IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (1st - 7th NOVEMBER 1921)
This week's stories include an opportunity for members of the public to saw a woman in half at the Hippodrome, the abused wife covered in gores of blood, success for Labour in local council elections, a St Helens soldier gets a divorce through his wife's misconduct and the unveiling of three more war memorials in St Helens.
Under the headline "Miss A. Garton Helps To Create Record", the Liverpool Echo wrote on the 1st: "Miss A. Garton, the St. Helens lady sprinter, formed one of the English team which competed during the week-end against the French lady athletes, and won by 48 points to 38. Miss Garton competed in the half-mile relay race, which the English girls won easily, and she came in third in a close finish for the 100 yards. Miss Lines (of London), Mlle. Maughan, and Miss Garton were the first three, and all finished close up together, the time being 11⅘ seconds – a record for ladies."
The week also began with the annual council elections in which the Labour party continued its drive to obtain control of St Helens Town Council. The St Helens Reporter said Labour had "secured a triumph", as they gained three seats at the expense of the Conservatives. In total the Tories in coalition with the Liberals had 18 members and the Labour party had 16. However, the Reporter reckoned that some Conservatives might, at times, side with Labour and consequently give the socialists... “…a fair chance of making good some of the rash promises they so generously made to their supporters during the campaign."
This was how the Hippodrome described the headline act that was performing at their music hall this week: "P. T. Selbit demonstrates an Amazing Scientific Fact, SAWING THRO' A WOMAN, while she is held by four members of the audience. A sensation suitable for all the family to see. You may bring your own saw and conduct the operation at any performance. The greatest riddle of the age."
The London-born Percy Thomas Selbit is credited as the first magician to ever perform the illusion of sawing a woman in half. "Walking through a brick wall" was another piece of trickery that Selbit was said to have invented and been the first person to perform – although his claim led to a row with Harry Houdini.
War memorials were still coming thick and fast. During the evening of the 2nd, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Richard Ellison, unveiled a plaque in aid of tramway men who had lost their lives in the conflict. About the same time, the Bishop of Liverpool dedicated what the St Helens Reporter described as an "elegant" tablet in carved oak at Rainford Parish Church. The paper added that the church bells seemingly "toiled mournfully" as the guests arrived.
Then four days later the bishop unveiled a memorial at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street. It took the form of a five-light west window and would serve to commemorate the lives of the 124 men in the parish who had died during the war. The Right Rev. Francis Chavasse knew what it was like to have lost loved ones in the conflict, with his sons Noel and Aidan having both died. In his speech after the unveiling, the bishop begged the congregation to pray that disarmament might become a fact.
By coincidence the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool was also in St Helens on that day to attend a conference of the Catholic Young Men's Society. The Right Rev. Frederick Keating (pictured left – Archbishop Chavasse is on right) had only been appointed in June and so was making his first visit to the town. At a largely attended meeting at the Hippodrome Theatre during the evening, he called for good Catholic secondary schools to be provided for the boys and girls who needed them.
"I am not content", he said, "and I am sure you are not content that Catholics, when they grow up, should be condemned to do the hard work, the mean work and the badly-paid work of the town. We do not exactly want soft jobs, but we want good jobs and well-paid jobs for our people which would enable them to hold up their heads with the rest of their fellow-townsmen."
In the St Helens Reporter on the 4th, ladies and gents tailor's R. T. Lawson at 85 Ormskirk Street was advertising "The Greatest Event Of The Year!" It was a clearance sale, which included 500 men's tweed suits priced from 22/11.
On the 4th the inquest was held into the death of William Westhead, who had been found drowned in a pit in Billinge. The widower had lived at the White House in Gores Lane in Crank with his married sister – but had recently been drinking heavily. When he returned to the house drunk once again, he was told he would have to find fresh lodgings and ordered away by his brother. Later his body was discovered in the pit. As it could not be proven that Westhead had drowned himself, an open verdict was returned.
On the 7th Patrick Cronin from Lewis Street (near Queens Park) appeared in court. This is how the Reporter described the case: "On the application of Supt. Dunn, at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday, the magistrates adjudicating reduced to one of aggravated assault a charge of unlawfully wounding his wife Winifred Cronin, which had been lodged against Patrick Cronin, 26, Lewis-street. Mrs. Cronin gave evidence to the effect that she remonstrated with her husband for coming home late on Saturday night.
