The Fred B. Higgins Lobster Co. of Boothbay Harbor has taken the contract to furnish the U. S. government with 1,500 lobsters. These lobsters are to be shipped alive by express across the continent to the Pacific Coast, where they will be used experimentally in Pacific waters to ascertain whether lobsters can live and breed there. This is one of the largest contracts, if not the largest, ever taken by any lobster dealer. The shipments will commence this month. The Fred B. Higgins Co. has one of the biggest lobster pounds in the world at its Boothbay Harbor plant.

50 years ago, 1957

The history of one of the families most important in the settling of the Lewiston area was outlined last night at a meeting of about 40 members of the Androscoggin County Historical Society at the Androscoggin County building.

Charles Starbird traced the history of the Little family from Moses Little who was born in Massachusetts in 1724.He surveyed all of what is now Androscoggin County as well as large parts of New Hampshire and Vermont for the British government.

His son Josiah Little obtained the land of what is now Lewiston and helped induce settlers into the area.

Josiah’s son, Edward Little, came to Danville in 1826. The first canal was built under the direction of his son, Edward T. Little, in 1851.

25 years ago, 1982

More young and older Mainers are adopting nontraditional ways of living, with a marked increase in the number of people living by themselves or with nonrelatives, according to a new report from the federal Bureau of the Census.

While traditional families still make up almost 75 percent of the total households in Maine, the percentage was down from the 81.1 percent measured in 1970, according to the 1980 census

The shift in living patterns reflected several national trends, including delayed marriages by younger people and more separation and divorce, the bureau said.