Out of the past 1/18/05

25 years ago: Jan. 18, 1980

Voters of Trinity Lutheran Church congregation have approved a $2 million project to erect a new church on the site of the old church that was razed last year; the new edifice, designed by Becker and Flowers of St. Louis, should be completed in November 1981.

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Work began yesterday on refilling a gap in the Mississippi River levee at Gale, Ill., just south of here; the cut was made last spring to alleviate seep water flooding on a wide stretch of land from McClure, Ill., south to Gale.

50 years ago: Jan. 18, 1955

A new, unnamed club was organized last night by a group of wives whose husbands are employed on towboats on the inland waterways.

CAIRO, Ill. -- By a margin of only 129 votes, residents of Cairo at a special election reject a proposal to substitute a city manager government for the present commission system.

75 years ago: Jan. 18, 1930

Gripped by the coldest weather in 12 years, Cape Girardeau digs out from beneath a snow blanket to find rail and automobile transportation hampered and communication partially disrupted as the winter's worst blizzard stuck in all its fury; the mercury sank to 12 below zero overnight, the lowest reading since 1918; 4 to 6 inches of snow covers the area.

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- At the end of a 15-hour session, members of the board of trustees of Will Mayfield College pledge themselves to raise $4,000 in four days to prevent the college from closing.

100 years ago: Jan. 18, 1905

CAIRO, Ill. -- The railroads that have been doing their transferring at Thebes, Ill., are sending their cars to Cairo to be transferred, the Mississippi River being frozen at Thebes, making it impossible for the transfer boats to run at that point.

Fritz Graden, one of Cape Girardeau County's oldest and most honorable residents, dies at his home near Salem Church, six miles west of Cape Girardeau, after an illness of more than a year; he is survived by two daughters.

-- Sharon K. Sanders