Out of the past 8/19/05

25 years ago: Aug. 19, 1980

The Jackson Board of Aldermen met behind closed doors last night to discuss the role of the city in legal efforts to block the move of circuit and probate court clerk offices from the county seat to Cape Girardeau.

MOUNDS, Ill. -- "No contract, no work"; with that assertion, members of the Meridian Education Association affirm a decision not to begin the 1980-1981 school year tomorrow without a new contract; it is the second year in a row the district has been hit by a teacher walkout.

50 years ago: Aug. 19, 1955

Indebtedness of the Cape Special Road District traffic bridge, originally $2,600,000 when bonds were issued in 1946, was reduced to $560,000 in the fiscal year ending May 31, and officials have high hopes that the 27-year-old river bridge can be made free in 1957.

A spokesman for the Main Street Levee Improvement District says an interim method of financing to meet the local share of the cost of the riverfront flood program is being investigated to serve until a permanent bond method can be made operative.

75 years ago: Aug. 19, 1930

A petition signed by wholesale grocery firms, retail grocers and drug stores and confectionery operators asks that the city council require cafeterias operated by Parent-Teacher units in connection with the public schools take out city licenses; W.E. Ramsey of the Ramsey Grocery charges that the public schools are selling school supplies and confectionery goods in addition to meals for the children, and that this is unfair competition.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Leon "Pete" Crader, champion tree-sitter of Southeast Missouri and perhaps the state, came down from his perch last evening after remaining in his tree for 750 hours; he is the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Crader.

100 years ago: Aug. 19, 1905

While many bets have been made that the new streetcar system won't be running in time for the fair in October, the builders of the line say they are nearly certain that the line will be run to the fairgrounds in time to convey the crowds out and back; while there has been a slight hitch in acquiring the lot on which the power house will be built on North Main, the company states the building can be erected in no time, once the ground is secured.

Frank Lane is superintending the work of erecting the trolley wire poles; he has them in place along Frederick Street and on upper Broadway.

-- Sharon K. Sanders