1999

Construction of single-family homes in Jackson this year is on pace to break the record 145 set in 1994; the city issued 74 permits for single-family dwellings through the first six months of 1999, representing $4.3 million in construction; if the number of permits doubles, the 148 will set the all-time record.

What some thought would take a miracle is accomplished with few glitches, when Cape Girardeau public schools open their doors to students; some feared redistricting and shifting students because of construction would cause problems; but most students, teachers and parents are happy with the condition of their schools despite extensive remodeling taking place at Clippard and Alma Schrader.

1974

The happy reunion of students returning to the Southeast Missouri State University campus for another year of classes turned to tragedy yesterday afternoon; a 1927 Roe fire truck, symbol of the Phi Kappa Alpha fraternity, careened out of control with an estimated 35 students on board and overturned on the steep Bertling Street hill as it approached Bend Road; 22 of those aboard and a fraternity member engaged in helping them were injured, six of them seriously; Karen Hendrickson, 17, of Florissant, was the most seriously injured; she was pinned under the truck; she is in serious condition at a St. Louis hospital.

School bells ring in Cape Girardeau for youngsters at St. Mary’s, St. Vincent’s and University schools, as summer ends and classes begin; public schools here will open Sept. 3; Notre Dame High School was the early bird, starting classes last Thursday.

1949

Methods by which thousands of cotton pickers will be brought into Southeast Missouri fields next month, augmented by an army of local laborers ready for the harvest, were mapped at New Madrid Thursday by nearly 200 producers and employment service officials; attending the conference from Cape Girardeau were George Vandeven and Charles LaPierre, manager and supervisor of the local office of the state Division of Employment Security.

A rumor that the Cape Girardeau County Farm might be sold off is only in the “talk” stage, says Judge Frank Batchelor, who was in Jackson yesterday for a County Court meeting; court members say Dr. O.L. Seabaugh has offered the county $200 an acre for the farm, with reservation of 40 acres near the home for use by the county; Seabaugh reportedly paid $200 per acre for a 5-acre tract of woodland off the south end of the farm earlier this year to complete a square of his adjoining acreage on Highway 61.

1924

Eleven persons are seriously injured and a score of others sustain minor bruises and cuts, when “The St. Louisan,” Frisco northbound passenger train No. 806, hits a broken rail and is derailed on a curve a short distance south of Menfro, 40 miles north of Cape Girardeau, at 5:30 a.m.; every coach and the baggage and express cars of the fast passenger train leave the track, and two of the chair cars are turned over into a ditch; probably the most seriously injured is Marjorie Williniski, 21, of Detroit, Michigan, who was en route to her home from Memphis, Tennessee; she sustains a dislocation of the right shoulder and hip, severe lacerations of the face and head and possibly internal injuries.

A timber worker of near Blomeyer is being held in the Cape Girardeau jail as a suspect in connection with the death of Willie Giboney, 25, whose body was found on the Frisco Railroad tracks near Blomeyer early Sunday.

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.