IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 3 - 9 FEBRRUARY 1925
This week's many stories include the lorry that crashed into a house in Kitchener Street, the break-in at the Hippodrome, the Saturday night disturbance in Silver Street, the council row over a carpet, the man with the heart of a soldier that stole coal, a rebuff for Lowe House's cinema plans and the new era in road-making in St Helens in which cobblestones are no longer used.
We begin on the 4th when St Helens Town Council held its monthly meeting at the Town Hall and, as usual, much of its work concerned the approval of the minutes of its various committees. In most cases these were rubber-stamped but it only needed one member to query something trivial for a full-blown discussion to be triggered.
This week trouble was caused by a minute from the meeting of the Public Buildings Committee that said: "Resolved that the Town Hall Sub-committee be authorised to purchase the carpet for the Mayor's Parlour." That led to one councillor wanting to know if the price of the carpet had been fixed as yet and if it would be obtained from a local business. The answers were No and Yes, probably.
In response Councillor Boscow wondered why a carpet that he reckoned had a good 10 years life in it was going to be replaced at a cost to the town that he estimated as £120. During the discussion that took place the mayor denied that the carpet would cost as much as Boscow suggested. It was also stated that the carpet would be placed in a committee room to replace one that was worn, with Councillor Dodd saying:
"The carpet might last ten years, but it would be shabby for ten years, and that is not what we want in the Mayor's Parlour." Councillor Boscow – a renowned left-winger on the council – attempted to move an amendment to get the minute deleted and the carpet cancelled. But no one else was prepared to second him and the new carpet would now be ordered.
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how St Helens was moving into a new era of road making and dispensing with the cobblestones and setts of the past. As a paving these were straightforward to install and they gave shod horses extra traction when trotting over them but motorists and pedestrians did not favour cobblestones. The paper wrote:
"Rigby-street, Phythian-street, Liverpool-street, and several others in the vicinity, which were of the old objectionable cobble stone variety, now have smooth and good surfaces, and this has been brought about in a simple but effective and at the same time cheap way."
That had been to leave the cobbles as they were and lay tarmac over them, followed by a surface covering. The Reporter added that: "The biggest move in the revolutionising process can be seen at Kirkland-street, which was reopened on Friday last after having been remade on a new and novel plan."
Kirkland Street, off Boundary Road, was described as having become a "wire-mattress road" topped up with concrete via a special process. That was because its former setts created ditches and small hills all over the street. The result was described as a "transformation" with the old bumpy road now bearing a smooth surface.
The Reporter described how William Owen had made his 40th appearance in St Helens Police Court this week charged with "pursuing his favourite hobby, that of ‘sleeping in a brick kiln’." A constable gave evidence of finding Owen in one of the kilns of the Metallic Brick Company in Sutton Road shortly after midnight.
On the short distance to Sutton Police Station – a route that the man had trod many times – the officer said Owen had expressed a wish that he might get six months in prison. In court he explained that he had walked from Leigh in search of work and being wet through had slipped into the brick kiln for warmth and shelter. But his wish for six months was not granted, the Bench sentencing him to prison for only one month.
"After this lot I am going to leave the country. I am going to Canada," declared Gertrude Lackey after she had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace. It was the usual story of a Saturday night row in which a large crowd had gathered to watch the fun, threats were made, minor violence occurred and different versions of the same reality were told in court. And the parties involved all left the courtroom dissatisfied, convinced that they had not received the justice that they felt they deserved.
PC Taylor explained how just before midnight in Silver Street, off Westfield Street, he had found a large crowd assembled. Mrs Lackey was shouting at the top of her voice but when she saw the policeman she ran into her house followed by the bobby who told her she would be reported. The woman's version was that she had been walking round Beecham's corner when a man named Joseph Holding from Parr had grabbed hold of her and threatened to hit her.
Mrs Lackey claimed that he had said: "Bring your husband out and I'll kill him" and she had to run into her house to get away from him. She did have a witness who said he had seen Holding knock the woman's hat off her head. But both Mrs Lackey and Holding were found guilty and bound over to keep the peace.
