100 Years Ago: 1924

An article for November 9, 1924 was unavailable, an article from November 10, 1923 is being offered instead.

An alarm of fire was sounded Sunday morning about 11.45 when flames were discovered coming from the roof of the barn owned by Mrs. A. D. Horn at the foot of Titcomb Hill in Farmington. The barn burned with about 50 tons of hay which was stored in it.

The loss is about three thousand dollars partly covered by insurance. The cause of the fire is unknown.

50 Years Ago: 1974

A new vertical filing system is now in operation at the Lewiston City Clerk’s office.

Over 500,000 cards containing vital statistics information on all births, marriages and deaths in Lewiston over the years are contained in this new upright filing system which rotates the card drawers vertically.

The unit cost over $9,000 and can handle another 250,000 cards giving it another 15 years before it becomes full.

Of course, the machine is automatic but its greatest feature is that it saves space when compared to the filing system it replaced.

25 Years Ago: 1999

Too many of the city’s taxi cabs are dirty and dangerous, say police.

Several have been pulled from Auburn streets in recent months because they failed spot safety inspections.

Front ends shook on bald tires, Officer Norm Bilodeau said. Wheels wobbled because they were missing lug nuts. And in one case, he said, a hole below a cab driver was covered by a floor mat.

“Somebody called from Lewiston,” Bilodeau said of one case. “They said they could see the carpet hanging in the street.”

So he pulled the cars from the road, immediately scraping away their inspection stickers until they passed new examinations. Now he wants the city to add new rules governing its taxis.

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