1999

Eight employees of M&W Packaging and one rural firefighter are taken to a hospital as a precaution against smoke inhalation following a fire at the M&W plant on Highway 177 north of Cape Girardeau in the evening; at least two rural fire departments – Millersville and Fruitland – respond to the fire, which is contained by M&W's own fire brigade.

Shoney’s Restaurant, 161 West Drive in Cape Girardeau, has closed its operations 16 years after it opened; the local restaurant joined 72 other Shoney’s restaurants that will close in 14 states by Halloween; the Cape Girardeau operation opened in 1983.

1974

The ninth annual St. Vincent’s College Parents Club Bazaar and Open House kicks off in the morning, featuring a penny-pitching booth, refreshment stands, a cake booth and a quilt raffle; highlight of the day is a chicken dinner.

Joint Lutheran parishes of Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas and Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown celebrate an “Old-Time Harvest Festival”; produce from the fields and gardens is placed on the church altars, and a special service of thanks is given by the Rev. Delmar Warren, pastor of both churches; the festival begins at 8:30 a.m. at Zion Lutheran and continues at Trinity at 10:15 a.m.

1949

Professor H.O. Grauel, head of the Department of English at State College, is installed at St. Louis by President Harry Truman as Grand Pursuivant of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Missouri, an office that will ultimately lead to the highest honor in state Masonry – grand master, a position once held by the president; the ceremony is held in the morning in the Scottish Rite Cathedral and is the highlight of the annual meeting of the Missouri Grand Lodge.

Services to their country by veterans of all wars are commemorated in the evening at Capaha Park by the Lloyd Dale Clippard Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which marks the 50th anniversary of the national organization with a memorial service; guest speaker at the event is the state commander of the VFW, Eugene Wilder of Ste. Genevieve.

1924

The Missouri Pacific Service Commission is advised of the suspension of switching service by the Cape Girardeau Northern Railway at its yards here; A.R. Zoelsmann, head of the traffic bureau for the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, notifies the commission of the curtailment of service and asks that some action be taken for shippers whose plants depend on the railroad for switching service; a federal government inspector last week ordered the lone engine of the railroad out of service because of a defect, and the road was forced to discontinue its steam service in the yards here until repairs can be made, or other action is taken.

The Bank of Illmo, successor to the First State Bank, which closed its doors Aug. 26, opens for business; officers announce that the new institution will assume the liability of the old bank in meeting payments to depositors.

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.