Also in court was James Clayton from Newton Road who pleaded guilty to stealing one hundredweight of coal valued at nine shillings from a colliery yard. Clayton's excuse was that his coal man had not turned up and the people in his house were cold. "Having the heart of a soldier I went down and got the coal. It is my first offence and I hope the Bench will take a lenient view of it," he said. Clayton was fined 10 shillings.
John Forster of Cabbage Hall Farm in Windle City appeared in court charged with not taking precautions to prevent a motor lorry being started in his absence. That was after his driverless vehicle had crashed into the wall of a house in Kitchener Street. Although there was no one sitting in the driving street, there was a passenger – a cow!
The driver explained that he had left his lorry on a steep incline in Rodney Street with the engine off and the brakes on and said it was a mystery how the vehicle had set off on its own accord. The only explanation he could suggest was that mischievous children had started off the lorry.
Witness Herbert Roberts of Exeter Street said he saw no one about at the time and thought the cow may have been restless and its shifting about on the lorry could have caused the movement. The driver was fined 10 shillings and also had to pay witness costs.
This week Father Riley of Lowe House Church applied for a temporary cinema licence for his parish hall. The minister wanted to show films on Sundays as part of the fundraising for his new church building. Cinemas in St Helens were not permitted to show films on Sundays, something the Church had long supported. But in a letter that was read out at a meeting of the Licensing Justices, Fr Riley attempted to make out that his situation was different.
He said the films that he showed would not feature entertainment; funds raised would be solely for charitable purposes and Fr Riley added that the building of the new Lowe House was providing much needed employment in St Helens. But the magistrates rejected his application and, as usual, provided no reason.
With the local cinemas and theatres being forbidden from putting on performances on Sundays, that evening was certainly the best time to break in and rob them. Security precautions were always minimal and amounted to little more than ensuring that doors were locked.
Windows were a favourite entry point and on Sunday night burglars slipped into the Hippodrome in Corporation Street through a dressing room window and got away with £80. The Reporter said the entry had been of a "daring and skilful character", although it sounds like a professional burglar would not have found it a particularly difficult job. The money had been stored in a safe in the manager's office but the thieves simply opened it up from the back and nicked the cash.
These were the music hall acts at the Hippodrome that from the 9th were performing twice nightly at 6:50pm and 8:50pm:
Jennie Benson ("The Queen of Revue in new songs, character studies and impressions"); Frank Farrall ("Tenor vocalist of Queen’s Hall and Dame Melba concerts"); The Two Cures ("The original Coster Kids – atoms of amazing ability"); The Otsu Trio ("Japanese equilibrists and jugglers featuring the wonderful break-away ladder"); Tom Gott ("The popular Dame comedian"); The Melvilles ("Comedy jugglers with up-to-date ideas") and Marcus ("The explorer ventriloquist in his latest success ‘In the Desert’").
Henry Baynton was arguably the top Shakespearean actor of his day and in a stage career lasting 40 years is said to have performed 'Hamlet' over 2,000 times. One of those occasions took place in St Helens from the week beginning the 9th, when Baynton's Shakespearean company played the Theatre Royal.
Other plays performed by his troupe on other evenings included 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Julius Caesar', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Taming of the Shrew' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. If you were one of the few folk with a telephone, you could call St Helens 114 via the operator to book your seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shoals of scrap paper floating on to St Helens Cricket Ground, the neighbourly row in Crank, the railway trespassing to watch a solar eclipse and the lorry that used string as part of its braking system.
This week trouble was caused by a minute from the meeting of the Public Buildings Committee that said: "Resolved that the Town Hall Sub-committee be authorised to purchase the carpet for the Mayor's Parlour." That led to one councillor wanting to know if the price of the carpet had been fixed as yet and if it would be obtained from a local business. The answers were No and Yes, probably.
In response Councillor Boscow wondered why a carpet that he reckoned had a good 10 years life in it was going to be replaced at a cost to the town that he estimated as £120. During the discussion that took place the mayor denied that the carpet would cost as much as Boscow suggested. It was also stated that the carpet would be placed in a committee room to replace one that was worn, with Councillor Dodd saying:
"The carpet might last ten years, but it would be shabby for ten years, and that is not what we want in the Mayor's Parlour." Councillor Boscow – a renowned left-winger on the council – attempted to move an amendment to get the minute deleted and the carpet cancelled. But no one else was prepared to second him and the new carpet would now be ordered.
