Out of the past 1/18/12

25 years ago: Jan. 18, 1987

The director of community development for Sioux City, Iowa, Gary L. Worth, has been hired as Cape Girardeau's first community development director.

The ribbon is cut opening the new Student Recreation Center, which adjoins the multipurpose building under construction on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

50 years ago: Jan. 18, 1962

Boatmen stalled on both sides of the week-old Cairo, Ill., ice gorge on the Mississippi River may have to wait for several more days; efforts to smash through the ice pack have been futile; only warmer weather will mean freedom for the boats.

A fountain and pool -- a memorial to the veterans of all wars -- will decorate the south entrance to the county courthouse at Jackson; construction on the project, estimated to cost $7,000, is expected to begin March 15.

75 years ago: Jan. 18, 1937

KENNETT, Mo. -- Fighting against seemingly overwhelming odds, hundreds of volunteers and WPA workers are battling along a 25-mile front, most of them being concentrated on a 1-mile stretch of levee to prevent the floodwaters from a swollen St. Francis River from breaking the dikes and spreading over thousands of acres of farmland.

Railroads in Southeast Missouri, fighting to maintain service in the face of unprecedented floods in Dunklin and Butler counties, spot their attention on branch lines with one completely out and service on others threatened; the Frisco has abandoned through service on the Hoxie line from Cape Girardeau to Hoxie, Ark.

100 years ago: Jan. 18, 1912

The streets of Cape Girardeau are in a deplorable condition because of the snow; W.H. Coerver, chairman of the street and wharf committee, is making plans to put a large gang of men to work clearing the roads; merchants on Broadway are notified by police they must clear the snow from sidewalks.

The state board of health has been given a promise from all railroads operating in the state to do away with unsanitary drinking cups and towels; some of the railroads will have sanitary drinking cups for sale at a penny apiece, while others will expect passengers to provide their own cups.

-- Sharon K. Sanders