One of the fads that Bangor people have taken up recently is that of sleeping outdoors at night, says the Bangor Commercial. In going about the residential section one often notices outdoor sleeping shelters which people use at night. It is a fad that is claimed proves very beneficial to one’s health.

50 Years Ago, 1956

A professional committee which studied Maine’s tuberculosis control program reported that it may eventually be wise to close the Western Maine Sanatorium at Hebron. The Northern Maine Sanatorium at Presque Isle should be continued – with possibly a future dual use of its facilities – because the Central Maine Sanatorium at Fairfield is too far away to be acceptable to Aroostook county patients, the committee said. It is recommended that Fairfield be increasingly the central facility of the program. Long term use of the Hebron institution was not recommended because, the report said, the high cost of needed building and other replacements cannot be justified in an area without public transportation or adequate fire protection. Present fire hazards should be removed, however, the panel reported.

25 Years Ago, 1981

State Fire Marshal Lawrence Dolby of Saco said that the fire which destroyed the Songo River Queen paddle wheeler in Naples is definitely of a suspicious origin. “There appears to be evidence of it being anything but a natural fire,” the investigator related. “We will keep digging,” Dolby added. The wood-framed double decker riverboat was a popular attraction to local people and tourists alike visiting this summer vacation resort community during the summer months. Plans to replace it are uncertain. The 80-foot stern paddle wheeler carried up to 150 persons at a time on a two-and-a-half-hour cruise down Long Lake, under the bridge on Route 302, into Brandy Pond, then into the Songo River, Songo River locks and back again.