Out of the past 10/9/08

25 years ago: Oct. 9, 1983

A Scott City woman thwarted an attempted armed robbery at the Par Gas service station and convenience store, 1004 William St., Friday night when she threw two six-packs of soda at the robber, who was holding a tire iron to the throat of one of her employees.

Construction of another bank in Cape Girardeau will get underway tomorrow, when excavation begins for the basement and footings for the Exchange Bank of Cape Girardeau.

50 years ago: Oct. 9, 1958

Mississippi River barge traffic is moving past Cape Girardeau today after being tied up for more than 24 hours by a blocked channel near Bainbridge, Mo., 11.6 miles north of the city; at one time, 16 or 17 river tows with a great many barges were halted by the block; two or three tows strayed slightly out of the channel at that point and became stuck on the sand shoals bordering the channel.

S.L. Petchul, 36, naval architect, has joined the Missouri Drydock and Repair Co.; he has 14 years of shipbuilding and design experience.

75 years ago: Oct. 9, 1933

Painters are redecorating parts of the interior of the St. Charles Hotel on Main Street; the ceiling and woodwork of the lobby and first floor corridors are being painted an ivory color; the exterior of the old brick building will be given a coat of gray paint.

Kathleen I. Gillard, dean of women at Teachers College, resigns her position; Gillard, who has been at the college since 1922, will move back to her home state of Michigan.

100 years ago: Oct. 9, 1908

After competing with many other Missouri towns for the honor of hearing "Uncle Joe" Cannon speak, the Republicans of Cape Girardeau are victorious; the speaker of the House of Representatives will be here Oct. 21, along with numerous other Republican candidates for office; a meeting has been called for Monday to make the final arrangements for the political celebration.

A large force of workers from Texas has started putting in a new steel girder bridge across Cape LaCroix Creek near Edward Hely's quarry for Frisco Railroad; last spring, heavy rains damaged the pilings that supported the track.

-- Sharon K. Sanders