The general verdict of people who own large auto touring cars is that while Maine is a beautiful State its roads are far too poor to make touring over them a pleasure. The auto is bound to come and while it would perhaps not be profitable to build roads especially for them it should be remembered that good roads are a good investment and a source of pleasure to all who are obliged to travel over the highways whether they may be on foot, horseback, in carriages or in an auto. The good roads movement should be encouraged in every community.

50 Years Ago, 1955

Once anyone who had an eye for the main chance went out and found himself a gold mine. But in this strange and complicated age, our gold is buried in Fort Knox. And today government scientists are struggling to find out all they can about the likes of – take a deep breath here – praseodymium, holmium, dysprosium, gadolinium, lutecium and ytterbium.

Though most taxpayers couldn’t pronounce them, much less know what they are, $250,000 in government money will be spent this year in research on these and other unpronounceable members of the rare earth elements.

Bureau of Mines officials take an optimistic view of the stuff. “May well be the wonder metals of the future,” they say.

25 Years Ago, 1980

Boothbay Harbor – John Hurst bought 500 mice a week during most of the summer. But when Maine’s “Red tide” crisis struck on Labor Day, he began killing off twice that number and had to double his orders.

The mice tell Hurst, a state marine biologist, whether Maine’s clams, mussels and oysters are safe to eat. And Hurst decides when the coast, or parts of it, should be closed to most shellfish harvesting because of dangerous levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, commonly known as red tide.

Hurst injects mice with his “clam shakes.” If the mice die, Hurst knows the shellfish were contaminated. And the speed with which they die tells him whether the PSP levels are high enough to endanger humans.