Out of the past: Sept. 29

1994

A British Broadcasting Corp. television crew is in Cape Girardeau this week filming a 30-minute documentary about flying squirrels; the team is working with biology professor John Scheibe of Southeast Missouri State University, who has studied the animals the past eight years, gaining international attention in the process.

Nearly two dozen doctors made Cape Girardeau home this year thanks to an aggressive recruitment campaign; recruiting efforts are barely keeping pace with patient demand; over the past two years, nearly the same number of doctors have left the area or retired.

1969

The Cape Girardeau County Court is advised it will receive petitions the latter part of November calling for a special election to establish a County Health Unit; O. David Niswonger, chairman of the County Health Council, and J. Marvin Campbell, county sanitarian, appear before the court to report on the matter; a County Health Unit would be financed by a special 10 cents per $100 assessed valuation tax levy.

Cape Go! -- through action of its steering committee -- sets its first specific goal: charter home rule for the city; a city, having reached 30,000 population, may elect a 13-member commission to write a charter tailored to the governmental needs of the community; the charter would then be submitted to the voters for their approval.

1944

A War Department message has advised relatives 2nd Lt. Charles E. Murphy, co-pilot on a bomber, reported missing as of July 21, has lost his life; his wife is residing at East Prairie, Missouri, while his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Murphy, live at 1108 Harmony St.; no details were given except the young officer "met his death in American area."

Frances Ellen DePriest, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James R. DePriest of Oran, Missouri, was recently sworn in as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis; DePriest graduated from Oran High School in 1943, with the highest honors.

1919

C.P. Coley, president of the Cape Girardeau Business College, has gone to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he will organize and systematize the stenographic and official training departments of the Bowling Green Business University; this is one of the largest commercial schools in the United States.

The Rev. W.L. Halberstadt returns here in the afternoon from St. Louis, where he had been attending the Methodist Conference; the Rev. D.M. Margrave of Oak Ridge and the Rev. J.B. Wilburn of Essex, Missouri, also return from the conference, passing through here on their way home; at the weekend conference, Halberstadt was returned to Centenary Church as pastor.

-- Sharon K. Sanders