Communication with the outside world was practically cut off from Lewiston and Auburn last night by the winter’s worst storm which started off the Florida coast Thursday and reached here yesterday morning. A high wind and a vast amount of damp and heavy snow accompanied the sleet storm through the northern States and Maine got its full quota. Wrecked telegraph and telephone wires mark the storm’s path. In Lewiston and Auburn business has been practically at a standstill since 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon when the trolley cars were stalled and the telegraph and telephone service impeded by heavily laden wires as well as those carried to the ground by the raging elements.

50 Years Ago, 1956

• An article by Barbara Stewart for the American Legion Magazine says Beetle Bailey of the comic strip drawn by Mort Walker will never take the fatal step into matrimony. Walker claims he “can’t imagine” Beetle without his hat and that he couldn’t be married and wear a hat all the time.

25 Years Ago, 1981

It is an ironic turn of events that the users of credit cards, plastic money, who pay their bills promptly and in full should be targeted for special fees. Traditionally, prompt payment of bills has been considered a virtue! Credit cards have become a way of life in Maine and the nation. The “service” was the chief selling point, with interest charged those who did not pay promptly making them attractive to banks and major companies.

Now, the Maine Legislature is being asked to authorize an annual fee to be imposed on credit card users who pay their bill in full and on time.