Out of the past 2/11/05

25 years ago: Feb. 11, 1980

A 5-year-old Scott City girl died in a blaze that destroyed her home; the dead child was identified as Michelle Boes, daughter of Mrs. Sheila Boes.

The Cape Girardeau County government could lose $120,198 in total revenue this year if the merchants and manufacturers tax is ruled unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court.

50 years ago: Feb. 11, 1955

Cape Girardeau is in the grip of the coldest weather in four years as the mercury slumps to one degree below zero, the result of a fast-moving blizzard sweeping out of Canada.

The Jamna Tavern on old Highway 61 South burns to the ground; the business has been owned and operated for 14 years by Raymond Ford, who lives next door.

75 years ago: Feb. 11, 1930

The Frisco railroad will abandon its lines between the villages of Aquilla and Brownwood and between Bloomfield and Campbell in Missouri Saturday; about 50 miles of road in the two counties, operated for more than a quarter of a century.

The last lumber and trash from the old paint shop building owned by the Frisco on East Maple Street is removed and much of it burned following wrecking of the structure yesterday.

100 years ago: Feb. 11, 1905

The ferryboat is still stuck in ice, despite its owner's efforts to dislodge it; fearing a thaw would cause an immense volume of water to come down the river and demolish the upper structure of the ferry, he set off three charges of dynamite in the ice, but the boat didn't budge.

Mrs. Walton Jackson and Tillie Whitelaw, while baby-sitting at Dr. James Shelton's home last night, saved the house from fire; discovering flames creeping up the walls of the reception hall, these two courageous women seized burning objects and threw them into the yard, and then beat out the burning woodwork with rugs.

-- Sharon K. Sanders