Out of the past: Oct. 5

1996

Former Apollo 13 astronaut James Lovell Jr. doesn't think of himself as a hero; he said it was teamwork by NASA employees on the ground that allowed him and two other astronauts to return home on their lunar-module-turned-lifeboat; Lovell, who lives near Austin, Texas, spoke to reporters and children at the Cape Girardeau Public Library Friday afternoon; that evening he spoke to about 500 people in Academic Auditorium at a fund-raiser for the Cape Girardeau Library Foundation.

To ensure everyone has a chance to register for the Nov. 5 elections before Wednesday's deadline, two voter-registration outlets are open from 9 a.m. to noon; the voter-registration office in the annex of Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau, and the county clerk's office, 1 Barton Square in Jackson, are open for those who may not have a chance to register during the week.

1971

Purchase of the controlling interest of the Himmelberger-Harrison Lumber Co. -- a holding company controlling Southeast Missouri businesses and properties with assets totaling several million dollars -- is announced; Mr. and Mrs. Joel A. Montgomery of Sikeston, Missouri, have purchased more than half of the common stock of the company; J.E. Himmelberger of Cape Girardeau will continue as president and chairman of the board of directors.

Labeling the ruling in favor of the Chester, Illinois, bridge tolls a "shallow decision," Missouri Rep. Vernon R. Bruckerhoff says he will ask for a reopening of the hearing that led to the ruling by the U.S. Department of Interior examiner Malcolm P. Littlefield.

1946

Termed particularly important because it indicates the need for essential health services not now available in Cape Girardeau County, the report of the Division of Health's survey of conditions here shows the county has a death rate of infants less than 1 year old of 62.9 per 1,000 live births, in comparison to a statewide average of 43.2 deaths per 1,000; even more shocking is the fact that in Cape Girardeau the deaths per 1,000 live births number 70.7; for the county, outside Cape Girardeau, the number is 33.6.

Marking Missouri Day yesterday, a memorial was placed on the city lot at Lorimier and William streets with a plaque with the inscription: "INDIAN PARK. Here from 1693 to 1812 Indian tribes came to meet Don Louis Lorimier, their friend and leader"; the marker is a native boulder, brought here from Graniteville, Missouri, and is 6 1/2 feet long and 3 feet in height; an unveiling ceremony is scheduled for Monday evening.

1921

A.C. MagillSoutheast Missourian archive

Professor A.C. Magill, head of the chemistry department of the Teachers College, has been elected president of the Community Teachers' Association of the college; other officers elected are R.S. Douglass, vice president, and Jeptha Riggs, secretary and treasurer.

Several passengers are shaken up considerably, although none are injured, when the Frisco Hoxie passenger train crashes into the rear end of a freight train on the main line of the railway near Nash at 6:20 a.m.; the dense fog that settled over this part of the country at an early hour is considered responsible for the accident.

-- Sharon K. Sanders