Out of the past: Dec. 6

1999

​What started as a small-scale effort by two Delta men to rescue two cats ended Sunday with a diving team and a tow truck; Michael Sweet and Kevin Coomer wanted to rescue a pair of stray kittens, but ended up needing a team of helpers when their vehicle rolled into the Diversion Channel about 8 p.m.; the diving team and firefighters from Cape Girardeau responded to the call for help.

The Cape Girardeau City Council approves by a 6-0 vote, with one abstention, a rezoning request of St. Andrew Lutheran Church to change from R-1 single-family residential district to C-2, general commercial district; the change will allow the church to house Saxony Lutheran High School temporarily.

1974

​Missouri’s new Coordinating Board for Higher Education tends not to be representative of the needs of state universities and acts instead as an arm of the executive branch of government, said Dr. Mark F. Scully, president of Southeast Missouri State University, yesterday in accusing the board of telling universities how much money they will receive without listening to the school’s needs; Scully made the accusation as the Board of Regents discussed plans for additions to the Industrial Arts Building and awarded contracts totaling $226,717.52 for expansion of Brandt Music Hall.

PERRYVILLE – Questions over whether the county currently has a prosecuting attorney and who the governor will appoint to become the new county prosecuting attorney are being asked in Perry County this week, following the resignation of William E. Coen Jr. to accept a position with the Kansas City Court of Appeals; A.J. Seier of Cape Girardeau, prosecuting attorney of Cape County since 1968, and John G. Meyer, who recently set up a private practice in Perryville and is assistant prosecutor, are two contenders for the vacant position.

1949

​Members of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education plan to interview architectural applicants for the proposed high school building project tonight and Wednesday night; six will be interviewed tonight and five Wednesday; it is expected that from these 11 the board will select the firm that will make the plans for the school, if it is approved at a bond issue election to be held at an unspecified time.

Cape Girardeau voters approve by the necessary two-thirds majority the construction of two new fire stations, an addition to the present fire headquarters on Independence Street and equipment to operate them, but defeat propositions to erect a new swimming pool and complete the Arena Building; the latter two issues secured a majority of votes cast, but each failed to gain the two-thirds necessary to bond the city for payment.

1924

​Foundations are in and work is well underway on the erection of the Cape Girardeau Milk Company’s new pasteurization plant at Independence and Middle streets; the building is to be of concrete construction throughout, with dimensions of 44 by 70 feet; it will be one story in height; most of the space will be used for machinery, but there will be a small office and a platform for loading trucks; the company will buy milk from surrounding dairies, pasteurize it and then place the purified product on the market; D.A. Chapin and R.E. England head the concern and expect to start operation about the middle of January.

W.H. Bohnsack Jr. has purchased from Mrs. H.P. Peironnet 28 1/2 feet of property on Spanish Street, adjoining a frontage of the same width; Bohnsack and several other Main Street business men plan the construction of a 10-car garage on the property, construction to start next spring; the building will be of tile and stucco and will be for the convenience of business men having adjacent establishments.

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.