Out of the past 9/28/08

25 years ago: Sept. 28, 1983

An electrical short in an exhaust fan is being blamed for a fire that breaks out in the bathroom of Tina's Beauty Salon in Scott City; it spreads through the entire roof of the Main Street commercial building, causing extensive damage; about 10 firefighters battle the blaze for five hours in the morning before bringing it under control.

The number of foreign students attending Southeast Missouri State University continues to grow; there are 260 foreign students on campus this fall, more than at any other time.

50 years ago: Sept. 28, 1958

Some 50,000 Catholic laymen begin a census of all baptized members of their faith in Missouri; more than 450 Catholic men in Cape Girardeau, plus hundreds of others in Southeast Missouri, take an active part in the census; they will call on every dwelling of any sort in which there are permanent residents.

Sen. Stuart Symington yesterday crowned Sondra Rae Cox, 19, Cotton Carnival Queen at the 14th annual American Legion Cotton Carnival in Sikeston, Mo.; she is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Cox of Dexter, Mo.

75 years ago: Sept. 28, 1933

Cape Girardeau's state championship American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps is going to the national convention in Chicago on Sunday; a small amount of money, between $150 and $200, will have to be borrowed by the corps to finance the trip.

A rain storm, accompanied by severe lightning, sweeps Cape Girardeau in the morning, but aside from a few disruptions in local telephone and electric light service, does little damage; the storm is the second in as many days, bringing the total precipitation for the 48-hour period to 2 inches.

100 years ago: Sept. 28, 1908

George D. Britton, president of the Cotton Belt Railroad, was in Cape Girardeau a short time Saturday; his conference with W.H. Miller and Louis Houck has revived talk of the possible entrance of the railroad into this city.

Mrs. C.R. Porter, wife of the senator of Iowa, and Mrs. Oscar McCreary of Keosauqua, Iowa, are in Cape Girardeau for a visit with Mrs. Porter's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Boutin, and her sister, Mrs. A.S. Duckworth.

-- Sharon K. Sanders