Out of the past: April 16

1999

Taxpayers crowded into the Cape Girardeau Post Office yesterday to mail their tax returns; area residents streamed into the post office throughout the day, most intent on mailing tax returns; "We will cancel 300,000 to 350,000 pieces of mail," predicted Postmaster Mike Keefe; normally, the post office here cancels about 170,000 pieces of mail.

Mr. K's Food Center closes, but doors will reopen at 9 a.m. tomorrow for a liquidation sale; less than six months after opening, the city's largest grocery supermarket at 60,000-square-foot closed for financial reasons, a according to a spokesman for Supervalu, a grocery distributor with a facility at Scott City; it provided the bulk of supplies to the store, which was open 24 hours a day; employees are informed of the closing today; some are retained to help with the liquidation sale.

1974

A joint meeting of the City Park Board and the Cape Girardeau City Council to discuss the master park development plan last night got off to a slow start, bogged down in silence at times and then ran into the wee hours of the morning; among items discussed was a proposal of the Park Board that the $20,000 allocated by the city for renovation of the outdated and deteriorated tennis courts in Capaha Park be used to build new courts in Arena Park near Marie Louise Lane.

Cape Girardeau County Court got the ball rolling yesterday toward replacing the county's 40 unsafe bridges by tentatively earmarking five of them for immediate replacement; the five tentatively chosen are at Hubble Creek south of Gordonville, Hughes Creek two miles west of Shawneetown, Shawnee Creek between Shawneetown and Old Appleton, Crooked Creek south of Whitewater and Caney Fork northwest of Millersville.

1949

Cape Girardeau County's peach and early apple crops withstood the heavy frost last night without any great damage; local orchardists report that as far as they can determine, there was no damage; it was pointed out that winds kept the frost from settling on the trees heavily; whether strawberries were nipped hasn't yet been determined.

Return of the bodies of five Southeast Missouri men aboard the Army Transport Sinett is announced by the Department of the Army; bodies of men from this district are Army Pvt. Gerald J. Brant of Cape Girardeau, Army Pfc. Cline Griffith of Oran, Marine Cpl. N.N. Farr of Whitewater, Army Pfc. Robert L. Glover of Grassy and Army 2nd Lt. Richard L. Euell of Hayti.

1924

A male inmate of the Cape Girardeau city jail, being held on a charge of drunkenness, is transferred to the women's department of that facility with smallpox; he told authorities he had been afflicted for three days; he was arrested yesterday morning, but his condition wasn't discovered until that afternoon, when his fellow inmates noticed a "breaking out" peculiar to the disease on his face and body; he was isolated and is receiving medical treatment; other prisoners clamored to be released, but their pleas were ignored.

Twelve persons are charged with violations of federal laws in seven indictments returned by the grand jury, which completes its investigation and reports to Judge Charles B. Farris in Federal Court here; simultaneously, John C. Dyott, special assistant to the attorney general in charge of liquor prosecutions, files six informations charging violations of federal dry laws; included in the indictments is one against a physician of Sikeston for violation of narcotics laws.

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.