Day in history for October 23, 2003

1853 -- 150 years ago

Chicagoans now can go to St. Louis in 16 hours by traveling over three railroads and from Alton by steamboat. The trip formerly required three days at least.

1878 -- 125 years ago

John L. Warner and a party of his hunting and fishing friends left today for Swan Lake in Iowa on a hunting expedition.

1903 -- 100 years ago

Governor Richard Yates will visit Rock Island next month. He is opposed in his campaign for re-election by the Frank O. Lowden forces.

1928 -- 75 years ago

Charles Evans Hughes, Republican candidate for president in 1916, passed through the Tri-Cities. He is on a tour in behalf of the presidential candidacy of Herbert Hoover.

1953 -- 50 years ago

Easy home laundry appliance dealers from western Illinois and eastern Iowa attended a meeting at the Fort Armstrong Hotel to get their first view of the new Easy fully automatic washer and automatic clothes dryer. The meeting was sponsored by Schneiderhahns, Inc., Easy distributors for this area.

1978 -- 25 years ago

City officials said they learned that the Interstate Commerce Commission has given the Rock Island Line permission to discontinue passenger train service between Rock Island and Chicago and Peoria and Chicago. The railroad is losing $1,700 per day on the two runs in spite of a $1 million annual subsidy from the state.

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