"There was a quarrel, and when she ran into the yard her husband took the bolt off the back door and struck her on the head, covering her with “gores of blood”. P.C. Tinsley said he met the woman at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, her head was bathed in blood and two stitches had to be put in. Prisoner said his wife was a “wicked and dangerous woman.” She had scratched him on the face and neck, and he had to take the bolt from her for his own safety. The Chairman (Mr. Collins): Fourteen days hard labour."
In April 1918 the Rev. Canon Albert Baines had attacked plans for easier divorces for couples separated for at least three years. The Vicar of St Helens drew a parallel with the downfall of the Roman Empire and said they would be: "…running a great risk of national disaster if the country were to adopt such an iniquitous proposal." Divorce had been a rare event, although it was becoming more common as many soldiers had returned from the war to find their lonely wives had not been faithful.
On the 7th, Harry Hall petitioned for the dissolution of his marriage with Florence Hall, on the ground of her misconduct with Harry Kay. The couple had married in 1909 and lived in Park Road and had one child. Harry Hall worked as a butcher until in 1916 he joined the forces and until recently had served with the army of occupation in Cologne. While he was away, his wife went to work in Higher Parr Street, where Harry Kay lived.
On one occasion when her husband was home on leave, Florence confessed that she had committed adultery with Kay and said she wanted to get it off her mind. Harry Hall was unforgiving and demanded a divorce and although his petition was uncontested, the lurid details of the woman's infidelity were still presented in the court for the public to pore over. These included a woman called Harriet Price telling the court how Florence and Harry Kay had stayed overnight in her café at Chester. After hearing the evidence of infidelity, the judge granted the decree nisi.
The St Helens police religiously enforced the licensing laws and since February they had been cracking down on the increasing number of clubs in the town. The Chief Constable had at that time criticised how clubs were being run, saying: "The undesirable kind of club has to be cleared away at all costs". They numbered about 30, of which some, he said, were simply "drinking and gambling dens" that followed few rules.
On the 7th John Stewart – the steward of the Discharged Soldiers & Sailors Club in Church Street – was fined £3 for consuming liquor during prohibited hours. Two other men were also fined. The police had found them drinking at 1:50am on a Sunday morning. The Chairman of the Bench said if they or any other club were brought up on a similar charge in future, they would be struck off. There was then a number of discharged servicemen's clubs in St Helens, with the one at 105 Church Street being the main one. It even had had its own billiards room.
And finally (and this is my favourite story this week), James Sexton, the St Helens MP, was also a Liverpool councillor and participated in the local elections. A Communist candidate stood against him and the Echo described how the day had gone: "One of Mr Sexton's ardent supporters, who is not strong on spelling, has chalked on the foot walks:- “Vote for Sexton and he will put a lofe of bread on the tabel.” Not to be outdone, the opponents, supporters of Mr. Neild, the Communist candidate, have chalked the following reply: “Vote for Neild. He will prove your shield.”
"In Breckfield Ward the henchmen of Mr. Smith, the Labour candidate, have not been content with transient chalk. On many of the footwalks the exhortation, “Vote for Smith”, has been stencilled with paint, and will be visible weeks after election day. The voting was fairly heavy in the morning, and Mr. Sexton's friends report that they have been themselves surprised at the extent to which it has gone in his favour.
"Even voters who had talked of giving their vote to the Communist have apparently undergone an eleventh hour repentance. St. Anne's is after all a predominantly Irish ward, and it may be that the heroics of Communists are not sufficiently revolutionary for the exacting taste of the thorough-going Irishman. The story is being told this morning of an Irish voter who had been flirting with the Communist idea. His decisive experience was related in this fashion by himself:
"“I was having a bit of an argification with one of those Communist fellows, and he talked a good deal about revolution and the workers' rights and all that. It seemed all right but talk's only talk. So just to see what sort of a revolutionist he was, I hit him a whang on the head with my fist. And he ran like the divil. Revolution, indeed! Why, he wouldn't even revolute against me.”"
