Out of the Past: September 18

1999

With double the number of entrants and the need for an ambulance, the SEMO District Fair’s Peewee Showmanship competition for children 4 to 8 years old is extra exciting this year; as Adam Bird — one of 30 competitors — leads a balky black Angus heifer into the 4-H ring, he is jerked off his feet; the heifer then lands a hoof on the side of the Jackson boy’s head, drawing blood; paramedics say he’s OK, but play it safe by transporting him by ambulance to a hospital for X-rays; wrapping up the fair in the evening is a concert by country music star Waylon Jennings.

Terry Dederich, who has been employed as events supervisor and later marketing director at the Show Me Center for the past six years, is resigning to accept a position near Chicago; in October Dederich plans to move to Bloomingdale, Illinois, to become a show director with International Promotions Inc.; the company produces and promotes indoor and outdoor truck events, arena cross racing, classic auto auctions, quad bike races and snowmobile races.

1974

Sugar, and the exorbitant price it now commands, is leaving a bitter taste in consumers’ mouths and a hole in their pocketbooks; experts cite two major factors for the skyrocketing price of sugar; first is the United States’ lack of trade in recent years with Cuba and several other sugar-producing countries; secondly, damage to this nation’s sugar cane fields — most recently by Hurricane Carmen — has pushed up the price of the commodity.

Two lieutenants in the Cape Girardeau Police Department — William W. Stover, chief of detectives, and Donald R. Roberts, head of the traffic division — will split the duties of interim police chief, each serving six weeks, to fill a vacancy that will exist in the office from Oct. 1 to Jan. 1; Chief Irvin E. Beard will leave the department Sept. 30 at the end of his third-year extension past retirement age of 65; the new chief, Col. Henry H. Greece, will assume the position Jan. 1.

1949

An army of 375 specialists converge on Cape Girardeau and covert the thousands of gas-using appliance from artificial to natural gas; many of the men work until late in the night servicing the myriad of domestic, commercial and industrial installations; only 50 customers are away from their homes or are missed in the single-day project; it is the first time in history that a city is converted to natural gas in one day.

The Main Street team, with a record of 19 wins and five losses, took the championship in the Cape Girardeau Girls’ Softball League this season; team members are Hap Crowder, Mary Brasher, Margie Diamond, Margie Reed, Jane Brennecke, Carol Crowder, Barbara Rose, Virginia Feverston, Rose Kayser, Margie Call, Verna Engleman, Norma Wood, Lucille Dede, Marilyn Schmidt and Helen Schlegel; coaches are Paul Dowling and Jackie Kraft; manager is Charles Rauch.

1924

The 69th annual Cape Girardeau Fair, better prepared for the opening than in previous years, opens in a drizzle of rain, and indications point to unfavorable weather until nightfall; the only consolation to be found for those who have been anxiously awaiting the fair is that the weather forecast for Friday and Saturday is more favorable; today is “Cape Girardeau Day”, with shops, banks and the post office closing at noon, allowing Girardeans to celebrate opening day of the big exhibition at Fairground Park.

Public safety demands that something be done to regulate the traffic between Jackson and Cape Girardeau to guard against the “road hog” and the speed maniac; not only during the Cape Girardeau Fair, but any day, and especially on Sunday, the auto traffic on this 10-mile stretch is such as to warrant the employment of a traffic cop or motorcycle police officer.

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.