Out of the past 12/21/04

25 years ago: Dec. 21, 1979

At first glance, motorists might think the trend of rising gasoline prices has been broken in a big way; the big sign at the self-service station in the 2000 block of William Street reads 25 cents for regular and 26 cents for unleaded.

BENTON, Ill. -- Southern Illinois Democratic county party chairmen have delivered a strong endorsement of President Jimmy Carter's re-election bid; at the same time, county chairmen endorsed Congressman Paul Simon's re-election bid, despite his backing of Sen. Edward Kennedy for the party's presidential nomination.

50 years ago: Dec. 21, 1954

S.P. Reynolds of Caruthers-ville, Mo., 93-year-old dean of flood-control authorities in Missouri, has been unanimously re-elected to another term on the Board of Supervisors of the Little River Drainage District.

Cape Girardeau County Tuberculosis Association will sponsor a mobile X-ray unit in Cape Girardeau from Dec. 28 through Jan. 27.

75 years ago: Dec. 21, 1929

Final negotiations through which the Fox interests have acquired the Broadway, Park and Orpheum theaters in Cape Girardeau and the Circle Theater in Jackson are completed; the theaters, owned by S.E. Brady, were secured on the basis of a 20-year lease; C.C. Payne of Beatrice, Neb., will manage the local circuit of houses.

The mercury again sank into the single digits overnight, falling to five degrees above zero, four degrees above yesterday's low.

100 years ago: Dec. 21, 1904

Cape Girardeau voters yesterday approved the proposition allowing the city council to proceed with the establishment of a sewer system in the town; the measure required a two-thirds majority to pass, and it was exceeded by 71 votes.

The new bank in Haarig is moving in the fixtures and preparing to open on Jan. 1; the nice new room directly across the street from the Good Hope Drug Store has been rented and will make a fine location.

-- Sharon K. Sanders