Looking Backward

The north

10 years ago

Feb. 5, 2000:Family Dollar Stores Inc. plans to open a store at 146 Arsenal St., the former F.W. Woolworth Co. building, with a targeted opening date of April 13. Brian R. Upton, a Watertown businessman, has leased space in the Arcade with tentative plans to open an espresso bar.

25 years ago

Feb. 5, 1985:The Norfolk Paper Division of the Hamilton Hy-Bar Corp. announced it is closing its doors, laying off 50 workers. The mill, which produces "white paper" for sale to other firms that turn it into finished products, was purchased just last August by Hamilton Hy-Bar, Richmond, Va.

50 years ago

Feb. 5, 1960:Fire of undetermined origin that swept through an apartment in the Hotel Davenport, Copenhagen, may have caused damage estimated at $15,000 to $20,000. Carbon dioxide bombs, automatically set off by high temperature, prevented the blaze from spreading throughout the second floor.

75 years ago

Feb. 5, 1935:Mrs. Addie S. Larney, the first and only woman ever to have served on the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, is seriously ill at her home, 522 Cross St.

100 years ago

Feb. 5, 1910:The investigation going on in New York under the direction of state Attorney General O'Malley into the meat storage conditions in the metropolis has aroused considerable interest in this city. A carload is shipped from Chicago on Friday and received Monday. It is not known how long it is held before being shipped to Watertown, but one local dealer says all he has ever seen is fresh.

125 years ago

Feb. 5, 1885:Hotel waiters now perform their duties on roller skates. It will next be in order for church deacons to put on the rollers before they take up collections.

The world

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Friday, Feb. 5,the 36th day of 2010. There are 329 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Feb. 5, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a Judiciary Reorganization Bill that would have increased the number of Supreme Court justices; critics accused Roosevelt of attempting to "pack" the court. (The measure failed in Congress.)

Thought for Today:"The greater the philosopher, the harder it is for him to answer the questions of common people." — Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author (1846-1916).