Out of the past: Feb. 16

1998

If old Saint Francis Hospital is Cape Girardeau's white elephant, the Marquette Hotel is its faded queen; the five-story Spanish Revival-style hotel was completed in 1928; with 82 rooms, the hotel was once considered one of the finest in the Midwest; but recently there have been calls for the deteriorated hotel to be torn down; however, owner Thad Bullock has an immediate reaction to the talk: "No way. Not unless they want to the see the biggest lawsuit the city's ever seen"; Bullock insists he has good prospects for selling the hotel.

In the hours after midnight Sunday, flames shot from the roof of a building used by the Columbia Construction Corp., near Interstate 55 and the new Highway 74 overpass; six fire departments worked together to bring the flames under control, demonstrating how mutual aid works, said Roger English, assistant fire chief from the Gordonville Fire District; the building, used by Columbia to finish trim work for motels, had been in use for about two years.

1973

Security measures at airports throughout the nation are tightened as airport operators are required to begin stationing police officers at boarding gates during the screening process of passengers and their baggage; for Cape Girardeau this means taking officers off their regular duty six times a day and sending them to the municipal airport during the times when Ozark Air Lines is boarding passengers.

Cape Girardeau Civic Center has taken a 30-day option on property in the 200 block of North Spanish Street; the property contains a large building of brick and concrete block construction; it is now owned by General Baptist Church and is located on the west side of Spanish, across a driveway north of the church; it was formerly occupied by Harris Motor Car Co., truck division.

1948

With an evident determination to mix up the issues and mislead the public, opponents of the plan for the city manager government in Cape Girardeau are spreading misinformation; for example, for want of a single good argument against city manager government, they claim a city manager has already been chosen for Cape Girardeau; in support of their misinformation, a dozen different names have been given, a new one springing up every day; the city manager election won't be held until Feb. 24.

An automatic stamp vending machine, which had been torn from the side of an unknown building, is found at the curbing at Spanish and Independence streets in the morning by police Sgt. Herbert Frentzel, who takes the machine to police headquarters; it is the second stamp machine found by police, the other having been taken from the front of the old Park Theater building on Broadway several weeks ago.

1923

Officers of the National Guard companies in Cape Girardeau admit an investigation is being carried out of the reported sale and disposal of revolvers, rifles and property belonging to the Guard here; Lt. Col. Kenrick Burrough, head of the 140th Infantry, Missouri National Guard, and Lt. Col. Chamberlain, regular Army officer attached to the unit, refuse to discuss the reports, but admit a quantity of Guard equipment and property is missing.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Reorganization of Citizens Bank of Sikeston into a trust company, to take over the assets and liabilities of the closed institution, is announced by its board of directors; bank depositors will be paid in full, according to A.J. Stanfill, deputy State Commissioner of Finance; Citizens Bank closed its doors Tuesday with a shortage of $60,000.

-- Sharon K. Sanders