100 Years Ago: 1918

A telephone has been installed at the Wallace H. White club headquarters in Auburn. There will be a meeting Friday night at which some interesting speakers will be heard and topics of interest will be discussed.

50 Years Ago: 1968

The formation of a regional comprehensive health planning council was discussed last night at a meeting in Lewiston. The program the council will administer will encompass a tri-state area — Androscoggin, and Franklin counties and the northern portion of Oxford County — and the aim is to bring about a better delivery of health services for all segments of the population. Mrs. Dorothy Healy of 26 Mountain Ave., Lewiston is the project’s coordinator. Organizational work was discussed at Steckino’s by a subcommittee of Androscoggin Home Health Services which includes representatives of the region the program will cover. There were 23 tri-county representatives on hand. “This represents a major effort to shift program responsibility away from Washington,” Mrs. Healy explained. “It provides direct support to state and local leaders as they make plans, set priorities and carry out comprehensive health programs.”

25 Years Ago: 1993

The worst fire this city has seen in five years tore through a row of apartment buildings on Birch, Bates and Knox streets early Sunday morning, leaving 18 families homeless, but miraculously injuring no one. The blaze, being termed “suspicious” by fire officials, destroyed four buildings and damaged three others. Fifty to 60 people have been left homeless by the fire. Firefighters were at a disadvantage from the start. Officials said they believe the blaze started around 4 a.m. behind 44 Knox St. and 281 Bates St., both vacant buildings, but wasn’t reported until nearly an hour later. Firefighters got the call at 4:53 am. Deputy Chief James Morin said in the early morning “there was no one around to hear or smell the fire” until the buildings were fully involved. He said the fire was suspicious because it was believed to have started in or near the vacant structures. State Fire Marshall’s Office investigator Steve Dixon said the cause hasn’t been determined yet. “We haven’t been able to draw any conclusions,” Dixon said Sunday.

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