Out of the Past: June 4

1999

Storm cleanup is costing Cape Girardeau nearly $50,000 for contractors, overtime pay and equipment rental and upkeep; and that’s just an estimate; cleaning up all the limbs and damaged trees from a May 17 windstorm that hit Cape Girardeau with nearly 90-mph winds should be finished within another week or two; residents are encouraged to put their storm-damaged limbs and trees at the curbside for free removal by city crews.

Bollinger County Associate Commissioner Rod Jetton may run for state representative of the sprawling 156th District; Poplar Bluff High School history teacher Tim Slayton of Fairdealing has indicated he will run in 2000 for the state representative seat as a Republican, setting up a primary race if Jetton runs; State Rep. Bill Foster, a Butler County Republican who holds the seat, is being forced out of office by term limits and may run for the 25th District Senate seat held by Democrat Jerry Howard of Dexter.

1974

An unannounced advertisement for a new Cape Girardeau chief of police, which appeared in the June edition of National Police Chief Magazine, was answered yesterday by Chief Irvin E. Beard with a charge of age discrimination; Beard, who said in January he would like to remain on the job until age 70, has been chief here 10 years and has been granted three extensions since he reached the retirement age of 68 in September 1971; he said he had not been notified of the advertisement and had only recently found out he was going to be replaced effective Oct. 1.

Cape Girardeau County Court yesterday decided to appoint an Emergency Preparedness Advisory Council to consist of representatives from all incorporated areas of the county, but had a change of heart after about 30 minutes of discussion; Associate Judge J. Ronald Fischer of Cape Girardeau, who suggested the council be appointed as recommended in a state-prepared report, later changed his mind and apparently changed those of the other two judges as well.

1949

The mammoth job of cleaning up Cape Girardeau’s tornado-stricken areas, although two weeks old, has really just begun; City Commissioner Louis Brune estimates another four or five weeks will be required to complete just the city’s part of the task; it is a job that’s costing between $400 and $500 a day; President Truman’s appropriation of $15,000 from special disaster funds for communities will help to some extent, but the city will need all the $20,000 sought from the state of Missouri to meet the bill.

Efforts of firefighters, a commercial fisherman and others to recover the body of 17-year-old Bobby Cummings, a Cape Girardeau Central High School pupil who drowned yesterday afternoon in Sloan’s Creek, where the stream empties into the Mississippi River, have been futile; Coroner E.R. Trickey says it is thought the body may have been lodged against the opening of Missouri Utilities water intake pipes, three of which are approximately 100 yards south of the the creek’s mouth.

1924

The free trachoma clinic completes its three-day stand in Cape Girardeau late in the afternoon and will move on early tomorrow to Perryville, where a similar clinic will be held; around 200 persons were examined at the Cape Girardeau clinic.

Two submarine-chasers of the U.S. Naval Reserve, which stopped in Cape Girardeau yesterday afternoon, depart in the morning for Cairo, Illinois, Paducah, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee; the boats are S.C. 300 and 63, the former being a flagship and is commanded by G.F. Schwartz, commander of the Naval Reserve force.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.