100 Years Ago: 1924

A prominent Auburn man from now on looks upon the present fad for hand-made rugs with feelings more or less mingled with distrust. One member of his household has become a devotee of the art and has already fashioned several rugs which are the envy of her friends.

Every new rug that appears on the floor makes the Auburn man feel uneasy. He has no objection to rugs as such, let it be understood, but it is the mysterious disappearance of his garments.

A short time ago he went upstairs, and seemed to be hunting for something. A little later he called his wife. “Do you know where those trousers are that I left here,” said he. “I do,” said [his] wife, “Come with me.” She pointed to a certain stripe in a partly completed rug. “There,” said she, “are your trousers.”

The Auburn man decided he would make some other garment do.

50 Years Ago: 1974

At the last meeting of the commission there was a comment that there’s a state law that requires that the commission eat at the jail once in a while.

While no one can seem to find the law, and there is one which requires an inspection of the jail (perhaps this includes partaking of the menu). It’s indicated that there is such a law somewhere. Several claim to have seen it.

County Commissioner Paul A. Couture wasn’t in attendance at the last meeting so the sheriff invited the commissioners to dine at the jail, so they could inspect the facilities, and taste the talents of a new jail cook.

Couture says he doesn’t need an invitation to eat at the county jail.

“I’ll go there when I feel like it,” he added.

Couture commented this morning, apparently taking issue with an invitation Sheriff Rosaire Martel extended at the last county meeting.

25 Years Ago: 1999

Porter knows what it was like to work in a room clouded with cigarette smoke.

“My hair smelled; my clothes smelled,” he said. “I could even smell it on my breath from just breathing it in.”

When he left work a friend I would ask him if he had been smoking. “I said, ‘No. I’ve been working.’… Breathing in smoke all day is not a fun thing,” Porter said. “It’s not healthy in the work environment.”

According to an informal survey taken by Tobacco Free L-A, a majority of restaurant owners and managers in Lewiston-Auburn, Sabattus and Lisbon join Porter in supporting the law. Tobacco Free L-A is a community coalition to prevent children from smoking, to help smokers quit, and to fight public exposure to second-hand smoke.

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