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how St Helens was moving into a new era of road making and dispensing with the cobblestones and setts of the past. As a paving these were straightforward to install and they gave shod horses extra traction when trotting over them but motorists and pedestrians did not favour cobblestones. The paper wrote:
"Rigby-street, Phythian-street, Liverpool-street, and several others in the vicinity, which were of the old objectionable cobble stone variety, now have smooth and good surfaces, and this has been brought about in a simple but effective and at the same time cheap way."
That had been to leave the cobbles as they were and lay tarmac over them, followed by a surface covering. The Reporter added that: "The biggest move in the revolutionising process can be seen at Kirkland-street, which was reopened on Friday last after having been remade on a new and novel plan."
Kirkland Street, off Boundary Road, was described as having become a "wire-mattress road" topped up with concrete via a special process. That was because its former setts created ditches and small hills all over the street. The result was described as a "transformation" with the old bumpy road now bearing a smooth surface.
The Reporter described how William Owen had made his 40th appearance in St Helens Police Court this week charged with "pursuing his favourite hobby, that of ‘sleeping in a brick kiln’." A constable gave evidence of finding Owen in one of the kilns of the Metallic Brick Company in Sutton Road shortly after midnight.
On the short distance to Sutton Police Station – a route that the man had trod many times – the officer said Owen had expressed a wish that he might get six months in prison. In court he explained that he had walked from Leigh in search of work and being wet through had slipped into the brick kiln for warmth and shelter. But his wish for six months was not granted, the Bench sentencing him to prison for only one month.
"After this lot I am going to leave the country. I am going to Canada," declared Gertrude Lackey after she had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace. It was the usual story of a Saturday night row in which a large crowd had gathered to watch the fun, threats were made, minor violence occurred and different versions of the same reality were told in court. And the parties involved all left the courtroom dissatisfied, convinced that they had not received the justice that they felt they deserved.
PC Taylor explained how just before midnight in Silver Street, off Westfield Street, he had found a large crowd assembled. Mrs Lackey was shouting at the top of her voice but when she saw the policeman she ran into her house followed by the bobby who told her she would be reported. The woman's version was that she had been walking round Beecham's corner when a man named Joseph Holding from Parr had grabbed hold of her and threatened to hit her.
Mrs Lackey claimed that he had said: "Bring your husband out and I'll kill him" and she had to run into her house to get away from him. She did have a witness who said he had seen Holding knock the woman's hat off her head. But both Mrs Lackey and Holding were found guilty and bound over to keep the peace.
Also in court was James Clayton from Newton Road who pleaded guilty to stealing one hundredweight of coal valued at nine shillings from a colliery yard. Clayton's excuse was that his coal man had not turned up and the people in his house were cold. "Having the heart of a soldier I went down and got the coal. It is my first offence and I hope the Bench will take a lenient view of it," he said. Clayton was fined 10 shillings.
John Forster of Cabbage Hall Farm in Windle City appeared in court charged with not taking precautions to prevent a motor lorry being started in his absence. That was after his driverless vehicle had crashed into the wall of a house in Kitchener Street. Although there was no one sitting in the driving street, there was a passenger – a cow!
The driver explained that he had left his lorry on a steep incline in Rodney Street with the engine off and the brakes on and said it was a mystery how the vehicle had set off on its own accord. The only explanation he could suggest was that mischievous children had started off the lorry.
Witness Herbert Roberts of Exeter Street said he saw no one about at the time and thought the cow may have been restless and its shifting about on the lorry could have caused the movement. The driver was fined 10 shillings and also had to pay witness costs.
This week Father Riley of Lowe House Church applied for a temporary cinema licence for his parish hall. The minister wanted to show films on Sundays as part of the fundraising for his new church building. Cinemas in St Helens were not permitted to show films on Sundays, something the Church had long supported. But in a letter that was read out at a meeting of the Licensing Justices, Fr Riley attempted to make out that his situation was different.
He said the films that he showed would not feature entertainment; funds raised would be solely for charitable purposes and Fr Riley added that the building of the new Lowe House was providing much needed employment in St Helens. But the magistrates rejected his application and, as usual, provided no reason.
