According to a celebrated health expert, blanched almonds give the higher nerve or brain and muscle food, and whoever wishes to keep her brain power up would do well to include them in her daily bill of fare. Juicy fruits give the same in less proportion, and are eaten by all those whose living depends on their clear-headedness. Apples supply the brain with rest. Prunes afford proof against nervousness but are not muscle-feeding. But it has been proved that fruits do not have the same effect upon everybody.

50 Years Ago, 1956

The Treasury revised its estimates upward and predicted the government will wind up the fiscal year June 30 with a surplus of $1,828,000,000. There was no immediate indication, however, that this meant a 1956 tax reduction was anywhere nearer realization.

Hey, the peas are up! And that’s not all, the asparagus and onions are up too. Cold weather and wet soil have kept many Twin City home owners out of their garden patches but not Samuel W. Mottram of Turner Road. His peas are up two inches, the asparagus for or five inches and the onion sets are growing like crazy.

25 Years Ago, 1981

When it comes to oddball license plates, Jane Webber has seen them all. It’s her job to sort through all the catchy, hilarious and sometimes-cryptic requests for vanity license plates, which are so popular in Maine and have caught on in almost all of the other states. It’s also Mrs. Webber’s job to weed out the shocking, disgusting or downright obscene requests that come to her desk in Augusta.

So far, Mrs. Webber has approved DEADLY, PUTRID, BIG PIG and STINK. She’s also okayed SLOTH, GUZZLER, FAT CAT, SO UGLY and about 200 other requests.

One request she didn’t turn down said Y GO 55. “The secretary of state wasn’t too happy when he saw that one,” Mrs. Webber said. “He called it back.”