Out of the past: Oct. 22

1999

Nearly 5,000 elementary, middle and junior high school students from Southeast Missouri cheered and shouted with delight during Health South’s Go For It! Road Show yesterday at the Show Me Center; the event resembled everything from a rock concert to a sporting event, with audience aerobics thrown in for good measure; Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson and three other professional and Olympic athletes took center stage, advising the students to dare to be champions in the classroom and athletic field.

Washington Elementary School has been sold to Southeast Missouri State University for use as a storage facility; the university paid the Cape Girardeau School District $30,000 for the building and also will provide the district with a 10-year commitment for use of Houck Stadium, the first five years for free; Washington School will be closed with the opening of the new, delayed Blanchard Elementary School, hopefully in mid-November.

1974

A public hearing has been set for Oct. 29 on a proposal to close two railroad crossings in Scott City and to install warning lights and gates at three others; moves to install adequate gates and warning devices in the city were undertaken several months ago by citizens who said the numerous fatalities at the crossings could have been prevented had warning lights and gates been in service; the Cotton Belt Railroad has proposed that the approximately $14,000 in additional costs to upgrade the three crossings would be borne equally by the city and the railroad.

By a six-to-one vote, the Jackson City Council last night decided to grant a cable television franchise to Jackson Cable Television Inc., an affiliate of an Iola, Kansas, firm; Jackson Cable is owned by George Bockhorst and H.L. Jones, both of Jackson, and Larry and Gale W. Hudson, both of Iola.

1949

October will likely go down in local weather annals as the month of the big rains, after another deluge yesterday afternoon again flooded basements, made rivers of streets and sent nearby streams out of their banks; total rainfall measured yesterday by river observer Lee Albert was 2.46 inches, most of it in a two-hour period.

The granite cobblestones of Broadway hill, installed in the first decade of the century to provide good footing for horses, may give way to modern concrete paving next summer, if plans of city officials materialize; inquiries are being made of property owners on the two-block stretch of Broadway from Main Street to Lorimier Street to see if they are agreeable to the proposed resurfacing; the city has unofficially agreed to stand a part off the cost from parking meter receipts.

1924

Around 9 last night, those passing the county jail at Jackson heard a novel entertainment; a Baptist preacher, in jail for wife abandonment, and the former cashier of the Farmers Bank of Daisy, charged with embezzlement, who are cellmates, were singing and praying in loud voices; a third prisoner, in a nearby cell, was pouring forth a stream of profanity such as is seldom heard; the intermingled singing, praying and cursing continued for some time.

The Mary and Martha Society of First Baptist Church met Tuesday afternoon at the home of Anna Willer, 305 Themis St., with 15 members present; it was announced by the treasurer that the first $250 payment on the society’s $5,000 building pledge has been made.

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.