Yesterday … what was news

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10 years ago – Feb 19, 1994

(As reported in the Bangor Daily News)

BANGOR – Sarah Oldenburg glides through the water with strong, powerful strokes.

Arm over arm, she cuts swiftly through the Husson College pool before turning and then kicking off the wall before heading back in the other direction.

She is one of the state’s best high school swimmers, but her grace and power in the water belie her 15 years. As she stands poolside, the youthful exuberance of this young freshman comes out.

“It’s not the competition,” Oldenburg said. “I don’t like to compete. I like people. I like talking. There are millions of people to talk to all the time.”

On Monday, Oldenburg will lead her Bangor High girls team into the Class A state championship meet at Husson College in Bangor. Oldenburg’s quest in the meet will be to win the two events in which she is top-seeded – the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.

Oldenburg’s 50-yard freestyle time of 24.91 is only 0.22 off the 13-year-old state record of 24.69 set in 1981 by Karen Dionne of Morse. It is the oldest state record on the books.

“I’ve been surprised,” Oldenburg said. “I’m a little overwhelmed by it. I didn’t think my times would drop so much, especially as a freshman.”

In the 100-yard butterfly, Oldenburg is more than 21/2 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. Not bad for a first-year high school swimmer who came up through the Bangor YMCA program instead of the powerful Hurricane Swim Club sponsored by the YWCA.

“I went to my first swim meet with my mom and I was really bored. I didn’t want to be there,” Oldenburg said. “She said, ‘Well, we’ll sign you up.'” Since then Oldenburg has made one splash after another.

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VEAZIE – People were coming out of the woods Thursday night to fight a battle over a plan that would convert the old Veazie railroad bed into part of a bicycle-pedestrian trail.

More than 60 hunters, bikers, snowmobilers, landowners and concerned citizens filled the conference center at Eastern Maine Development Center in Bangor to air their views over the recent plan proposed by the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation Study advisory committee.

Applause echoed in the room when one citizen recommended that the Veazie railroad be eliminated from the plan.

25 years ago – Feb. 19, 1979

BANGOR – The Congress of Lakes Association is making a study of Bangor area lakes in an effort to determine the extent of pollution in them and is trying to enlist the cooperation of cottage and home owners around these lakes to find out the sources of pollution.

Speaking at the Orrington Conservation Commission meeting, William Rambo of the commission said some of the area lakes have algae blooms so thick in the summer a pencil can be stood up in it.

The group is studying Brewer Lake, Holbrook Pond, Pushaw Lake and Sebasticook Lake.

Brewer Lake, which lies mainly in Orrington, had an algae bloom in 1975, due to intensive development and subsequent runoff on one side of the lake. This condition has somewhat cleared up as of now, and Brewer Lake, which had been given a “B” rating by the Department of Environmental Protection, may be upgraded in the not-too-distant future.

“This does not mean that conditions are ideal,” Rambo said. “Of the 140 homes and camps around the lake, only 74 have been investigated so far. Many times the owner cannot be found at home, and many times, he himself doesn’t know what sanitary system is in use, or where it is located, having just bought the property.”

50 years ago – Feb. 19, 1954

BANGOR – The transistor, “mighty midget” of the Bell Telephone Laboratories that does anything a vacuum tube does and more, was shown here for the first time at the Bangor House by R.W. Stokes, public relations methods supervisor for the New England Telephone and Telegraph Co.

Stokes used models of the transistor, blown up 26 times the actual size of the tiny objects because the “midgets” are so small that 300 of them can be held in the palm of a hand.

They can do the same job that a tube 26 times the size does now.

Stokes showed three types of transistors – the point contact transistor, the junction transistor and the photo transistor.

They can be used for oscillation, amplification of sound and as photo electric cells. Vacuum tubes, Stokes said, can only do the first two.

Taking up almost no room, and able to operate on a minimum of power, the transistor, Stokes believes, will do “as much for people in the next 30 years as the vacuum tube has done in the past half century.”

At present, the transistor is not being used by telephone companies on their wires because they are noisy, the company official said, pointing out that the “mighty midget” is only five years old and is still being perfected.

The only use to which the transistor is being put right now is rerouting long distance calls when one route is busy.

Stokes’ address was heard by several members of the University of Maine faculty – Dean Ashley S. Campbell of the college of technology and professor of mechanical engineering; Professor Walter J. Creamer, professor of communication engineering and Prescott M. Vose, comptroller.

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BANGOR – Radio signals will be reflected off Mars within five years, according to Professor Bart J. Bok, associate director of the Harvard College Observatory, told members of the Harvard Club of Eastern Maine. Speaking at a dinner at the Bangor House, Bok pointed out that already radio signals are being sent to the moon. If people on Mars hear the signals, they will probably send signals back, the speaker explained, as he discussed the mysteries of the unknown universe.

The universe we observe by radio is totally different than that observed with telescope and photography – there is something way beyond what we yet know, the speaker explained.

Discussing radio astronomy, Bok explained that it is a new field and through it a new part of the spectrum is being observed which scientists have never been able to observe before.

He explained how through radio static the Milky Way waves are electrically recorded. One of the advantages of radio is that it is not stopped by obstructions and scientists can observe parts of the universe previously hidden.

Astronomers and electronic engineers are going to work very closely together in the future, Bok said.

100 years ago – Feb. 19, 1904

HAMPDEN – In spite of the severe cold weather, there was a large audience assembled at the Congregational Church for the Christian Endeavor rally. The Rev. C.D. Crane, field secretary for the state Christian Endeavor, spoke in a very interesting manner of the work in other places, especially among those connected with the life saving stations along the Maine coast.

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HAMPDEN – The five o’clock car left the track at Frost’s switch and passengers had to walk from there. Those living in Orrington and at Arey’s corner had the longest walk. The cold was intense and the roads were very bad. Several froze one or more ears.

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HAMPDEN – George W. Smith is having a large lot of logs hauled to Bald Hill Cove from the Cole place, which he bought last year. The logs will be rafted in the spring and towed up river to the Swan sawmill.

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BANGOR – Mayor Leon F. Higgins was renominated for the head of the Republican ticket at the general caucus held in City Hall. The performance would have been all over in about 15 minutes had it not been for the provisions of the new caucus law, which requires that the polls be kept open at least an hour.

There was quite a large gathering considering there was no excitement in sight. The caucus was called to order by Victor M. Mutty of the city committee and J.N.V. Lane called to the chair. Upon the call for nominations, Dr. H.F. Tuft in a brief, well-chosen nominating speech, placed in nomination Leon F. Higgins.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin