Out of the past: Jan. 6

2000

Things were a little hectic as students milled around the new building at St. Paul Lutheran School in Jackson yesterday trying to find their classrooms; but principal Al Lipke says the day passed “without any major glitches”; construction of the building began about a year ago; dedication of the new, $2.5 million school is planned for Jan. 16 at St. Paul Lutheran Church and will include an open house at the school afterward.

Those who saw the team of Belgian draft horses in the Christmas Parade of Lights in Cape Girardeau were watching champions in action; Dutch Valley Linda and Country Pride Amy recently finished first in the Best Pair of Mares Hitched competition at the 1999 North American International Draft Horse Show in Louisville, Kentucky; the mares were shown by Charles and Verla Mangels of Oak Ridge along with their son and daughter-in-law, Weston and Sandy Mangels of Jackson, and their young daughter, Darla; the Mangels family has been raising Belgian draft horses since 1949.

1975

Girardeans, already feeling the pinch in their pocketbooks because of high inflation, are given the opportunity to complain about the seemingly endless series of utility rate increases; the Missouri Public Service Commission is holding a two-session public hearing on a Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. rate increase request at the Arena Building; the company has requested an increase in gross annual revenues of about $52 million; but the increase has been suspended by the PSC pending public hearings here and elsewhere in the state; Missouri Utilities Co. also is in the forefront in seeking higher rates to charge its customers.

The Southeast Missouri Boy Scout Council’s search for longtime Eagle Scouts in the area has turned up 100 so far, but the hunt continues; all area holders of the highest award in Scouting will be guests of honor at the council’s annual Eagle Court of Honor in Cape Girardeau on Feb. 23.

1950

An overnight rain, falling on the heels of a third sleet storm in two days, glazes trees and puts an icy coating on telephone and utility lines that brings spotty disruption of service to some residents; the farther south in the district, the heavier the coating of ice, snarling long-distance lines; there’s a complete telephone blackout from Senath-Hornersville to the Arkansas border.

Some see the slashing of funds to Missouri’s State Colleges as an indication that Gov. Forrest Smith would like to see three of the regional units shut down; Cape Girardeau State College didn’t avoid the governor’s knife, as he cut $550,000 for the school’s new science building; it’s the third time that a governor has eliminated the structure from the construction list after General Assembly approval.

1925

Seven horses are burned to death in a fire which destroys a livestock and feed barn of the Cape Coal Co., 44 S. Frederick St., at 2:30 a.m., causing damage of more than $2,500; trapped in the barn, the doors of which had been padlocked, the animals are smothered before the fire is discovered; when firemen arrive, the roof of the barn had already collapsed.

One child is knocked down and trampled when small students stampede from Broadway School following the discovery of a small fire in the basement, underneath the main stairway, early in the afternoon; Eldon Hinkle, 6-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hinkle, is caught in the general stampede as smoke fills the classrooms and pupils panic; he is immediately hurried to a physician, who pronounces the lad unhurt, except for slight bruises and shock; no appreciable damage is done to the building.

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.