100 years ago, 1914
This is the day that the Bates girls have a celebration all to themselves, no boys asked or expected. The annual Hare and Hound chase, which has been held for years and years by the girls of the college, was Wednesday afternoon. The girls were busy all day getting enough food ready to feed some 150 hungry people and getting the trails laid so as to make the worst possible walk to the riverbank, where supper was held. The hares, as usual, come from the senior class, as do the leaders of the trails.

50 years ago, 1964
The president of the Pepperell Manufacturing Co., which operates plants in Lewiston and Biddeford as well as in the South, was today quoted as saying he doesn’t know if the textile firm will be able to continue operations in Maine, if competition gets worse. In an interview in the current issue of Forbes Magazine, Pepperell President Homer N. Carter, declared. “Our New England operations aren’t as profitable as our southern ones. For the same amount of effort, you get greater profits in the South. You have to pay more shipping to get raw material and New England is less fortunate than the South as a shipping point. There is more expense in heating the plants. I don’t know if we can stay in Biddeford and Lewiston if competition becomes keener,” he said.

25 years ago, 1989
Auburn City councilors Monday will debate a Planning Board recommendation to establish a light industrial zone and act on a controversial proposal to locate part of that district in Danville. The issue has generated heated discussion from residents who live in the Danville area, with many saying locating the zone in their village would ruin the neighborhood’s residential atmosphere.

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