Out of the past: July 7

1990

Workers with Nip Kelley Construction are clearing away the rubble from what remains of a five-story section of Broadway Park Apartments, 115 N. Fountain, which was gutted by fire a year ago; it has taken five months for workers to jackhammer through the reinforced concrete floors and ceilings of the former Idan-Ha Hotel to bring it down to ground level.

John VanCleve of Cape Girardeau is being called a hero, after he jumped into the Mississippi River Tuesday around 9 p.m. and rescued a drowning man; the victim, who couldn't swim, was apparently sitting by the river, when he was pulled in by the undertow of a passing towboat.

1965

The Missouri Highway Department announces it will establish a rest area off Interstate 55 in northern Cape Girardeau County; the location will be between routes KK and D; in making that decision, the state dropped consideration of the County Farm near the Highway 61 intersection as a site for the rest area.

Park Commissioner Harry A. Siemers has declared the algae problem at Capaha Park Lagoon solved; following the suggestion of a citizen, park workers dumped nitrogen fertilizer into the pond; this stimulated the growth of plant and animal micro-organisms, which in turn give off chlorophyll; the result is darker water, which the sunlight is unable to penetrate to the bottom of the lagoon, depriving the algae of the light needed to growth.

1940

Three youths, sought for a parole investigation, are arrested at 2 a.m. on Broadway by police officers Leo Hill and H.J. Reed; later in the morning, the youths allegedly open water taps in the upstairs jail section of police headquarters, causing water to pour down the steps and seep into the courtroom; the boys are put to work mopping up the flood.

A 10th-inning single by Bill Crabtree with two out to score Marlon Bartlett from second base gives the Capahas a 3-2 win over the Kathleens of Dowell, Illinois, at Fairground Park; it gives the locals a split in the two games with the visitors, who took the first game, 2-1.

1915

S.P. Siebert, the Selz Royal Blue Shoe man on Main Street, is preparing to transform his store into one of the most attractive places in town; the interior will be rebuilt; the front will be taken out and replaced by a modern kind like you see in the big cities.

H.W. Krueger, chief janitor at the Federal Building, has earned the distinction of being the best privet hedge tonsorialist in the country; the hedge around the big government building is a work of art.

-- Sharon K. Sanders