A CENTURY AGO, DRIVE-BY SHOOTINGS WERE A PROBLEM IN DENVER

It may be hard to believe that a scant 100 years ago ...

The average life expectancy in the United States was 47.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.

There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. and only 144 miles of paved roads.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents an hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 a year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 a year, a dentist $2,500 a year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 a year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 a year.

Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

The five leading causes of death in the United States: 1. Pneumonia and influenza, 2. tuberculosis, 3. diarrhea, 4. heart disease, 5. stroke.

Drive-by-shootings -- in which teen-age boys galloped down the street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages or anything else that caught their fancy -- were an ongoing problem in Denver and other cities in the West.

Plutonium, insulin and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet. Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn't been invented.

Some medical authorities warned that professional seamstresses were apt to become sexually aroused by the steady rhythm, hour after hour, of the sewing machine's foot pedals. They recommended slipping bromide, which was thought to diminish sexual desire, into the women's drinking water.

Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine.

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Governor questions Mrs. Clinton's run: Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee predicted recently that Hillary Rodham Clinton will have a hard time winning her campaign for a Senate seat from New York.

"It's hard for me to believe that New York would elect someone to be senator who's never lived there, been educated there, worked there," Huckabee told reporters during a question-and-answer session. "Someone who moves to Arkansas and said 'I've never lived here, never been educated here, never had a job here and I want to be your next senator' -- they'd be hooted to the next border."

Asked whether Clinton, a former Arkansas first lady, could win a Senate seat from his state, Huckabee said she could not. "Her views are far left of center," he said.

Huckabee also took a swipe at President Clinton, saying the former Arkansas governor will "go down in history as the most polarizing president of all time."

"He just has a way of drawing a line in the sand and saying Democrats on this side, Republicans on that side and let's have a stalemate," Huckabee said.

White House officials were not immediately available for comment. -- The Associated Press

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Giuliani gives some reasons to elect him to the U.S. Senate: "I believe that I will make a very effective senator because of my proven record of success. I firmly believe that my record as mayor of New York City proves that not only do I understand the issues confronting us, but am able to provide the unique solutions to make sure we continue to improve America economically, educationally and socially.

"During my tenure as mayor, New York City has seen crime reduced by over 50 percent and the murder rate plummet by 70 percent. In fact, the FBI recently declared New York the safest big city in America.

"Our policies have taken nearly 500,000 people off welfare. We've reduced taxes by $2.3 billion, erased a $2 billion deficit and created a $2 billion budget surplus. More than 320,000 new private-sector jobs have been created the highest rate of private-sector job growth in New York's history.

"All of this was done because of my commitment to less government regulation, lower taxes and a greater emphasis on personal responsibility.

"When I became mayor, New York City had a reputation as being a dangerous and unfriendly city. Tourists, businesses and homeowners were scared to visit or locate in New York. Our taxes were regressive, our regulations strangling and there was very little incentive to stay in New York City if one could afford to get out.

"Years of left-wing social experiments had taken their toll, and New Yorkers were sick of it. They were mad because they remembered or saw the greatness of how the city once was and were appalled by what it had become. They wanted new, sensible policies that reduced crime, expanded economic growth and lowered taxes.

"They wanted change. That is why they elected me mayor.

"As the mayor of New York City I am very proud of what we've accomplished. We did what many said was impossible. We proved that good government can be achieved, and we reversed the free-fall that years of neglect and left-wing policies had spawned." -- Recent remarks by Mayor Rudy Giuliani

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The Justice Department's landmark antitrust trial and earlier legal actions against Microsoft Corp. have cost $13.3 million over the past decade, the department said recently.

The figure includes about $7 million investigating and suing Microsoft in the trial pending before U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, described as among the most significant business lawsuits in decades.

Experts described the $7 million as paltry compared with the expense of other major antitrust cases, where costs easily can run $750,000 each month. Justice opened the current case in June 1995.

"That's really rather modest for a case that has been as hard fought as this one has, with the caliber of lawyers and economists they've put on," said Tyler Baker, a Dallas antitrust lawyer.

Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc., for example, spent $20 million over 10 months unsuccessfully fighting antitrust enforcers to allow its merger in 1997.

The Justice Department last year asked Jackson to force Microsoft to reimburse its legal costs, but the agency typically doesn't request attorneys' fees.

The agency acknowledged it has paid outside experts for advice on how to punish Microsoft if the company lost the case, but refused to identify them or their pay. It included the pay among $2.2 million spent in the recent trial on such experts.

The department also revealed it has spent $194,140 for public relations, including $147,381 for publishing court documents and other information about the case on its Internet site

The government disclosures came in response to a written demand from Sen. Slade Gorton, a Republican from Microsoft's home state of Washington. The figures did not include money spent by the 19 states suing the company along with Justice; attorneys general in those states have denied requests for such information.

Microsoft, the world's largest software company with $19.7 billion in sales this year, hasn't disclosed its own legal fees. It declined comment. But the company's financial records showed "general and administrative expenses," including lawyers' fees, of $689 million for this business year, ended June 30. That's up 59 percent from last year's $433 million.

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.