With the local cinemas and theatres being forbidden from putting on performances on Sundays, that evening was certainly the best time to break in and rob them. Security precautions were always minimal and amounted to little more than ensuring that doors were locked.
Windows were a favourite entry point and on Sunday night burglars slipped into the Hippodrome in Corporation Street through a dressing room window and got away with £80. The Reporter said the entry had been of a "daring and skilful character", although it sounds like a professional burglar would not have found it a particularly difficult job. The money had been stored in a safe in the manager's office but the thieves simply opened it up from the back and nicked the cash.
These were the music hall acts at the Hippodrome that from the 9th were performing twice nightly at 6:50pm and 8:50pm:
Jennie Benson ("The Queen of Revue in new songs, character studies and impressions"); Frank Farrall ("Tenor vocalist of Queen’s Hall and Dame Melba concerts"); The Two Cures ("The original Coster Kids – atoms of amazing ability"); The Otsu Trio ("Japanese equilibrists and jugglers featuring the wonderful break-away ladder"); Tom Gott ("The popular Dame comedian"); The Melvilles ("Comedy jugglers with up-to-date ideas") and Marcus ("The explorer ventriloquist in his latest success ‘In the Desert’").
Henry Baynton was arguably the top Shakespearean actor of his day and in a stage career lasting 40 years is said to have performed 'Hamlet' over 2,000 times. One of those occasions took place in St Helens from the week beginning the 9th, when Baynton's Shakespearean company played the Theatre Royal.
Other plays performed by his troupe on other evenings included 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Julius Caesar', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Taming of the Shrew' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. If you were one of the few folk with a telephone, you could call St Helens 114 via the operator to book your seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shoals of scrap paper floating on to St Helens Cricket Ground, the neighbourly row in Crank, the railway trespassing to watch a solar eclipse and the lorry that used string as part of its braking system.
This week's many stories include the lorry that crashed into a house in Kitchener Street, the break-in at the Hippodrome, the Saturday night disturbance in Silver Street, the council row over a carpet, the man with the heart of a soldier that stole coal, a rebuff for Lowe House's cinema plans and the new era in road-making in St Helens in which cobblestones are no longer used.
We begin on the 4th when St Helens Town Council held its monthly meeting at the Town Hall and, as usual, much of its work concerned the approval of the minutes of its various committees.
In most cases these were rubber-stamped but it only needed one member to query something trivial for a full-blown discussion to be triggered.
This week trouble was caused by a minute from the meeting of the Public Buildings Committee that said:
"Resolved that the Town Hall Sub-committee be authorised to purchase the carpet for the Mayor's Parlour."
That led to one councillor wanting to know if the price of the carpet had been fixed as yet and if it would be obtained from a local business. The answers were No and Yes, probably.
In response Councillor Boscow wondered why a carpet that he reckoned had a good 10 years life in it was going to be replaced at a cost to the town that he estimated as £120.
During the discussion that took place the mayor denied that the carpet would cost as much as Boscow suggested.
It was also stated that the carpet would be placed in a committee room to replace one that was worn, with Councillor Dodd saying:
"The carpet might last ten years, but it would be shabby for ten years, and that is not what we want in the Mayor's Parlour."
Councillor Boscow – a renowned left-winger on the council – attempted to move an amendment to get the minute deleted and the carpet cancelled.
But no one else was prepared to second him and the new carpet would now be ordered.
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how St Helens was moving into a new era of road making and dispensing with the cobblestones and setts of the past.
As a paving these were straightforward to install and they gave shod horses extra traction when trotting over them but motorists and pedestrians did not favour cobblestones. The paper wrote:
"Rigby-street, Phythian-street, Liverpool-street, and several others in the vicinity, which were of the old objectionable cobble stone variety, now have smooth and good surfaces, and this has been brought about in a simple but effective and at the same time cheap way."
That had been to leave the cobbles as they were and lay tarmac over them, followed by a surface covering.
The Reporter added that: "The biggest move in the revolutionising process can be seen at Kirkland-street, which was reopened on Friday last after having been remade on a new and novel plan."
