Out of the past 11/2/06

25 years ago: Nov. 2, 1981

Voters throughout much of Cape Girardeau County will go to the polls in special elections tomorrow; in Cape Girardeau, voters will be deciding the issue of adopting a charter government; a $1.5 million bond issue finance school building additions will be on the ballot in Jackson, and Delta voters will decide the fate of a 70-cent school levy hike.

As the U.S. District Court opens its November term here, it faces the longest list of pending cases in the court's history at Cape Girardeau; so large is the court's docket that a record number of three judges has been assigned to hear cases during the winter term.

50 years ago: Nov. 2, 1956

Deer hunters' luck appeared to be picking up yesterday as the five-day hunting season moved to the half-way point; in Bollinger County, 14 of the animals were bagged; the count was up from Wednesday, when nine deer were killed.

Clyde A. Vandivort, an active participant in several fields of business in Cape Girardeau during his adult life and a landowner in Southeast Missouri and Arkansas, dies at his home here at age 78; Vandivort was active in the work that led to construction of the Cape Girardeau traffic bridge and later served as its manager.

75 years ago: Nov. 2, 1931

Purchase of an American-LaFrance fire truck, costing $10,500, is authorized by the Cape Girardeau City Council, and delivery is to be made within 60 days; the new truck will have 12 cylinders and a pump with a capacity of 750 gallons of water per minute.

The Commercial Barber Shop on Main Street, a few doors south of Broadway, was moved Saturday to the Idan-Ha Hotel building at Broadway and Fountain Street and will be operated by J. Frank Taylor; the removal of the shop records the changing of a landmark; it was established in 1903 by Edward L. Schindler and Charles Hitt; when it opened, the leading shops in Cape Girardeau were all conducted by black barbers.

100 years ago: Nov. 2, 1906

Demand for houses in Cape Girardeau is high, with as many as a dozen families looking for living quarters; empty houses are at a heavy premium, and many people are unable to find locations at all.

Train master F.B. Parker of the Frisco moves to Chaffee, Mo., in the morning; a family by the name of Vandivort of Marston, Mo., will move to Cape Girardeau into the house vacated by the Parker family.

-- Sharon K. Sanders