100 Year Ago: 1923

No one was hurt and no one was injured although many tears were shed and several diners were suddenly possessed with a desire to stop eating and get out into the open air at a Lewiston restaurant on  Saturday, noon. The reason for this mixup was a broken ammonia feed pipe that is used in an artificial cooling system in the basement. A regulation United States army gas mask came in handy in this emergency, and a plumber with this equipment on was soon at work repairing the damage.

50 Years Ago: 1973

Promising to “work right up to the hilt,” President Nixon told his White House staff today that any suggestion he would resign before the end of his term is “just plain poppycock.” Speaking informally to several hundred White House employees in the Rose Garden following his release from Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Nixon said: “Let others wallow in Watergate. We’re going to do our job.” Acknowledging that his doctors have urged him to slow down and take more time for relaxation, the President said, “No one in this great office at this time in the world’s history can slow down.”

25 Years Ago: 1998

Bath Iron Works has filed notice that it will begin its $218 million expansion on July 31, keeping the Navy shipbuilder on schedule, an official said Monday. The shipyard received notice of final approval from the Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday and filed its mandatory two week notice a day later, said BIW spokesman Kevin Gildart. “We’re anxious to get going,” he said. “This is pretty much in sync with our timeline.” Even before the project began, company officials credited it with last month’s award of a $12 billion contract to build 16 DD-21 Navy destroyers through 2012, or beyond. They say the modernization will help stabilize the shipyard’s work force at 7,000 to 8,000 for at least the next 20 years and provide an economic return of nearly $10 billion to the state. Without the modernization, BIW would not be able to compete. “It literally is our future,” Gildart said.

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