Out of the past 3/21/08

25 years ago: March 21, 1983

An ambitious project sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Breakfast Optimist Club to fingerprint elementary schoolchildren in Cape Girardeau gets underway at Jefferson School; the fingerprints will be part of a packet kept by parents containing information about their children that would be essential in locating them, should they ever be missing.

Oscar C. Hirsch, a longtime member of the Salvation Army advisory board and a pioneer in broadcasting, receives special recognition at the annual advisory board dinner; Hirsch has been associated with the Salvation Army through volunteer service for more than 25 years.

50 years ago: March 21, 1958

An allocation by the Department of Commerce of $289,700 in matching funds for use on the pending construction program at municipal airport clears the way for the city to sell $295,000 in municipal bonds voted by Cape Girardeau residents last year.

Gary Evans led the Catholic High Bulldogs in scoring during the 1957-1958 basketball season, scoring 290 points; Joe Reiker was the next high scorer with 154 tallies for the season.

75 years ago: March 21, 1933

The Cape Girardeau City Council has decided that unpaid fines assessed city prisoners during the past year must be collected, and if the city can't get the cash, it will demand that prisoners work off their fines; those prisoners will be used to repair damaged gutters and curbs throughout the city.

Construction begins on a metal building on a site just north of where Sloan's Creek enters the Mississippi River; it will house a planing mill for the Joy-Tarbell Lumber Co. of Chicago; the site was chosen because of its availability to Frisco Railroad facilities.

100 years ago: March 21, 1908

Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Albert returned to Cape Girardeau last night from St. Louis, where they spent a week visiting; Mr. and Mrs. J.F. Albert of St. Louis returned with them for a visit here.

The Rev. M.T. Haw addresses a crowd on the public square in Jackson on the local option; the topic of his discussion is "The Man That Knocked"; a crowd listens to the talk with moderate attention.

— Sharon K. Sanders