Out of the past 5/12/12

25 years ago: May 12, 1987

CAIRO, Ill. -- Coast Guard officials say an oil spill of more than 10,000 gallons will cause temporary aesthetic damage to the Mississippi River shoreline, but no real environmental problems; the spill occurred yesterday morning, after an eight-barge petroleum tow went aground at the upper end of Dogtooth Bend, about 23 miles upstream from Cairo.

Concerns about a recreational lake being proposed in western Cape Girardeau County and a portion of Bollinger County have led Jim Roche of near Millersville to call a meeting for tomorrow to see if there are others who share his opposition to the project.

50 years ago: May 12, 1962

It takes king-sized amounts of materials to build an interstate highway, statistics of the R.B. Potashnick and D.L. Harrison companies, builders of Interstate 55, testify; the contractors, in readiness for paving operations, have dumped mountain-like piles of crushed rock near the highway project, one location a few miles south of Cape Girardeau along Highway 61 and the other to the north along the Jackson Road near Old McKendree Chapel.

The two district winners of The Missourian's Spelling Bee -- Martha Bess and Mary Beth Leible, both of Sikeston, Mo. -- are spelled down in the semi-finals in St. Louis.

75 years ago: May 12, 1937

Jackson Mayor James R. Bowman, L.A. Goodwin of the Byrd Township Special Road District Commission, and C.H. Wolter, representing the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, traveled to Jefferson City yesterday to confer with the State Highway Department in regard to procuring the farm-to-market road from Jackson to Oak Ridge; the plans are drawn and bidding can commence, as soon as the right of way is secured.

Edward R. Harris, district representative for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., is elected president of the Lions Club; he will succeed Louis J. Schultz.

100 years ago: May 12, 1912

The Rev. W. Krueger is installed as pastor of the Lutheran Church in Gordonville; officiating at the installation is the Rev. William Langehennig of Jackson.

Competing in a steady rain throughout the day, the athletes of the public high schools of Southeast Missouri complete every event scheduled yesterday in the seventh annual track and field meet held at the fairgrounds; the track was six inches deep in mud and the field a massy muck of softness; Webster Groves, Mo., took home first place, followed closely by Charleston, Mo.

-- Sharon K. Sanders