Out of the past: Oct. 19

1996

Three men poked and pried the walls, but a search of the house at 220 N. Missouri St., in Jackson yesterday didn't turn up any logs; it's something of a mystery to members of the Poe family, who called the house theirs for more than 60 years and who were always told the home's original two rooms were a log cabin built during the Civil War; plans are to raise the now county-owned house as part of a proposed county jail expansion project.

James Sexton is the new chief executive officer at Saint Francis Medical Center; he begins the job Nov. 11 and succeeds John E. Fidler as president; Fidler's last day at the medical center was Wednesday; he had served the hospital since January 1992.

1971

Heavy trucks traveling streets in Cape Girardeau's downtown business area and the dangers they hold for employees and customers of business firms there will be the center of discussion at the City Council meeting Wednesday night; businessmen along Main and Spanish streets are seeking to have the trucks rerouted.

Dennis Sievers was appointed Ward 3 councilman last night by Jackson Mayor Paul Leonard; he fills a vacancy created by the death last week of Elmer Best; Sievers will serve until the election next spring, at which time the second year of the term won by Best will be filled by election.

1946

ORAN, Mo. -- Fred Lewallen, superintendent of schools at Chaffee, Missouri, and camping and activities chairman of the Southeast Missouri Area Council of Boy Scouts, was elected president of the council Thursday night at its annual dinner and business meeting, held here.

Winding up their two-day first annual fall meeting in Cape Girardeau with some plain and fancy shooting (contributed by crack FBI agents), members of the Missouri Peace Officers Association head back to their respective communities with the urge to make more vigorous their work, particularly with respect to traffic regulation; next year's meeting will be held in Springfield, Missouri.

1921

A special committee is appointed by Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce president H.L. Albert to circulate petitions asking the City Council to adopt an ordinance permitting the street car company to increase fare from 5 cents to 7 cents, if it is desired; the committee is composed of Albert, D.B. Smith, Charles L. Harrison, Sam Sherman, Will Bergmann, Louis Hecht, Fred Naeter, James A. Kinder, H.H. Haas, A.J. Lawrence and A.C. Magill; I.R. Kelso, representing the street car company, explains that a crisis has finally come, and the owners of the company must either rebuild the property and get new cars or quit; support for the higher fare would show residents' sympathy for the company.

Mrs. D.C. Thompson and Mrs. A.C. Hope of Pocahontas were in Cape Girardeau yesterday to let a contract with a local firm for the manufacture of seats for the Old Apple Creek Presbyterian Church at Pocahontas; the church building is being repaired and remodeled; when the work is completed, it will be practically a new edifice.

-- Sharon K. Sanders