Out of the past 10/9/04

25 years ago: Oct. 9, 1979

Howard E. Vander Clute Jr., the national commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, declares, "Right now, the American armed forces are in a shambles -- we have no means of mobilization if we had to."

TAMMS, Ill. -- On advice from the Illinois Farm Bureau that Alexander County illegally applied a farmland tax-multiplier this year, 75 county farmland owners meet here to organize payment of those taxes under protest.

50 years ago: Oct. 9, 1954

Petitions are being circulated asking Kenneth Cruse, who resigned yesterday as chief of police, to reconsider and return as head of the department; the chief turned in his resignation after he declared a charge of driving while intoxicated against a woman had been dismissed without his knowledge, threatening his authority.

75 years ago: Oct. 9, 1929

The steamer Island Queen, the biggest boat on the inland waters in America and used exclusively for excursions, goes aground on the Paul Jones rocks in the Mississippi River, a short distance north of Commerce, Mo.

100 years ago: Oct. 9, 1904

Regular preaching services by the pastor, the Rev. Oliver Boggess, are held at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Methodist church, the corner of Themis and Sprigg streets.

-- Sharon K. Sanders