Out of the past: Sept. 12

1992

Pete Poe thinks this week's SEMO District Fair has one attraction that's hard to top: an expected visit Wednesday afternoon from First Lady Barbara Bush. It will mark the first time in the history of the fair that the wife of a sitting president has visited the annual event.

Tuesday morning, hundreds of volunteers will be hawking newspapers to motorists, raising money to fight illiteracy and having a lot of fun during YELL for Newspapers. Money raised will go to the Southeast Missourian's Newspaper in Education program and to the Area Wide United Way's special literacy fund.

1967

Skies may be overcast, but they fail to daunt the spirit of the many looking forward to the opening of the annual SEMO District Fair. The evening program in front of the grandstand consists of the Blue Grass Shows and the first tractor-pulling contest.

Voters in extreme Southern Illinois will go to the polls Saturday to decide whether a junior college will be established in the area. The proposed Shawnee Junior College District would encompass about 29 high-school districts -- all of Alexander, Pulaski, Union and Massac counties, most of Johnson County and a small part of Jackson County.

1942

The approximate number of Cape Girardeau County men who are now in service in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Maritime Service swelled to 1,576 -- 180 more than in all of World War I -- with the tabulation of selective service and other totals up to Sept. 1.

Loot valued at approximately $400 is taken when the Henry A. Ueleke jewelry store, near the heart of Jackson, is burglarized early in the morning. It is the first major burglary in Jackson in three years; however, three tires were taken recently from automobiles and a truck parked on the streets.

1917

Walter Brock, premier attraction of this year's fair, makes a wonderfully pretty and successful flight in his French monoplane this afternoon at the fairgrounds. Starting off in the teeth of a strong wind, he rises rapidly and shoots away from the track ground like a bullet. After performing various stunts, he lands with the engine choked off, gliding along as a large bird alighting.

Bandmaster C.E. Schuchert of the Sixth Regiment Missouri Infantry, here for several days on leave, is full of good stories about camp life at Nevada, Missouri. He says the boys of Company L and of the band are enjoying life to the fullest, and all are in excellent health.

-- Sharon K. Sanders