Out of the past: Feb. 17

2000

That shiny sports utility vehicle that looked so good last year when gas cost about 80 cents per gallon may seem more like a money vacuum these days, as the price of fuel climbs to the $1.37 mark in Cape Girardeau; nationally, the average price per gallon of gas is $1.41.

Jack Buck, play-by-play sportscaster for the St. Louis Cardinals, helped kick off the Friends of Scouting fund-raising campaign yesterday morning at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau; Buck’s remarks included a description of Mark McGwire’s 62nd home run, which the broadcaster said was the most exciting single event in his career; the annual Scouting campaign has a goal of $55,000.

1975

A Board of Education member who withdrew as a candidate for reelection because of the new Campaign Practices Act, Thomas L. Meyer, says he is exploring feasible locations for a State School for the Handicapped; the State Department of Education plans to build a new facility, hopefully in Cape Girardeau, to replace State School No. 11 on Old Jackson Road.

Twenty-six area boys will advance to Scouting’s highest rank Sunday, when the Southeast Missouri Boy Scout Council stages its 15th annual Eagle Court of Honor in Southeast Missouri State University’s Academic Hall auditorium; sponsor for the class of Eagles is Earl Jarvis, Sikeston businessman who has long been associated with Scouting activities in the area.

1950

Fair weather and a slow fall in the stage of the Mississippi River brings optimism to those who are watching the water-soaked front line Birds Point-New Madrid spillway levee, but they continue the battle to strengthen the dike against seepwater; W.G. Bryant, gin operator and spillway landowner, estimates some 50 men are still at work around the clock placing brush mats and sandbags at three potential danger spots between 34 Corner and Dorena.

WASHINGTON – A $900,000 natural gas pipe line system in Southeast Missouri is proposed by Associated Natural Gas Co. of Tulsa, Oklahoma; the company has asked for authority to build 14 1/2 miles of line from a connection with the Big Inch line near Oran to Sikeston, and 21 miles of line from Sikeston to New Madrid; the company also plans to build distribution systems in Sikeston and New Madrid, with connections to serve nearby rural areas, such as Charleston, Chaffee, Benton, East Prairie, Lilbourn, Bernie, Morehouse, Bloomfield and Essex.

1925

A dispute over a 5 1/2-inch strip of ground on Main Street may temporarily delay construction of Louis Hecht’s new four-story building; the dispute, for some unexplained reason, was aired before the Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday; the controversy is apparently due to an error in land deeds, with both Hecht and his neighbor to the north, F.M. Williams, claiming the same 5 1/2 inches; the dispute may be settled by litigation.

It is announced that Albert Rueseler and Walter Bohnsack have dissolved their partnership in the firm of Rueseler-Bohnsack, local Studebaker automobile dealers; Rueseler will continue in the business, but Bohnsack hasn’t stated what his plans are; William Lucian, former Frisco agent at Oran, will enter business with Rueseler within a week or two.

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.