120 Years Ago – June 2, 1904
Planting trees — One hundred shade trees were set out around Teague Park during the past week, the work being done by Samuel Taylor. The trees were ordered Saturday at noon and by Tuesday noon they had all been placed in position. This is pretty quick work and indicates Mr. Taylor is a good man at that kind of job.
No hobos allowed — Six Suspicious looking characters, commonly called ‘hobos,’ were around town Monday afternoon. Officers St. Peter, Laffaty and Wallace were on the lookout for them in the evening, but they had taken the hint and wisely made themselves absent. No tramps, ‘hoboes,’ ‘Wearly Willies,’ or ‘Knights of the road’ will be tolerated in Caribou.
115 Years Ago – June 3, 1909
A way to keep fruit and vegetables fresh longer — Shaw & Mitton have placed in their large grocery store a three shelf spray fountain for the purpose of keeping fresh their supply of fruit and vegetables.
Feels like fall — June was ushered in Tuesday with high winds and low temperatures. The air had much more of the feeling of late October than of the supposed balmy June. Fur coats were worn by some, and were not at all uncomfortable. Those who didn’t wear them shivered and wished they had conquered pride and put them on. As night approached the mercury began to descend in the tube dropping below the freezing point, ice forming in many localities, in one or two places nearly an inch thick. Early garden vegetables, such as beans, vines, etc., which were up were nipped hard. But, then, Aroostook was not the only place where cold weather prevailed, as reports from all over Maine and New England indicate they had a touch of it.
100 Years Ago – May 29, 1924
Second place winner — Miss Marguerite Dudley, a senior at Caribou High school, has won another honor for herself and her school in taking second place in the State-wide shorthand and typewriting contests held at South Portland High school Saturday afternoon. A pupil at Old Town won first place in the typewriting test, in Class A. 72.53 words a minute, with Miss Dudley writing 72.20 words a minute, almost a tie.
Maps being distributed — E. E. Trask has recently been distributing some very fine maps prepared by the Standard Oil Co., giving the New England states and a portion of Canada. The maps give the places where paved roads are to be found, improved and dirt roads, ferries, trails, tourists camps, etc. The map will prove of considerable value to motorists.
75 Years Ago – June 2, 1949
Swimming pool being readied for summer — Lloyd Pound, director of recreation in Caribou, will this week complete preparations for the summer opening of the swimming pool. The next two weeks will be spent readying the Bridge street and Teague Park playgrounds and the dates for opening the summer program will be announced soon, Pound stated. Considerable work has been done at the swimming pool. The bath house this week was almost completely remodeled inside. This year bathers will have an opportunity to check their clothing while swimming. The recreation committee has ordered 200 wire wicker clothing baskets with corresponding number pins to be worn on bathing suits.
25 Years Ago – June 2, 1999
Aroostook County businesses prepare for Year 2000 — With the new millennium fast approaching, Aroostook County businesses, service providers, and residents are working hard to get ready for the unknown. The Year 2000 technology problem originates in the early days of computers. In the late 1950s and early 1960s when computers were being designed, measures were used to conserve memory. Programmers took shortcuts to save space in a time when memory in computers was expensive. A two-digit code was used to keep track of the current year date. The four-digit code for 1999 was shortened to ‘99,’ leaving off the ‘19.’ When the year 2000 comes, programs that have been two-digit coded will interpret the date 2000 as ‘00.’ Some computers will not be able to distinguish between 2000 and 1900. Any devices with time-sensitive calculations may be affected in some way. The Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership telephoned 1,600 manufacturers in the state. Only 250 responded that they wanted to address the Y2K issue. On Feb. 5, 1999, the Senate Committee on Small Businesses cleared legislation that will provide support for small businesses. The Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act will provide loans and technical assistance to help solve computer glitch problems associated with the year 2000 bug.
