100 years ago, 1915
A third underground telephone cable is being laid in Court Street, Auburn, to keep pace with the increase in demand for telephone service. This last cable is a 120 pair cable, or one having 240 wires. A 200 pair cable, and a 120 pair cable were already laid. The work has been going on for several days and is now near the junction of Court and Railroad streets where it is expected works will stop. These wires continue underground directly to the main office in Park street, Lewiston.

50 years ago, 1965
The Poland Spring hotel complex is being considered as the site of the largest Job Corps Center for women in the country, the state director of the Economic Opportunity Program said today. Steven D. Shaw, who also is administrative assistant to Gov. Reed, said a series of meetings has been held in the Lewiston-Auburn area over the last three months and a final decision is expected soon. Shaw said that “several hundred” girls would be housed and taught job skills in what is now one of New England’s best known resort and convention establishments. The resort also is one of the country’s oldest, dating back to the late 18th century.

25 years ago, 1990
After a year of fund-and consciousness-raising, residents of Lewiston and Auburn probably know more about Doukoula, Cameroon, than do most Americans. Now a delegation from the Twin Cities is preparing to travel to the isolated African city to meet its people firsthand and view some of the results of their efforts. The unusual tie between a Maine manufacturing center and a Cameroonian market town began in 1989. An Auburn couple, seeking an effective personal way to combat world hunger and infant mortality, hit on the idea of creating a partnership between the Twin Cities and an African city which needed a helping hand.

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