Out of the past 7/12/05

25 years ago: July 12, 1980

A sizzling record high for the summer is set; at the municipal airport, the mercury rises to 104 degrees, while in downtown Cape Girardeau, the reading is 105; area residents have suffered 100-degree-plus weather throughout the week, excluding Monday and Thursday, when the official high was 98 degrees.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Twenty-seven Chaffee area youngsters are taken to Chaffee General Hospital and Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau as the result of inhaling chlorine gas which leaked into the Chaffee Municipal Swimming Pool.

50 years ago: July 12, 1955

Cape Girardeau County's Grade-A milk inspection program, one of the most effective in the state, will be continued another three years under a contract calling for participation of city, county and processors approved by the Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday; it is a continuation of the agreement which has been in effect since 1948.

The city council yesterday assured representatives of a special Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce swimming pool committee that a special election will be called in August to determine if the residents wish to issue bonds to finance construction of modern, dual swimming pools.

75 years ago: July 12, 1930

With relief promised by tomorrow, Girardeans swelter through another day of record-breaking temperatures with every indication that a new high mark will be set before nightfall; topping a week of intense heat, the mercury yesterday moved to a new record for the year with a reading of 104, the hottest day in Cape Girardeau in 12 years.

A new, all-time record for patronage for the municipal swimming pool at Fairground Park was set last night, as Girardeans and others from nearby towns take advantage of the opportunity to swim in salt water; 290 people paid admission to the pool from 7 to 10 p.m.

100 years ago: July 12, 1905

French's New Sensation, the biggest boat show on the river, gives a performance in Cape Girardeau in the evening; for years this has been considered the old reliable, and this year it is larger and better than ever.

S.F. McClatchey has returned from St. Louis where he went to buy a stock of wet goods for his saloon, just north of the Sturdivant Bank on Main Street; he bought everything that is to be found in a first-class saloon and says he expects to conduct a place that will be as good as the very best.

-- Sharon K. Sanders