Kirkland Street, off Boundary Road, was described as having become a "wire-mattress road" topped up with concrete via a special process.
That was because its former setts created ditches and small hills all over the street.
The result was described as a "transformation" with the old bumpy road now bearing a smooth surface.
The Reporter described how William Owen had made his 40th appearance in St Helens Police Court this week charged with "pursuing his favourite hobby, that of ‘sleeping in a brick kiln’."
A constable gave evidence of finding Owen in one of the kilns of the Metallic Brick Company in Sutton Road shortly after midnight.
On the short distance to Sutton Police Station – a route that the man had trod many times – the officer said Owen had expressed a wish that he might get six months in prison.
In court he explained that he had walked from Leigh in search of work and being wet through had slipped into the brick kiln for warmth and shelter.
But his wish for six months was not granted, the Bench sentencing him to prison for only one month.
"After this lot I am going to leave the country. I am going to Canada," declared Gertrude Lackey after she had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace.
It was the usual story of a Saturday night row in which a large crowd had gathered to watch the fun, threats were made, minor violence occurred and different versions of the same reality were told in court.
And the parties involved all left the courtroom dissatisfied, convinced that they had not received the justice that they felt they deserved.
PC Taylor explained how just before midnight in Silver Street, off Westfield Street, he had found a large crowd assembled.
Mrs Lackey was shouting at the top of her voice but when she saw the policeman she ran into her house followed by the bobby who told her she would be reported.
The woman's version was that she had been walking round Beecham's corner when a man named Joseph Holding from Parr had grabbed hold of her and threatened to hit her.
Mrs Lackey claimed that he had said: "Bring your husband out and I'll kill him" and she had to run into her house to get away from him.
She did have a witness who said he had seen Holding knock the woman's hat off her head.
But both Mrs Lackey and Holding were found guilty and bound over to keep the peace.
Also in court was James Clayton from Newton Road who pleaded guilty to stealing one hundredweight of coal valued at nine shillings from a colliery yard.
Clayton's excuse was that his coal man had not turned up and the people in his house were cold.
"Having the heart of a soldier I went down and got the coal. It is my first offence and I hope the Bench will take a lenient view of it," he said. Clayton was fined 10 shillings.
John Forster of Cabbage Hall Farm in Windle City appeared in court charged with not taking precautions to prevent a motor lorry being started in his absence.
That was after his driverless vehicle had crashed into the wall of a house in Kitchener Street. Although there was no one sitting in the driving street, there was a passenger – a cow!
The driver explained that he had left his lorry on a steep incline in Rodney Street with the engine off and the brakes on and said it was a mystery how the vehicle had set off on its own accord.
The only explanation he could suggest was that mischievous children had started off the lorry.
Witness Herbert Roberts of Exeter Street said he saw no one about at the time and thought the cow may have been restless and its shifting about on the lorry could have caused the movement.
The driver was fined 10 shillings and also had to pay witness costs.
This week Father Riley of Lowe House Church applied for a temporary cinema licence for his parish hall.
The minister wanted to show films on Sundays as part of the fundraising for his new church building.
Cinemas in St Helens were not permitted to show films on Sundays, something the Church had long supported.
But in a letter that was read out at a meeting of the Licensing Justices, Fr Riley attempted to make out that his situation was different.
He said the films that he showed would not feature entertainment; funds raised would be solely for charitable purposes and Fr Riley added that the building of the new Lowe House was providing much needed employment in St Helens.
But the magistrates rejected his application and, as usual, provided no reason.
With the local cinemas and theatres being forbidden from putting on performances on Sundays, that evening was certainly the best time to break in and rob them.
Security precautions were always minimal and amounted to little more than ensuring that doors were locked.
Windows were a favourite entry point and on Sunday night burglars slipped into the Hippodrome in Corporation Street through a dressing room window and got away with £80.
The Reporter said the entry had been of a "daring and skilful character", although it sounds like a professional burglar would not have found it a particularly difficult job.
The money had been stored in a safe in the manager's office but the thieves simply opened it up from the back and nicked the cash.
