Out of the past 7/12/11

25 years ago: July 12, 1986

Severe thunderstorms packing high winds and heavy lightning lash the Cape Girardeau area for the third day in a row, but there are no reports of major damage.

Hahs Office Equipment has moved to 1115 Broadway; Greg Nations, who operates the business with Tom Nations, says the location feels like home because it housed the business seven years before it moved to William Street.

50 years ago: July 12, 1961

Cape Girardeau residents displayed monumental indifference yesterday to the largest bond election in municipal history; less than one of every five registered voters marked a ballot in the $1,598,000 bond issue measure that will finance the construction of a new sewage disposal plant here.

Progress is brushing aside another of Cape Girardeau's old buildings; the structure at 625 Themis St., which has stood since before the Civil War, is being demolished; a parking lot will be located on the site.

75 years ago: July 12, 1936

The Rosoff evangelical party -- made up of Daniel and Albert Rosoff -- closes its two-week meeting at First Baptist Church in the evening; crowds have filled the building for each service and 17 additions have been made to the congregation.

The Rev. Fred W. Goff, pastor of the Christian Church at Fredericktown, Mo., is guest speaker at the union services at Courthouse Park in the evening; these services are sponsored during July and August by the Ministerial Alliance.

100 years ago: July 12, 1911

C.C. Hawley, who has the contract to riprap the riverfront here for the Frisco improvement work, has delayed the start of the job; he has been unable to secure the barges with which to haul the large quantities of stone required; there is also a question of who owns the supply of stone, which is to be obtained from the former railroad right of way on St. Vincent's College land north of Cape Girardeau; the college claims the stone reverted to its ownership after the Frisco moved its tracks west because of erosion of the river bank at that point.

Dr. Alfred Peironnet, one of Cape Girardeau's oldest residents, celebrates his 92nd birthday at a family gathering.

-- Sharon K. Sanders