100 Years Ago: 1925

A single stick of wood was all the fuel a Lewiston couple had on one of the bitterest nights of the recent cold weather, with which to ward off winter, reaching with icy hands for their shivering figures, away from their door. Around the one stick of wood, as they received the bit of heat it threw out, they had placed some bricks so that there might be a little warmth, when the tiny fire had gone entirely out.

The man of the house was in bed, with both hands wrapped in bandages. They had become infected from injuries and he had been unable to work for some time, that there was no fuel, and the larder was fast approaching the same condition as the wood-box. Water was standing in the kitchen sink because the spout had frozen.

Suffering as they were, these people had made no appeal for aid, and neighbors who have called at the door have several times received no response. City officials were finally notified and Dr. L. J. Dumont, health officer, visited the house. He found the woman splitting up some boxes she had secured since the stick of wood was consumed, in order to build a little more fire. When asked if she would accept help, she replied that she had never asked aid, but finally consented to accept food and fuel.

50 Years Ago: 1975

Twenty youngsters representing all grade levels at the C. P. Wight School in Auburn will be attending classes on Friday at the one-room schoolhouse in Livermore Falls.

They will leave the Auburn school at 9 a.m. by bus and spend the whole day participating in regular classroom sessions at the historic little school on the Norland estate. A schoolmaster is there to conduct the classes.

Each child must take a picnic lunch containing foods which children years ago might have eaten. Upon their return they will report to the remainder of their classmates on their experiences.

Betty Rasmussen, C.P. Wight principal, will accompany the children on the project called “The Little Time Machine.”

25 Years Ago: 2000

A propane gas explosion at the Sagadahoc Bridge construction site in Bath sent up 20-foot flames but caused no injuries and little damage, fire officials said.

“I was driving across the bridge with my wife and there was a fireball in front of us,” said Capt. Ken Desmond of the Bath Fire Department, who reported the fire.

The 4 p.m. explosion Thursday at a Flatiron Structures job site at the intersection of Vine and Front streets was caused by a propane gas leak, Desmond said.

A warming hut used to keep cement from freezing ignited after it was filled with the gas.

“There was a propane leak and she ignited and blew the top covers off the warming hut,” Desmond said.

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