Out of the past 11/15/08

25 years ago: Nov. 15, 1983

The Cape Girardeau County Neighborhood Watch program goes into full swing in the evening, when the first in a series of meetings planned across the county is held at Fruitland.

Carl J. Lewis, who as Cape Girardeau fire chief in the 1940s wrote the first electrical code for the city and later fought for a city building code to put a stop to construction of fire-prone buildings, died yesterday at age 74; Lewis joined the department here 1936; he was appointed chief in 1940, a position he held until 1974.

50 years ago: Nov. 15, 1958

Martin G. Lorberg, who introduced the first ambulance -- a horse-drawn vehicle -- and the first motorized hearse to the mortuary business in Southeast Missouri, dies at age 76; Lorberg founded the Haarig Furniture Co., later adding an undertaking business to the enterprise.

Mr. and Mrs. H.M. Lacey are preparing to depart for a three-week vacation in Arizona; for the past four years, they have managed the Sunset Motel, which was recently purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Williams of Berkeley, Mo.

75 years ago: Nov. 15, 1933

Three fires, traceable directly to the cold wave holding Cape Girardeau in its grip, cause losses conservatively estimated at $3,000; all three of the blazes are at dwellings; the worst damage is to the two-story, nine-room frame home of Mr. and Mrs. T.E. Lemonds, 116 N. Park Ave.

Under provisions of the Emergency Civil Works Program, another arm of the government's relief plan, one or more work camps may soon be set up in the Cape Girardeau district, where local workers would be given employment with regulations similar in some respects to those controlling forestation workers.

100 years ago: Nov. 15, 1908

With both teams' coaches playing, the Normal School football team won over the visiting Carleton College team yesterday; both coaches played fullback for their respective schools.

The carnival company that came to Cape Girardeau to show at the fairgrounds last week had hard luck; the weather was so cold it was impossible to give a performance; the company packs up and goes to Kennett, Mo.

-- Sharon K. Sanders