Out of the past 8/16/07

25 years ago: Aug. 16, 1982

For the second time in little more than a month, a Cape Girardeau County grand jury is convened at Jackson; Presiding Circuit Judge A.J. Seier gives the jury a general charge.

City Councilman Peter D. Hilty plays a major part in deciding two issues at the Cape Girardeau City Council session. His was the deciding vote on a motion that clears the way for drafting an ordinance to regulate abortions here, and his arguments are also a major factor in the denial of a special-use permit that would have permitted the installation of gas pumps at Frederick and Bellevue streets.

50 years ago: Aug. 16, 1957

Anxious to try out Cape Girardeau's new municipal swimming pool, hundreds gathered at Capaha Park yesterday afternoon for the official opening; remarking on the confusion, Park Commissioner W.J. McBride referred to the opening as "a madhouse."

Livestock exhibits at the 1957 SEMO District Fair are expected to attract the largest number of entries from a wider area than ever before because they have been thrown open to worldwide competition; the fair will open at Arena Park on= Sept. 9.

75 years ago: Aug. 16, 1932

An application of L.H. Landgraf to the Cape Girardeau City Council to construct a filling station and install a 20,000-gallon underground gasoline storage tank just south of the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks on West End Boulevard was rejected by the council at yesterday's meeting.

Constable C.C. Eddleman complains to Mayor Edward L. Drum that a quantity of home brew beer and liquor, seized in raids on three Cape Girardeau dwellings Friday night, have disappeared from a cell on the first floor of the city jail, where it had been stored.

100 years ago: Aug. 16, 1907

G.H. Niswonger, an industrious farmer of near Millersville, and his wife are in Cape Girardeau, house hunting; they have decided to move to town to allow their son and daughter the advantages of going to the Normal School this fall.

Construction of the county courthouse in Jackson is being rushed, with 28 men now working on the big building; yesterday, the last of the Cape Girardeau marble was installed.

-- Sharon K. Sanders