Out of the past 7/22/08

25 years ago: July 22, 1983

The temperature exceeded the 100-degree mark in Cape Girardeau yesterday for the third consecutive day, and the outlook is for continued hot weather; a reading of 101 degrees was recorded at the municipal airport yesterday, down from 103 degrees the day before.

Cape Girardeau police chief D. Ray Johnson is defending the actions of his police officers who yesterday arrested a Texas man on an Illinois felony warrant while the man was riding in a hearse on the day of his brother's funeral; they made the arrest following the funeral service.

50 years ago: July 22, 1958

Rising slowly, the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau reaches a stage of 31.9 feet; the Weather Bureau at Cairo, Ill., predicts the river will crest here at the end of the week at 34 feet.

COMMERCE, Mo. — A grim battle is underway on fertile Big Island near here to save corn and soybean crops valued at more than $500,000 from the water of the flooding Mississippi River; key to the situation is a low spot at the north end of the island through which water flows at high stages and inundates most of the island; a force of 25 men has been working three days sandbagging the area.

75 years ago: July 22, 1933

Brick work for the first floor of the new Montgomery Ward and Co. department store building on Main Street is nearing completion; work will begin next week on erection of the second-floor frame of the building's steel skeleton.

Workers have completed Highway 34 in Cape Girardeau County; the new road is ready for formal opening as soon as it is accepted by state and federal authorities.

100 years ago: July 22, 1908

Jesse Minton, a saw feeder at the box factory, was seriously injured yesterday by a piece of board being thrown back from one of the rip saws; the piece struck him in the abdomen, cutting him; he is lodged at Saint Francis Hospital for treatment.

Lewis M. Bean is finishing the survey of the Third Giboney-Houck Subdivision, embracing some 40 acres on Sprigg Street; an auction sale for the lots will take place in August.

— Sharon K. Sanders