Looking Backward

The north

10 years ago

Nov. 19, 1999:Telephone customers in the 315 area code would have to dial 11 digits for every call, both local and long distance, under a proposal to be considered by state regulators. Phone companies made the recommendation to add a second area code to the 315 region to expand the number of phone numbers available.

25 years ago

Nov. 19, 1984:Pearl Street Road, the main link between Fort Drum and the city of Watertown, will be rebuilt next summer at a cost of nearly $2 million, according to the state Department of Transportation. The project will make significant improvements to the concrete highway before most of the 10th Infantry Division arrives at Drum.

50 years ago

Nov. 19, 1959:Of the $21 million collected in the first two years of legalized bingo games, game operators made a profit of $5 million. A few lost money, however. Under terms of the state law, the profits must be used for charitable purposes.

75 years ago

Nov. 19, 1934:The 7th Field Artillery of the U.S. Army will pass out of existence at midnight Nov. 30, and the 2nd Battalion of the unit, stationed at Madison Barracks, the following day will become the 2nd Battalion of the 25th Field Artillery. As a result, Madison Barracks will lose 54 noncommissioned officers and enlisted men from its present force.

100 years ago

Nov. 19, 1909:An echo of the wide tire law was heard in the chamber of the board of supervisors when Mr. Ford of Orleans offered a resolution repealing the action. If it is not changed, the law will go into effect in this county April 1, 1910. In anticipation, many people in the county have prepared for it, equipping their wagons with three-inch tires in accordance with the provisions of the law.

125 years ago

Nov. 19, 1884:The Adams Journal says that the committee appointed to secure a permanent place for the occupancy of the Adams Collegiate Institute has decided to accept the offer of P.C. Maxon for his residence on Church Street.

The world

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Thursday, Nov. 19,the 323rd day of 2009. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

Thought for Today:"You simply cannot hang a millionaire in America." — Bourke Cockran, American politician and orator (1854-1923).