100 years ago, 1916
Mayor Brann and City Treasurer Russell, by vote of the Lewiston City Government at a special session last evening, were authorized to borrow. not to exceed $22,000 and to sign notes for the same. The loan is to be used to finance the proposed concrete bridge over the canal at Main street, and is made in anticipation of unpaid taxes of the present fiscal year.

50 years ago, 1966
(Photo Caption) Miss Edna Smith of Auburn has taken up a sport that is not too widely adopted by women — flying. Here she is shown at the controls of a Cessna at the Maine Aviation Corporation, where she takes weekly lessons, weather permitting. Miss Smith is one of three local young women who are learning this art. She began taking lessons in May of this year and has about two more hours of flying time to put in before applying for her private pilot’s license.

25 years ago, 1991
A stubborn and destructive fire from a lightning strike in Auburn, power failures, fallen trees and a possible tornado were among effects reported late Wednesday as summer thunderstorms cut a swath through several Maine counties. Firefighters, themselves at risk from lightning, battled flames for over four hours at the Gates Formed-Fibre Products plant on Washington Street across from Maine Turnpike Exit 12 after lightning reportedly set fire to about 1,000 bales of polyester fiber stored outside the building. The plant, which employs about 400 persons, was never in jeopardy, said company vice president Jerry Smith. “The bales are stored well away from the buildings,” Smith said. “Also, we had dividers between the storage sections, so if something like this happened we wouldn’t lose our entire supply. It turns out it was a good thing we did.”

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