A Look Back, March 15

200 Years Ago

■We are informed that the project of a canal from New Haven through Farmington to the Connecticut River at Northampton, which has lain in suspense during the last season, is soon to be revived. Difficulties had arisen from an apprehension of the impracticability of passing the plains on each side of the Westfield valley, and of crossing by an aqueduct the Westfield great river.

■The public are respectfully informed that the spring term of the Northampton Seminary for Young Ladies will commence on Monday, the 11th of April next. Young ladies from other towns will be received into the family of the preceptor, where the strictest attention will be paid to their morals and polite demeanor, as well as to their advancement in the solid, useful and ornamental branches of education. — A. E. Watson, Preceptor.

100 Years Ago

■John F. Kiniry of Northampton has written friends that he is now in Los Angeles, Cal., waiting for the roads to get settled so that he can drive back to Northampton. Mr. Kiniry says that he hasn’t liked California as much as he thought he would and is anxious to return East.

■Deep appreciation of the flowers given President and Mrs. Coolidge by the Northampton delegation when saying adieu after the recent inauguration ceremony, is expressed in a letter from Mrs. Coolidge to Judge Edward L. Shaw, which has been given to the Gazette for publication.

50 Years Ago

■The Pro Brush Division of the Vistron Corp. in Florence received machinery this week for a new toothbrush line. The equipment represents an investment of more than $250,000 and is to be used for a new packaging process.

■An increasing number of people are having difficulty paying their bills, local collection agencies and utilities report. The Massachusetts Electric Co. recently released figures showing a 58 percent increase in losses due to bad debts in recent months.