100 years ago, 1913

Wild West Stage Hold-up at Mechanic Falls. A Massachusetts boy, 16, and a Lewiston youth, 14, were principals in an escapade in which, at the point of a revolver, they held up the stage from Mechanic Falls to Auburn. Stage driver Ed Hackett, accompanied by his assistant, Perley Faunce, had reached Haskell’s Corner. “Suddenly, a boy, masked with a handkerchief, jumped from some place, a stone wall, I think, grabbed the bridle and pointed a revolver. Another boy, also masked, stood a little farther off. Neither said a thing,” Hackett said. “I thought it was a toy pistol. I simply touched the horse with the whip and drove on. I would probably have forgotten it if the crew of an electric car had not got off and caught the boys, who also were charged with tampering with switches on the electric car line.

50 years ago, 1963
Lewiston police were forced to resort to auxiliary means of communication today as difficulty with the department’s base station, or transmitter, knocked out the system for the good part of the day. Resourcefulness was the key and a police cruiser was parked in the police garage and its microphone passed through the radio room window. In this manner, Sgt. Ralph Bolduc, dispatcher, was able to remain in contact with the rest of the patrolling units.

25 years ago, 1988
(Photo caption) To Moe Nadeau, a bicycle is more than just a vehicle designed for pleasure. It’s a job. Nadeau, owner of Moe’s Bicycle Shop at 54 Sabattus St., Lewiston, has been tinkering with bikes for the past 37 years. His first job, at age 12, was repairing flats and cleaning bikes at Poulin’s Bike Shop, now Twin City Cyclery on Bartlett Street. Specialized tools, such as the spoke tightener pictured, make the job faster and easier. Nadeau says he works on up to 40 bikes a week, ranging from flat tires to tune-ups. “If it’s got wheels, I fix ’em,” Nadeau said.