Missourian Equipment Move

Missouiran equipment moveIt looks like a heavy piece of equipment is being taken out of The Southeast Missourian building. It’s hard for me to tell what it is, but I think it might be a plate maker that etched the zinc plates used to make halftone photos. The man on the left in the patterned shirt is one of the many Hohlers who were responsible for producing the paper. I just can’t remember which one he is.

A balcony for parades

Missouiran equipment moveThat balcony opened off the newsroom, so it was a perfect place to watch the parades go by.

Missourian Building a landmark

Missouiran equipment moveThe Missourian building may not be as iconic from a distance as the Common Pleas Courthouse or Academic Hall’s dome, but it’s a Cape landmark, nonetheless. If you are interested in the history of the building, here’s a link to the National Register of Historic Places registration form.

Spooky place at night

Missouiran equipment moveI loved sitting up in the newsroom all by myself at night. It was a great place to do my homework. There were three police monitors hanging from a shelf on a column that would occasionally crackle to life from time to time with some minor call that I could usually ignore. In fact, over the years, I got to where I could pretty much tune out the sound of the cops and robbers in the background until I heard a change in voice stress and cadence, then I’d perk up.

The spooky part was the Western Union Clock on the wall. Every hour, it would make a sound as it synchronized itself with the mother ship, wherever it was. Even though I knew what it was and should have been expecting, I’d always jump.

Of all the places I worked, I don’t think any felt more like a newsroom “home” to me.

Shooting from the balcony

G.D. Fronabarger, Southeast Missourian photographerLooks like I got the high ground on this occasion. I snapped off a photo of One-Shot Frony standing on the sidewalk while I was on the balcony.

7 Replies to “Missourian Equipment Move”

  1. Great Hawaiian shirt on one guy…and the Missourian building is Cape as much as the dome or the bridge. The building is a little out of place in swampeast Missouri and that is what makes is so cool. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Looks like the cooler for the wine ‘cellar’ Harry Naeter had up in the family apartment. Many good times up there with his son Fred.

  3. Ken, I think that was a piece of equipment being loaded into the building. Look at the crating material with exposed nails on the truck bed in the next to last picture, and look how clean the bottom and legs are in picture two.

    1. Keith, I have to differ. If you look at the first shot from the inside of the building, there are streaks of something on the sides of the machine.

      That convinces me it was a used piece of equipment on its way out.

  4. I think Walter nailed it. Looks like the refrigeration unit for Harry Naeter’s walk in cooler which was on the top floor of the family residence that occupied the top two floors of the Eastern portion of the building. Not your typical apartment. Like Walt said, we had many good times there with the young scion “Fast” Fred Naeter, especially when his parents were out of town.
    A legendary building.

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