Out of the past: Sept. 6

1993

Labor Day. The Compton Heights Concert Band of St. Louis performs a free Labor Day concert as part of the Cape Girardeau Bicentennial celebration; the concert is held in the evening at the band shell in Capaha Park in front of a large crowd; capping the Sousa-style concert on a pleasantly cool evening is a fireworks display accompanied by the "1812 Overture."

The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, with KFVS-TV hosting the local activities, raised $298,547 to support the programs of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, more than $17,000 above last year's total; organizers are very pleased and perhaps a bit surprised with the overwhelming response after the recent flooding.

1968

Thomas E. Phillips, architect for the new $1,702,000 Federal Building at Broadway and Fountain Street, says the building is 90 to 95 percent complete and will be ready for use when the U.S. District Court convenes in November; the completion date is about five months later than had been projected.

George C. Wallace, third-party candidate for president, will be in Cape Girardeau for a speaking engagement on Sept. 18 at Arena Park; Wallace, who will appear on the ballot in Missouri and other states under the American Independent Party label, is a former Democratic governor of Alabama.

1943

Labor Day. Motor bus and train passenger traffic through Cape Girardeau is described by terminal managers and agents as the heaviest over the Labor Day period in recent years; one of the major lines estimates that between 1,000 and 1,200 passengers a day were handled by the local terminal alone from Friday through today.

A general Labor Day holiday is observed in Cape Girardeau with business suspended for the day; moderate rainfall comes to the immediate district, followed by a drop in temperature, the coolest weather in weeks at a reading of 54 degrees.

1918

The city health board has imposed on the superintendent of Cape Girardeau public schools to arrange a schedule for visits of physicians in the schools to examine the arms of all pupils; each child will be carefully examined for proof of vaccination.

The Al G. Barnes' big wild animal circus arrived in Cape Girardeau last evening over the Frisco Railroad, with several hundred men, women, boys and girls on Water Street to welcome it and see that it was properly unloaded; the show, featuring 1,200 animals, will give performances starting this evening at the fairgrounds.

-- Sharon K. Sanders