Out of the past: Feb. 14

1999

The Rev. Jim Lyons is the new pastor of Zion United Methodist Church in Gordonville; his wife, Louella, is pastor at Sedgewickville and Crossroads United Methodist churches; the Lyons were co-pastors of Methodist churches in Willow Springs, while attending seminary.

Chief Rick Hetzel and Capt. Steve Strong of the Cape Girardeau Police Department will testify Tuesday before committees from both houses of the Missouri General Assembly about the city’s continuing battle with Chances Sports Bar; despite the city’s denying the establishment a municipal liquor license last February, the business opened in March with a state license in hand that allows it to sell liquor by the drink; Hetzel and Strong say it is a loophole in the state’s liquor license laws that allows businesses to bypass local control of liquor sales.

1974

Jackson Police Chief David M. Gellatly was presented the Peace Officer of the Year Award and a $50 U.S. Savings Bond by the Breakfast and Evening Exchange clubs at a dinner last night honoring area representatives of the criminal justice system; Gellatly became Jackson’s first full-time police chief in August 1971, having served as police chief in Lenexa, Kansas.

Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold D. Kuehle announces he has filed for reelection to his third term; Kuehle, of Cape Girardeau, was county public administrator prior to his election as collector in 1966; he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state in the 1972 general election.

1949

The southbound Frisco passenger train into Cape Girardeau is delayed six hours and 50 minutes this morning, when a wheel of a northbound freight train climbs a switch point at Wittenberg and derails a pair of trucks on a car; there is only slight damage to one rail, but the mishap blocks the main line, preventing both the north- and southbound passenger trains from continuing until repairs are made.

Rainfall totaling 3.13 inches drenched Cape Girardeau and the entire section of Southeast Missouri overnight; small streams, as a result, are out of their banks throughout Cape Girardeau County, and country roads were hard hit, some practically impassable.

1924

Authorities at Cape Girardeau Central High School launch an investigation to determine how many pupils from the school evaded their classes yesterday afternoon to attend the preliminary hearing of the “sheik” case in police court; reports reached school authorities that a large number of students attended the trial, but a review of absences shows only 28 pupils missing from the high school; in the sensational trial, four boys — two from Jackson and two from Charleston, Missouri — ranging in age from 16 to 19, stand accused of mistreating three Cape Girardeau girls during an automobile ride.

The Cape Girardeau chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy meets at the home of Mrs. John Sackman, 323 N. Pacific St., with 14 members present; Mrs. Louis Houck reports she has received the names of 27 Confederate veterans from this district, which will be sent to Atlanta, Georgia, to be carved on the great Stone Mountain Memorial.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.