Out of the past 7/17/03

10 years ago: July 17, 1993

Eighth District Congressman Bill Emerson tours parts of his flood-ravaged district with officials of Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi River Commission; tour begins at New Madrid and includes stops at Commerce, Dutchtown and Cape Girardeau.

Demolition of buildings along planned Mississippi River bridge route in Cape Girardeau began yesterday with razing of vacated house at 714 College; Werner Brothers of Herculaneum is contractor for demolition of 54 buildings, mostly houses, at cost of $211,573.

25 years ago: July 17, 1978

Benton - Decision of Missouri Supreme Court last week upholding as constitutional new state law mandating judicial retirement at age 70 doesn't pertain to judges not seeking re-election, says Circuit Judge Marshall L. Craig; Craig will be 72 when law goes into effect Jan. 2.

Postal union representatives in Cape Girardeau won't commit themselves on possibility of local strike should new contract not be negotiated before present one expires at midnight Thursday; Cape Girardeau Postmaster Wilver Wessell says post office would implement contingency plan which would go into effect at any post office where a strike is called; he declines to discuss what specific steps would be taken to deliver mail should workers go on strike.

50 years ago: July 17, 1953

Increase in city's assessed valuation will be sufficient to keep Cape Girardeau teachers' salaries at same level without reduction that first appeared probable following Gov. Phil Donnelly's veto of $9,250,000 in school appropriations for next biennium.

Intermittent showers yesterday afternoon, some of them heavy in spots, turned into almost general rainfall during night that is climaxed this morning by downpour, which helps ease clamp summer-long drought has held on Cape Girardeau area; amounts of rain varied considerable in different locations; riverfront gauge showed .73 of an inch, while about mile away, State College gauge measured 1.82 inches.

75 years ago: July 17, 1928

Nine Cape Girardeau boys are enrolled in Citizens Military Training Camp at Jefferson Barracks; they are Blair Jackson, William H. Pfisterer, Jimmy H. Mills, E.E. Proffer, Kenneth H. Grant, Harry L. Sayles, Eugene P. Rose, Paul E. Reitzel and Theodore A. Rubel.

Wes "Buck" Freeman, former major league hurler and now scout for Cincinnati Reds, is in town looking over local ball players; he signed Clyde "Bump" Kinder to contract yesterday, and plans to stay for this afternoon's Marquettes-Shells contest.

-- Sharon K. Sanders