100 Years Ago: 1925

An article for January 18, 1925 is unavailable therefore an article from January 18, 1924 is being offered instead. 

It has come to be a well known fact that anything the Shriners do is done in an entirely new and perfect manner.

So will it be on Friday evening when Party No. 2 is held at the temple.

Novel features will interspersed throughout  the evening and Art Spaulding and his society orchestra are sure to delight the party.

These are such pretty gatherings; there is always such a lovely display of gowns, that they are attractive from the outset, and everybody is so congenial and anxious to make the evenings very happy ones.

50 Years Ago: 1975

Bates Fabrics Inc. was recently featured in a two-page layout of Textile Labor, the official publication of the Textile Workers Union of America, I AFL-CIO, CLC.

The article credited Local 462 with making “the Bates Mfg. Co. one of the leading manufacturers in the nation of bedspreads, table covers and drapes.

“The company’s products include Bates’ “George Washington’s Choice” bedspread, a museum piece pattern which is reproduced by modern production methods originally developed by Bates.”

The article goes on to state that the 1,200-member local, founded in 1942, is very active in the community at large. “The  local has also been involved in a campaign by the city of Lewiston to seek federal funds for manpower retraining in order to assist the unemployed in this southern Maine community of approximately 50,000 people.”

Referring to the advantages of being part of a local, the article explains that “local members also have access to low-cost loans through a federal credit union at the company and help maintain a blood bank program through periodic donations.

“Among the many wage gains and fringe benefits that have resulted through TWUA membership, local members point with particular pride to the major medical and pension plan programs in effect at the plant.”

The feature then proceeds to name the officers of Local 462. They are Julien Cloutier, president; Lionel Landry, vice president; Lucille Blais, recording secretary; Marie Rousseau, financial secretary; and Lionel Langlois, sergeant-at-arms.

The article closes with a short history of the Bates Mfg. Co. It. states that it “was founded in 1850 and now produces over 50,000 bedspreads, table cloths and drapes weekly at its Lewiston facility.

25 Years Ago: 2000

The state’s third earthquake in as many weeks struck with an epicenter in Rumford on Monday morning strong enough to knock a slumbering Mexico man from his bed.

Minutes after the quake roared through town at 3:16 a.m., police were inundated with reports of dishes rattling, one man falling from his bed and concerned homeowners. Many, said Officer Don McKeen, thought their furnaces might have exploded.

“There was a loud rumble like a jet coming overhead,” described McKeen. “We went outside looking to make sure nothing had fallen off the roof and hit the cruiser.”

The earthquake measured 3.4 on the Richter scale, according to John Minsch, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s national earthquake center in Golden, Colo. The areas’ nearest sensor is located in Waterville. He said the explosion sound many reported hearing was made by shock waves changing into sound waves at the earth’s surface.

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