Day in history for March 4, 2001

1876 -- 125 years ago

Burglars attempted to blow open the safe in W.L. Reed And Company's lumber yard office in Rock Island. To cover their tracks they set fire to the office, which was burned and with it about $5,000 worth of lumber.

1901 -- 100 years ago

Local markets quote coal at $3 a ton, potatoes at 40 cents a bushel, butter at 23 cents a pound and turkeys at 8 cents a pound.

1926 -- 75 years ago

Officer Charles Miner will join the Rock Island Police Department motorcycle squad in April.

1951 -- 50 years ago

An economy move backfired today, costing Rock Island County better than $250, when a jury trial in circuit court had to be put off because the elevator was out of order and the plaintiff, a wheelchair patient, could not be moved to the third-floor courtroom. After almost two hours delay, Judge Ray Klingbiel excused the panel of 30 jurors until 9 tomorrow morning.

1976 -- 25 years ago

Quad-Cities law enforcement agencies arrested 19 persons after a series of raids on area businesses and residences. The arrests culminate a seven-month investigation by Metropolitan Enforcement Group (MEG) agents and the Illinois Bureau of Investigation (IBI). More than two dozen people were named in suppressed drug charge indictments by a Rock Island County grand jury Wednesday, and law enforcement authorities began making the arrests late Wednesday.

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