Out of the past 2/25/06

25 years ago: Feb. 25, 1981

By acclamation, the Cape Girardeau City Council last night approved a suggestion that Mayor Paul Stehr serve as acting city manager between the time that present city manager W.G. Lawley leaves office later this week and new city manager Gary A. Eide assumes the position in April.

The Jackson Board of Education has signed a contract with the architectural firm of Whitworth, Foust, Stearnes and Sebek Inc. of Cape Girardeau to design additions to two schools and a multipurpose physical education building; plans call for additions to West Lane Elementary School and the Junior High School, as well as construction of a physical education facility.

50 years ago: Feb. 25, 1956

High winds in the morning cause the disruption of power for a time in the west part of Cape Girardeau, knock out 37 long-distance telephone circuits near the city and reportedly cause widespread damage in the lower part of Southeast Missouri.

A start this spring on construction of an addition to Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau appears probable following the opening of bids yesterday which, in combination, amounted to a low figure of $1,005,557.

75 years ago: Feb. 25, 1931

Workers are razing the Bernhardt and Gertrude Guthmann place, near the northwest corner of North Sprigg and Themis streets in Cape Girardeau, to make way for a gas station.

Capt. W.H. "Buck" Leyhe docks the steamer Cape Girardeau briefly in the afternoon and, after attending hurriedly to duties, heads up river again for St. Louis; 50 people are aboard the boat, which is making its return from New Orleans, and the Mardi Gras celebration there.

100 years ago: Feb. 25, 1906

It looks as if the Elks Club won't be building an opera house in Cape Girardeau after all; a new committee, however, has been formed by the organization to look at the possibility of building a new clubhouse on its Themis Street property, just west of the St. Charles Hotel; still, the talk of a new opera house persists, as Himmelberger & Harrison last week purchased the Whitelaw property at Broadway and Fountain Street, one of the most desirable locations in the city.

The Rev. Kellermann preaches in the evening at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau; the church has just been fitted with electric lights, 125 having been installed.

-- Sharon K. Sanders