Out of the past 9/16/07

25 years ago: Sept. 16, 1982

Unless things really pick up, the SEMO District Fair will not only miss its 100,000 attendance goal, but also have to settle for a total attendance below last year's figures; fair officials hope big-name acts like Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers Band and the Charley Pride Show will help boost attendance.

Mrs. Ouida Lee Vasterling, a lifetime Cape Girardeau County resident, dies at Cape LaCroix Manor; the former Miss Brooks, the oldest living county resident, was born on Christmas Day, 1879, into one of the area's pioneer families.

50 years ago: Sept. 16, 1957

Because no installation work by Western Electric employees is going on here, the nationwide strike by the telephone installers has had no effect in Cape Girardeau, and service continues as normal.

Despite one day of rain, which cut deeply into attendance, cool weather and cloudy or partly cloudy skies, the 1957 SEMO District Fair recorded a near-record attendance; total paid attendance for the week came to 39,374, slightly lower than the 40,594 who turned out last year.

75 years ago: Sept. 16, 1932

Chester W. Smith, 24, of Cape Girardeau, is fatally injured when he falls from the sea wall along the Mississippi River front near the end of Independence Street; his neck is broken in the 20-foot fall; he had been sitting on the wall with his back to the river, and lost his balance.

Contract for a one-story brick dwelling of English design for Elmer Stehr was let yesterday by A.F. Lindsay, architect, to Roy Martin; the house will be built on North Henderson Avenue, just north of Independence Street.

100 years ago: Sept. 16, 1907

Two heavy trains of 42 cars arrived last night from Memphis, Tenn., bringing to Cape Girardeau the Cole Bros.' Circus; despite the late hour of arrival, a large crowd gathered at the train yard to watch the unloading of the animals; many accompanied the wagons to the show grounds on South Sprigg Street.

Safe-crackers visit the South Cape Store in Mill Town early in the morning; they blow off the outer door of the strong box and fire a second charge to open the interior safe, but they are unsuccessful in getting the door open.

-- Sharon K. Sanders