NEW YORK – Six men armed with revolvers plundered a saloon on the northwest corner of Ninth Avenue and Forty-Fifth Street early today after knocking down the one customer who tried to oppose them and holding up Joseph Kierman, the bartender. They fired six shots to convince the bartender that they were in earnest, emptied the cash register of about $60, took several drinks of whiskey in a leisurely manner and boarding a street car, made their escape. The robbery was committed by four of the gang, two remaining on the sidewalk.

50 years ago, 1958

• Major highways leading into Auburn have been posted with new speed limits in accordance with limit recommendations made by the Auburn City Council and approved by the speed governing board of the State Highway Commission. Auburn Police Chief Alton E. Savage said yesterday afternoon the new signs were posted yesterday by State Highway Department road crews.

• Sales of Maine sardines to producers have jumped 20 percent in the last three months and are up 14 percent for the June-January period, compared to the same periods a year ago. Movement of stocks from packers’ warehouses totaled nearly 500,000 cases in January and February, the largest shipment for a comparable period in six years of council records.

25 years ago, 1983

“Unlicensed, unregistered, uncertified, and unfettered – this is pirate radio,” intones the announcer, known to listeners only as the Crystal Goblin. The station, run from a cluttered upstairs bedroom in the Goblin’s bedroom in the Goblin’s suburban home, is just one of more than a dozen pirates operating in the New York City area.

Radio pirates broadcast illegally on the AM, FM, or short-wave bands. While pirates can show up anywhere on the dial, the frequencies just above the 1600 kilohertz on the AM band are a hotbed for the activity.