Out of the past: Oct. 19

1997

VILLA RIDGE, Ill. -- Shiloh Baptist Church, situated on a knoll about two miles west of Villa Ridge, is rich in Southern Illinois heritage; its membership, numbering around 80, observes its 180th anniversary with a number of special activities; some members of the Sunday school and church dress in historic costumes; the Rev. Jim Wilkins of Jonesboro, Illinois, a former missionary, provides the Sunday message; following a noon potluck lunch, activities include a music program by church members, covered-wagon rides, a Shiloh Church video, exhibits of religious and historic memorabilia and members portraying different periods of Shiloh history.

The Rev. Wayne Schwiesow is installed as the new pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Chaffee, Missouri; the service is held at 2 p.m. at Zion Church, with the Rev. David Dissen, second vice-president of the Missouri District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, installing Schwiesow.

1972

As if wet weather hasn't posed enough problems, the Cape Girardeau City Council is now faced with the problem of obtaining someone to perform initial earth-moving work so that the Instrument Landing System at Municipal Airport can be installed; however, there were no bids submitted to the council last night, which means the ILS installation will likely be postponed until next spring.

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents approves preliminary drawings for a four-level, 100,000-square-foot Student Union building, to be built on the site of Leming Hall, now being demolished; however, it may be six months before the board opens bids on the $2 million-plus project; when revenue bonds financing most of the project will be sold is uncertain.

1947

The Wesley Foundation, student religious organization, conducts the morning worship service at Centenary Methodist Church; the Rev. Earl G. Statler, ministerial student, preaches the sermon on the subject "The Love of God."

Construction began Friday on a one-story annex to the Church of the Nazarene Activity Hall, Park and William streets, under the supervision of the Rev. C.E. Fleshman, pastor; the annex, which will be 12 by 60 feet in size and will cost $3,000, will contain restrooms, kitchen and a large fellowship hall for class meetings and Good Samaritan League meetings; a garage, 13 by 28 feet, will be built at the back of the annex to house the new church bus.

1922

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Joseph J. Russell, 68, congressman from the 14th District for five terms, and a prominent and greatly admired figure at the nation's capitol while serving in Congress, dies at the Russell Hotel here in the morning, succumbing to a paralytic stroke; retiring from active participation in politics with his defeat in 1918 by E.D. Hays of Cape Girardeau, Russell spent the last few years of his life here.

The City of Jackson and the management of the International Shoe Company's factory, to be erected there, have failed to reach an agreement in regard to the city furnishing electrical power from the municipal plant to the new structure; the factory will, therefore, very likely have its own power plant; the concrete foundation for the new building is being prepared, and contractor Penzel is pushing the work with all vigor and speed.

-- Sharon K. Sanders