Out of the Past: Sept. 17

1999

It’s been better than fair at the SEMO District Fair in terms of the weather this week; mild days with low humidity and cool nights have made it nice to be outdoors; performing this evening before the grandstand will be Billy Ray Cyrus.

JEFFERSON CITY — Southeast Missouri’s two state senators reacted with relief following yesterday’s successful override of Gov. Mel Carnahan’s veto of the Infant Protection Act; the Senate voted 27 to 7 to override the governor on House Bill 427 following daylong debate; both Sen. Jerry T. Hoard, D-Dexter, and Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, voted to override; the House of Representatives on Wednesday had voted 127 to 34 in favor of an override.

1974

A report by State Auditor John D. Ashcroft that more than $1.1 million was over-appropriated to Southeast Missouri State University here in 1973 and 1974 has resulted in a charge of political opportunism and a claim that the university was under-appropriated for the current year; Ashcroft released a 22-page audit report of the two fiscal years in which university officials allegedly misinterpreted guidelines to the state Commission on Higher Education and counted in their enrollment ineligible students; that incorrect count enabled the university to obtain higher appropriations from the Legislature, the audit indicated.

Effluent from a commercial waste treatment plant is entering the watershed of newly opened Perry County Community Lake, threatening the lake’s water quality; the Missouri Clean Water Commission and Department of Conservation are working with the treatment plant’s owner and engineer in an attempt to solve the problem, which has existed for over a year.

1949

Gates of the 1949 SEMO District Fair close in the evening following the society horse show, which climaxes the week-long stand of the exposition at Arena Park; including today, the activities of the fair have been harassed by rain virtually every day; despite the excessive rain, attendance has been good, especially during the past few days.

Another better than $100,000 month, the sixth in a row, has boosted Cape Girardeau’s construction total to beyond the million and a half dollar mark; the total includes repair and rebuilding in the tornado path; non-tornado construction in August, tabulated by the city engineer’s office, amounted to $55,600 in 18 permits, 13 of which were for new homes.

1924

Contracts involving the expenditure of more than $3,000,000 for drainage work in Southeast Missouri are awarded by the board of supervisors of Little River Drainage District, and work on the projects, which “are to better equalize drainage facilities” for 500,000 acres of land in this section, is to start within six months; 26 contractors submit bids for the 18 projects, and the board announces the awarding of contracts for 14 of the projects.

All of the Cape Girardeau property owned by the late Robert W. Matteson is sold at auction from the Common Pleas Courthouse steps to George H. Willis of Phoenix, Arizona, for $13,650; Hills is the holder of a $37,000 deed of trust against the property; the land sold includes lots upon which the old Matteson paint mill is located; the Matteson quarry, just north of Broadway, between Pacific and Henderson; 3.57 acres of land west of Henderson Avenue and north of Fairground Park and a lot in Monticello Addition.

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 www.semissourian.com/history.