Out of the past: Nov. 30

1990

When Jackson postmaster John C. Crites was sworn into office Aug. 12, 1966, it cost 5 cents to mail a first-class letter; today, as Crites retires, that charge has crept up to 25 cents; in 1966 the Jackson post office handled about 4,000 pieces of mail a day; today, it processes between 8,000 and 9,000 pieces daily.

A nine-month undercover investigation into illegal drug trafficking in Southeast Missouri has resulted in the arrest of 51 people; at least one Cape Girardeau resident was included in the arrests, which stemmed primarily from alleged sales of cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, amphetamines and depressants.

1965

Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas, participating in the Arts and Lecturers Series, speaks in the evening at State College; around 1,200 people hear him discuss the complexities and perplexities of the Southeast Asia problem.

While traffic is halted and a crowd watches, the historic bell that once sounded alarms for Cape Girardeau was placed in the bell tower of the new First Presbyterian Church, under construction at the southeast corner of Broadway and Lorimier Street.

1940

A satisfactory rating was given Cape Girardeau's new fire truck after a three-hour underwriters acceptance test at the swimming pool at Fairground Park yesterday; Capt. Hugh C. Ousley of the Missouri Inspection Bureau approved the tests for the Dodge motor and the pump; the truck, built here, still needs some mechanical adjustments and attachments before it is ready to be painted and put in service.

Principal J.M. Drew of the John S. Cobb School announces a class in sewing for black women of the city will be started at the school Monday night; the classes will be free, and the instructors will be Helen Cole, home economics instructor in the school, and Mrs. J.W. Drew, wife of the principal.

1915

Six houses, owned by the Cotton Belt Railroad near its tracks in Fornfelt, were destroyed by fire recently; they were all in a row, between the Allen boarding house and the street crossing, fronting the railroad; one of the buildings was a large, two-story structure, while the others were old, cheap shacks; only one was occupied.

Cape Girardeau's premier nimrods -- John Frenzel, Emil Kaempher, Joe Koch and Joe Ulrich -- leave on the early morning train for Portageville, Missouri, to spend a month or maybe all winter hunting in the tall timber near there.

-- Sharon K. Sanders