Out of the past 2/28/08

25 years ago: Feb. 28, 1983

Area political leaders are considering their next move, after the state Mental Health Commission unanimously recommended that a new mental health hospital be built in Farmington, Mo.; the action came despite a proposal from Cape Girardeau area officials that a new hospital be built near here.

Voter registration of Southeast Missouri State University students has been unusually heavy in recent weeks, indicating there is a lot of student interest in the April 5 election in Cape Girardeau on a proposed $5 million bond issue to help construct a multipurpose building.

50 years ago: Feb. 28, 1958

Travel over gravel roads slows, and the operation of school buses and mail cars is threatened by conditions which a veteran engineer describes as "the worst in 30 years" in the vicinity of Cape Girardeau; at many places, gravel roads have developed soft spots due to the thaw and have given way beneath the weight of passing vehicles.

Members of the Jaycees throughout the state, accompanied by their wives, began arriving in Cape Girardeau yesterday for the midwinter state board meeting; close to 500 are expected to attend.

75 years ago: Feb. 28, 1933

Coach E.R. Stuber of the Teachers College says he won't issue a call for spring football training until the weather is more favorable; the gridiron at Houck Field Stadium is too soft for practice.

The Cape Girardeau City Council met yesterday to amend an ordinance establishing fire limits; the action permits construction of the Montgomery Ward & Co. building to continue; the builders have agreed to construct the first-floor walls 16 inches thick instead of 13 and the second floor walls 13 inches thick, and to provide proper support for the second floor and roof by installing steal beams and posts.

100 years ago: Feb. 28, 1908

John Schneider, the Broadway merchant, returned to Cape Girardeau last night from St. Louis, where he had been sightseeing for several days.

The boat season begins with a rush; the Grey Eagle gets into Cape Girardeau in the evening on its first trip of the season with several passengers and a big cargo; the City of Memphis is expected to start in the St. Louis-Cape Girardeau trade Monday.

-- Sharon K. Sanders