100 Years Ago: 1925

An article for January 4, 1925 was unavailable, therefore an article from January 4, 1924 is being offered instead.

Judge Crockett of the Lewiston municipal court has under advisement a suit against W. C. Girard, prominent Lisbon merchant for $12.50 which Harry Day, proprietor of the Maine Bottling Co., of Auburn, alleges is due his concern for five cases of beer and five cases of “empties.”

“What kind of beer is it?” asked Judge Crockett when the case was tried.

“Near-beer,” replied Harris Isaacson, counsel for Mr. Day.

“All right, we’ll hear the case,” rejoined the court.

Mr. Girard refuses to pay the $12.50 on the ground that he had received only three cases of beer and had returned the five cases of “empties.”

Mr. Day alleges that he had made out two bills for the beer and that Mr. Girard had signed one of the slips which bore the total of $12.50. Mr. Girard claims he owes only $2.50.

“Mr. Girard is trying to work an imposition on the court,” said Mr. Isaacson, who asserted that Mr. Girard had altered the figure on the bill to $2.50. To this charge Mr. Girard replied that he had scratched the figure “1” off because he found Mr. Day had made a mistake, but admitted that he had discovered the alleged mistake three months afterward.

50 Years Ago: 1974

Security at the Auburn- Lewiston Airport may be going big city style in the near future with passengers undergoing thorough searches just like they do at Kennedy in New York and Logan in Boston.

According to Airport Manager Richard C. Rooney, it is anticipated that Air New England, which services the local area, will be certified as an air carrier by the Federal Aviation Administration in the near future. Upon certification, it will be necessary for the Auburn Police Department to provide security at the local terminal. An officer to be known as the Airport Security Officer, will have to be at the airport prior to the boarding of each flight and standby while airline officials screen each passenger.

His main duty will be to position himself so as to observe the passenger screening activity as well as the aircraft parked at the boarding gate. If any passenger is found in violation of Federal, State or municipal law, the airport security officer will make an arrest.

It is understood that only airline personnel will conduct the passenger and baggage search. The only time the security officer will perform such a check is when a person cannot be cleared by the airline.

25 Years Ago: 1999

The first work week of 2000 started off with a rumble and a roar Monday when an earthquake rolled through parts of southwestern Maine late in the afternoon. With an epicenter 15 miles northwest of Lewiston, the quake measured 3.5 on the Richter scale and rolled through towns in at least four counties.

“It lasted a good five seconds and it was enough to rattle the dishes,” said Paul Belisle of Laase Avenue in Lewiston. “I was sitting and reading, and I could hear it or feel it come and go.”

Telephones were ringing at police departments and other emergency centers as residents sought to find out if what they felt at about 4:05 p.m. was a bona fide earthquake.

“We’ve had people calling from Sabattus, Wales, Greene,  Lewiston, Minot, Mechanic Falls and Turner,” said Peter Van Gagnon, director of the Androscoggin County Emergency Management Agency. “There have been no reports of damage or injuries. But I heard it shook enough in one area to cause some cupboards to swing open.”

The earthquake was felt as far north as Oakland and Sidney as well as in the Augusta area, according to an official at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

The quake originated near the towns of Norway, Turner and Minot. Several people who live in the Turner area called the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department or local news agency to report the seismic activity.

Many people said they could hear the earthquake while they were feeling the earth move under their feet.

“Three of us were sitting here and the whole house shook for a good five seconds,” said Jeannine Kivus of College Street, Lewiston. “It stopped our conversation cold.”

One woman reported that her brownies fell from the cupboard, but most people said there was nothing more than a rattling as the quake passed.

“The whole house trembled and everything in the house trembled too,” Kivus said.

Some people thought their children were jumping around to cause the commotion. Others thought it was passing traffic.

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