100 years ago, 1917
“The waste house” so-called of the Columbia mills, Lewiston, made its autumnal attempt to burn down, Wednesday afternoon. Flammable material makes for many fires in this small wooden building.

50 years ago, 1967
Santa Claus waved his invisible magic wand, the band played Christmas carols, and the lights on this huge tree in Hulett Square were turned on Monday night officially ushering in the Christmas season in the Twin Cities. Many children and adults were on hand to witness the tree lighting ceremony despite the cold, windy weather.

25 years ago, 1992
Robert Melaugh counts countertops and shelves and typewriters and calculators and telephones for a living. The more he counts, the more tax money comes into the city of Auburn. Melaugh is a personal property lister and by June 1994, he plans to visit every single business property in Auburn to explain the city process and make an inventory of its capital assets. Melaugh, 39, has been on the job since July and after a couple months of training, he has already identified $4,426,800 of personal property that’s either been undervalued or never listed, said Tax Assessor Joseph Downey. That should amount to $103,000 in tax revenues, Downey said.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be corrected.