Out of the past 6/18/07

25 years ago: June 18, 1982

A 29-year-old Cape Girardeau man, threatening to jump to his death, crawled onto a girder on the outside edge of the Mississippi River bridge last night and remained perched there for more than an hour, before Cape Girardeau police officer Richard C. Fehr was able to persuade him to come off the bridge.

The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority has received a $49,000 grant from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department to fund operations for fiscal 1983.

50 years ago: June 18, 1957

If the weather remains fair, wheat and other small grain will be rolling to market or storage in large volume immediately; already some combining has been done in the county and district; most farmers are storing their grain with the prevailing market price at $1.75 per bushel and the loan figure of $2.09.

An hourlong fireworks display, mostly from a barge in the Mississippi River at the foot of Independence Street in Cape Girardeau, is being planned for the celebration marking the lifting of tolls on the traffic bridge on June 29.

75 years ago: June 18, 1932

Dr. C.B. Ruff, widely known Cape Girardeau dentist, dies at a local hospital; born near Longtown, Mo., April 10, 1865, Ruff resided there until he was 7 years old, when he moved with his parents to near Jackson; he practiced dentistry in Kennett, Mo., 15 years; in 1906, he became the first tenant in the H.H. Building.

Dizzy Dean won't be hurling for the Charleston, Mo., baseball team when it plays the Capahas in Cape Girardeau tomorrow; he has patched up his troubles with the St. Louis Cardinals.

100 years ago: June 18, 1907

Mrs. Robert Heise, who lives north of Cape Girardeau, is in town purchasing supplies; she says they will cut wheat on their farm tomorrow; a fair crop is expected.

Maj. Arthur Oliver of Caruthersville, Mo., commanding the Sixth Separate Battalion, National Guard of Missouri, enlisted the Schuchert Concert Band as the band of the Fifth Regiment, which is to be formed from the present Sixth Battalion with the addition of companies from Perryville, Mountain Grove and West Plains, Mo.

-- Sharon K. Sanders