Out of the past: Feb. 12

1999

A microburst tore the roof off a house in Chaffee, and straight-line winds destroyed two large old buildings east of Marble Hill yesterday as a cold front brought turbulent weather and tornado warnings to the region; no one was injured in either incident.

Al Hrabosky, the "Mad Hungarian" of 1970s St. Louis baseball Cardinals fame, yesterday helped kick off the annual Friends of Scouting fund-raising campaign at Drury Lodge; next week, Isaac Bruce, wide receiver with the St. Louis Browns, is scheduled to be in Cape Girardeau to add momentum to the movement; the Boy Scouts Shawnee Council hopes to raise $50,000 in the next month.

1974

Eight members of Cape Girardeau County's former Civil Defense unit and Dr. John T. Crowe called upon the County Court yesterday to inform the unit whether it is officially dissolved or still a county emergency rescue service; Crowe, who for years has been active in emergency readiness coordination, said, "We were unaware that the unit had been dissolved until we read it in the paper the other day. If it has been dissolved, then we want some kind of official notification"; Associate Judge J. Fischer assured the group the court wants it services to continue and asked to meet with its leaders to discuss the direction the unit wishes to take.

The Cape County Council of Aging has the funding and is prepared to offer nutritious meals five days a week for older residents, but lacks only a building in which to hold the meals.

1949

Weather forecasters are predicting cold temperatures tomorrow, but chances are it won't be anything like it was 50 years ago when, on Feb. 13, 1899, the mercury skidded to the lowest point ever recorded here, 28 degrees below zero; many older residents recall the cold spell that froze the river so hard coal wagons were driven over it.

Formation of a second company, Metropolitan News Agency Inc., to supplement operations of Strom's News Agency, 415 Broadway, is announced by C.J. Strom and Kenneth E. Bender, general manager of the new firm; Metropolitan will be distributor for metropolitan newspapers in Cape Girardeau and magazines for this city and other district communities, formerly handled by the Strom's agency; Strom's will be a retail outlet for newspapers and magazines as well as books and other merchandise.

1924

Flags in Cape Girardeau are flying at half staff as the city pays respect to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War president, whose 115th birthday anniversary is commemorated throughout the nation; a tribute to his memory is delivered by the Rev. C.H. Swift in the afternoon over radio station WSAB at the State Teachers College.

Contract for the construction of a rustic-type tavern on the Cape Girardeau-Jackson road, three miles northwest of Cape Girardeau, has been let to the Gerhardt Construction Co.; work on "The Brown Owl" is expected to begin shortly; the building will be used as a pleasure resort, and tourist business especially will be catered to; H.J. Reed, who came here a short time ago from Springfield, Missouri, will have charge of the tavern.

-- Sharon K. Sanders