100 years ago: 1925

“Rah! Rah! Rah! Canham! Davis! Walker! Googins!

“Three times three, for each and all!

“Thus did some six hundred Bates students, jammed into a seething mass at the side exit of the new chapel, shout their enthusiasm and cheer the second international debating team as they motored away to Boston on the first lap of their tour of British Universities overseas, at 9.30 Saturday morning.

“The four young men, lined against the running board of a big touring car, at the curb, smiled their appreciation and farewells into the responsive faces of their collegemates. The last handshakes were being given.

“President Gray and Prof. Baird of the faculty gripped one after the other at the last moment; and then came the rush of the exhaust as the motor started in a quick get-away thru the parting throng.”

50 years ago: 1975

“Lewiston police dealt with an animal complaint of an unusual nature this morning.

“Authorities were attempting to locate the owner of two 300-pound pigs seen roaming the Taylor Hill Road area.

“A resident called authorities this morning and related that the two porkers were running around loose in the neighborhood.

“Police were perplexed as to what to do with the huge animals, but an effort was being made to contain the animals until the owner was contacted.”

25 years ago: 2000

“AUBURN — The electricity swept through 12- year-old Matthew Loudermilk in waves, clenching his muscles and rumbling in his ears.

“He later found burn marks and blisters on the bottoms of his feet. His fingertips browned where he held the kite’s string.

“‘It was just so fast, so sudden,’ Matthew said. All those warnings from his parents and TV were forgotten the moment before he picked up the string, which had blown across a power line. And once he had it in his hand, he was paralyzed.

“‘If Devin wasn’t there, Matt wouldn’t be here,’ said Loudermilk’s dad, Dan. ‘Devin’s a hero.’

“But Devin Desjardins, who is also 12, said he was merely doing what seemed right at the moment. He saw Matthew grab the string, curl his hands into fists and shake stiffly.

“‘I wasn’t really that afraid,’ Devin said. ‘You don’t think. You just do.’

“So he rushed to Matthew’s side, smacked the string from his hands and hollered his name over and over.

“‘I was sort of panicked,’ Matthew said. ‘I was really shaking.’

“But he was OK.”

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