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Eagle Hall still standing after 230 years

100 years ago, 1914

Milford and Lebanon High schools were preparing to meet in the finals of the state debating championship to be held in Milford Town Hall. The subject was to be “Resolved that the initiative and referendum should be a part of the legislation of New Hampshire.” Milford was to have the negative side in the debate.

Milford police arrested Andrew Hill, a Finn employed as a chopper on a Federal Hill woodlot, and charged him with being drunk and with assaulting John Lamb, a fellow employee, with a carving knife. He was found guilty of drunkenness and fined $14.62. The assault charge was dropped after Lamb and several witnesses disappeared.

Gen. and Mrs. Frank Kaley and Miss Kaley, of Milford, were preparing to leave for a six-week trip to Norway and Sweden.

In an advertisement, Durgin’s, of Wilton, said that when it came to soda, “We go the limit in making every drink as nearly perfect as it is possible to make it. There are many good reasons why you should drink all of your soda water here.”

70 years ago, 1944

Churches in Milford opened during the day so that people could ask for divine help for the allied forces and loved ones after the town received news that the long-expected invasion of the European continent had begun.

The Tremont Theatre in Nashua was showing “The Hour Before Dawn” with Veronica Lake and Franchot Tone.

Frederick Herlihy, of Wilton, was promoted to first lieutenant after being hospitalized for three months because of wounds inflicted by a Japanese sniper at Kwajalein. He was awarded the purple heart and two bronze stars.

Pvt. Donald Draper, of Wilton, was transferred from Camp Blanding, Fla., to Fort Meade, Md.

50 years ago, 1964

The Milford selectmen decided to appoint a five-person committee to be responsible for the town’s parks and playgrounds.

Two paintings by F. Stanley Hallett, of Wilton Center, were selected by Boston Arts Festival for its summer show.

The Milford Drive-In Theatre was showing “South Pacific” and “The Rage of the Lion.”

An Old Fashioned Hymn-Sing was to be held at the Wilton Center Baptist Church with Mrs. Carol Magnuson singing a hymn from Devonshire, England.

The Wilton High School girls softball team ended its season at 5-3. Jane Dutton was team captain.

25 years ago, 1989

The Milford Town Hall Auditorium Restoration Committee was trying to raise $267,000 for the project. Chairwoman of the committee was Patty Rotch, wife of Cabinet Publisher Bill Rotch.

Amherst officials and the town’s police union reached agreement on a two-year salary contract that included a 4.5 percent pay hike and 5 percent step and grade increases.

Staff Sgt. William J. Powell Jr., of Amherst, was named New Hampshire National Guard Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year.

Kelly Nadeau and Jamie Crooker were named the female and male athletes of the year at the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative High School.

The New Hampshire minimum wage was scheduled to increase to $3.75 an hour on Jan. 1, 1990.