Out of the past: Oct. 2

1998

The SEMO District Fair has established a new fund-raising foundation and accepted its first contribution: $10,000 from NationsBank; the foundation is collecting money to build permanent structures and make improvements to the fair.

Former Southeast Missourian reporter Cecelia "Skeets" Sonderman, 79, of Cape Girardeau died Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Saint Francis Medical Center; the daughter of Fred J. and Clara Beaudean Meinz, Sonderman married John G. Sonderman on Sept. 2, 1950, and he survives; she was a reporter with the Missourian 27 years and was then administrative assistant to the Cape Girardeau city manager from 1975 to 1982; she served two years on the City Council.

1973

WYATT, Mo. -- Workers under the supervision of a Tri-State Motor Transit Co. safety man are expected to complete the unloading this afternoon of 38,000 pounds of dynamite from a tractor-trailer truck that overturned last night four miles west of the Mississippi River bridge at Cairo, Illinois; a spokesman for the company says the unloading operation isn't all that dangerous, as the truck contained no blasting caps; workers are being careful to avoid sparks as they unload the explosives.

There is a sufficient number of signatures on petitions calling for a special election on the county public health unit, and the earliest the proposal can be put to a vote is Nov. 13; the proposal calls for a special tax of 10 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

1948

All precedent is broken when Cape Girardeau' August financial statement, just received from the printer, not only reveals receipts ahead of disbursements, but also many thousands of dollars above any previous income for that particular month; receipts for August amounted to $33,381.63, while disbursements were $29,226.61, the first time in memory that more was received during August than was paid out.

A 12-year accumulation of Mississippi River silt and muck that has filled in around five 18-inch suction lines used by the Missouri Utilities Co. electric plant to draw water to cool condensers will be removed shortly, if approval is granted by the Corps of Engineers in St. Louis; the company proposes to dredge from the mouth of Sloan's Creek to a point approximately 480 feet downstream.

1923

Voting of a $275,000 bond issue to provide for the construction of additional rooms to Washington and Jefferson elementary schools and for the possible erection of a junior high school is contained in a recommendation made by superintendent J.N. Crocker to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education; the present enrollment in Cape Girardeau's public schools is 2,489, 328 larger than can be accommodated under normal conditions; practically every school in the system is overcrowded.

As many people as are able crowd into the Cane Creek school house in the evening to view The Missourian's free picture shows -- a fine drama and a stirring comedy; at the conclusion of the show, Mrs. G.R. Davis, president of the Cane Creek Homemakers Club, says it is the finest entertainment they ever had; she also speaks of the work the club is engaged in, including charity work; the next Missourian show will be at Shawneetown tomorrow night.

-- Sharon K. Sanders