Out of the past: March 25

1995

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Construction on a 14,000-square-foot addition to Chaffee High School will run past the mid-April contract deadline; two outside and several inside walls, plus a roof have to be built before any inside work can begin; bad weather and difficulties finding good construction laborers and working out schedules with subcontractors have delayed the project slightly.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee feels strongly about turning the new Mississippi River bridge into a nocturnal showplace; but the committee has yet to determine who will pay to illuminate the $68 million structure with decorative lights.

1970

A lone gunman holds four employees of McDonald's Drive-In Restaurant, 1925 Broadway, at the point of a sawed-off shotgun around 12:20 a.m., before tying them up face down on the floor and making off with between $2,000 and $3,000 in cash, which he stuffs into an empty trash container.

The Paducah, Kentucky, City Council last night voted to grant Kelley Transportation Co., of Cape Girardeau a franchise to operate a city bus system there; Kelley will operate six buses on four regular schedules.

1945

Palm Sunday is observed in the traditional manner at Grace Methodist Church; young people are confirmed into church membership at the morning worship service, including Barry and Hugh Davis, Roy and Patricia Strack, R.J. and Gloria Bollinger, Larry Bollinger, Donald Rasche, Martha Sander, Louise Blumenberg, Helen Heath, Joan and Jane Likens, Jim Tom Sawyer and Larry Tuschhoff.

Special music is featured at Palm Sunday services at Centenary Methodist Church; the choir, under the direction of Mrs. James A. Waller, sings "The Palms," as a choral prelude.

1920

A health survey, mainly for the purpose of inspecting the schools to ascertain if there is any smallpox among the students and how many children should be vaccinated, is being made by Dr. Viola Russell, government health official, and Mrs. T.J. Caruthers, school nurse; surveys have already been done at Washington and Jefferson schools; at the former, of the 258 children examined, 138 need to be vaccinated and 18 have already had smallpox; at Jefferson 161 pupils will have to be vaccinated out of 291 examined; 27 already have had smallpox.

One of the best-secured notes ever negotiated in Cape Girardeau County secured a bank at Jackson for a loan of approximately $33,000, made to Wash Miller, former cashier of the Bank of Oak Ridge, to cover alleged irregularities in his accounts; with the transaction, it is said Miller has straightened out his affairs with the Oak Ridge bank; about 15 of the most influential and wealthiest residents of Oak Ridge and Jackson have their names on the note.

-- Sharon K. Sanders