Out of the past 5/7/06

25 years ago: May 7, 1981

Representatives of Cape Girardeau Cable Television plan to appear before the city council in June to ask that the system be accepted as completed; however, in light of last night's council session, the system might not receive a nod from the council until the company buries a number of cables which are now lying on the ground in parts of the city.

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, which normally sits in St. Louis, will hear arguments on cases in Cape Girardeau June 4, it is announced by Chief Judge John J. Kelly Jr.

50 years ago: May 7, 1956

The Cape Girardeau City Council selects Walter H. Ford as mayor to succeed Norval A. Randol, who resigned May 1; Ford, who served a four-year term as mayor after being elected in 1948, is now teaching in Washington School.

A heavy morning rain causes some damage to a portion of the Broadway pressure sewer that had been installed east of the Frisco Railroad, and leaves workers with task of draining some of the water that remains in the trench; the flow of water down the steep grade east of the track washes out around the three-foot concrete pipe, causing it to settle unevenly in some spots.

75 years ago: May 7, 1931

Mayor Edward L. Drum says Cape Girardeau's dark places -- its alleys, particularly in the business sections -- will be properly illuminated when the Missouri Utilities Co. has completed its program of rebuilding the street lighting system.

Another attempt to set a motorboat speed record on the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis is underway; Frederick Smith, president and general manager of the Dixie Greyhound lines, leaves New Orleans at 12:50 p.m. in an attempt to break the record set by Dr. Louis Leroy of Memphis, Tenn., in 1929 with a run of 87 hours and 35 minutes.

100 years ago: May 7, 1906

John Remsburg had the honor and pleasure Saturday night of going to Paducah, Ky., with a crowd of Cairo, Ill.'s, best musicians to attend a concert given by the New York Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Walter Damrosch.

Squalls and excitement mark the regular meeting of the city council; that body finally passes the sewer ordinance, as well as a measure granting a franchise to the street railway; Edward Regenhardt, a bidder on street improvement work, demands to be heard when the council seems ready to accept bids lower than his.

-- Sharon K. Sanders