Next week's stories will include the disinterest over Remembrance Day in St Helens, a horse-driven lorry and motor van battle it out in Parr Stocks Road and the woman who claimed to have been assaulted by filthy talk in Sutton.
Under the headline "Miss A. Garton Helps To Create Record", the Liverpool Echo wrote on the 1st: "Miss A. Garton, the St. Helens lady sprinter, formed one of the English team which competed during the week-end against the French lady athletes, and won by 48 points to 38. Miss Garton competed in the half-mile relay race, which the English girls won easily, and she came in third in a close finish for the 100 yards. Miss Lines (of London), Mlle. Maughan, and Miss Garton were the first three, and all finished close up together, the time being 11⅘ seconds – a record for ladies."
The week also began with the annual council elections in which the Labour party continued its drive to obtain control of St Helens Town Council. The St Helens Reporter said Labour had "secured a triumph", as they gained three seats at the expense of the Conservatives. In total the Tories in coalition with the Liberals had 18 members and the Labour party had 16. However, the Reporter reckoned that some Conservatives might, at times, side with Labour and consequently give the socialists... “…a fair chance of making good some of the rash promises they so generously made to their supporters during the campaign."
This was how the Hippodrome described the headline act that was performing at their music hall this week: "P. T. Selbit demonstrates an Amazing Scientific Fact, SAWING THRO' A WOMAN, while she is held by four members of the audience. A sensation suitable for all the family to see. You may bring your own saw and conduct the operation at any performance. The greatest riddle of the age."
The London-born Percy Thomas Selbit is credited as the first magician to ever perform the illusion of sawing a woman in half. "Walking through a brick wall" was another piece of trickery that Selbit was said to have invented and been the first person to perform – although his claim led to a row with Harry Houdini.
War memorials were still coming thick and fast. During the evening of the 2nd, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Richard Ellison, unveiled a plaque in aid of tramway men who had lost their lives in the conflict. About the same time, the Bishop of Liverpool dedicated what the St Helens Reporter described as an "elegant" tablet in carved oak at Rainford Parish Church. The paper added that the church bells seemingly "toiled mournfully" as the guests arrived.
Then four days later the bishop unveiled a memorial at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street. It took the form of a five-light west window and would serve to commemorate the lives of the 124 men in the parish who had died during the war. The Right Rev. Francis Chavasse knew what it was like to have lost loved ones in the conflict, with his sons Noel and Aidan having both died. In his speech after the unveiling, the bishop begged the congregation to pray that disarmament might become a fact.
"I am not content", he said, "and I am sure you are not content that Catholics, when they grow up, should be condemned to do the hard work, the mean work and the badly-paid work of the town. We do not exactly want soft jobs, but we want good jobs and well-paid jobs for our people which would enable them to hold up their heads with the rest of their fellow-townsmen."
In the St Helens Reporter on the 4th, ladies and gents tailor's R. T. Lawson at 85 Ormskirk Street was advertising "The Greatest Event Of The Year!" It was a clearance sale, which included 500 men's tweed suits priced from 22/11.
On the 4th the inquest was held into the death of William Westhead, who had been found drowned in a pit in Billinge. The widower had lived at the White House in Gores Lane in Crank with his married sister – but had recently been drinking heavily. When he returned to the house drunk once again, he was told he would have to find fresh lodgings and ordered away by his brother. Later his body was discovered in the pit. As it could not be proven that Westhead had drowned himself, an open verdict was returned.
On the 7th Patrick Cronin from Lewis Street (near Queens Park) appeared in court. This is how the Reporter described the case: "On the application of Supt. Dunn, at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday, the magistrates adjudicating reduced to one of aggravated assault a charge of unlawfully wounding his wife Winifred Cronin, which had been lodged against Patrick Cronin, 26, Lewis-street. Mrs. Cronin gave evidence to the effect that she remonstrated with her husband for coming home late on Saturday night.
"There was a quarrel, and when she ran into the yard her husband took the bolt off the back door and struck her on the head, covering her with “gores of blood”. P.C. Tinsley said he met the woman at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, her head was bathed in blood and two stitches had to be put in. Prisoner said his wife was a “wicked and dangerous woman.” She had scratched him on the face and neck, and he had to take the bolt from her for his own safety. The Chairman (Mr. Collins): Fourteen days hard labour."
