Out of the past 11/4/08

25 years ago: Nov. 4, 1983

An unsigned letter delivered to Dr. Leslie H. Cochran, vice president of academic services at Southeast Missouri State University, requesting a review of the athletic department has set the wheels in motion for that review.

The Central High School Tigers ended their winless football season yesterday, falling to St. Mary's of St. Louis 14-12 on the muddy Houck Stadium gridiron.

50 years ago: Nov. 4, 1958

Crisp and bright autumn weather and a pitch of interest in local contests are factors in what appears to be a record Cape Girardeau and Cape Girardeau County vote for an off-year election; by noon, a survey of judges and clerks in the 12 city precincts shows that 19.6 percent of registered voters had marked ballots up to that time.

Establishments selling 3.2 percent beer are ordered by police to stop the sale of the beverage during the election and not to resume sales until 7:30 p.m.; sale of the so-called non-alcoholic type of beverage on certain election days is a violation of a city ordinance.

75 years ago: Nov. 4, 1938

A "lumber mattress" 200-feet-long is being constructed on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, just across from the foot of Themis Street; McGeorge Construction Co. is doing the work; lumber for the mattress, built to aid in keeping the channel clear, is being furnished by local mills.

Charles Flynn, who for the past two years worked at Poplar Bluff, Mo., as a prohibition agent, has returned to his original type of employment, as special agent for a railroad; Flynn has accepted a post as Frisco railroad detective and will be stationed at Chaffee, Mo.

100 years ago: Nov. 4, 1908

A message to The Republican newspaper at 3 p.m. says that Democratic headquarters has conceded the election of Republican Herbert S. Hadley as Missouri governor and the entire GOP state ticket; William H. Taft is running only slightly behind Hadley in the state and has little doubt obtained the electoral vote of Missouri; nationwide, returns indicate a Taft presidential victory.

W.L. Cannon, the blind piano tuner, is in Cape Girardeau for a few days; anyone wishing their piano tuned and repaired should leave orders at Clark's piano store on Main Street.

— Sharon K. Sanders