100 years ago, 1917
Captain-elect Roger A. Greene, Nelson Dingley battery heavy field artillery, received notification from the adjutant general’s office Monday that the physical requirements from now on will be five feet, one inch, and 110 pounds. It is suggested that those men who were refused admittance because of being either under weight or height can now enlist, and that within the next few hours, they report at Room 308, Manufacturers bank building.

50 years ago, 1967
Lewiston Corporation Counsel Jack Simmons said the city of Lewiston doesn’t intend to go into the garbage collection business, servicing commercial, institutional, or industrial customers for a fee, but in case it does decide to do so in the future, it will be permitted to do so. Three words included in the new garbage ordinance passed last night by the City Council will make it possible for the city to accept garbage collection contracts if some future city government decides to do so, apparently.

25 years ago, 1992
A fire extinguisher that had been lying on a mantle for several years became a rocket Tuesday afternoon, punching a hole through a bedroom wall as it torpedoed into the next room. No one was injured, but the walls and furnishings were covered with dry chemicals and the plaster walls were severely damaged at a residence in Auburn, said Deputy Fire Chief Preston Chapman. “It was just sitting there and exploded,” he said, noting there has been a recall order on these extinguishers since July of last year. “But no one knows about it.”  A year ago, Badger-Powhatan announced the recall of several plastic-valve portable fire extinguishers on models manufactured between May and December, 1985.

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