Out of the past 5/31/10

25 years ago: May 31, 1985

A bid by the United Transportation Union to appeal abandonment of a Missouri Pacific Railroad spur in Cape Girardeau is rejected by the Interstate Commerce Commission; a spokesman for the railroad says the ICC action makes the abandonment effective immediately along 2.2 miles of the route; the abandonment case applies to 3.3 miles, but Resin Exchange is seeking to buy 1.1 miles of the line.

Cape Girardeau voters will go to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of a proposed $1.9 million bond issue which would finance a major overhaul of the sewer system on the city's west side.

50 years ago: May 31, 1960

Faced with a proposition by the Main Street Levee Improvement District to pay $7,200 annually over a 10-year period for parking rights, the Cape Girardeau City Council does an about face in its decision to seek $3,600 annual rental from the Frisco Railroad until a start is made on construction of a new depot; the parking will be in the area now occupied by the Frisco depot on South Main Street.

Cape Girardeau firemen, including all members of the department with less than five years of service, get first-hand training when they go through several hours of rigorous training, which involves the burning of a 2 1/2-story frame dwelling on Perry Avenue, near St. Mary's Cemetery.

75 years ago: May 31, 1935

Pretending they wanted to purchase an automobile, a couple last night stole a Dodge sedan from A.C. "Doc" Brase, a salesman for the Harris Motor Co., after robbing him of $2.50; holding a gun on Brase, they forced him to drive them to a Main Street hotel, where the woman went in and had a porter bring their luggage to the car; the two released Brase unharmed on Gordonville Road, a mile west of the Schonhoff dairy.

For the sixth consecutive year, the George Washington Auxiliary of the Sons of Union Veterans sponsored a memorial service on the traffic bridge yesterday for the sailors and Marines of the Civil War; approximately 75 persons saw a wreath and roses dropped to the Mississippi River.

100 years ago: May 31, 1910

P.H. Dietrich and son, A.F. Dietrich, have purchased the coal and sand yard and business of Henry Vasterling at Themis and Sprigg streets, of which they will assume charge June 1.

Walter Williams, dean of the school of journalism at the state university, delivers the commencement address for the public schools at Lorimier School in the evening; this is the first time the school board has ever had a distinguished orator for this purpose, it being the rule to get a local speaker to deliver a few remarks.

-- Sharon K. Sanders