IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (2nd - 8th JANUARY 1923)
This week's many stories including the cheating bankrupt of Lowe Street, the poor children's New Year breakfasts, the severe Sutton floods, the council calls for smallpox vaccination exemptions to end, the mass coal stealing from Sherdley Colliery and the Eccleston flying club official accused of embezzling members' money.
We begin at St Helens Town Council's meeting on the 3rd when the recent severe flooding in the Moss Nook district of Sutton (as pictured above) was discussed. The floods were annual winter events and although a scheme to improve matters was in hand, that did nothing to help the hard-pressed householders at present. Cllr. Gibbons called for temporary measures to be put in place, such as raising the footpaths.
Currently, as a result of the floodwaters having subsided, the footpaths in the area were covered in mud – and so were the house floors in many homes. When it rained heavily many of the families were forced to live upstairs – and they were getting heartily sick of it. Cllr. Gibbons told the meeting that the present state of things constituted a menace to the residents' health. In addition many other persons passed daily along the waterlogged roads to and from the collieries in the vicinity of Moss Nook. Their feet got so wet that they took with them an extra pair of socks to change into at work.
Cllr. Gibbons described some of the difficulties that had recently been faced: "A party of men has had to carry a dead body out of a house at Moss Nook through the flood. People in the district are beginning to study seafaring lore, and to come out with nautical phrases which I never expected to hear in that place. Quite recently a clergyman, who was fulfilling a sick call, had to be taken in a coal cart and wound up through the bedroom window. The doctor also went by the same means."
Cllr. O’Brien complained of the state of the footpaths in Sutton Manor, which he said were getting into the same condition as at Moss Nook, adding: "Some of the people there were calling the place “Venice in St. Helens”." Then Cllr. Jackson chipped into the conversation wondering how many miles of streets there were in St. Helens that were unflagged and unpaved. In reply Ald. Bishop said there were a great number of such streets that had not been taken over by the Corporation and made up. If they were to force their residents to put the necessary street improvements in hand, it would probably reduce many small owners "to a state of bankruptcy or beggary".
The meeting also discussed the controversial question of compulsory vaccination against smallpox. During the 19th century, inoculation was mandatory for all children. However, in 1898 parents were allowed to apply to a magistrate for a certificate of conscientious objection that would exempt their child from being vaccinated. The Council's Health Committee had passed a resolution calling on the Government to revoke the exemption from vaccination. However, some members of the Town Council objected and wanted the resolution struck from the minutes.
Ald. Henry Bates, the Chairman of the Health Committee and himself a doctor, explained that since exemptions had been brought in, smallpox had steadily spread throughout the country. He said they had got into a "very serious state" in St Helens with 10% of the people unvaccinated. "If we have an outbreak of smallpox, it will be God help us", he warned. Dr Bates added that only those who had had an opportunity of seeing the ravages of smallpox would appreciate the dangers, declaring: "We must protect the community".
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 5th and described the recent holding of New Year's Day breakfasts for poor children. The annual event had been organised since 1877 by the estate agent Sir Joseph Bethell Leach until his death in 1917 and then Joseph's son Wilfred Leach took over. In some years as many as 7,000 poor kids – a number in bare feet – were treated to food and amusements but on the first day of 1923 those fed and entertained totalled 3,000.
The children were accommodated at ten centres in the town. These were mainly schools such as St Anne's in Sutton, St Austin's in Thatto Heath and Sacred Heart in Borough Road. However, the centres also included the Catholic Temperance League Hall in Lord Street and the Salvation Army Hall in Milk Street (now the Citadel). At each place 15 to 20 volunteers helped to look after the children and Ald. Peter Phythian, the Mayor of St Helens, accompanied by the Mayoress, visited them all.
The Reporter also described a New Year's Ball that had taken place in Rainford: "On the evening of New Year's Day the scene at the Village Hall was a merry one as the assembly whirled and twirled to the lovely music of Mr. Sam Pye's Band, which rendered all the latest dance pieces."
Whitehouse's store in Westfield Street had joined the small number of places in St Helens that were selling radio sets, now that a BBC station had begun broadcasting from Manchester. Their ad in the paper said: "Buy your New Year gifts at the above address and listen to a wireless concert at the same time."
Some people did then buy New Year presents for family and friends, although by January 5th one might have thought they would have already bought them. Still, Lockhart's ladies hairdresser of 14 George Street had this advert in the Reporter: "DON'T BE STODGY! When selecting your Presents for your Lady Friends – give them something that will not merely please, but prove of constant value to them. For instance… Ladies' Hair Slides, Dainty Bottles of High-Class Perfume, Manicure Sets, Hair Creams, Hair Brushes, etc."
Thomas Dolan was a haulage contractor and coal dealer from Lowe Street in St Helens who had gone into bankruptcy. But he had tried to disguise some of his assets, including two motor wagons and a warehouse. Dolan had even done a bogus deal with Edward Henry from New Cross Street in which he supposedly had sold the man his vehicles and then hired them back.
Such cheating was treated seriously and on the 5th the St Helens magistrates sentenced Dolan to three months in prison in the second division. This was a class of prisoner who were granted certain privileges. These included being allowed to wear clothes of a different colour to the standard prison issue and being able to receive more frequent visits and letters than other prisoners.
