100 years ago: 1925

“The ice has left Lake Auburn. For two days or so, it has been broken up and moving with the shifting winds, and residents of the vicinity have been expecting to see it leave at any time. About 9 o’clock Thursday morning, it went out entirely.”

“Providing traffic policemen at such Lewiston schools where conditions are dangerous at the noon hour and in the afternoon when classes are dismissed cannot be done under present conditions, Chief Field said today. It was suggested to him that details from the headquarters force be placed on duty, being transported and picked up afterward by automobile, but he said that this had been taken up with headquarters and that it was not possible to do it at this time with the number of men available in the department. ‘We are spread out as much as possible now,’ he said. Conditions near school houses particularly on Main Street, at the grammar and the kindergarten and primary schools are considered by parents as extremely dangerous. In front of the Wallace school on Main Street is a trolley car siding where cars pass at 11.50 a.m. just as the children are coming out of school. Many parents in their concern for the safety of their children try to meet them at noon, the worst hour of the day.”

50 years ago: 1975

“The bouts at the Armory last night had a main duel which was just what the fair crowd in attendance relished. The judges, Russ Leonard, Ed Beaulieu and Ralph Norris, gave a unanimous decision to bantam champion of New England, Jimmy Lopez, over John (Spider) Watson. Lopez is from Lowell, Mass., and Watson from Easton, Mass. Both fighters were smeared with blood by the ninth round, Watson with a badly bleeding nose and welt below his right eye and Lopez with a gash under his left eye. Several times it looked as if Lopez might put Watson away, but somehow Watson’s spindly legs supported him and actually was never close to being knocked down. Very few clinches marred the bout, both men content to whale away at each other, providing the utmost in action for the fans. Although it wasn’t a title bout, Watson’s stamina and effective jabs should earn him a shot at a return bout with Lopez with the crown at stake, according to Commissioner Leo Pomerleau of Augusta.”

25 years ago: 2000

Poland Spring is starting “an ambitious project”  that aims “to restore Poland Spring’s heart and soul, the historic Spring House, which has fallen into disrepair from decades of neglect.” Lined with Italian marble, the Spring House “is home to the original spring whose water had been prized by Indians for its healing powers and became known to local travelers in the late 18th century.”

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