Out of the past 12/26/2008

Christmas 1983 will go down in the record books as one of the coldest holidays ever; the big chill caused power outages in some parts of Cape Girardeau, blew off fire hydrants and froze numerous gas regulators and water lines; throughout the holiday period, the temperature climbed only up to 22 degrees, while the low dipped well below zero.

BIEHLE, Mo. — A restaurant is evacuated, but no injuries are reported, when a tanker truck overturns and spills part of its load of gasoline near Interstate 55 at the Biehle exit; either the brakes of the truck fail or it slides on the ice, causing it to roll downhill into a ditch; the resulting gasoline leak causes the evacuation of the Country Kettle restaurant and a residence.

50 years ago: Dec. 26, 1958

Cape Girardeau merchants cheerfully make exchanges and reflect happily on a holiday shopping season that broke all previous records; sales figures were estimated to range from 8 to 20 percent ahead of those a year ago.

The mausoleum at Lorimier Cemetery has been damaged by vandals; a large rock is believed to have been used to break a 2-foot hole in the stained-glass window of the mausoleum; in another pane is a smaller hole, apparently caused by a shot from an air rifle.

75 years ago: Dec. 26, 1933

Winter, which came to Cape Girardeau Christmas Day, is forecast to tighten its grip tonight, with the mercury scheduled to move lower; a light snow fell late yesterday afternoon, giving Girardeans a belated white Christmas; freezing rain last night made traffic hazardous.

Christmas business, particularly the last week before the holiday, far exceeded that of last year, say Cape Girardeau merchants; some found that this year's holiday business approached that of the peak year of 1929.

100 years ago: Dec. 26, 1908

Late Thursday afternoon, Mrs. W.H. Whitnell, wife of the pastor of Centenary Methodist Church, was painfully injured when a street car struck a buggy she was riding in and tossed her violently to the ground; she suffered a fractured clavicle and was otherwise bruised and shocked by the accident.

B.B. Cahoon of Fredericktown, Mo., arrived yesterday from Chicago for a visit with Capt. and Mrs. George Alt.

— Sharon K. Sanders