Out of the past

25 years ago: Oct. 26, 1983

A jury trial begins in federal court in Cape Girardeau in a four-year-old lawsuit brought by the developers of the proposed Westborough Mall against the city of Cape Girardeau and West Park Mall developers.

According to the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, the proposed 3 percent motel/hotel gross receipts tax and 1 percent restaurant tax, which is the only issue facing city voters in a special election Nov. 8, would add only about 10 cents to the average restaurant bill and about $1 to a daily motel room charge.

50 years ago: Oct. 26, 1958

A large crowd gathers at Cape Catholic High School auditorium to hear Bishop Charles H. Helmsing, head of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese, give the speech "My Visit to Lourdes"; the celebration honors the bishop, who is observing his 25th year in the priesthood, and also commemorates the centennial year of the apparition at Lourdes, France.

St. Andrew Lutherans observe the Festival of the Reformation during worship services at the new chapel at the intersection of Cape Rock and Kingsway drives.

75 years ago: Oct. 26, 1933

There will be no more painting of streets and sidewalks on the eve of home football games, declares Police Chief J.E. Crafton; he says pupils at Central High School carried the street decorating with white paint to an extreme before the recent Poplar Bluff, Mo., game.

With the retirement of mail carrier Arthur J. Schrader of Cape Girardeau, the consolidation of the four rural mail routes out of Cape Girardeau into three is announced by assistant Postmaster C. Stout.

100 years ago: Oct. 26, 1908

The residents of Cape Girardeau will hear two excellent speeches this week; this evening, Nelson Crews, the orator of all black orators, will speak at the courthouse, and Chester H. Crum, the distinguished St. Louis lawyer, will lecture Saturday evening at the courthouse.

The rock-paved boulevard in front of the buildings of the Normal School is quite an addition to the campus; several large boulders have been left in the parkway between the two drives to mark Civil War Fort B; an old-fashioned cannon is mounted on one of these.

-- Sharon K. Sanders