Out of the past: Oct. 5

1997

About a dozen union supporters stood outside the Cape Girardeau Post Office yesterday, chanting slogans and circulating petitions to call attention to sweatshops and child labor; at one time, union leaders say, Florsheim Shoe had about 60 shoe plants in the United States; today, the Cape Girardeau plant is the company's only production facility in the U.S.; all the rest are in places like Indonesia, India and Mexico where wages are low.

Around 100 persons stand along Interstate 55, holding signs and praying for an end to abortion; the demonstration is part of an annual event by the SEMO Lifesavers; since 1973, the Lifesavers have participated in either the Life Chain or a demonstration walk on Broadway; the Life Chain draws people to the Cemetery of Innocents near southbound I-55; rows of white crosses were placed on the grounds about two years ago, and a tall painting of Jesus Christ facing the road was recently added.

1972

In an attempt to meet the need for increased recreational facilities and programs, the Cape Girardeau City Council has divided the present City Park and Recreation Board into separate units; both boards will serve in an advisory capacity to the council; there will be six regular members on the Cape Girardeau Park Board and seven on the Cape Girardeau Recreation Board.

The Colonial Restaurant, long-time popular food facility at Broadway and Kingshighway, changes management when Mr. and Mrs. Alvin J. Sanders lease the restaurant business and property to Chantos-Withers, Ltd.; the transfer also involves a purchase option; Chantos-Withers -- composed of Robert Chantos of Peoria, Illinois, and James K. Withers and William M. Bryan of Cape Girardeau -- announces the establishment will now be known as Colonial Manor.

1947

The annual fall rally day in the Sunday school of the Church of the Nazarene opens a drive to increase attendance; the department has purchased a bus, and it will be put into service within two weeks, replacing one which had been used the past five years; the new machine will follow the schedule of the old, circling through the city picking up children who attend Sunday school.

The redecorating and remodeling program on the interior of Trinity Lutheran Church, initiated in August, is expected to be finished by Dec. 1, says Paul Peetz, in charge of construction; at the church, a new soundproof celotex ceiling is nearing completion, and plastering work throughout has been finished and is ready for the painters; new woodwork to be painted with a rock effect is replacing the old, and a new balcony floor has been laid; a new lighting system with 10 ceiling drops is being installed, along with two large attic fans in the tower; a new hot air type coal-burning furnace with automatic controls is being installed.

1922

The Missouri Legislature at its session in January will be asked to appropriate $125,000 for the construction of a gymnasium at the Teachers College and the improvement of the athletic field, together with the building of a concrete stadium; the Board of Regents yesterday ordered architects to submit plans for a building for the gymnasium to cost $100,000, while surveys are started today on the college farm, in the northeast section near Sprigg Street Road, to prepare this for an athletic field.

Cape Girardeau's public schools have an enrollment of 2,327 pupils, the greatest number in the history of the school system; this is 75 more than last year.

-- Sharon K. Sanders