100 Years Ago: 1924

“Bill” Perkins, small son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Perkins of Winthrop Street, appears a youngster of extraordinary genius and ability. Only recently he astonished his neighbors with the appearance of a lively fife and drum corps which he uniformed with some old coats and yellow trimming that he found in his mother’s attic. For many evenings the musical (?) outfit entertained the entire neighborhood.

Now Bill has appeared with another invention of his own, a horseless carriage made out of some small cart, wheels and a wooden box. He is giving his playmates instructions in driving and controlling the new machine and is making a great hit with his trips down Winthrop hill.

50 Years Ago: 1974

Members of the Bates Local of the Textile Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, unanimously voted Sunday night to reject a company proposal giving workers a 35-cents an hour increase and also a one- year extension of the existing contract.

Bates Workers were told that the Bates proposal was not sufficient to catch up with the cost of living increase and that actually the workers would be taking a reduction in living standards in the additional year, 1975-76, which Bates proposed to extend the contract.

25 Years Ago: 1999

A major power transmission line snapped on North River Road in Auburn early Wednesday evening, cutting electricity to most of the city for more than an hour, starting a brush fire and snaring traffic.

A man and his wife said they were fishing on the Androscoggin River when they saw the wire snap and fall to the grass. Then they heard two explosions followed by a ball of fire, they said.

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