Out of the past: Oct. 31

1996

With the weather turning cold and rain in the forecast, many of the most fashionable trick-or-treaters will be heading for the halls of West Park Mall this evening; mall merchants are gearing up for the thousands of costumed children who will be storming their stores in search of candy, and shelter from the weather.

Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp's tentative schedule has him at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow, congressional candidate Jo Ann Emerson confirms; the list of dignitaries expected at Friday's event include U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft, State Auditor and gubernatorial candidate Margaret Kelly, State Sen. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau and State Rep. Pat Naeger of Perry County.

1971

Few people have the opportunity in their lifetime to have an audience with the Pope, but two Cape Girardeau men experienced such an honor early this fall during a trip to Europe; Alois W. Zimmer Jr. and Dr. Raymond A. Ritter met Pope Paul VI in an audience Sept. 15 at the pontiff's summer home, Castel Gandolfo, outside of Rome.

Another new restaurant will be opening Nov. 5; Mexamerica Restaurant and Drive-In will be at 588 S. Kingshighway, formerly occupied by the Chicken House; the new firm will be managed by Evelyn Estes and will feature a full line of Mexican foods, as well as some American dishes; in addition to curb service, there will be a carry-out arrangement.

1946

Convinced the government doesn't have an adequate picture of the housing situation in Cape Girardeau, the Chamber of Commerce will ask the Office of Price Administration to delay its plan for rent control here; rent control is scheduled to begin in the city and county tomorrow, but the Chamber will ask for a deferral of 60 to 90 days to permit the community to make its own adjustment.

At least 130 hunters from Cape Girardeau County are preparing for a two-day deer hunt -- tomorrow and Saturday -- in Missouri's forests; one Cape Girardeau party, made up of Albert Kempe, Denver Haggerty, Dr. A.L Fuerth and Frank Unnerstall, plans to go to a site near Sam A. Baker Park in Wayne County, which has proven to be pretty fair territory in the past; Joe G. Howell and Al Brinkopf will stalk the hills near Bloomsdale, and Joe A. Heilig and W.R. Thornton have a site staked out near Winona.

1921

The first sermon of the evangelistic series by the Rev. Burke Culpepper at Centenary Methodist church yesterday morning indicated there will be no disappointment on the part of those who gather to hear him for the three weeks he is here; Culpepper is a dynamo -- a bundle of intense energy -- and a man of smiling countenance and pleasing personality.

A safe, weighing 200 pounds and stolen early Sunday morning from the Pollack junk shop on Independence Street, a few steps from the police station, was located later in the day in a woods on the lower College Farm by Mike O'Connell, a barber shop proprietor; the safe had been broken open and its contents, $17 cash, had been removed; O'Connell, who went to the woods to gather nuts, met three men, driving an old Oldsmobile, coming out of the woods as he entered; a short while later, he found the broken safe.

-- Sharon K. Sanders