Out of the past 5/15/12

25 years ago: May 15, 1987

One year after floodwaters ravaged Cape Girardeau, city officials and community leaders are still working to help ensure the devastation doesn't happen again; May 15, 1988, brought 10 inches of rain to some parts of the city, crippling the town for days.

Stale air that has persisted over the area the past week is being blamed for a noticeable amount of smog in low-lying areas around Scott City; a Missouri Department of Natural Resources investigation, however, found pollutants to be within acceptable limits.

50 years ago: May 15, 1962

Armstrong Cork Co. announces it has completed purchasing or optioning 30,000 acres of woodland in the Cape Girardeau area but emphasizes it has no immediate plans for utilization of a 1,000-acre tract of ground immediately south of Diversion Channel on U.S. 61.

State College's baseball team has accepted a bid to participate in the first NCAA Small-College regional tournament at Jonesboro, Ark., Thursday through Saturday.

75 years ago: May 15, 1937

Cape Girardeau Teachers College, for the third consecutive year, yesterday won the outdoor track and field championship of the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association at Houck Field Stadium.

Streaking down Houck Field's flood-lighted cinder path last night, Helen Stephens, America's girl Olympic champion, smashed the official world's record for women in the 100-yard dash; Stephens, appearing in special exhibition performances at the MIAA track and field meet, ran the distance in 10.5 seconds, clipping 0.5 seconds from the official time.

100 years ago: May 15, 1912

One of the biggest real estate transactions ever made here has been consummated with the transfer of Leming Hall and Albert Hall by the dormitory company to the state Normal School for $85,000; the dorms were built by a company organized by Louis Houck, L.J. Albert and M.E. Leming.

The four-story structure of the Hobbs Furniture Co., at Water and Themis streets, catches fire just before 1 a.m.; the interior construction and all stock carried by the company are destroyed.

-- Sharon K. Sanders