• The old dry-plate factory on Bates Street, Lewiston, is being repaired preparatory to starting it up again. This time, the company in charge will be composed largely of local men known as The United Photo Materials Co.

• By vote of the Lewiston and Auburn Merchants Association at the meeting Tuesday morning, it was decided to close the stores during the months of July and August at noon Wednesday of each week for the remainder of the day. A committee was appointed to arrange for an appropriation for a Fourth of July celebration.

50 years ago, 1957

AUGUSTA – Nineteen woods and grass fires, the largest covering 250 acres, were reported in Maine today as the fire hazard continued to mount. Fourteen of the 43 warden stations reported danger in extreme Class 5, compared to 11 yesterday. All the rest reported very dangerous Class 4 conditions.

NEW YORK – What was your family’s income last year? If it matched the national average in these booming times, it was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,700.

• Temperatures skyrocketed under a bright, sunny sky yesterday, giving the Twin Cities the warmest day of spring since Easter Sunday. The highest temperature recorded yesterday at the Union Water Power Co. gatehouse was a comfortable 78 degrees at 5 p.m.

25 years ago, 1982

Sometimes called the most heavily industrialized river in the Northeast, the Androscoggin River has come a long way since the 1940s, when it was so polluted that in summer its sulfuric fumes actually peeled the paint off houses in Lewiston and Auburn.

While still heavily utilized by industry, the Androscoggin has been cleaned up to the point where it is now classified as Class C, suitable for “noncontact” uses such as canoeing and fishing. And, state officials hope, before too long the river will reach Class B status, making it suitable for swimming.