In April 1918 the Rev. Canon Albert Baines had attacked plans for easier divorces for couples separated for at least three years. The Vicar of St Helens drew a parallel with the downfall of the Roman Empire and said they would be: "…running a great risk of national disaster if the country were to adopt such an iniquitous proposal." Divorce had been a rare event, although it was becoming more common as many soldiers had returned from the war to find their lonely wives had not been faithful.
On the 7th, Harry Hall petitioned for the dissolution of his marriage with Florence Hall, on the ground of her misconduct with Harry Kay. The couple had married in 1909 and lived in Park Road and had one child. Harry Hall worked as a butcher until in 1916 he joined the forces and until recently had served with the army of occupation in Cologne. While he was away, his wife went to work in Higher Parr Street, where Harry Kay lived.
On one occasion when her husband was home on leave, Florence confessed that she had committed adultery with Kay and said she wanted to get it off her mind. Harry Hall was unforgiving and demanded a divorce and although his petition was uncontested, the lurid details of the woman's infidelity were still presented in the court for the public to pore over. These included a woman called Harriet Price telling the court how Florence and Harry Kay had stayed overnight in her café at Chester. After hearing the evidence of infidelity, the judge granted the decree nisi.
The St Helens police religiously enforced the licensing laws and since February they had been cracking down on the increasing number of clubs in the town. The Chief Constable had at that time criticised how clubs were being run, saying: "The undesirable kind of club has to be cleared away at all costs". They numbered about 30, of which some, he said, were simply "drinking and gambling dens" that followed few rules.
On the 7th John Stewart – the steward of the Discharged Soldiers & Sailors Club in Church Street – was fined £3 for consuming liquor during prohibited hours. Two other men were also fined. The police had found them drinking at 1:50am on a Sunday morning. The Chairman of the Bench said if they or any other club were brought up on a similar charge in future, they would be struck off. There was then a number of discharged servicemen's clubs in St Helens, with the one at 105 Church Street being the main one. It even had had its own billiards room.
And finally (and this is my favourite story this week), James Sexton, the St Helens MP, was also a Liverpool councillor and participated in the local elections. A Communist candidate stood against him and the Echo described how the day had gone: "One of Mr Sexton's ardent supporters, who is not strong on spelling, has chalked on the foot walks:- “Vote for Sexton and he will put a lofe of bread on the tabel.” Not to be outdone, the opponents, supporters of Mr. Neild, the Communist candidate, have chalked the following reply: “Vote for Neild. He will prove your shield.”
"In Breckfield Ward the henchmen of Mr. Smith, the Labour candidate, have not been content with transient chalk. On many of the footwalks the exhortation, “Vote for Smith”, has been stencilled with paint, and will be visible weeks after election day. The voting was fairly heavy in the morning, and Mr. Sexton's friends report that they have been themselves surprised at the extent to which it has gone in his favour.
"Even voters who had talked of giving their vote to the Communist have apparently undergone an eleventh hour repentance. St. Anne's is after all a predominantly Irish ward, and it may be that the heroics of Communists are not sufficiently revolutionary for the exacting taste of the thorough-going Irishman. The story is being told this morning of an Irish voter who had been flirting with the Communist idea. His decisive experience was related in this fashion by himself:
"“I was having a bit of an argification with one of those Communist fellows, and he talked a good deal about revolution and the workers' rights and all that. It seemed all right but talk's only talk. So just to see what sort of a revolutionist he was, I hit him a whang on the head with my fist. And he ran like the divil. Revolution, indeed! Why, he wouldn't even revolute against me.”"
Next week's stories will include the disinterest over Remembrance Day in St Helens, a horse-driven lorry and motor van battle it out in Parr Stocks Road and the woman who claimed to have been assaulted by filthy talk in Sutton.
This week's stories include an opportunity for members of the public to saw a woman in half at the Hippodrome, the abused wife covered in gores of blood, success for Labour in local council elections, a St Helens soldier gets a divorce through his wife's misconduct and the unveiling of three more war memorials in St Helens.
