Out of the past 12/10/04

25 years ago: Dec. 10, 1979

Housing and tuition rates at Southeast Missouri State University will likely go up next fall, if the board of regents adopts proposals from the administration at its December and January meetings.

Wayne T. Haertling, 36, a New Wells farmer, drowned yesterday when the tractor he was riding flipped over into a pond and pinned him under the water.

50 years ago: Dec. 10, 1954

The first payment of school funds out of taxes currently being collected has brought the Cape Girardeau School District $166,207.56, with $60,002.74 of the sum coming from the special $1 levy for construction of the new Central High School.

The SEMO District Fair made a profit of $6,302.69 this year, it was announced at last night's annual membership meeting of the fair association; the sale of 85,240 booster tickets for 10 cents each is credited with the fair's showing a profit rather than deficit for the first time in several years.

75 years ago: Dec. 10, 1929

After spending a night on a sandbar in the Mississippi River, John Conway, 13-year-old farm boy of near Illmo, is back home none the worse for his cruise down the river in a runaway skiff; the youth was found yesterday afternoon on the Illinois shore south of Thebes, Ill., where he had fled at the approach of rescuers, apparently fearing they might inflict some bodily punishment for his escapade.

Handicapped on their final cruise of the year, the steamers Cape Girardeau and Golden Eagle are tied up at Towhead, a sandbar opposite Commerce, Mo., waiting for the dense fog to lift.

100 years ago: Dec. 10, 1904

A second time within a year, the Lorimier Hotel burns to the ground in the morning; the South Cape Girardeau Store, which took up half of the first floor of the building, was also gutted; the building was owned by Louis Houck, who estimates its value at $12,000.

A tramp who had hung around city hall for days asking for medical attention dies suddenly in the morning in the city jail, just after policeman Collins Adkins had built a fire for him; although death was a blessing for the unfortunate man, it may be that he perished for want of medical assistance.

-- Sharon K. Sanders