100 years ago, 1914
For a long time past — for years, in fact — Lewiston business houses whose back entrance has been a Lisbon street alley, have had good cause for complaint for the condition which has existed there. It has been a common nuisance in every respect. This was not changed when, a couple of years ago the alley was paved. If anything it became worse. Mayor Wiseman, on Thursday, stated authoritatively that a change was to be made. He said that public toilets would be installed immediately and that every effort would be made to clean up the alley and keep it so.
50 years ago, 1964
A fire at a Lewiston woolen mill early this morning caused extensive water damage as the sprinkler system was set off by the blaze. The blaze reportedly started when naphtha was spilled on the third floor and dripped down to the second floor where it ignited as it hit machinery on that floor. Traffic from Auburn was re-routed via South Bridge for a short time during the fire. Some 30 water sprinklers, about 15 on each of the second and third floors, spread a good deal of water over the fire area.
25 years ago, 1989
Fred Cooper, 68, a Revolutionary War buff who lives next door to the Poland Community School, invited the school’s eighth grade social studies class to visit him Thursday for an afternoon in the spirit of the 18th century. With their teacher, Bruce Whittier, students were regaled with Cooper’s tales of real and simulated battles; examined an array of old-time muskets, swords and powder horns; watched a slide show of 20th-century military exercises; and were served cookies and hot cider by Cooper’s wife, Doris, and their daughter, Cynthia LaFrance. LaFrance’s son, Josh, was among the more than two dozen students who enjoyed a two-hour break in classroom routine in the Cooper home and backyard. Cooper dressed in his Revolutionary War-type uniform and a tri-corner hat, the same outfit his wife made for him to wear when he marched in a parade during Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Boston in the 1970s.
The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.
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