Under the headline "Miss A. Garton Helps To Create Record", the Liverpool Echo wrote on November 1st:
"Miss A. Garton, the St. Helens lady sprinter, formed one of the English team which competed during the week-end against the French lady athletes, and won by 48 points to 38.
"Miss Garton competed in the half-mile relay race, which the English girls won easily, and she came in third in a close finish for the 100 yards. Miss Lines (of London), Mlle. Maughan, and Miss Garton were the first three, and all finished close up together, the time being 11⅘ seconds – a record for ladies."
The week also began with the annual council elections in which the Labour party continued its drive to obtain control of St Helens Town Council.
The St Helens Reporter said Labour had "secured a triumph", as they gained three seats at the expense of the Conservatives.
In total the Tories in coalition with the Liberals had 18 members and the Labour party had 16.
However, the Reporter reckoned that some Conservatives might, at times, side with Labour and consequently give the socialists...
“…a fair chance of making good some of the rash promises they so generously made to their supporters during the campaign."
This was how the Hippodrome described the headline act that was performing at their music hall this week:
"P. T. Selbit demonstrates an Amazing Scientific Fact, SAWING THRO' A WOMAN, while she is held by four members of the audience.
"A sensation suitable for all the family to see. You may bring your own saw and conduct the operation at any performance. The greatest riddle of the age."
The London-born Percy Thomas Selbit is credited as the first magician to ever perform the illusion of sawing a woman in half.
"Walking through a brick wall" was another piece of trickery that Selbit was said to have invented and been the first person to perform – although his claim led to a row with Harry Houdini.
War memorials were still coming thick and fast. During the evening of the 2nd, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Richard Ellison, unveiled a plaque in aid of tramway men who had lost their lives in the conflict.
About the same time, the Bishop of Liverpool dedicated what the St Helens Reporter described as an "elegant" tablet in carved oak at Rainford Parish Church.
The paper added that the church bells seemingly "toiled mournfully" as the guests arrived.
Then four days later the bishop unveiled a memorial at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street.
It took the form of a five-light west window and would serve to commemorate the lives of the 124 men in the parish who had died during the war.
The Right Rev. Francis Chavasse knew what it was like to have lost loved ones in the conflict, with his sons Noel and Aidan having both died.
In his speech after the unveiling, the bishop begged the congregation to pray that disarmament might become a fact.
By coincidence the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool was also in St Helens on that day to attend a conference of the Catholic Young Men's Society.
The Right Rev. Frederick Keating (pictured left – Archbishop Chavasse is on right) had only been appointed in June and so was making his first visit to the town.
At a largely attended meeting at the Hippodrome Theatre during the evening, he called for good Catholic secondary schools to be provided for the boys and girls who needed them.
"I am not content", he said, "and I am sure you are not content that Catholics, when they grow up, should be condemned to do the hard work, the mean work and the badly-paid work of the town.
"We do not exactly want soft jobs, but we want good jobs and well-paid jobs for our people which would enable them to hold up their heads with the rest of their fellow-townsmen."
In the St Helens Reporter on the 4th, ladies and gents tailor's R. T. Lawson at 85 Ormskirk Street was advertising "The Greatest Event Of The Year!" It was a clearance sale, which included 500 men's tweed suits priced from 22/11.
On the 4th the inquest was held into the death of William Westhead, who had been found drowned in a pit in Billinge.
The widower had lived at the White House in Gores Lane in Crank with his married sister – but had recently been drinking heavily.
When he returned to the house drunk once again, he was told he would have to find fresh lodgings and ordered away by his brother.
Later his body was discovered in the pit. As it could not be proven that Westhead had drowned himself, an open verdict was returned.
On the 7th Patrick Cronin from Lewis Street (near Queens Park) appeared in court. This is how the Reporter described the case:
"On the application of Supt. Dunn, at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday, the magistrates adjudicating reduced to one of aggravated assault a charge of unlawfully wounding his wife Winifred Cronin, which had been lodged against Patrick Cronin, 26, Lewis-street.
"Mrs. Cronin gave evidence to the effect that she remonstrated with her husband for coming home late on Saturday night. There was a quarrel, and when she ran into the yard her husband took the bolt off the back door and struck her on the head, covering her with “gores of blood”.
