Out of the past: Sept. 18

1996

Missouri Highway and Transportation Department district engineer Scott A. Meyer told a gathering of Scott City Chamber of Commerce members last night that once riverboat gambling comes to Scott City, the department will start building roads; many at the meeting expressed some skepticism that Meyer would be able to meet his promise of speedy road improvements to coincide with a gambling boat.

An 18-year-old man dies after hanging himself in a cell of the Cape Girardeau City Jail about two hours after escaping from a work-release program at Cape Girardeau Recycling Center; he uses the pants of his jail uniform to hang himself from the bars of his cell.

1971

A new attendance record could be set this year for the SEMO District Fair; anticipation is running high as fair officials note the attendance total for the first four days of the exposition is only 4,249 short of the comparable running total in 1968 when the previous all-time record of 52,409 was established.

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Board has leveled several complaints against the City Council, charging it has failed to act on board recommendations; during a noon meeting yesterday at the Ramada Inn, one of the few staffed by the Southeast Missourian recently because meeting dates and places haven't been announced, the board presented its concerns to City Manager W.G. Lawley.

1946

A normal seasonal shortage of poultry, accentuated by a consumer demand for the fowl to substitute for other meat that would ordinarily be on dinner tables, is making it doubly difficult for housewives to find any kind of fresh meat for their families; accompanying the shortage of poultry and eggs is an increase in price; generally, chickens have gone up 9 or 10 cents per pound.

A.P. Rueseler, chairman of the advisory board of the Salvation Army, announces a Home Service Campaign goal of $20,000 to be appropriated for a three-way use, and the appointment of Rush H. Limbaugh Jr. as campaign chairman; major share of the goal -- $13,000 -- will go into the building fund to construct a new citadel at the corner of Lorimier and William streets.

1921

F.W. Keller finished concreting South Sprigg Street Friday evening, and the new paving will be covered with dirt to protect it while it cures; he notified the city he wouldn't object to the street being opened for light traffic Wednesday, if the city would put a watchman there to protect it from heavy traffic; it is now necessary to detour through Ellis Street to get to or from the Rock Levee Road, and several blocks of this street are rough.

The Capahas play sensational baseball, and it is the misfortune of the Fredericktown, Missouri, team to be the opposition when the local team is unstoppable; the Caps win 11-0, bombarding Tom Harding, the visiting "slabman," for a total of 18 hits, including doubles, triples and slashing singles that rip past the visiting infielders with bewildering regularity.

-- Sharon K. Sanders