Out of the past: Nov. 18

1998

A coalition of 53 acute-care Missouri hospitals, including Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, has filed suit against the tobacco industry; the hospitals want to recover the costs of treating indigent and Medicaid patients suffering from smoking-related illnesses; plaintiffs also include Dexter Memorial Hospital.

Work on a $1.5 million project to expand a section of Broadway from two to four lanes is expected to begin next summer; under the plan, Broadway will be upgraded to four lanes from Clark Avenue to Perry Avenue, a distance of about a half-mile; separate left turn lanes will also be added at major intersections; Broadway is already four lanes from Kingshighway to Clark.

1973

The Rev. and Mrs. Walter Keisker are honored by the congregation of St. Paul Lutheran Church at Jackson on the 50th anniversary of his ministry and the couple's marriage; Keisker was ordained Aug. 26, 1923, and the Keiskers were married Nov. 29 of that year; he was installed as pastor of the Jackson church on Nov. 20, 1938, and served until retiring in 1968; he serves as pastor emeritus of the church.

The congregation of Maple United Methodist Church serves up a covered-dish supper in the evening to honor the church's new pastor and his wife, the Rev. and Mrs. James E. Norris; special music by Mrs. Gary Middleton of Scott City follows the meal.

1948

Beaver Lines, which has an office in St. Louis, announces ocean-going freighters will inaugurate service between Cuba and St. Louis, by way of Cape Girardeau, Dec. 10; the line will bring a specially designed freighter, reported to be a converted wartime LST, up the river and to St. Louis about Dec. 10, which will put it by Cape Girardeau the preceding day; the first consignment will be scrap steel from Havana, Cuba, to the Laclede Steel Co. at St. Louis.

Fifty-seven pieces of art, representing the work of 20 artists who either live in or are acquainted with the Cape Girardeau district, will be on display at The Southeast Missourian's second annual art exhibition and reception Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon; the exhibit will be highlighted by three guest artists from St. Louis: Jim Harmon, Fred Dreher and John Pope Baker II.

1923

The Rev. H.H. Marsden, recently named archdeacon of the Diocese of Missouri, preaches at Christ Episcopal Church in the morning; he was recently named to assist Bishop F.F. Johnson in some of the details of the missionary work in the diocese; Marsden has long been a friend of the Rev. J.H. Taylor, rector of Christ Church, the two having attended a theological seminary at the same time.

The congregation of the Cape Girardeau Presbyterian church, at a meeting in the morning, decides to erect a new church building and authorizes the naming of two committees to handle the details; the decision to build is almost unanimous, with only two members dissenting.

-- Sharon K. Sanders