Out of the past 8/18/08

25 years ago: Aug. 18, 1983

The Jackson School District plans to appeal a circuit judge's ruling concerning a boundary dispute with the Nell Holcomb School District over the Procter & Gamble plant in Cape Girardeau Court; a July 29 ruling held Nell Holcomb was entitled to 1.636 percent of the merchants and manufacturers tax collected from Procter & Gamble.

The Cape Girardeau City Council last night approved the request of Cape County Securities Co. for a special use permit to enlarge the cemetery office and reconstruct machine storage sheds and shops at Cape County Memorial Park.

50 years ago: Aug. 18, 1958

The Cape Girardeau Seven-Up Bottling Co. begins bottling and distribution of a new soft drink, the 16-ounce Lotta Cola; it will be sold at all soft drink outlets.

Members of the Cape Girardeau Auxiliary Police and Civic 500 are renovating Fort D; Saturday they tuckpointed the stone building and did other restoration work; some of the damage to the structure resulted from natural deterioration and some from vandalism.

75 years ago: Aug. 18, 1933

Julien N. Friant, assistant to Secretary of Agriculture Henry W. Wallace, returns to Cape Girardeau from Washington, D.C.; Friant says he intends to resign Monday as chairman of the Teachers College Board of Regents.

Nat N. Snider, former Cape Girardeau County sheriff, is selected by the Democratic County Committee for the appointment as postmaster of Cape Girardeau.

100 years ago: Aug. 18, 1908

According to the state labor bureau, Cape Girardeau has increased in population and business enterprise more than 250 percent since 1900; Cape Girardeau's population has increased from 4,815 in 1900 to 14,000 this year.

Clay Phelps of Cape Girardeau receives a letter from the shipbuilders at Cincinnati saying that the water is so low in the Ohio River that it will be necessary to ship his new boat by rail; the boat will go either to Paducah, Ky., or Cairo, Ill., as these are the only two towns on the river that have docks where the boat can be launched from the railroad car.

— Sharon K. Sanders