Out of the past 10/17/10

25 years ago: Oct. 17, 1985

Five new officers have been hired by the Cape Girardeau Police Department and will be sworn in tomorrow; the officers are Alan D. Bisher and Kenton R. Martin, both of Cape Girardeau; Jerry D. Canady of Sikeston, Mo.; David E. Felton, originally from the Chicago area, and Jackie A. Wimp of Hornersville, Mo.

Bishop John Leibrecht, of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese, presided at a rededication Mass last night at St. Mary's Cathedral; the Mass marked the completion of a $50,000 remodeling of the church's interior.

50 years ago: Oct. 17, 1960

Lon O. Hocker, the Republican candidate for U.S. senator, campaigned in Cape Girardeau yesterday, first at a reception at Centenary Methodist Church and later at a rally at Central High School.

A ripple of excitement breaks the calm of Main Street in the morning, when a youth, riding a fancy show horse, stops at the corner of Themis Street, dismounts, ties the reins to a parking meter and deposits a nickel; the equestrian is Clyde Russell Jr., who rode downtown to buy a jean jacket.

75 years ago: Oct. 17, 1935

Southeast Missouri teachers are back in Cape Girardeau for their annual meeting -- the convention session of the Southeast Missouri Teachers Association.

George A. Bienert, a former mayor of Chaffee, Mo., and a one-time resident of Cape Girardeau, dies at a hospital here; Bienert, who retired five years ago as a labor foreman for the Frisco Railroad, was born in Canada in 1860; his family moved to Missouri when he was 6.

100 years ago: Oct. 17, 1910

Prosecuting Attorney H.E. Alexander files suit in the Court of Common Pleas against the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad for $365,000 damages for violating its contract and franchise with the city of Cape Girardeau; the case will come up in the November term of court.

The Daughters of the American Revolution have secured the Grand Theater in Haarig for a performance Thursday evening; the daughters are raising funds for the erection of a handsome monument to the memory of the city's founder, Louis Lorimier.

-- Sharon K. Sanders