Out of the past 7/23/09

25 years ago: July 23, 1984

Salvage operations are scheduled to begin today on the towboat Helen Tully, which sank Thursday after a collision with another towboat on the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau.

A U.S. District Court jury deliberates only 50 minutes before finding that Sikeston, Mo., police didn't violate the rights of a man who was arrested after he held a husband and wife hostage in a Western Union office at Sikeston for 20 hours in 1982; the man had sought $20 million in damages from the city and six of its police officers.

50 years ago: July 23, 1959

The building at 15 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau, which formerly housed the J.J. Newberry Store, has been purchased by C.A. Hood and C.A. Juden and is in the process of renovation for occupancy by a Sterling Store; a modern store front will replace the old one and air conditioning will be installed.

Assistant fire chief Richard Mahy and master mechanic Jack Kellogg of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department leave for Columbia, Mo., where they will participate in a three-day vocational firefighter training course.

75 years ago: July 23, 1934

Word is received by secretary W.F.D. Batjer of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce from the state relief office that the government will establish a mattress factory here as one of the work relief projects to aid the unemployed.

H.R. Meier, farmer, banker, stockman and politician, has purchased the old B.M. Morgan homestead on West Main Street in Jackson; he plans to erect several houses on the corner location.

100 years ago: July 23, 1909

Protesting the Cape Girardeau City Council's decision to pay the water company $275 per year for water to flush the tanks in the sewer system of the first district twice daily, Councilman T.J. Gill, chairman of the water and light committee, resigns as head of the committee.

After several weeks of discussion, the Krueger property was purchased last night by the city council for $3,500; the 11-acre tract will be added to the cemetery at the west end of the city.

-- Sharon K. Sanders