Out of the past: Jan. 31

2000

​Few people in Cape Girardeau strayed from their homes and television sets yesterday, as they watched the St. Louis Rams capture the Super Bowl XXXIV title; the Rams defeated the Titans 23-16 in a game that found theTitans on the 1-yard line as time ran out; it was the Rams’ first Super Bowl victory.

Dr. Mark Scully returned yesterday to Wildwood, the home he and his family shared from 1956 until his retirement as president of Southeast Missouri State University in 1975; university president Ken Dobbins and his wife, Jeanine, were hosts at an open house in honor of Scully’s 90th birthday; present and former university personnel, former students and friends were among the estimated 250 guests.

1975

​An extensive annexation of territory around Cape Girardeau that has considerable potential for urban growth is being proposed by Mayor Howard C. Tooke; the mayor says the city should annex the municipal airport, Greater Cape Girardeau Industrial Tract on Nash Road and two growing residential areas — Cape Rock Village and Tanglewood Estates.

The three-story county courthouse in Jackson will be remodeled this year in an effort to make offices frequented by the public more accessible and to afford more usable space for magistrate and circuit court facilities on the top floor; included in the 1975 county budget is $29,000 in federal revenue-sharing funds for the renovation; plans are to move the assessor’s office from the top floor to the second floor office of the collector; the collector’s office would be moved into new space on the first floor, which also might be used for the prosecuting attorney, who has no office in the courthouse.

1950

​A freezing rain, intermittently mixed with sleet and alternating between downpours and drizzles, coated telephone and utility wires with ice late yesterday and early this morning, but brought surprisingly slight damage for the amount of glaze; a large tree top crashed onto the Buchanan used car lot in the 100 block of South Sprigg Street during the night, slightly damaging two automobiles; the ice brought two major breaks to Missouri Utilities Co. lines and kept three crews totaling 16 men busy most of the night.

Cape Girardeau Mayor Walter H. Ford is hobbling around on a severely sprained right ankle, the result of a bad fall while serving as a referee in the annual Scott-Mississippi County Basketball Tournament at Benton last night; Ford says he was running hard at one end of the court, when his feet went out from under him as he stepped in a spot of spilled soft drink; his place as an official in the tournament will be taken by Alton Bray.

1925

​Commissioners of the Cape Girardeau Special Road District are awaiting a reply from the commissioners of the Delta road district to a proposal that the Cape Girardeau district assist Delta in securing a hard-surfaced highway from Delta to Dutchtown to connect with the hard road from Cape Girardeau to the latter place; if constructed, area residents would have an all-year highway from Delta to Cape Girardeau.

PUXICO — Three people were injured, one of them critically, and damage estimated at $200,000 was caused by a fire that swept an entire block in the business section of Puxico, 46 miles southwest of Cape Girardeau, early last night; 11 buildings were destroyed by the flames.

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.