Out of the past 9/25/06

25 years ago: Sept. 25, 1981

Five barges broke loose from a large, northbound loaded towboat on the Mississippi River near Cape Rock Wednesday, tying up river traffic for two hours before they were corralled; no damage resulted when the barges broke away from the port side of the motor vessel America when it ran aground in shallow water on the Illinois side of the river.

City manager Gary A. Eide says he hasn't made a decision on who will be the interim police chief when Henry H. Gerecke retires Wednesday; Eide says he will name an interim chief some time next week, before Gerecke leaves.

50 years ago: Sept. 25, 1956

A loan to pay for repairs in the parkway area of South Main Street was announced by the Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday; a check for $1,800 was received by the city from the Main Street Levee Improvement District, with the sum to be applied on repairs of the parkway between Independence and Merriwether streets until arrangements can be made to convert the section into a parking lot.

The New McKendree Methodist Church at Jackson has launched the first phase of a crusade to raise $50,000 for an educational building.

75 years ago: Sept. 25, 1931

Charles L. Harrison of Cape Girardeau is one of 40 Missouri citizens named to the employment relief committee, which will direct Missouri unemployment work this winter.

Professor A.S. Duckworth, curator of the museum at the Teachers College, is injured in the morning when he falls from a pear tree at his home, 915 College Hill; his injuries include fractures to five ribs and the collarbone, all on the right side of his body; Duckworth is 60 years old.

100 years ago: Sept. 25, 1906

At a meeting of several directors yesterday, a secretary and treasurer for the new Southeast Missouri Trust Co. was elected; the choice fell to S.M. Carter, at present cashier of a bank at Irondale, Mo.; it was also decided to open up the offices of the company in the vacant corner room of the building at the corner of Broadway and Frederick Street, until its home in the new building at Broadway and Fountain Street is completed.

The decoration committee of the centennial celebration will have on sale at some places within the next week several thousand Japanese lanterns and candles, which will be sold to anyone at actual cost.

-- Sharon K. Sanders