Out of the past 8/31/07

25 years ago: Aug. 31, 1982

Looking happy and healthy, Dejan Kocevski met with reporters yesterday to bid farewell to Cape Girardeau nearly six months after he was discovered alone and unconscious in the basement of his burning home; custody of the boy has been awarded his father, who will take him home to Germany.

Four debates between 8th District congressional contenders -- Republican Bill Emerson and Democrat Jerry Ford -- have been tentatively scheduled; the first debate will be held Sept. 7 at Flat River, Mo.; the second will be in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 3.

50 years ago: Aug. 31, 1957

Workers are racing against time at the new Jefferson School to have it ready for opening day of classes on Tuesday; barring unforeseen developments, the classroom section of the school should be ready for use.

Five small boys, the oldest of them 9 and two of them not of school age, are in the dog house in Delta after swiping eight trucks owned by Homer Masters, produce dealer, and damaging seven of them; they climbed into the first truck and started out driving on an oval drive that circles the Delta depot; when that truck rammed an object, they climbed into another, continuing through eight vehicles.

75 years ago: Aug. 31, 1932

Nearly every Girardean this afternoon takes in the solar system's free show: a partial eclipse of the sun; the sky here is clear and the sun bright, making it necessary for locals to use heavily darkened materials to look through.

Cape Girardeau will host two circuses within two days next month; the Downie Bros. Circus will show here Sept. 12, followed by the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus on Sept. 13.

100 years ago: Aug. 31, 1907

A new, six-story hotel is being contemplated for Broadway, next to the Presbyterian church corner; St. Louis architect J.B. Legg has prepared plans for the hostelry; associated with him in the scheme are J.W. "Dock" Phillips and Will Bartels.

C.W. Power, a plasterer who has been working on the new H&H office building on Broadway, leaves for St. Louis, where he will enter the 10-mile swimming race, part of the city's big Labor Day celebration.

-- Sharon K. Sanders