Out of the past 9/15/05

25 years ago: Sept. 15, 1980

Attendance at the SEMO District Fair suffered from deflation due to inflation, according to fair board president Earl James; final attendance figures show approximately 75,000 people attended this year's exhibition; hot, dry weather contributed to the low attendance, as well as the state of the economy.

Tickets for tomorrow's breakfast featuring an appearance by former President Gerald Ford in behalf of Republican congressional nominee Bill Emerson will be available at the door for $50 each; at least 375 advance tickets have already been purchased.

50 years ago: Sept. 15, 1955

A maelstrom of activity descends on the SEMO District Fair, centered around thousands of school children and accompanying adults; it is Cape Girardeau Day, with Jackson Day thrown in, to make it perhaps the greatest showing in the 100-year history of the fair.

The new city-owned parking lot on Main Street, freshly asphalted under a joint program by the city and merchants of the area, is opened to automobiles for the first time; a curb at the north end of the 110-car lot separates it from the parkway owned by the city adjacent to the Frisco depot.

75 years ago: Sept. 15, 1930

Twenty-one high schools from Southeast Missouri have signified they will be represented with queens and delegations of pupils and townspeople at the dedication of Houck Field Stadium Oct. 3; three of the schools -- Cape Girardeau Central, Jackson and Fredericktown, Mo. -- will send bands to the dedication.

The city council has before it the weighty question of whether the crowing of a rooster can be legally prohibited by law; a petition signed by a number of residents in the block between Themis and Independence and South Middle and Lorimier is presented to the council asking that it "pass an ordinance prohibiting roosters which are annoying the neighbors."

100 years ago: Sept. 15, 1905

The big affair at Benton, Mo., the laying of the cornerstone of the priests' house, was held Wednesday and was attended by several from this place; the Rev. Eberhardt Pruente of St. Mary's Catholic Church blessed the stone and otherwise took a prominent part in the ceremonies.

The hours for recitations in the morning at the Normal School have been changed; the new arrangement, which brings the students to class 20 minutes earlier, is meeting their approval.

-- Sharon K. Sanders