Out of the past 6/26/08

25 years ago: June 26, 1983

Cape Girardeau Police Det. Sgt. Stephen C. Strong graduated Friday from the FBI's National Academy at Quantico, Va.

Mrs. James Kinder and Mrs. Lyle Davis have been named co-chairwomen of the 1983 Heritage Ball to be held Nov. 12; the ball is held annually to support the work of the Historical Association of Greater Cape Girardeau.

50 years ago: June 26, 1958

Cape Girardeau's cemetery department has started asphalting the steep hillside roads that connect with Clark Avenue on the west in Fairmount Cemetery; the improvements are being made to halt erosion that accompanies each hard rain.

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — Built at a cost of only $300, the Masonic building at Marble Hill is being razed to make room for a new brick structure to house Trowel Lodge 440; labor is being donated by members of the lodge, which for many years housed the post office.

75 years ago: June 26, 1933

Fire originating from the explosion of an oil stove yesterday destroyed a four-room frame dwelling at the north end of North West End Boulevard owned by Mr. and Mrs. J. Zeman Brown; the nearest hydrant was three blocks away, and the house was nearly consumed when fire trucks arrived.

Work starts on the rehabilitation of Old McKendree Chapel; workers have begun the removal of the sheet iron roof; a new roof of handmade cypress shingles, such as were on the original roof, will be installed; stone masons are also engaged in restoring the fireplace.

100 years ago: June 26, 1908

Dr. John D. Porterfield, president of the water and light company, goes to the corner of Broadway and Frederick Street at noon and finds the huge ditchdigging machine of the sewer contractor taking water from the hydrant to fill its boiler; he at once orders the operator to desist, as the contractor has no right to use the hydrant; a city council meeting has been called for later today to iron out an agreement between the contractor and the water company.

George Britton, the janitor at the courthouse, was the only person in Cape Girardeau patriotic enough yesterday to hang a flag at half staff in honor of the memory of the late President Grover Cleveland.

— Sharon K. Sanders