Out of the past 3/30/06

25 years ago: March 30, 1981

Gary A. Eide is sworn in as Cape Girardeau's city manager by city clerk Verna Lee Landis; Eide, who succeeds W.G. Lawley, spends the rest of his day meeting with the people who work for him -- city employees and department heads -- and the people for whom he works -- city councilmen and residents.

WASHINGTON -- President Ronald Reagan is shot outside a Washington Hotel, along with press secretary James Brady and two others; a suspect, John W. Hinkley Jr., 25, is arrested for the shooting.

50 years ago: March 30, 1956

Petitions requesting the Cape Girardeau County Court to call an election to vote bonds in the amount of $150,000 to be used to purchase approximately 3,000 acres of land along the Mississippi River for a state park are in circulation; at one place, the Lions Club Pancake Day yesterday, 800 signatures were obtained.

William W. Ancell, 40, of Chaffee, Mo., foreman of the Frisco Railroad switch engine at Cape Girardeau, is injured when a boxcar on which he is riding jumps the track on a siding near the International Shoe Co. plant.

75 years ago: March 30, 1931

Fire of undetermined origin, starting in the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Dave Reed, destroyed three Illmo dwellings yesterday morning with a loss of approximately $10,000; the other houses destroyed were those occupied by Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Shipley and by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Whitsel.

Fourteen new cases of measles are reported, according to Cape Girardeau health officer W.D. Black; one new case each of chicken pox and scarlet fever are also listed; there are now about 60 cases of contagious diseases, mostly measles, in the city.

100 years ago: March 30, 1906

Cape Girardeau's businessmen have been casting about to find two men who would consent to act as public school directors if elected, and they have finally found them; Dr. H.L. Cunningham and L.B. Houck have finally agreed to act if elected; both want to see the city's public schools put in a condition that will properly accommodate all children who want an education.

At the election next Tuesday, Cape Girardeau voters will be asked to vote for a proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $20,000, with which to build a new schoolhouse, and to raise the school tax from 40 to 60 cents, so as to properly maintain the schools.

-- Sharon K. Sanders