Out of the past: Sept. 13

1999

The SEMO District Fair gets into full swing with a parade in the evening from Capaha Park to Arena Park, where the annual attraction is playing; in the evening, Manitou Band entertains, and a demolition derby brings the day’s activities to an end.

Broadway Ice Cream and Sweet Shop has opened at 707 Broadway; the restaurant, owned by Gera Graves, offers breakfast and lunch menus, as well as a buffet breakfast each Friday and Saturday; Graves has been a baker 25 years, moving to the Cape Girardeau area from the Yakima Valley of Washington state.

1974

Dr. Robert E. Leestamper, president of Worcester State College in Worcester, Massachusetts, is named to become the 11th president of Southeast Missouri State University; announcement of his appointment is made by Lindsay W. Simmons, president of the University Board of Regents; Leestamper will succeed the retiring Dr. Mark F. Scully, president since 1956, at the end of the spring semester.

As tomorrow night’s closing hour of the 1974 SEMO District Fair grows steadily nearer, fair association members and fairgoers alike are hoping that the weatherman is right in his forecast for clearing skies tonight and sunny skies for the exposition’s finale; today, All Counties Day offers special treats for pupils in the rural schools; this evening’s entertainment will be the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show.

1949

Three crew members are missing after the engine and seven cars of a Memphis-bound Frisco Railroad freight train plunged through the trestle over a small creek a mile north of Seventy-Six at 11:35 last night; listed as missing are Quinton G. Briggs, engineer; John E. Faulkner, fireman; William N. Nunn, chief brakeman, all of Chaffee; apparently those missing were in the engine or the tender of the train, loaded with Ford automobile parts bound for a Memphis assembly plant; the scene of the pileup is almost inaccessible except by rail because of rain in the area, which measured over 5 inches.

The 1949 SEMO District Fair picks up momentum, the second day of the exposition; the threatening skies Monday brought a hard rain overnight; however, the forecast is for fair and cool weather; today’s program includes the first horse races, a baton-twirling contest and a vaudeville show before the grandstand.

1924

Contractors began flocking to Cape Girardeau early this week to look over plans for drainage work in the Little River Drainage District; contracts for between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000 for the work will be received by the district’s board of supervisors beginning Monday afternoon; indications are that more than 25 contractors will submit bids on the 19 projects.

West Broadway, from West End Boulevard to Perry Avenue, recently paved, is opened to traffic late in the afternoon; city workers are busy making the intersection of Broadway and West End ready for traffic, while workers of the special road district are working on the approach from the Cape Girardeau-Jackson Road.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.