1900: Grimes block taking shape
115 Years Ago – 1900
Election bets –Election bets are now on in Caribou. The popular bet is four to one on McKinley, and may represent anything from cigars to business blocks.
Maley & Holmes –The Maley and Holmes block recently underwent extensive repairs. Also, work commenced on the Grimes block, which was raised with a stone foundation and a cement cellar under the whole building will be soon constructed.
100 Years Ago – August 19, 1915
New potato prices – New potatoes are twice as high here as they were in Boston — 16 cents a peck; in Caribou they are 35 cents a peck retail price.
Bicycle ordinance – A village ordinance forbids the riding of bicycles on the sidewalks. The same law applies to motorcycles, yet two of the latter, going at the rate of 20 to 25 miles per hour, were observed on High Street.
75 Years Ago – August 22, 1940
Railroad tie patents – More than 2,500 patents have been granted in the last 50 years for railroad tie materials other than wood. It is estimated that about a billion wooden ties are in service in the U.S., enough, if laid end to end, to encircle the earth 70 times.
Pratt & Habeeb carry the colors – Bertis Pratt and Joe Habeeb carried the colors of the Caribou Tennis Club into the finals in three divisions of the Bangor Fair Tennis Tournament recently. Pratt brought home a championship in the men’s singles after brilliant play.
50 Years Ago – August 19, 1965
Eight is enough – Mr. and Mrs. John A. Robbins of Caribou recently were blessed with their eighth child, Patrick Erin Robbins, who was born on the eighth day of the eighth month of the year. And if that’s not enough, Patrick had a great-grandfather who was also born on August 8, exactly 100 years before in 1865.
Sportsman to Washington D.C. – Leo J. Perron, the “Sportsman,” departed on horse from Caribou recently on his trek to Washington D.C. The journey is being made in order to bring attention to possible anti-gun laws that would restrict the true sportsmen and gun collectors of this country.
25 Years Ago – August 22, 1990
Retail sales — In figures for the first quarter of 1990, consumer sales, among Maine counties, Aroostook County alone showed growth, bucking negative and no-growth trends that plagued other areas of the state. Maine planning regions in which overall retail sales declined included Androscoggin, Kennebec and York counties.
Loring aircraft sent to the Middle East — Officials with the Strategic Air Command confirmed that aircraft and personnel from Loring Air Force Base have deployed to the Middle East to assist in “Operation Desert Shield”. This move followed the United State’s actions to join forces with Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco and Syria to help defend oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
