A well known Auburn grocer played a victorious part in a sidewalk drama yesterday morning. The other actor was a big yellow dog which had walked into the store and walked out again with a large bundle of meat just wrapped up for another customer. It was a sprinting match between the grocer and the dog and the grocer won, coming back serenely with the unbroken package under his arm.

50 Years Ago, 1955

WASHINGTON – The automobile license plate family is settling down after 54 carefree years in which it has come in all shapes and sizes. A standardized, 6 by 12 inch plate, in which even the bold holes are fixed down to the 1-16th of an inch, has been agreed on by the 48 states, the District of Columbia, the provinces of Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The target date for its universal use: Oct. 1, 1957.

•More than one-third of American farms have television sets, the Census Bureau reported today. It said that of 4,782,395 farms checked in the 1954 census of agriculture 1,699,162 had television sets.

25 Years Ago, 1980

PORTLAND – Soaring oil prices, which made wood burning so appealing in recent years, are now prompting a growing number of Maine households to keep warm with coal. Although still a tiny fraction of the state’s home heating mix, coal is winning converts, particularly among people who have grown tired of cutting and stacking wood.

Maine had about 150 coal retailers in 1923, when the National Coal Association estimates coal provided 70 percent of America’s total energy. That figure dipped to nine last year, but a sudden surge in interest has boosted the number to about 50 this year.

NEW YORK – Major banks across the country raised their prime lending rates to 19 percent Friday, climaxing a week of sharp increases in all kinds of interest rates. Citibank, the second largest of the nation’s commercial banks, led the jump from the prevailing 18.5 percent set only three days earlier.