Looking Back on October 28

100 years ago, 1917

(Advertisement) The purchase of a LIBERTY BOND is a patriotic duty from which no American may claim exemption. If you fail in the performance of this duty you may well be ashamed to meet a soldier in khaki. He is staking his LIFE. Can’t you risk a few dollars?

Paid for by Lewiston Gas Light Co.

50 years ago, 1967

The burning of leaves without a permit is outlawed in Auburn for the first time this autumn. Fire Chief J. Coleman Miller reminded citizens Friday night that a new ordinance prohibits outside ‘burning of any kind without a permit” Until now the burning of leaves wasn’t included. “Now you have to have a permit to burn anything,” Chief Miller pointed out. Citizens can pick up the permits at any fire substation and if the burning can’t be done in a single day, permission to burn on two days may be obtained. Burning on the sides of streets is allowed, but not well into the street. “We had some trouble last year with people burning leaves right in the streets,” said Chief Miller. “They burned some of the asphalt too. It skins off and breaks up.”

25 years ago, 1992

City officials met with representatives of Bates Fabrics Inc. and its tenants Thursday afternoon to explore possible sources of heat and steam for the mill, but came to no immediate solution. Bates’ usual source, WGP Inc., shut off its steam supply late Tuesday because of the mill’s failure to pay a bill that has steadily climbed to over $1 million in the past four years. Mayor James Howaniec expressed measured confidence that a solution would be found to the latest crisis faced by Bates. “There are other options besides the steam source provided by WGP,” he said. Those options include installing industrial heaters at Bates or extending pipes there from the Libbey Mill. As both a textile manufacturer and a landlord that rents out warehouse space within the Canal Street mill, Bates Fabrics Inc. has two distinct needs in this situation, Howanlec said. The textile end of the operation, world-famous for its bedspreads, needs steam for processing materials during manufacturing. Warehousing, which actually utilizes the greater share of space in the 1.2-million-square-foot mill, requires heat.

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