Out of the past: March 21

2000

Moving the county a step closer to the establishment of a transit authority, an ad hoc committee yesterday recommended that the county commission appoint a five-member transit authority board to help develop a coordinated, public transportation system for the county; Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones says the commission could establish a transit authority within the next several weeks.

A piece of Americana will return to the streets of Cape Girardeau this year with the resurrection of the All-American Soap Box Derby; the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club has voted to hold a series of races of the hand-built, gravity-powered cars this year for youngsters ages 9 to 16; Soap Box Derby races were previously held in the city in the 1930s and 1940s.

1975

The Missouri Supreme Court has overruled a motion by the City of Jackson that it be granted an additional 15 days to file a brief in the city’s appeal of a Circuit Court ruling on the location of a new Cape Girardeau County Jail; in denying the city’s request, the court held that the city be given no longer than April 14 in which to file the brief and that the respondent, Cape County, file its brief no later than May 14; the city had asked for the extension to allow the County Court to decide whether to accept Jackson’s offer to sell the county for $1, 48,000 square feet of property it owns north of the county courthouse as a site for the proposed jail.

Funeral service for Denver M. Wright, 85, of Ladue, a former Cape Girardeau resident, prominent businessman, photographer and big-game hunter who led two homemade lion-hunting expeditions on islands in the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau, is held in the afternoon at Lupton Chapel in University City.

1950

New and higher telephone rates in all communities in Southeast Missouri become effective following approval late yesterday by the Public Service Commission of a rate schedule submitted by the Southeast Missouri Telephone Co., that will yield an additional $500,000 in revenue a year; the higher rates will be evident on this month’s bills as payment for telephone service, other than long distance tolls, is made in advance.

On a net interest purchase of $12,006.56 for the 10-year life of the issue, the Central Republic Co. of Chicago outbid 12 other bonding firms before the Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday to win the award of the city’s $165,000 fire station bond issue; the funds will be used by the city to build and fully equip two new fire stations, one on west Independence Street and one on Emerald Street.

1925

The general contract for the construction of the new office building of the Cape Girardeau Building and Loan Association, to be erected on the northeast corner of Main and Themis streets, was let last night to the Gerhardt Construction Co. of Cape Girardeau on a bid of $32,600; the building, to be a two-story fireproof structure, will be constructed of mat-face brick with stone trim and base; the building will measure 48 feet on Main Street and will extend 61 feet on Themis.

Cape Girardeans are giving generously to the fund the local Red Cross chapter is raising to aid the injured and homeless in the stricken storm area in Southern Illinois; in an afternoon campaign yesterday, more than $350 in cash was raised by citizens in the business section alone.

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.