Out of the past 8/8/08

25 years ago: Aug. 8, 1983

A Federal Aviation Administration plan to close down the Cape Girardeau flight service station at the municipal station is on hold; under the FAA plan, the about 300 flight service stations nationwide would be closed down and replaced with 61 automated, regional flight service stations.

Picketing is underway at the Southwestern Bell offices on Silver Springs Road in Cape Girardeau; a work stoppage has idled Communication Workers of America and two other unions.

50 years ago: Aug. 8, 1958

Cape Girardeau National Guardsmen are scheduled to leave tomorrow from the Frisco depot aboard a special troop train for Camp Ripley, Minn., and two weeks of summer field training.

A change in plans will provide for a fresh coat of paint on the cupola of Common Pleas Courthouse; originally, it had been planned to delay the job while the rest of the exterior woodwork was painted; but Park commissioner J.W. McBride decides to proceed, which will bring the building's appearance to its most attractive state in years.

75 years ago: Aug. 8, 1933

Cape Girardeau firefighters and police will each receive four days' vacation with pay; this is voted by the Cape Girardeau City Council on a motion of commissioner E.P. Ellis; Mayor E.L. Drum casts the lone dissenting vote.

Erection of the steel skeleton for the new Montgomery Ward & Co. department store building on Main Street is completed with the installation of the last of the girders for the roof; brick has been laid up to the second floor, and contractors estimate that another week of favorable weather will permit them to complete this task.

100 years ago: Aug. 8, 1908

While an employee of Morrison Ice Co. is delivering the frozen chunks to residents of Donnybrook, a pack of blooded English poodles dashes out of a yard, frightening his nag so much that it bolts; the horse dashes from Mill Street north on Fountain Street and then east down Olive Street; then it goes on to Chestnut Street and north on Main Street to the ice plant, where it is headed off; the driver isn't injured, but the ice is.

The paper hangers finish wallpapering Miller & Kinder's Drug Store in the afternoon.

-- Sharon K. Sanders