Out of the past 9/2/05

25 years ago: Sept. 2, 1980

The summer that has melted Southeast Missouri and many other parts of the nation is on the wane, but isn't yet on ice; August was another out-of-the-ordinary months, setting 10 new records and tying nine others; "scorcher" is a good way to describe the month; 27 out of the 31 days saw temperatures of 90 degrees or better.

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Federal mediation begins in an attempt to end a teachers strike that has delayed the start of classes for 1,350 pupils in Meridian Unit 101 since Aug. 20; salary increases continue to be the major stumbling block to a settlement between the teachers and the school board.

50 years ago: Sept. 2, 1955

The surge of high school graduates to a higher education -- a development that becomes more pronounced each year -- will be reflected on the State College campus Monday, when the first of some 1,600 students, the greatest number in the 82-year history of the school, will report for orientation.

Preparation of the grounds at Arena Park for the opening of the SEMO District Fair is in full swing, and with only a little more than a week before the Sept. 12 opening, a mountain of work remains to be done; Joe Kirchdoerfer, bossing a 12-man crew that is whitewashing the fence around the race track, is confident the grounds will be ready for the start of the exposition.

75 years ago: Sept. 2, 1930

Schoolchildren of Cape Girardeau -- more than 3,000 of them -- return to the classrooms for another nine months after regular summer vacation; with the temperature above the 90-degree mark, some of the pupils find the comparatively short time spent in classes slightly irksome, but unless the weather becomes unusually warm, there will be no letup in the usual school activities.

The Rev. E. McDonnell, C.M., pastor of St. Vincent's Catholic Church for nearly two years, will be transferred to Dallas, Texas, and he will be succeeded by the Rev. William Stack, C.M., who comes here from Chicago.

100 years ago: Sept. 2, 1905

A.J. Rigby, the painter and decorator, had his arm badly mashed in an elevator last evening; the wonder is that he didn't get it cut off.

Mrs. C.B. Ellis, wife of the popular superintendent of water supply for the Frisco Railroad, and children have returned from a visit to her parents and friends at Spencer, Ind.

-- Sharon K. Sanders