Out of the past: Dec. 15

1999

Phil Meyer would be in familiar territory if he is hired as Southeast Missouri State University’s new head football coach; Meyer, quarterback coach at Iowa State and a former Southeast assistant, was the second of four finalists for the vacant coaching position to be brought to campus for a series of interviews Tuesday; SEMO is searching for a new head man after the resignation of John Mumford, who went 40-70 in 10 seasons with the Indians.

Cost estimates for building a new high school in the Cape Girardeau School District are considerably higher than anticipated, and the Board of Education isn’t sure when voters will be asked to approve the second phase of the district’s construction and renovation program that began in 1997; the latest estimates range from $30.7 million to $47.4 million for the total project.

1974

After operating for nearly 30 years out of its citadel at 215 Broadway with its Thrift Shop across town on Good Hope Street, the Salvation Army has purchased two buildings immediately to the east of its church facilities to bring its services to one location; the purchase includes a small white house at 211 Broadway and a three-and-a-half-story red brick building at 209 Broadway that formerly housed Cape Institutional Foods.

Graduation day finally comes for 387 Southeast Missouri State University graduates, who receive their diplomas in commencement ceremonies at Houck Field House in the afternoon; approximately 2,700 parents, friends and well-wishers pack the gymnasium for the event; commencement speaker is Ronald Jerry Lovelace, public relations director for the St. Louis baseball Cardinals.

1949

The southbound Frisco passenger train derails shortly after 1 p.m. near the Leming Mill, when it runs through an open switch and collides head-on with a diesel-powered switch engine used in the local yards; the diesel had pulled into a siding to allow the train to pass, but it instead moves on to the same track used by the switch engine, smashing into its front and derailing both engines; no one is injured.

A $480,200 bonanza will hit Cape Girardeau County beginning in January: the jingling gold of refunds to World War II veterans who, through the years since the start of the conflict, paid a surplus on premiums of their National Service Life Insurance policies; to the Southeast Missouri district as a whole, the insurance refund will be a $4,040,400 pie to be sliced up in the 10-county area adjacent to Cape Girardeau; the Veterans Administration reports the average amount will be $140 per veteran.

1924

The fight for a new and adequate gymnasium building at the Cape Girardeau Teachers College, sought by the Board of Regents in its budget to be submitted to the State Legislature, will be carried to the appropriation committee in spite of the recommendations of the State Tax Commission that the request be denied; the commission, in its recommendation to the General Assembly in a report made public late Saturday, recommended that the appropriation for the biennial period for the college here be reduced from $626,900, as requested by the regents, to $334,000; while the report hasn’t been seen here, it is believed the item asking for a building for the physical education department was cut by the commission.

The new $15,000 Marquette School in the Rock Levee rural school district on South Kingshighway was formally dedicated to “the cause of education” at appropriate ceremonies yesterday; nearly 500 persons attended the dedication.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a weekend column called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper.