Out of the past 2/24/06

25 years ago: Feb. 24, 1981

A technician taking a walk on his noon break from Larron Laboratory yesterday stumbled upon the skeletal remains of Dr. Margaret H. Smith, who disappeared from her Cape Girardeau home more than seven months ago; the remains were found on the side of an embankment only a few yards from Highway 177, three miles north of Cape Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau Public Library announces the implementation of a number of budget cuts as a result of a 50 percent reduction in state aid to public libraries.

50 years ago: Feb. 24, 1956

Apparent low bids on the proposed Cape Girardeau armory were $14,618 higher than the contract awards on bids received last August, and the building will have 1,460 less square feet of space than was figured in the original bid.

Earth-moving machines and crews of men have moved into the Cape Girardeau riverfront area east of the Missouri Utilities Co. plant to start construction on the initial phase of the Main Street flood-protection work; Victory Construction Co. has begun a 20-foot cut on the riverbank into which sewer tile will be laid as the start of its job of building a new sewer system in that section.

75 years ago: Feb. 24, 1931

Mrs. A.D. Leech, 97, for many years a resident of Cape Girardeau, died yesterday at the home of her daughters, Mrs. M.R. Smith and Mrs. Alma Rider, at Farmington, Mo., with whom she had resided for some time; when the family resided here, they lived on the property now belonging to Joseph Haas on West Broadway, just east of Clark Avenue.

ORAN, Mo. -- Fire originating in the power department of the Oran plant of the Scott County Milling Co. at 2 a.m. causes damage estimated at between $15,000 and $20,000.

100 years ago: Feb. 24, 1906

Louis Houck confirms the rumor that has been spreading for some time that the Cape Girardeau & Chester Railroad will install a motor car service between Cape Girardeau and Jackson; Houck isn't sure whether the service will be extended to Oak Ridge.

Thirteen of the subscribers to the Southern Smelting and Manufacturing Co. bonds met last night at the Commercial Club rooms in Cape Girardeau to select a trustee for the funds; after considerable discussion, it was decided to elect three trustees instead of one; L.J. Albert, D.A. Glenn and E.H. Engelmann were chosen.

-- Sharon K. Sanders