Out of the past 3/31/06

25 years ago: March 31, 1981

Two Cape Girardeau firemen were hospitalized last night after being overcome by smoke while battling a blaze which ripped through an apartment house at 821 William St.; firefighters were called to the building at about 9:45 p.m., after a woman reported a pan of grease on her stove had ignited a kitchen wall; within minutes, the fire spread to the entire rear half of the structure.

Approximately 1,000 acres of forest and underbrush are destroyed by fire in southern Bollinger County, forcing the evacuation of a half-dozen families and a church in the Zalma, Mo., area.

50 years ago: March 31, 1956

Plans are being made in Cape Girardeau and Jackson for a tour Thursday afternoon of the proposed Trail of Tears State Park site, but it appears there will be hundreds of visitors through the area over the weekend if the weather permits.

The 50-piece concert band of the University of Notre Dame arrives in Cape Girardeau shortly before noon; members are spending the night at the Marquette Hotel before continuing to Wynne, Ark., Sunday for a concert there.

75 years ago: March 31, 1931

Removing all legal barriers to the building of oil filling stations on Broadway between Pacific Street to Park Avenue, the Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday amended an old ordinance which prevented construction of such establishments in the immediate vicinity of a school or church on Broadway.

Work of riprapping and constructing dikes along the Mississippi River opposite Cape Girardeau has been started by the Woods Bros. Construction Co. of Lincoln, Neb.; the work, at the direction of the federal government, is the first of a large amount of work expected in connection with the flood-control program.

100 years ago: March 31, 1906

John Brooks, W.B. McEndree and F.M. Williams, the rural free delivery carriers, have bought the Gus Maurer livery stable and will take possession Monday; in the future the stable will be known as the Frederick Street Livery, Feed and Sale Stable.

Al Brinkopf, who is known all over for his ability in the undertaking and furniture business, has bought a big line of goods and has rented the old Rueseler stand on Broadway, where he will again be in the undertaking business; he retains half interest in the fine hearse bought by Hoch & Brinkopf, which he will use when called upon.

-- Sharon K. Sanders