Out of the past 8/27/06

25 years ago: Aug. 27, 1981

The possible abandonment of a Missouri Pacific Railroad branch line between Delta and Jackson in the next three years could lead many Jackson businesses down the track of economic hardship, say Chamber of Commerce and business officials.

Although final figures won't be compiled for several weeks, preliminary enrollment at Southeast Missouri State University this fall is running more than 150 ahead of the count at the same time last August.

50 years ago: Aug. 27, 1956

Little rebuttal has been offered by motorists to a decision made Saturday to return Cape Girardeau to its pre-sesquicentennial, two-way traffic pattern; the decision was made by the city council after a vigorous protest to the one-way system by merchants in the Broadway and Good Hope Street business areas.

Sandblasting of the Common Pleas Courthouse has been completed, and the Cape Tuckpointing Co. has started tuckpointing the old building, the exterior of which has been found to be in good condition despite its age and years of neglect.

75 years ago: Aug. 27, 1931

Capt. John Stout of Cape Girardeau suffered severe cuts on his forehead and right knee last night when a Model A Ford roadster he was driving east on Broadway crashed into a street car at West End Boulevard; the automobile was wrecked and the street car derailed and hurled against the curbing in front of the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Zimmerman, 504 N. Boulevard.

Unless right-of-way deeds are signed up by owners of four parcels of land on the proposed farm-to-market road between Millersville and Daisy within the next few days, the county court will order condemnation proceedings against this property to clear up right-of-way troubles.

100 years ago: Aug. 27, 1906

One of the biggest real estate transactions made in Southeast Missouri was affected over the weekend by Wilson Bros. Realty Co., when a tract of timber land embracing between 9,000 and 10,000 acres was sold to a syndicate headed by George McBride.

William Beaudean, one of the oldest residents of Cape Girardeau, dies in the morning; he was born in France Nov. 1, 1831, and by his death, the original family is extinct; the Beaudeans came to Cape Girardeau from France when the town was small; they were wagon makers.

-- Sharon K. Sanders