These were the music hall acts at the Hippodrome that from the 9th were performing twice nightly at 6:50pm and 8:50pm:
Jennie Benson ("The Queen of Revue in new songs, character studies and impressions"); Frank Farrall ("Tenor vocalist of Queen’s Hall and Dame Melba concerts"); The Two Cures ("The original Coster Kids – atoms of amazing ability"); The Otsu Trio ("Japanese equilibrists and jugglers featuring the wonderful break-away ladder"); Tom Gott ("The popular Dame comedian"); The Melvilles ("Comedy jugglers with up-to-date ideas") and Marcus ("The explorer ventriloquist in his latest success ‘In the Desert’").
Henry Baynton was arguably the top Shakespearean actor of his day and in a stage career lasting 40 years is said to have performed 'Hamlet' over 2,000 times.
One of those occasions took place in St Helens from the week beginning the 9th, when Baynton's Shakespearean company played the Theatre Royal.
Other plays performed by his troupe on other evenings included 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Julius Caesar', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Taming of the Shrew' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
If you were one of the few folk with a telephone, you could call St Helens 114 via the operator to book your seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shoals of scrap paper floating on to St Helens Cricket Ground, the neighbourly row in Crank, the railway trespassing to watch a solar eclipse and the lorry that used string as part of its braking system.
In most cases these were rubber-stamped but it only needed one member to query something trivial for a full-blown discussion to be triggered.
This week trouble was caused by a minute from the meeting of the Public Buildings Committee that said:
"Resolved that the Town Hall Sub-committee be authorised to purchase the carpet for the Mayor's Parlour."
That led to one councillor wanting to know if the price of the carpet had been fixed as yet and if it would be obtained from a local business. The answers were No and Yes, probably.
In response Councillor Boscow wondered why a carpet that he reckoned had a good 10 years life in it was going to be replaced at a cost to the town that he estimated as £120.
During the discussion that took place the mayor denied that the carpet would cost as much as Boscow suggested.
It was also stated that the carpet would be placed in a committee room to replace one that was worn, with Councillor Dodd saying:
"The carpet might last ten years, but it would be shabby for ten years, and that is not what we want in the Mayor's Parlour."
Councillor Boscow – a renowned left-winger on the council – attempted to move an amendment to get the minute deleted and the carpet cancelled.
But no one else was prepared to second him and the new carpet would now be ordered.
The St Helens Reporter on the 6th described how St Helens was moving into a new era of road making and dispensing with the cobblestones and setts of the past.
As a paving these were straightforward to install and they gave shod horses extra traction when trotting over them but motorists and pedestrians did not favour cobblestones. The paper wrote:
"Rigby-street, Phythian-street, Liverpool-street, and several others in the vicinity, which were of the old objectionable cobble stone variety, now have smooth and good surfaces, and this has been brought about in a simple but effective and at the same time cheap way."
That had been to leave the cobbles as they were and lay tarmac over them, followed by a surface covering.
The Reporter added that: "The biggest move in the revolutionising process can be seen at Kirkland-street, which was reopened on Friday last after having been remade on a new and novel plan."
Kirkland Street, off Boundary Road, was described as having become a "wire-mattress road" topped up with concrete via a special process.
That was because its former setts created ditches and small hills all over the street.
The result was described as a "transformation" with the old bumpy road now bearing a smooth surface.
The Reporter described how William Owen had made his 40th appearance in St Helens Police Court this week charged with "pursuing his favourite hobby, that of ‘sleeping in a brick kiln’."
A constable gave evidence of finding Owen in one of the kilns of the Metallic Brick Company in Sutton Road shortly after midnight.
On the short distance to Sutton Police Station – a route that the man had trod many times – the officer said Owen had expressed a wish that he might get six months in prison.
In court he explained that he had walked from Leigh in search of work and being wet through had slipped into the brick kiln for warmth and shelter.
But his wish for six months was not granted, the Bench sentencing him to prison for only one month.
"After this lot I am going to leave the country. I am going to Canada," declared Gertrude Lackey after she had appeared in court charged with breaching the peace.
It was the usual story of a Saturday night row in which a large crowd had gathered to watch the fun, threats were made, minor violence occurred and different versions of the same reality were told in court.
And the parties involved all left the courtroom dissatisfied, convinced that they had not received the justice that they felt they deserved.
