100 years ago, 1914
He was taking life easy, was the man perched on the one horse cart load of old boughs, drawn by a single, well mannered horse, which was coming down Main street, Lewiston, Friday morning. He was smoking and dreaming, possibly, of the good dinner which was to be his and of the good times which were coming, when a wicked gust of wind, with evil bent, came swirling and twirling up the street. Said evil gust captured a spark from the pipe bowl, dropped it down in the load and — Zip! There was a lively fire. He hurried up to Ham’s grain store and men rushed to the load. Water applied in bucketfuls failed to be a corrective remedy. It did no good. Then they hiked to Nelke’s automobile salesroom, borrowed a hose, hustled back, attached it to a faucet, turned on the full force of Lake Auburn’s supply and the blaze was extinguished.

50 years ago, 1964
Ward Three Alderman George F. Call has started a move to “save” the Bates Street playground from being partially usurped by the planned Urban Renewal program in Lewiston. As a member of the City Council, Call has taken pot shots at urban renewal programming. He said Friday the city has already lost part of one playground and the one on Bates Street needs to be preserved. Call said, “I think that the apathy on the part of some of our local politicians regarding local playground areas and the welfare of our children is absolutely disgraceful.”

25 years ago, 1989
At one time, Auburn streets hid a maze 10 miles long of old, corroded iron pipes which caused rusty water to flow through faucets and could interfere with water pressure because of iron deposits growing on the inner walls. Now that figure is down to about three miles, said Water District Superintendent Norman Lamie. Within the next two years, he expects it will disappear completely. “Dating from the early 1900s through the mid-1940s, when the water district switched to cement-lined iron pipes, they used unlined cast-iron,” Lamie said. The small pipes can either be replaced or reamed out and lined with plastic, he said, while the larger pipes, if still structurally sound, can be cleaned of iron deposits and lined with cement.