Out of the Past 7/12/08

25 years ago: July 12, 1983

Chief of detectives Lt. Michael B. Seib, a 10 1/2-year member of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, has resigned to take other employment; no replacement has been named.

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan have stepped up efforts to recruit members in the Cape Girardeau area and hope to hold a public rally in Southeast Missouri in September; The Missourian learned of their recruitment plans through a letter to the newspaper.

50 years ago: July 12, 1958

Col. Charles B. Schweizer, engineer in charge of the St. Louis District office of the Corps of Engineers, and Lt. Col. Ernest L. Perry, assistant district engineer, view the boat harbor in the Red Star suburb built by boat enthusiasts; Schweizer commends the group for its initiative.

Billy P. Snider of Cape Girardeau escaped with minor bruises when he was buried almost to the shoulders in a cave-in during construction of the new practical arts building near the State College power plant yesterday.

75 years ago: July 12, 1933

SIKESTON, Mo. -- James Rodgers, 90-year-old Benton, Mo., justice of the peace, was laid to rest here Tuesday, his body wrapped in a Confederate flag he had long preserved for that purpose.

Notice of the death of James Randol at the Masonic Home at Hannibal, Mo., on July 8 has been received; Randol, who was widely known in Jackson for many years, was born in slavery on the plantation of John Cordell in October 1849; after Cordell's death in 1852, Randol was sold to E.B. Randol; later, he was the Jackson city sexton for 46 years.

100 years ago: July 12, 1908

The first regular Sunday since the motor car schedule was placed in service on the Houck line finds the people of Cape Girardeau and Jackson rushing to patronize the new service; five round trips are made to Jackson from this city; agents of the road sell 114 round-trip tickets at 70 cents each.

Fires were discovered yesterday evening at the Albert Grocer Co. at the corner of Water and Themis streets and at the Lyric Theater on lower Main Street; both are believed to have been incendiary in nature.

-- Sharon K. Sanders