100 Years Ago: 1924

An article was unavailable for October 19, 1924, therefore an article from October 19, 1923 is being offered instead.

A five foot rattlesnake, said to be 11 years old was killed Wednesday in Auburn, on the River road by Fred Banks, a member of the Central Maine Power line crew which is installing high tension wires between the Logan and Deer Rips. The snake carried 10 rattles and was a “diamond back”, an unusually big specimen, it was said by those who had seen it.

Banks killed the rattler which was curled up about two feet from the road, with an axe. The snake measured 5 feet 3 inches.

50 Years Ago: 1974

A 17 per cent boost in wage and fringe benefits has been ratified by employees of Hillcrest Foods, Inc., in Lewiston, according to a joint announcement today by Hillcrest President William J. Mendelson and Alton Phinney, Treasurer, Local 385, Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of America, AFL-CIO.

The new two-year contract, which calls for the first $3.00 minimum wage ever negotiated in the nation’s broiler industry, expires August 31, 1976.

The announcement said the contract calls for a 28-cent-an-hour wage increase the first year and a 25-cent-an-hour pay hike during the second year of the contract. The new minimum starting wage for bargaining group employees is now $2.78 per hour. It will be $3.03 per hour commencing August 31, 1975.

25 Years Ago: 1999

Investigators probing last week’s fire at the Free Meeting House in Auburn had to turn to science to find the cause of the blaze.

Officials said Monday, a 9-volt battery apparently fell into a pile of steel wool and sparked the fire at the Harmons Corner Road corner church last Wednesday night.

“The steel goes across that battery and causes that voltage to circulate,” said Lt. Pete Simard, of the state Fire Marshal’s Office.

Simard said workers inside the church had been using steel wool to smooth wood as they prepared to paint. It was unknown what caused a battery to fall into the pile, but investigators were convinced it was accidental.

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