Out of the past 7/21/05

25 years ago: July 21, 1980

Young men don't exactly create long lines to register for the Selective Service system, but officials with the Cape Girardeau Post Office report that several dozen 20-year-olds had registered for a possible draft by noon.

Cape Girardeau County Court awards a contract to Penzel Construction Co. of Jackson for construction of a new, two-lane Lukefahr bridge over the Whitewater River just northwest of Daisy; Penzel has the low bid of $192,600, well under the engineer's estimate of $235,144.

50 years ago: July 21, 1955

Frank Batchelor, 68, who served 12 years as city commissioner of Cape Girardeau and six years on the county court, dies in the morning; he had been in ill health for a year; he married Naomi Castleman in 1924, and she survives, along with a son, Frank Batchelor Jr., and two grandchildren.

The county board of equalization orders a blanket increase of 45 percent on all town property and 65 cents on all farmland in compliance with the recent order of the State Tax Commission that real estate assessments be boosted to 90 percent of actual value; in a companion order, the board instructs that a 10 percent increase be placed on cattle, complying with another order of the state tax authority.

75 years ago: July 21, 1930

Afternoon showers bring a small measure of relief to Cape Girardeau from the intense heat, and the forecast is for more rain within the next 24 hours; following the showers, the temperature drops from 98 degrees to 85.

Sale of equipment of the Hotel Idan-Ha under a chattel mortgage, scheduled for today, is halted by temporary injunction issued by Judge O.A. Knehans in Common Pleas Court on application of the Idan-Ha Hotel Co.; the injunction is directed against the Missouri State Life Insurance Co., holders of the mortgage.

100 years ago: July 21, 1905

President M.E. Leming of the Commercial Club, and several other prominent Girardeans, meet with president Davidson of the Frisco Railroad concerning the question that has been worrying a few; Davidson assures his listeners that the Frisco has no intention of moving its repair shops from Cape Girardeau at the present time.

The steamer City of Saltillo made its first appearance at the Cape Girardeau wharf yesterday afternoon; it was raining hard when the white palace steamed in, but this didn't deter several hundred people from meeting the boat and welcoming the officers on the Saltillo's maiden voyage.

-- Sharon K. Sanders