Out of the past: Oct. 25

1999

Volunteer firefighters from four rural fire districts battled a house fire near Whitewater for more than three hours yesterday before extinguishing it; the fire broke out late in the afternoon at the John Seabaugh home at the dead end of Church Street; he, his wife and two grandchildren were inside, when the fire ignited in another room; no one was injured, but the house was destroyed, along with all the families’s possessions; firefighters from Whitewater Delta, East Cape County and Millersville responded to the call.

More than 150 pumpkin decorations grace the front lawn of the Charles Stucker home on South Silver Springs Road, and Mary Stucker reports there are just as many inside; Halloween pumpkin treat baskets hang in a large magnolia tree; blow-up pumpkins hang from branches of a small bush; and pumpkin lights frame the front windows.

1974

With earthwork underway on the site of the proposed county jail, the County Court has scheduled a meeting next week with architect Thomas E. Phillips of Cape Girardeau to determine preliminary plans for the new facility; Kelley Trucking and Equipment Co. of Cape Girardeau moved earthmoving equipment onto the controversial County Farm site in Cape Girardeau Monday to begin excavation.

Construction of a 60-bed addition to the Lutheran Home, 2825 Bloomfield Road, is underway; the original building was completed in 1972, while the addition is to be finished by March; to finance the addition, which will raise the capacity of the nursing home to 120 residents, the corporation of area Lutheran congregations that operates the facility is offering for sale $500,000 in investment certificates.

1949

Original plans to use the present portion of Highway 61 as a northbound route when the new section, now under construction, is completed may have to be abandoned; speaking Monday to the Rotary Club, M.S. Gwinn of Sikeston, division engineer for the State Highway Department, said the original highway is rapidly deteriorating under constantly growing traffic; the new highway will extend from a point north of the new Highway 74 intersection to the Cape Girardeau-Scott county line.

In his quarterly report to the County Court, county sanitarian Marvin Campbell says that “in a great many instances” Cape Girardeau County rural school children haven’t been immunized or vaccinated against childhood diseases; along with inquiring about children’s health records, Campbell surveys rural school grounds, buildings, heating, safety, toilets and water supplies.

1924

L.B. Hoy, superintendent of schools at Gideon and one of the leading educators of this district, is elected president of the Southeast Missouri Teachers Association at the close of the 49th annual session at Teachers College; he succeeds Walter Webb of Birch Tree.

Jackson High School’s football team invades the lair of the Central Tigers in the afternoon at Fairground Park; the heavy visitors clash with Cape Girardeau Central High in the first of two gridiron battles between the county rivals this season; in front of a wildly-excited crowd, a Jackson forward pass that bounds from a Tiger player’s hand and into a Jackson gridder’s arms results in a touchdown and victory for the winners in the closing minutes of the game; Jackson scores the extra point for a 7-0 win.

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.