Out of the past 12/11/04

25 years ago: Dec. 11, 1979

Cape Girardeau County health officials and Prosecuting Attorney Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. are concerned over possible health hazards from a slough that runs through Delta; the water isn't draining and has become stagnate, says county sanitarian Marvin Campbell; Limbaugh says his research shows the slough is owned by 15 to 20 property owners in the town who own land adjacent to it.

The Cape Girardeau city administrative staff is instructed by the city council to obtain detailed information on the federal program which subsidizes public transit systems in anticipation of reviving an effort to establish a system here.

50 years ago: Dec. 11, 1954

A nearly completed house being built for E.F. Horton on Watkins Drive is virtually destroyed by fire early in the morning; the blaze apparently starts from a kerosene smudge-pot in the basement.

Dedication ceremonies marking the formal opening of the Salvation Army's Tree of Lights program for Christmas basket and winter relief operations were held yesterday on the post office lawn on Broadway.

75 years ago: Dec. 11, 1929

The Central & Eastern Illinois Railroad, which operates fast passenger train service from Chicago to Central and Southern Illinois, hopes to extend this service to Cape Girardeau over the newly constructed lines of the Missouri Pacific Railroad from the Thebes, Ill., bridge.

Special workers in the emergency fund-raising campaign for Southeast Missouri Hospital continue their drive for $35,000 needed to pay off pressing indebtedness in the institution; while no report is made, the amount collected so far is well over $10,000.

100 years ago: Dec. 11, 1904

At the regular meeting of the local Grand Army of the Republic post, the following comrades were elected for the ensuing year: H.A. Astholz, commander; Christian Klages, vice commander; Charles Bradey, junior vice commander; G.W. Rodgers, adjutant; Jacob Rubel, quartermaster; Alexander Ross, chaplain; Philip Maag, Officer of the Day, and Louis Ische, Officer of the Guard.

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Bohnsack left Cape Girardeau yesterday for Los Angeles, Calif., where they will reside.

-- Sharon K. Sanders