Out of the past

25 years ago: May 15, 1983

Lisa Mays, a member of First Baptist Church in Jackson, won first place in the state finals of the Young Speakers' Tournament held recently at Windermere Baptist Assembly at Roach, Mo.; she will receive a $250 scholarship to one of the four Missouri Baptist colleges.

Frank J. Brockmeyer, 81, dies at Chateau Girardeau Health Care Center; Brockmeyer was a self-employed blacksmith, operating a shop on South Spanish Street from 1925 until his retirement in 1963.

50 years ago: May 15, 1958

Under a warm sun on this fourth rain-less day in a row and in many instances at night under searchlights mounted on farm tractors, Southeast Missouri farmers are waging a race against time to get their crops in the ground; heavy rains the past few weeks made it impossible to break ground; also, what planting has been done has gone for naught as the seed decayed due to precipitation and cold weather.

The Bloomer Amusement Co. Inc., of Belleville, Ill., operators of a number of indoor and outdoor theaters in Illinois and Missouri, has purchased and taken over management of the Star Vue and Cape Drive-In theaters here.

75 years ago: May 15, 1933

Rising nearly 9 feet in 48 hours, the Mississippi River reaches flood stage at Cape Girardeau in the morning; the stream is at 30.5 feet, 6 inches above flood stage.

Southeast Missouri struggles with a threat of flooding, as weekend rain caused nearly every stream in the district to reach its highest stage in years, paralyzing automobile traffic and hampering train service; many residents of Greenville, Mo., in Wayne County, were driven from their homes late yesterday, when the Big St. Francis River reached its highest level since 1915.

100 years ago: May 15, 1908

Sammy Adams has been elected to succeed himself as captain of the Capahas baseball team; Clyde Andrews is secretary-treasurer, Eugene Sullivan score-keeper, and Dennis Scivally umpire; the Caps will take on the Merrians of St. Louis here Sunday.

Barrett Cotner is in Cape Girardeau from Shawneetown; he is preparing to hold a big picnic there early in June, and he was in town ordering freezers of ice cream from I. Ben Miller.

-- Sharon K. Sanders