Out of the past 11/1/05

25 years ago: Nov. 1, 1980

Vice President Walter F. Mondale's visit to Cape Girardeau on behalf of 10th District Congressional Rep. Bill Burlison also doubles as a campaign appearance for Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton; Mondale speaks briefly at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, shakes hands with supporters, signs autographs and even poses for a couple of pictures, before reboarding Air Force II.

Nancy Reagan, wife of GOP presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan, toured VIP Industries here during a brief campaign stopover Friday; at a press conference she fielded questions ranging from Ronald Reagan's age to the tone of the campaign in recent weeks.

50 years ago: Nov. 1, 1955

But for two house break-ins and a theft from a vending machine, Halloween was observed locally in a quiet and orderly fashion by most youngsters; a large number of youngsters of the elementary grades of the public and parochial schools of the city participated in a campaign to raise money for the United Nations Children's Relief Fund.

A pay increase for city employees, announced in August, goes into effect today, along with other regulations governing the organization of municipal personnel.

75 years ago: Nov. 1, 1930

The Hotel Idan-Ha, under terms of an agreement signed in the morning concluding several weeks of negotiations, has been leased for 15 years to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Decker, hotel operators of Kansas; the announcement is made by Decker and P.T. Bolz of St. Louis, president of Girardot Investment Co., owner of the building.

The goblins and ghosts spent an enjoyable but comparatively quiet time in Cape Girardeau last night; the usual army of window-soapers, tick-tackers and manhole lifters spent most of the night in camp, and the usual color which accompanies Halloween was paler than on many previous occasions.

100 years ago: Nov. 1, 1905

Last night was Halloween, and Cape Girardeau shows the earmarks of a strenuous celebration of the event by the youth; green and red paint is conspicuous on business, house and church doors and windows, and men from every store are at work trying to undo what mischievous youngsters accomplished last night.

William Bielein of Jackson, who has been in Cape Girardeau trying to buy a restaurant, has been unable to do so; he has returned to the county seat to open one next to the post office.

-- Sharon K. Sanders