Out of the past: Sept. 3

1993

A brief but fierce lightning and wind storm struck Cape Girardeau and environs last night, causing at least one house fire and more transformer fires, downing power lines and trees all over the city, and flooding out cars on many streets; power is still out this morning in northern, southern and downtown sectors of the city.

The sale of Lee-Rowan to the Newell Company of Freeport, Illinois, was announced yesterday at the company's plant in Jackson; Desmond Lee, president of Lee-Rowan, was at the Jackson plant for the announcement; he will remain with the company for two more years in an advisory capacity.

1968

Public school classes begin in Cape Girardeau once more, with a first-day enrollment of 5,378, an increase of about 135 pupils over opening day a year ago; all 10 buildings in the system are in use; the only departure from normal is at May Greene School, where classes dismiss at 11:30 a.m. because of construction work still taking place here,

W.H. Castleman, a retired employee of the Cotton Belt Railroad, files as the seventh candidate for the single open seat on the Cape Girardeau City Council; Castleman, 81, resides at 1606 Good Hope St.

1943

The usual heavy passenger traffic on motor buses and trains through Cape Girardeau, which accompanies any nationally-observed holiday, began yesterday as the first of the Labor Day vacationers sought their destinations; extra buses were added by two lines to handle the increased business.

Extensive renovation work is underway on a building at the southwest corner of Main and Independence streets, a portion of which is now occupied by the Firestone Store and which, when completed, will give the store more than double the room; the building is owned by Arthur Job of Gordonville.

1918

The Rev. G.C. Barth of St. Louis was the choice of the congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church to succeed the late Rev. August Wilder as pastor at a meeting held last night; following the death of Wilder, the congregation sent a call to the Rev. A.H. Lohmann of the Egypt Mills church, but his congregation would not release him.

Louis Houck has just sold another big body of land just south of the Cape Girardeau city limits; he has sold to J.C. Crawford of Urbana, Illinois, between 1,000 and 1,100 acres for a little over $100,000; about 600 acres are in cultivation; work will begin next winter to clear the rest of the tract; the land lies between the old Commerce, Missouri, dirt road and the Rock Levee Road.

-- Sharon K. Sanders