100 Years Ago: 1924
For a number of years, Charles Millard Starbird of Danville, Auburn, has been at work on a history of Danville.

Mr. Starbird is well qualified to do this work. He is a graduate of Bates college; was a brilliant student; a member of the debating team that went to Oxford, England; is now tax collector of Auburn.

Mr. Starbird began his work of investigation of old Danville records a number of years ago. The plan has developed by slow degrees until he has now decided to take in Auburn and for some months has been at work on the history of the City of Auburn as a part of and as apart from his original purpose. It will be a book of about 400 pages, with many pictures.

50 Years Ago: 1974

Sheriff Rosaire Martel said today that it has been learned that the fact that a bar at the county jail was only tack welded spelled freedom — brief freedom — for two jail inmates last Friday night.

He met today with members of the County Commission and revealed it had been determined that the bar had been only tack welded and thus was easy to remove.

25 Years Ago: 1999

Companies that took over the former  DeCoster’s Egg Farms in Turner have not lived up to an agreement to improve working conditions and should be fined $46,500 federal officials said Tuesday.

But lawyers for two of the five companies say things have gotten better. They say the Occupational and Safety Health Administration is setting unreasonable standards.

“There is no employer in the United States that could withstand the scrutiny of OSHA on a daily basis for five months,” said Timothy J. O’Brien, the Portland lawyer for Maine Contract Farming, which Austin J. “Jack” DeCoster owns.

“If this were a football game, OSHA would be penalized for “piling on,” O’Brien said.

The material used in Looking Back is produced exactly as it originally appeared although misspellings and errors may be corrected.