Out of the past 10/24/08

25 years ago: Oct. 24, 1983

Martha Ann Maxwell, the director of the Cape Girardeau Public Library for the last 17 years, has been installed as president of the Missouri Library Association.

Curt Smith, a representative of the United Way of Cape Girardeau, will speak to the Jackson Chamber of Commerce this evening about the possibility of merging the Cape Girardeau fund-raising drive with Jackson's Community Chest; a merger would create a fund drive that would serve not only Cape Girardeau and Jackson, but the surrounding areas.

50 years ago: Oct. 24, 1958

Rush H. Limbaugh, past president of the Missouri Bar and a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, has been selected by the Department of State as member of a team to take to the people of India the message of the American way of life and the advantages of the constitutional system.

Razing of the old L.B. Houck property at the top of College Hill to make way for the first unit of a new dormitory for women students is started by V. & M. Construction Co. of St. Louis; crews are also at work removing the nearby Hahs house.

75 years ago: Oct. 24, 1933

A squad of 38 youths from Cape Girardeau County will be ordered to report Saturday for six months of service in the government conservation corps; the recruits will be sent to Jefferson Barracks for training.

August Schattauer, who farms in Shawnee Township at the edge of the Cape Girardeau County Ozarks, reports he has seen signs of wild turkey in the hills between Pocahontas and Neelys Landing, the first indication that this fine game bird, once so plentiful here, may be returning after an absence of more than 20 years.

100 years ago: Oct. 24, 1908

Passengers on the Gulf train, arriving in the early afternoon, report a dreadful fire in Kennett, Mo.; the blaze apparently broke out in one of the buildings on the south side of the main street at an early hour; the long drought had made everything as dry as tinder, and it was impossible to check the flames.

H.J. Page got the contract for the first building of the Portland Cement Co., and has started a big force of men on it.

-- Sharon K. Sanders