The manufacture of spool bars in the United States for shipment to foreign countries is confined wholly to the State of Maine. Spool bars are manufactured in other States of the Union, Rhode Island and Connecticut manufacturing a considerable number, but these are wholly for domestic consumption. Canada also manufactures considerable spool bars and is a close rival of Maine in the shipment of them to foreign countries. Maine, however, is the only State in the whole Union that sends any of its spool bars across the water. Even Maine may be out of the business in the course of a few years. Three cargoes in a year is pretty small business. The cost of manufacturing spool bars is increasing in proportion with the increased expense attending the manufacture of all other kinds of lumber.

50 Years Ago, 1956

The hunter’s breakfast, sponsored by the South Paris Chamber of Commerce, held at the Pine Street fire hall, was a huge success. An estimated 225 persons were served breakfast from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. This was the first venture of anything of this kind, and the committee was well satisfied with the results.

25 Years Ago, 1981

The bumper sticker on the back of Paul Szott’s small station wagon reads: “Honeybees Serve Man and Nature.” Honeybees are a big part of Paul Szott’s life; they have been since his brother-in-law cut down a tree that had a hive in it about 15 years ago, and Szott brought it home and set it in his yard for about a year before building a beekeeper’s wood-framed hive. Until recently, Szott, of Skillings Corner in Turner, had about 200 beehives. He cut back recently, because he got a job working for the state Department of Agriculture as Maine’s only (part time) bee inspector. Between that and his full-time job as an electrician, he finds little time for his hobby, and he expects to have only about 63 hives next year when pollinating time comes.