PC Taylor explained how just before midnight in Silver Street, off Westfield Street, he had found a large crowd assembled.
Mrs Lackey was shouting at the top of her voice but when she saw the policeman she ran into her house followed by the bobby who told her she would be reported.
The woman's version was that she had been walking round Beecham's corner when a man named Joseph Holding from Parr had grabbed hold of her and threatened to hit her.
Mrs Lackey claimed that he had said: "Bring your husband out and I'll kill him" and she had to run into her house to get away from him.
She did have a witness who said he had seen Holding knock the woman's hat off her head.
But both Mrs Lackey and Holding were found guilty and bound over to keep the peace.
Also in court was James Clayton from Newton Road who pleaded guilty to stealing one hundredweight of coal valued at nine shillings from a colliery yard.
Clayton's excuse was that his coal man had not turned up and the people in his house were cold.
"Having the heart of a soldier I went down and got the coal. It is my first offence and I hope the Bench will take a lenient view of it," he said. Clayton was fined 10 shillings.
John Forster of Cabbage Hall Farm in Windle City appeared in court charged with not taking precautions to prevent a motor lorry being started in his absence.
That was after his driverless vehicle had crashed into the wall of a house in Kitchener Street. Although there was no one sitting in the driving street, there was a passenger – a cow!
The driver explained that he had left his lorry on a steep incline in Rodney Street with the engine off and the brakes on and said it was a mystery how the vehicle had set off on its own accord.
The only explanation he could suggest was that mischievous children had started off the lorry.
Witness Herbert Roberts of Exeter Street said he saw no one about at the time and thought the cow may have been restless and its shifting about on the lorry could have caused the movement.
The driver was fined 10 shillings and also had to pay witness costs.
This week Father Riley of Lowe House Church applied for a temporary cinema licence for his parish hall.
The minister wanted to show films on Sundays as part of the fundraising for his new church building.
Cinemas in St Helens were not permitted to show films on Sundays, something the Church had long supported.
But in a letter that was read out at a meeting of the Licensing Justices, Fr Riley attempted to make out that his situation was different.
He said the films that he showed would not feature entertainment; funds raised would be solely for charitable purposes and Fr Riley added that the building of the new Lowe House was providing much needed employment in St Helens.
But the magistrates rejected his application and, as usual, provided no reason.
With the local cinemas and theatres being forbidden from putting on performances on Sundays, that evening was certainly the best time to break in and rob them.
Security precautions were always minimal and amounted to little more than ensuring that doors were locked.
Windows were a favourite entry point and on Sunday night burglars slipped into the Hippodrome in Corporation Street through a dressing room window and got away with £80.
The Reporter said the entry had been of a "daring and skilful character", although it sounds like a professional burglar would not have found it a particularly difficult job.
The money had been stored in a safe in the manager's office but the thieves simply opened it up from the back and nicked the cash.
These were the music hall acts at the Hippodrome that from the 9th were performing twice nightly at 6:50pm and 8:50pm:
Jennie Benson ("The Queen of Revue in new songs, character studies and impressions"); Frank Farrall ("Tenor vocalist of Queen’s Hall and Dame Melba concerts"); The Two Cures ("The original Coster Kids – atoms of amazing ability"); The Otsu Trio ("Japanese equilibrists and jugglers featuring the wonderful break-away ladder"); Tom Gott ("The popular Dame comedian"); The Melvilles ("Comedy jugglers with up-to-date ideas") and Marcus ("The explorer ventriloquist in his latest success ‘In the Desert’").
Henry Baynton was arguably the top Shakespearean actor of his day and in a stage career lasting 40 years is said to have performed 'Hamlet' over 2,000 times.
One of those occasions took place in St Helens from the week beginning the 9th, when Baynton's Shakespearean company played the Theatre Royal.
Other plays performed by his troupe on other evenings included 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Julius Caesar', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Taming of the Shrew' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
If you were one of the few folk with a telephone, you could call St Helens 114 via the operator to book your seat.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the shoals of scrap paper floating on to St Helens Cricket Ground, the neighbourly row in Crank, the railway trespassing to watch a solar eclipse and the lorry that used string as part of its braking system.