“I don’t know what has come over some of these minor league ball players,” chirped Johnny McGraw recently, after reading a letter from one of the Giants’ latest recruits. “Here I have word from a kid ballplayer, a pitcher from a remote league, and he demands a salary of $3,000 a season or there will be nothing doing. I mailed this chap a contract calling for $1,200 and a promise of a raise if he comes up to expectations, but he wants more than some of the old-timers were getting. And mind you, this fellow didn’t play in 11 games last season.”

50 years ago, 1958

• PORTLAND – A stalled 148-car Maine Central freight train delayed thousands of commuters and schoolchildren for 1½ to 2½ hours here today as it blocked the Brighton, Forest and Allen avenue crossings. A broken drawbar on a tank car halted the train across the first two busy traffic arteries.

• British and American scientists today announced a major step toward taming the H-bomb to give the world unlimited electric power. They think they’ve succeeded in making hydrogen atoms fuse together to produce peaceful power, in the laboratory.

25 years ago, 1983

• A state law requiring motorists to take a driving test every two years after reaching their 75th birthday discriminates against Maine’s elderly, legislators were told Monday. Calling for “dignity and respect,” about 75 senior citizens packed a Transportation Committee hearing in a show of support for a bill to repeal the provision.

• Forty percent of all homebuyers now are “non-traditional” families, households without children, or unmarried couples living together, or singles. They are looking for homes that are easier to clean, thus smaller, and which are more affordable at today’s 12 percent and 13 percent interest rates. They also want less yard to keep up so they have more time for leisure.

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