Out of the past: April 4

1999

Easter Sunday. People begin gathering as early as 4 a.m. at the Bald Knob Cross near Alto Pass, Illinois, to take part in Easter sunrise service; but rainy conditions force the outdoor service inside into the welcome center; speaker is the Rev. Larry Johnson.

One person was plucked from the roof of a home by helicopter and several others were rescued from the water yesterday as flash floods swept through Southeast Missouri; about 50 persons in Fredericktown were evacuated to emergency shelters; there was one unconfirmed report of a death due to the flash flooding; Gov. Mel Carnahan declared a state of emergency Saturday for the southern and east central parts of the state.

1974

Fire heavily damages the drying room of the Ceramo Co. plant at Jackson early in the morning; damage, which is confined to an area of about 70 by 50 feet, likely will result in the temporary release of about half of the pottery plant’s 94 employees, says plant manager E.H. Reisenbichler; Stone Manes, secretary-treasurer of the company, estimates about 200 racks containing pottery were being dried and about 100,000 pots were destroyed.

A minor earth tremor rattled windows and furniture about 6 p.m. yesterday in homes throughout Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, but caused little damage; the area was also buffeted by strong winds but escaped the tornadoes that tore through eight states, killing more than 330 persons; the epicenter of the earthquake, which measured 4.5 on the Richter scale, was about 90 miles east of Cape Girardeau, near the junction of the Ohio and Wabash rivers.

1949

The Cape Girardeau City Council, at a meeting Saturday afternoon, took the first step toward acquiring additional fire protection for the city when it purchased with general revenue funds two lots totaling 137 feet by 120 feet on Independence Street as the site for a proposed fire station to serve the western part of the city; the lots, purchased from Mrs. Fred McGowan, cost $1,740 and are across Independence Street from the Logan nursery.

Between 75 and 100 building construction workers in Cape Girardeau are idle after the district council in St. Louis of the International Hod Carriers Building and Common Laborers Union of America directs that its membership not work on certain projects; the four projects affected here are the student center and field house at State College, the Shell Oil Co. river terminal in the southern part of town and the National Guard motor vehicle depot at Arena Park.

1924

The Elks Club completes moving its equipment from the Elks Building on Themis Street into new quarters on the second floor of the Wulfers Building, Broadway and Pacific Street, which was recently fitted up at a cost of more than $2,000; all meetings of the organization will be held there.

Frank McDonald, farmer of near Cape Girardeau, is awarded a contract for the excavation and grading of Hobbs Hill on the Bend Road, six miles north of Cape Girardeau, by the County Court in a special session at Jackson; his bid is $1,268; Carroll Knox turns in the only other bid for the work, it being $1,729; a total of 4,803 yards of dirt will be moved; Hobbs Hill, which has been one of the steepest on Bend Road between Cape Girardeau and Egypt Mills, is to be cut down to some extent and the road straightened.

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.