Out of the past: March 8

1990

A part of Cape Girardeau's heritage dies as fire sweeps through the Old Opera House, which was built in 1868; the building, which housed the Royal N'Orleans restaurant at Broadway and Lorimier Street, is termed a total loss.

City officials have decided to close the Arena Park wading pool to comply with state health regulations; Parks and Recreation director Steve Bone would like to fill the 10-foot diameter pool with sand and turn it into a sandbox; the pool has no filter system.

1965

Al C. Dittlinger, retired Cape Girardeau businessman, dies at his home in the morning; he had operated various businesses on Good Hope Street with his father, including coal, feed and automobile agencies; he was also the last Cape Girardeau fire chief to serve with the horse-drawn equipment, and the first with the city's motorized equipment.

R. Melvin Gateley, who has been named principal of the Louis J. Schultz School when it opens in the fall, outlines for the board of education tentative plans for the operation of the school; Gateley says Schultz School can serve as a transition for children between the elementary level and the high school level.

1940

The city is investigating a proposal to install a traffic signal at the Sprigg and Independence streets intersection; the suggestion was made two months ago by the safety council at Marquette Cement Mfg. Co.

A sprinkler system to protect the Central Packing Co. plant in the south end of town from fire is being installed; a gravity tank near the building has been erected, and the distribution system inside the packing plant is being installed.

1915

Mrs. Sarah L. Brooks dies in the morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. C.H. Hobbs, five miles north of Cape Girardeau on the Egypt Mills bend road; she was 78 years old and had been in declining health for some time; she is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Hobbs and Mrs. Webb Juden, and two sons, Hardy Brooks, who lives on the bend road, and Walter Brooks, who resides with his wife at Reynoldsville, Illinois.

Street commissioner Henry Brunke is laid up at present, nursing a sore foot; while unloading rocks on the lot at the city hall a few days ago, he dropped a boulder on his foot.

-- Sharon K. Sanders