Out of the past: Dec. 5

1993

The Rev. Grant F.C. Gillard, new pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, preaches his first sermon there as pastor; his wife is the Rev. Nancy F. Gillard.

Cape Girardeau has added two new police officers and a firefighter to its ranks; Alvin Spencer, who previously worked for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, rejoined his old department after working as a special deputy with the U.S. Marshal's office in the Federal Building here; the other new police officer is William C. Kincade, who had been with the Charleston, Missouri, police force; Todd Soong came to the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, after working as a paramedic for the past six years in Arnold, Missouri.

1968

State College president Mark Scully conducted about 20 newly elected members of the Missouri House of Representatives and two veteran House members on a tour of the campus yesterday, filling them in on the progress that has been made and the needs which the college still has; a small group of student protesters holding signs met the party at one point on the tour.

Maintenance workers of the State Highway Department are preparing to stripe the new Route K, an extension of William Street and Gordonville Road, which is to be opened to traffic soon; rain has delayed completion of the project.

1943

The interior of a motor bus, owned and operated by the Carbondale-Harrisburg Bus Co., burns when the machine catches fire at McClure, Illinois, early in the morning, when coming to Cape Girardeau; Cape Girardeau firemen, called to McClure to extinguish the blaze, are told the fire flared up suddenly from an undetermined cause in the main part of the bus; no one is injured, but two suitcases are burned.

Pupils in all public and parochial schools in Cape Girardeau will participate in a discarded clothing drive to be staged Tuesday and Wednesday.

1918

The spacious home being built at the corner of Pacific and Bloomfield streets by Frank P. Foster is nearing completion and should be ready for occupancy within two weeks, contractor Sam Boutin reports.

A proclamation appears in The Missourian issued by Mayor H.H. Haas, which places a strict ban on the city of Cape Girardeau from tomorrow through Dec. 15; schools now in operation, except boarding schools, must close tomorrow; churches, lodges and all public gatherings will be forbidden, including picture shows; loitering is forbidden at stores, saloons, butcher shops and other places of business; a police officer will visit every business house every 15 minutes to enforce the restrictions.

-- Sharon K. Sanders