Out of the past 8/31/05

25 years ago: Aug. 31, 1980

Former President Gerald R. Ford will be in Cape Girardeau Sept. 16, in behalf of Republican congressional candidate Bill Emerson; the former president is expected to arrive in Cape Girardeau from Kansas City, Mo., the night of Sept. 15, and hold a news conference and fund-raising breakfast the next morning for the De Soto Republican.

James E. Ford, 27, of Thebes, Ill., has been named director of the Cape Girardeau Civic Center; Ford attended McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill., majoring in parks and recreation science; he formerly worked with the parks and recreation department in Belleville, Ill.

50 years ago: Aug. 31, 1955

Two fugitive burglars with a knack for staying undercover made good their escape yesterday from a police dragnet that extended through many miles of rugged hill country Sunday and Monday; the search, which began in Bollinger County, collapsed yesterday evening, when Sheriff John Dennis of Scott County found the stolen car they had abandoned south of Kelso, Mo.

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The big, six-day Golden Jubilee Celebration begins in Chaffee; today is Frisco Day, honoring the railroad which gave the city its start in 1905.

75 years ago: Aug. 31, 1930

The 80th anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church is celebrated with appropriate services; Dr. C.H. Morton, pastor, preaches a sermon on church history at the morning hour; although the history of a Presbyterian congregation in Cape Girardeau dates back to 1835, the present congregation dates to 1850.

The final union worship service of the season is conducted in the evening at Courthouse Park; the Rev. Reinhart Lehmann, pastor of Christ Evangelical Church, preaches on "Jonah Without the Whale."

100 years ago: Aug. 31, 1905

The promoters of the electric street railway have struck their first snag; the president of the Cape Girardeau and Jackson Gravel Road Co., S.J. Hitt, served notice on W.H. Harrison, president of the streetcar company, yesterday that they wouldn't allow the streetcars to run on Broadway west of Pacific Street, as they had a gravel road franchise there; it is said the railway company will select a new route to the fairgrounds.

J.N. Whitelaw is circulating a petition to be presented to the city council asking that concrete sidewalks be laid at once on Broadway from Main Street to Lorimier Street.

-- Sharon K. Sanders