Out of the past 8/25/11

25 years ago: Aug. 25, 1986

The newly constructed Dairy Queen in the Schnucks plaza opens its doors in the morning; Frank Bean of Cape Girardeau is owner.

Democratic congressional candidate Wayne Cryts appears at a morning news conference in Cape Girardeau, answering questions about the events surrounding his 1981 seizure of soybeans from a bankrupt grain elevator in Ristine, Mo.

50 years ago: Aug. 25, 1961

ANNA, Ill. -- The Anna Fair will close tonight clouded by the death of an 8-year-old child and the injury of 17 other people last night when an automobile in the thrill show smashed through a fence and into a crowd of spectators.

Premiums totaling $30,500.80 will be awarded winners of competitions in three major categories at the SEMO District Fair, Sept. 12 through 17; most prize money will be divided among winners in the agriculture exhibits.

75 years ago: Aug. 25, 1936

Salvaging of a Marquette Cement Mfg. Co. barge and its cargo, run aground Saturday on a sandbar near Commerce, Mo., to prevent its sinking after it struck a submerged rock, is being undertaken by insurance representatives and a crew of the company; cement is being shoveled out of the barge to other barges and towed back to the plant here.

Fire, thought to have originated from spontaneous combustion, destroys a large barn on the C.F. Freese farm on the Hamilton Road in the extreme southwestern part of Cape Girardeau, with a loss, including contents, estimated at $2,500; 20 tons of new hay were stored in the barn.

100 years ago: Aug. 25, 1911

With renewed energy, the Powers Advertising Co., which has been a manufacturing firm here for many years, will become one of the largest concerns of its kind in the country; Joseph Fuerth and J.N. Gale have sunk a large amount of capital in the plant, and it will soon begin operating with new machinery in the former Harley Shoe factory building; it will print signs and make fan handles under the direction of manager Thomas Powers.

Workers are digging a trench on North Henderson Avenue to conduct water pipes from the Broadway main to residences between that street and Themis Street.

-- Sharon K. Sanders