1992

Melanie Duncan of New Madrid, Missouri, a high-school math teacher, wins the Mrs. Missouri United States Pageant before a crowd of several hundred at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Cape Girardeau; she will represent Missouri in the national pageant, held annually in Las Vegas.

The deadliest year on record, 1991, showed mercy on Cape Girardeau; Cape Girardeau had no homicides in 1991, and police officials say the year turned out well despite murder records being set across the nation and in many cities.

1967

Fire which started from a hot plate accidentally left on during the night damages a storage room in the kindergarten department of Washington School. A section of cabinets is damaged, as are the cabinet top, books and papers; water and smoke damage are done to the walls and floor.

Remodeling of the National Guard armory at Gordonville Road and East Rodney Drive, to include interior painting, air-conditioning and heating work and physical alterations, has begun. Contractor is the Gerhardt Construction Co. The work is estimated to cost about $35,000.

1942

Cannon, of an early-day vintage, and in recent years put to ornamental use in parks and in front of public buildings, may be heaved into the steel scrap heap to help make new guns and new battleships. Hundreds of pounds of metal are in the nine guns now "guarding" locations in Cape Girardeau; at Benton, Missouri, the Scott County Court has made an order to sell the guns that for years have stood outside the county courthouse.

Since the automobile tire-rationing conditions were set up, the demand for bicycles, and particularly bike tires, has increased somewhat in Cape Girardeau. Men, women and children apparently figure a bicycle may be an honorable and serviceable way of getting about.

1917

Former Gov. M.R. Patterson of Tennessee gave an illuminating lecture last night on the wide subject of prohibition of the liquor traffic; nearly every seat in Centenary Methodist Church is filled for the talk.

Leo McCain, a shoe cutter at the shoe factory, breaks a bone in his right hand while boxing with a fellow employee named Young. During a noon-hour sparring match, McCain strikes Young in the face a glancing blow, breaking the bone in the forefinger.

-- Sharon K. Sanders