100 years ago, 1917
“Despite the fact that Portland printers are crying hard times and an insufficiency of work, the Cumberland County Superior court dockets for the April, May and September terms were this year printed in Lewiston. The action of the court in engaging a Lewiston printer to do the work is defensible, however, on the score that the Lewiston man offered better terms.

50 years ago, 1967
A 70-year-old Auburn man disagrees with those who would require that parachute jumpers be licensed. William “Tex” Wilson of the South River Road says he has made approximately 1,000 jumps in his lifetime, and has been an aviation circus performer. He said that back in the 1920s, when he was an active jumper, performing with a charity air circus, he used to make and pack, his own chute. “I performed a stunt at Curtis-Wright Airport, New York, that was never performed before or since. Flying at 1,400 feet, I jumped out of an aircraft, and opened three chutes. This was accomplished by taking off the first and opening the second, then taking that one off and opening the third, before hitting the ground. My second chute tangled around my neck and I had trouble getting it off. This delayed the opening of the third chute, which I finally got open just 300 feet from the ground. Half the audience turned their backs because they thought I was going to hit before I could open the chute.

25 years ago, 1992
Dippers are back in their element now that the Lewiston YWCA pool has re-opened. After two months of work, a new filter tank has been installed along with a new ceiling, a new automatic chemical system and fresh paint in and around the pool, said Pool Director Pam Gallant. The new chemical system automatically balances the chemicals in the pool and is much safer for the staff to use, said YWCA campaign director Elaine Hackett. “And it cuts the chemicals we use in half,” Gallant said.

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

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