Out of the Past 3/15/09

25 years ago: March 15, 1984

A banner stretched across Broadway proclaiming this week as "Girl Scout Week," which was put up with police approval, must come down because it violates a city ordinance prohibiting banners over public streets.

Southeast Missouri State University president Bill W. Stacy says he is pleased with the Missouri House of Representatives' tentative approval of next year's university budget, which is $1 million more than the amount Gov. Kit Bond recommended.

50 years ago: March 15, 1959

Dedication service for the new Bethany Baptist Chapel, 430 Koch Ave., is held in the afternoon, with the Rev. H.H. McGinty of Jefferson City, Mo., former pastor of First Baptist Church here and editor of The Word and The Way, as the speaker.

Motorists and pedestrians on Broadway may have noted the new spring decor in front of the chamber of commerce building, a basket of red rosebuds suspended from a utility pole; the basket is a sample display of a proposed street decoration for the business areas of the city.

75 years ago: March 15, 1934

Construction work on six federal projects along the Mississippi River in the Cape Girardeau district is being resumed; when work on all of the jobs has started, about 410 men will again be employed for nearly a month.

Excavation for the new U.S. Geological Survey building to house an automatic water gauge is progressing at the foot of the sea wall just south of the Frisco passenger depot; a shaft about 20 feet deep has been dug, and workers have 10 more feet of earth and rock to excavate.

100 years ago: March 15, 1909

After a lapse of a year, an attempt will be made to arouse interest in a series of platform performances; a contract has been taken by Normal School professor W.W. Martin and a representative of the Clayton Lyceum Bureau of Chicago for a nine-day program here in July.

The ladies of the Civic Improvement Association, in their quest to improve the looks of the grounds around Common Pleas Courthouse, have decided the worst spots will be filled with dirt and shrubs will be planted.

-- Sharon K. Sanders