•Never in the memory of the oldest inhabitant has South Strong undergone the scourge of rats as it has this winter. Hardly a cellar in this peaceful vale has been unvisited by the rodents and many’s the apple and potato that has helped the rats seem to grow unusually long tails, longer even than the tales that are being freely told of weather colder than we have recently had. The rats also appear sleek and well kept appearance and are digging unusually large round holes.

50 Years Ago, 1955

•A draft call for 70 men in March is going out to local boards, state Selective Service headquarters said today. The call is for 10 more than the state’s quota for the month, with the extra men being summoned to offset any failure to report. For February the state’s quota is 58. The army called for 1,000 men, nationwide, each month.

•The parking meters on the streets of Lewiston took in $3,135 in revenue during the month of January. According to records in the office of Lewiston Tax Collector-Treasurer Adrien O. Anctil, this brings the total revenue taken in by the meters since their installation to $326,015.03.

25 Years Ago, 1980

Every Friday afternoon as weary workers fight the four o’clock traffic, one of Lewiston’s janitors trudge up, up, and up even further into the attic of City Hall to perform a ritual many of us take for granted. In the attic proudly stands a clock which janitor Louis Nadeau estimates, has been ticking away for close to one hundred years. Once a week, he or one of the other custodians assigned to the City Building climb up the stairs leading to what used to be the dance hall and the setting for many a boxing match and continue up further to the attic. When up there, they crank up a weight of approximately 500-600 pounds, so the beautiful clock manufactured by E. Howard and Co. of Boston, Mass., will tick on an additional seven days.