Out of the past: Jan. 10

1995

Fire destroys batteries, lacquer thinner and insulation at the Auto Tire and Parts warehouse at Christine and Good Hope streets, but there isn't significant structural damage.

Taking control of the water system from Union Electric some 2 1/2 years ago has enabled the City of Cape Girardeau to embark on a growth pattern that has yet to slow; the growth in the last few years has prompted the planning and zoning commission to designate eight areas for possible annexation in the next five years.

1970

The Mississippi River rose three feet in Cape Girardeau within a 24-hour period, apparently because of ice gorges downstream; river traffic remains at a standstill up and down the river because of the ice; a four-mile ice gorge has developed about four miles north of Cairo, Illinois.

Sub-zero temperatures and bone-chilling wind haven't stopped hardy ice skaters from using the lagoon in Capaha Park; they've been helped by the Cape Girardeau Park Department, which has hauled in wood and built fires at the frozen pond, around which skaters huddle when they get chilled.

1945

First Sgt. Alfred Eisemann of Cape Girardeau was killed in action on Leyti Island on Nov. 19; he had been wounded earlier in fighting near the Owen Stanley mountain range in New Guinea and was hospitalized in Australia, but had recovered and returned to action.

In a letter from Maj. Gen. Eugene Reybold, chief of U.S. Army Engineers, released by Cong. C.W. Bishop of Illinois, Reybold indicates the federal government won't attempt reconstruction of the Mississippi River levees in Illinois between Thebes and St. Louis until after the war with Germany is over; many of the levees were damaged by floods during the past two years.

1920

While wire communications with the outside world remain spotty, train service to Cape Girardeau is close to normal, thanks to the heroic work performed by gangs of workers endeavoring to repair the damage left by the recent ice storm; around 200 telephones remain out of operation in Cape Girardeau and 100 in Jackson; 30 telephone poles are down between Cape Girardeau and Chaffee, Missouri, and 150 between here and Perry County, Missouri.

J.H. Felt & Co. of Kansas City, education building specialists, have been chosen to design the two new public schools for Cape Girardeau, provided for in the bond issue election in November.

-- Sharon K. Sanders