"P.C. Tinsley said he met the woman at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, her head was bathed in blood and two stitches had to be put in.
"Prisoner said his wife was a “wicked and dangerous woman.” She had scratched him on the face and neck, and he had to take the bolt from her for his own safety. The Chairman (Mr. Collins): Fourteen days hard labour."
In April 1918 the Rev. Canon Albert Baines had attacked plans for easier divorces for couples separated for at least three years.
The Vicar of St Helens drew a parallel with the downfall of the Roman Empire and said they would be: "…running a great risk of national disaster if the country were to adopt such an iniquitous proposal."
Divorce had been a rare event, although it was becoming more common as many soldiers had returned from the war to find their lonely wives had not been faithful.
On the 7th, Harry Hall petitioned for the dissolution of his marriage with Florence Hall, on the ground of her misconduct with Harry Kay.
The couple had married in 1909 and lived in Park Road and had one child.
Harry Hall worked as a butcher until in 1916 he joined the forces and until recently had served with the army of occupation in Cologne.
While he was away, his wife went to work in Higher Parr Street, where Harry Kay lived.
On one occasion when her husband was home on leave, Florence confessed that she had committed adultery with Kay and said she wanted to get it off her mind.
Harry Hall was unforgiving and demanded a divorce and although his petition was uncontested, the lurid details of the woman's infidelity were still presented in the court for the public to pore over.
These included a woman called Harriet Price telling the court how Florence and Harry Kay had stayed overnight in her café at Chester. After hearing the evidence of infidelity, the judge granted the decree nisi.
The St Helens police religiously enforced the licensing laws and since February they had been cracking down on the increasing number of clubs in the town.
The Chief Constable had at that time criticised how clubs were being run, saying: "The undesirable kind of club has to be cleared away at all costs".
They numbered about 30, of which some, he said, were simply "drinking and gambling dens" that followed few rules.
On the 7th John Stewart – the steward of the Discharged Soldiers & Sailors Club in Church Street – was fined £3 for consuming liquor during prohibited hours. Two other men were also fined.
The police had found them drinking at 1:50am on a Sunday morning. The Chairman of the Bench said if they or any other club were brought up on a similar charge in future, they would be struck off.
There was then a number of discharged servicemen's clubs in St Helens, with the one at 105 Church Street being the main one. It even had had its own billiards room.
And finally (and this is my favourite story this week), James Sexton, the St Helens MP, was also a Liverpool councillor and participated in the local elections.
A Communist candidate stood against him and the Echo described how the day had gone:
"One of Mr Sexton's ardent supporters, who is not strong on spelling, has chalked on the foot walks:- “Vote for Sexton and he will put a lofe of bread on the tabel.”
"Not to be outdone, the opponents, supporters of Mr. Neild, the Communist candidate, have chalked the following reply: “Vote for Neild. He will prove your shield.”
"In Breckfield Ward the henchmen of Mr. Smith, the Labour candidate, have not been content with transient chalk.
"On many of the footwalks the exhortation, “Vote for Smith”, has been stencilled with paint, and will be visible weeks after election day.
"The voting was fairly heavy in the morning, and Mr. Sexton's friends report that they have been themselves surprised at the extent to which it has gone in his favour.
"Even voters who had talked of giving their vote to the Communist have apparently undergone an eleventh hour repentance.
"St. Anne's is after all a predominantly Irish ward, and it may be that the heroics of Communists are not sufficiently revolutionary for the exacting taste of the thorough-going Irishman.
"The story is being told this morning of an Irish voter who had been flirting with the Communist idea. His decisive experience was related in this fashion by himself:
"“I was having a bit of an argification with one of those Communist fellows, and he talked a good deal about revolution and the workers' rights and all that. It seemed all right but talk's only talk.
"“So just to see what sort of a revolutionist he was, I hit him a whang on the head with my fist. And he ran like the divil. Revolution, indeed! Why, he wouldn't even revolute against me.”"
Next week's stories will include the disinterest over Remembrance Day in St Helens, a horse-driven lorry and motor van battle it out in Parr Stocks Road and the woman who claimed to have been assaulted by filthy talk in Sutton.
