Out of the past: July 31

1991

Sales of existing homes and construction of new housing are continuing to show increases in the Cape Girardeau area; a total of 15 permits for new residences were issued in Cape Girardeau during June through mid-July; only 13 new-house permits were issued during the first quarter of the year.

The Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Laboratory has been awarded a $60,000 federal grant, which likely will be used to computerize its report process and automate its blood-alcohol testing procedure; such improvements could cut in half the time it takes area law enforcement agencies to get crime reports back.

1966

Dr. Courts Redford of Bolivar, Missouri, is in charge of services at First Baptist Church; the pastor of the church, the Rev. Dr. W.T. Holland is in Cambellsburg, Kentucky, conducting a revival at a Baptist church there.

The First Battalion, 140th Infantry, returns home from a two-week National Guard training stint at Camp Ripley with a superior rating, the best the group has received in 15 years at the Minnesota camp.

1941

Removal of the district office of the Works Progress Administration to Cape Girardeau from Farmington, Missouri, will bring from 90 to 100 people, with an annual payroll of around $165,000; the office will be in the old Broadway School building, which will be redecorated and some minor alterations made at the expense of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

Charles Herbst, 71, died yesterday at his home on Perry Avenue; when still a young man, Herbst lost his eyesight; he attended the Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis, where he learned the trade of broom making; he returned here and established a shop at Broadway and Pacific Street; Herbst was also an accomplished violinist, teaming with Harry Myers to play for dances in and around Cape Girardeau.

1916

Louis Wittmore will stand for re-election as committeeman of Cape Girardeau Township on the county committee, and H.H. Haas has agreed to run for the other place; Louis Brunkhorst refused to run again for committeeman, and Haas was secured to take his place on the ballot.

About $20 worth of tools were taken from the street car barns at noon Saturday, while the foreman and employees were away during their lunch hour; it is believed the thieves were well acquainted with the property, as they knew where the key was kept and when the employees would be away.

-- Sharon K. Sanders