Out of the past 5/2/05

25 years ago: May 2, 1980

As a federal mediator tries to get negotiations started again, members of Operating Engineers Local 513 begin the second day of a strike that has shut down most construction work over the entire eastern half of Missouri, including a number of projects in Cape Girardeau; in a prepared statement, Local 513 president Jack Martorelli says the union was forced to take strike action because of a dispute over classification of mechanics in a proposed contract.

Cape Girardeau County Court has decided to construct a new 15-foot-wide concrete bridge deck at Allenville and not construct a new bridge at Whitewater at this time; the court decided it could afford only one of the spans for now.

50 years ago: May 2, 1955

A petition is presented to the city council asking that a bridge over Walker Creek, on old Jackson Road, which reportedly slows up water in time of flood, be removed and that other improvements be made in the Golladay Addition; the petition also asks that the creek be cleared of debris.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Jean Bell Mosley of Cape Girardeau is elected president of the Missouri Writers' Guild at the University of Missouri's annual Journalism Week.

75 years ago: May 2, 1930

Fire, originating from sparks in rubbish burning on a lot nearby, destroys the six-story brick building at 330 N. Main St., occupied by the Ruehmann Hide and Fur Co., with a loss conservatively estimated at $25,000.

Two district towns, in which big shoe factories were located during the past decade, show big gains in population at the recent census; Perryville, Mo., is at 2,964, an increase of 1,201 since 1920; likewise, Sikeston, Mo., has a population of 5,668, up from 3,613.

100 years ago: May 2, 1905

Judge Riley convenes the county grand jury in the morning, telling the 12-man panel to pay special attention to gambling in Cape Girardeau and also to violations of the Sunday closing laws in their deliberations.

A meeting was held recently at the German Lutheran school on the Perryville Road, at which all the farmers in the neighborhood were in attendance to discuss continuing work on the road; during the past few years, the farmers on this road have done a great amount of work, and from the school house to the city limits the grading has been completed and partly graveled.

-- Sharon K. Sanders