Under the headline "Miss A. Garton Helps To Create Record", the Liverpool Echo wrote on November 1st:
"Miss A. Garton, the St. Helens lady sprinter, formed one of the English team which competed during the week-end against the French lady athletes, and won by 48 points to 38.
"Miss Garton competed in the half-mile relay race, which the English girls won easily, and she came in third in a close finish for the 100 yards. Miss Lines (of London), Mlle. Maughan, and Miss Garton were the first three, and all finished close up together, the time being 11⅘ seconds – a record for ladies."
The week also began with the annual council elections in which the Labour party continued its drive to obtain control of St Helens Town Council.
The St Helens Reporter said Labour had "secured a triumph", as they gained three seats at the expense of the Conservatives.
In total the Tories in coalition with the Liberals had 18 members and the Labour party had 16.
However, the Reporter reckoned that some Conservatives might, at times, side with Labour and consequently give the socialists...
“…a fair chance of making good some of the rash promises they so generously made to their supporters during the campaign."
This was how the Hippodrome described the headline act that was performing at their music hall this week:
"P. T. Selbit demonstrates an Amazing Scientific Fact, SAWING THRO' A WOMAN, while she is held by four members of the audience.
"A sensation suitable for all the family to see. You may bring your own saw and conduct the operation at any performance. The greatest riddle of the age."
The London-born Percy Thomas Selbit is credited as the first magician to ever perform the illusion of sawing a woman in half.
"Walking through a brick wall" was another piece of trickery that Selbit was said to have invented and been the first person to perform – although his claim led to a row with Harry Houdini.
War memorials were still coming thick and fast. During the evening of the 2nd, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Richard Ellison, unveiled a plaque in aid of tramway men who had lost their lives in the conflict.
About the same time, the Bishop of Liverpool dedicated what the St Helens Reporter described as an "elegant" tablet in carved oak at Rainford Parish Church.
The paper added that the church bells seemingly "toiled mournfully" as the guests arrived.
Then four days later the bishop unveiled a memorial at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street.
It took the form of a five-light west window and would serve to commemorate the lives of the 124 men in the parish who had died during the war.
The Right Rev. Francis Chavasse knew what it was like to have lost loved ones in the conflict, with his sons Noel and Aidan having both died.
In his speech after the unveiling, the bishop begged the congregation to pray that disarmament might become a fact.
By coincidence the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool was also in St Helens on that day to attend a conference of the Catholic Young Men's Society.
At a largely attended meeting at the Hippodrome Theatre during the evening, he called for good Catholic secondary schools to be provided for the boys and girls who needed them.
"I am not content", he said, "and I am sure you are not content that Catholics, when they grow up, should be condemned to do the hard work, the mean work and the badly-paid work of the town.
"We do not exactly want soft jobs, but we want good jobs and well-paid jobs for our people which would enable them to hold up their heads with the rest of their fellow-townsmen."
In the St Helens Reporter on the 4th, ladies and gents tailor's R. T. Lawson at 85 Ormskirk Street was advertising "The Greatest Event Of The Year!" It was a clearance sale, which included 500 men's tweed suits priced from 22/11.
On the 4th the inquest was held into the death of William Westhead, who had been found drowned in a pit in Billinge.
The widower had lived at the White House in Gores Lane in Crank with his married sister – but had recently been drinking heavily.
When he returned to the house drunk once again, he was told he would have to find fresh lodgings and ordered away by his brother.
Later his body was discovered in the pit. As it could not be proven that Westhead had drowned himself, an open verdict was returned.
On the 7th Patrick Cronin from Lewis Street (near Queens Park) appeared in court. This is how the Reporter described the case:
"On the application of Supt. Dunn, at the St. Helens Police Court on Monday, the magistrates adjudicating reduced to one of aggravated assault a charge of unlawfully wounding his wife Winifred Cronin, which had been lodged against Patrick Cronin, 26, Lewis-street.
"Mrs. Cronin gave evidence to the effect that she remonstrated with her husband for coming home late on Saturday night. There was a quarrel, and when she ran into the yard her husband took the bolt off the back door and struck her on the head, covering her with “gores of blood”.
