100 years ago, 1915
A Ford automobile in which the robbers of Thomas McNamara rode Thursday night and made their get-away after beating him into insensibility and stealing $800, is believed to be hidden in the wild countryside in the outskirts of Lewiston. The machine, in the opinion of the police, is one of the many Ford cars reported stolen in the last few weeks and was abandoned after the robbery. This theory is reasonable in the light of the unusual number of machines reported stolen from Massachusetts cities, and in view of evidence regarding three stolen machines that were offered for sale in Lewiston last week.

50 years ago, 1965
A Lewiston man has begun operations of his own food distributing concern. Norman A. Gervais of 48 Howe St., a veteran food distributor of several years, recently opened headquarters of the new No-Ro Sales Inc. at 48 Oxford St., Lewiston, the same building where his father, the late Wilfrid Gervais, originated Lewiston-Auburn United Grocers Inc, some 36 years ago.

25 years ago, 1990
A rare and ancient tree fell here Thursday, brought down by a night of thunder, hail and high winds. “It’s like losing a longtime friend,” said Irene Hemond. “It’s sad.” The centuries-old and locally rare shagbark hickory tree fell on a building at the Hemond farm on Verrill Road. “That tree has been standing here all these years,” Hemond said, “and until it came down, we did not realize how rare or valuable it was.” She has since done research and to her knowledge the tree, with shaggy bark of many layers, is the only one in the area. The Hemonds estimated that their tree was 300 to 400 years old.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.