Out of the past 8/6/05

25 years ago: Aug. 6, 1980

When all the vote counting had been completed last night, Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller was smiling; the county's new punch-card voting system was used for the first time in the primary election, and the reaction from both voters and election officials appeared to be one of enthusiasm.

Six-term U.S. Rep. Bill D. Burlison yesterday gathered in 58 percent of the Democratic primary vote to win his party's renomination, while Republican Bill Emerson ran up 89 percent of his party's vote to earn the opportunity to face Burlison in the Nov. 4 general election.

50 years ago: Aug. 6, 1955

After being missing for nearly 18 hours, 11-year-old Karen Hill, the daughter of Mrs. Russell Hill, is found in the yard of a neighbor's home adjoining her own in the rear; her disappearance yesterday set off an intensive hunt by police and neighbors, and this morning the auxiliary police unit was summoned to assist.

A Durham cow owned by Mr. and Mrs. Grover Hitt, whose farm is on the Commerce-Charleston road, recently gave birth to her third set of twin calves; this set of twins makes 12 calves for the 11-year-old cow.

75 years ago: Aug. 6, 1930

Polling the lightest primary vote in many years, voters in Cape Girardeau County yesterday nominated candidates to make the campaign for county offices in the fall election; in the feature race of the election, Ruby Walters apparently won the Republican nomination for clerk of the Common Pleas Court by a margin of 44 votes over Al W. Zimmer Jr., the incumbent who is serving by appointment.

The county court, at the conclusion of a hearing, denies the application of all those who sought to participate in the $1,500 reward offered in connection with the solution of Cape Girardeau's recent extortion plot; a number of claimants appeared to make a bid for the prize, including city officials and federal prisoners housed in the county jail.

100 years ago: Aug. 6, 1905

The heat surpasses yesterday's mark by two degrees, registering 98 degrees at 1 p.m.

Clara Albert is expected to arrive in New York tomorrow and will reach Cape Girardeau about Saturday; she writes her father, L.J. Albert, from London saying that it is the dirtiest place on Earth; she is returning from a three-month tour of Europe.

-- Sharon K. Sanders