"P.C. Tinsley said he met the woman at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, her head was bathed in blood and two stitches had to be put in.
"Prisoner said his wife was a “wicked and dangerous woman.” She had scratched him on the face and neck, and he had to take the bolt from her for his own safety. The Chairman (Mr. Collins): Fourteen days hard labour."
In April 1918 the Rev. Canon Albert Baines had attacked plans for easier divorces for couples separated for at least three years.
The Vicar of St Helens drew a parallel with the downfall of the Roman Empire and said they would be: "…running a great risk of national disaster if the country were to adopt such an iniquitous proposal."
Divorce had been a rare event, although it was becoming more common as many soldiers had returned from the war to find their lonely wives had not been faithful.
On the 7th, Harry Hall petitioned for the dissolution of his marriage with Florence Hall, on the ground of her misconduct with Harry Kay.
The couple had married in 1909 and lived in Park Road and had one child.
Harry Hall worked as a butcher until in 1916 he joined the forces and until recently had served with the army of occupation in Cologne.
While he was away, his wife went to work in Higher Parr Street, where Harry Kay lived.
On one occasion when her husband was home on leave, Florence confessed that she had committed adultery with Kay and said she wanted to get it off her mind.
Harry Hall was unforgiving and demanded a divorce and although his petition was uncontested, the lurid details of the woman's infidelity were still presented in the court for the public to pore over.
These included a woman called Harriet Price telling the court how Florence and Harry Kay had stayed overnight in her café at Chester. After hearing the evidence of infidelity, the judge granted the decree nisi.
The St Helens police religiously enforced the licensing laws and since February they had been cracking down on the increasing number of clubs in the town.
The Chief Constable had at that time criticised how clubs were being run, saying: "The undesirable kind of club has to be cleared away at all costs".
They numbered about 30, of which some, he said, were simply "drinking and gambling dens" that followed few rules.
On the 7th John Stewart – the steward of the Discharged Soldiers & Sailors Club in Church Street – was fined £3 for consuming liquor during prohibited hours. Two other men were also fined.
The police had found them drinking at 1:50am on a Sunday morning. The Chairman of the Bench said if they or any other club were brought up on a similar charge in future, they would be struck off.
There was then a number of discharged servicemen's clubs in St Helens, with the one at 105 Church Street being the main one. It even had had its own billiards room.
And finally (and this is my favourite story this week), James Sexton, the St Helens MP, was also a Liverpool councillor and participated in the local elections.
A Communist candidate stood against him and the Echo described how the day had gone:
"One of Mr Sexton's ardent supporters, who is not strong on spelling, has chalked on the foot walks:- “Vote for Sexton and he will put a lofe of bread on the tabel.”
"Not to be outdone, the opponents, supporters of Mr. Neild, the Communist candidate, have chalked the following reply: “Vote for Neild. He will prove your shield.”
"In Breckfield Ward the henchmen of Mr. Smith, the Labour candidate, have not been content with transient chalk.
"On many of the footwalks the exhortation, “Vote for Smith”, has been stencilled with paint, and will be visible weeks after election day.
"The voting was fairly heavy in the morning, and Mr. Sexton's friends report that they have been themselves surprised at the extent to which it has gone in his favour.
"Even voters who had talked of giving their vote to the Communist have apparently undergone an eleventh hour repentance.
"St. Anne's is after all a predominantly Irish ward, and it may be that the heroics of Communists are not sufficiently revolutionary for the exacting taste of the thorough-going Irishman.
"The story is being told this morning of an Irish voter who had been flirting with the Communist idea. His decisive experience was related in this fashion by himself:
"“I was having a bit of an argification with one of those Communist fellows, and he talked a good deal about revolution and the workers' rights and all that. It seemed all right but talk's only talk.
"“So just to see what sort of a revolutionist he was, I hit him a whang on the head with my fist. And he ran like the divil. Revolution, indeed! Why, he wouldn't even revolute against me.”"
Next week's stories will include the disinterest over Remembrance Day in St Helens, a horse-driven lorry and motor van battle it out in Parr Stocks Road and the woman who claimed to have been assaulted by filthy talk in Sutton.