1921

Appearing in the evening at the Orpheum Theater on Good Hope Street is Ralph Madsen, who claims to be the world's tallest man; with him is "Tinymite," a horse that is 21 inches high and weighs 65 pounds at 5 years of age.

Articles of agreement for the incorporation of the Cape Theater and Realty Co. have been filed for record in the county recorder's office; the corporation is capitalized at $40,000, and the stock is divided into 400 shares of $100 each, held in equal shares by William Vedder, John T. Sackman, W.G. Bartels, A.W. Blattner and Charles O. Hobbs; the company was organized "to carry on the business of theatrical properties, music-hall proprietors, caterers to public entertainment, concerts and public exhibitions, ballets, conjuring, juggling, moving pictures and other entertainments..."

-- Sharon K. Sanders