Looking Back on Feb. 13: ‘Fire destroys two blocks at Rumford with $23,000 loss’

Lewiston Daily Sun for Feb. 13, 1933

100 Years Ago: 1923

Many local automobile drivers are trying their luck with the new winter automobile equipment which consists of a tractor drive and sled runners. It is said that one well-known local doctor has an order in for one of these winter cars.

50 Years Ago: 1973

An evening of work is being planned for members of the Rainbow Auxiliary of the YWCA when they gather Wednesday evening at Mrs. Lucia Drapeau’s Costume Shop on Lisbon Street, Lewiston. Items will be prepared for the YWCA fair being held in April. The meeting is scheduled for 7pm and refreshments will be served by Eva Dionne and Tina Lessard.

25 Years Ago: 1998

Thousands of Central Maine Power Co customers suffered an unnerving sense of deja-vu Thursday morning when rain-soaked tree limbs crashed down on power lines around daybreak.

Just before dawn Thursday, roughly 10,000 homes and businesses were without power in the Lewiston, Bridgton and Augusta districts. Later in the morning, several thousand customers in the Farmington district and about a thousand in the Rockland and Belfast areas suffered outages.

Repair crews returned to the familiar task of clearing away fallen tree limbs and repairing power lines done in by gusting winds and driving rain.

“Tree limbs weakened by previous storms have become water-logged and are coming into contact with lines,” said CMP spokesman Mark Ishkanian.

For those affected by the outages, it may have brought back memories of the ice storm that crippled most of the state in January. However, there was no need to return to stores to stock up on batteries, candles, flashlights and bottled water. Crews were already restoring power to affected homes and businesses.

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