Coal stealing from railway sidings and colliery waste heaps increased during times of high unemployment and poverty and could become a communal activity. When two women and a boy appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 5th charged with taking coal from Sherdley Colliery in Peasley Cross, the police stated that numerous others had been with them.
They had all fled once the two officers appeared on the scene leaving their bags of coal behind. The police said they had counted 33 bags that were nearly all full that had been discarded in the scramble to get away. The three slow coaches that the police had nabbed were each fined between 5 shillings and 10 shillings.
St Helens had a number of flying clubs that did not involve planes taking off and landing on some field in the town. Aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer! Michael McHale was an official of the South Eccleston Short Distance Flying Club but had got himself into a right mess with members' money.
The 31-year-old from Bridgewater Street – which used to be in the town centre near Liverpool Road – appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 6th. McHale was charged with embezzling £2 16 shillings, although the total amount owed was believed to be about £4 6 shillings. The Sutton Manor Colliery miner received subscriptions from flying club members but said some had borrowed money from him. As a result things had got "into a muddle", as he put it. McHale's books had been taken from him and so he said he was unable to sort things out.
The magistrates decided that he had to repay 4 guineas to the club and he was also fined £5 or, alternatively, serve 28 days in prison. At that point, McHale's wife, Gertrude, shouted "Do it, Mick". To which he replied: "Yes, I will go down for it". These were hard times and it was clearly preferable to serve a month in prison than have to find nearly £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ex-soldier's suicide in Eccleston Mill Dam, the boys that raided sweet shops, the abusive Westfield Street tobacconist and the Crank man too poor to make his own fireguard whose child burned to death.
Currently, as a result of the floodwaters having subsided, the footpaths in the area were covered in mud – and so were the house floors in many homes. When it rained heavily many of the families were forced to live upstairs – and they were getting heartily sick of it. Cllr. Gibbons told the meeting that the present state of things constituted a menace to the residents' health. In addition many other persons passed daily along the waterlogged roads to and from the collieries in the vicinity of Moss Nook. Their feet got so wet that they took with them an extra pair of socks to change into at work.
Cllr. Gibbons described some of the difficulties that had recently been faced: "A party of men has had to carry a dead body out of a house at Moss Nook through the flood. People in the district are beginning to study seafaring lore, and to come out with nautical phrases which I never expected to hear in that place. Quite recently a clergyman, who was fulfilling a sick call, had to be taken in a coal cart and wound up through the bedroom window. The doctor also went by the same means."
Cllr. O’Brien complained of the state of the footpaths in Sutton Manor, which he said were getting into the same condition as at Moss Nook, adding: "Some of the people there were calling the place “Venice in St. Helens”." Then Cllr. Jackson chipped into the conversation wondering how many miles of streets there were in St. Helens that were unflagged and unpaved. In reply Ald. Bishop said there were a great number of such streets that had not been taken over by the Corporation and made up. If they were to force their residents to put the necessary street improvements in hand, it would probably reduce many small owners "to a state of bankruptcy or beggary".
The meeting also discussed the controversial question of compulsory vaccination against smallpox. During the 19th century, inoculation was mandatory for all children. However, in 1898 parents were allowed to apply to a magistrate for a certificate of conscientious objection that would exempt their child from being vaccinated. The Council's Health Committee had passed a resolution calling on the Government to revoke the exemption from vaccination. However, some members of the Town Council objected and wanted the resolution struck from the minutes.
Ald. Henry Bates, the Chairman of the Health Committee and himself a doctor, explained that since exemptions had been brought in, smallpox had steadily spread throughout the country. He said they had got into a "very serious state" in St Helens with 10% of the people unvaccinated. "If we have an outbreak of smallpox, it will be God help us", he warned. Dr Bates added that only those who had had an opportunity of seeing the ravages of smallpox would appreciate the dangers, declaring: "We must protect the community".
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 5th and described the recent holding of New Year's Day breakfasts for poor children. The annual event had been organised since 1877 by the estate agent Sir Joseph Bethell Leach until his death in 1917 and then Joseph's son Wilfred Leach took over. In some years as many as 7,000 poor kids – a number in bare feet – were treated to food and amusements but on the first day of 1923 those fed and entertained totalled 3,000.
The children were accommodated at ten centres in the town. These were mainly schools such as St Anne's in Sutton, St Austin's in Thatto Heath and Sacred Heart in Borough Road. However, the centres also included the Catholic Temperance League Hall in Lord Street and the Salvation Army Hall in Milk Street (now the Citadel). At each place 15 to 20 volunteers helped to look after the children and Ald. Peter Phythian, the Mayor of St Helens, accompanied by the Mayoress, visited them all.
The Reporter also described a New Year's Ball that had taken place in Rainford: "On the evening of New Year's Day the scene at the Village Hall was a merry one as the assembly whirled and twirled to the lovely music of Mr. Sam Pye's Band, which rendered all the latest dance pieces."
Whitehouse's store in Westfield Street had joined the small number of places in St Helens that were selling radio sets, now that a BBC station had begun broadcasting from Manchester. Their ad in the paper said: "Buy your New Year gifts at the above address and listen to a wireless concert at the same time."
Some people did then buy New Year presents for family and friends, although by January 5th one might have thought they would have already bought them. Still, Lockhart's ladies hairdresser of 14 George Street had this advert in the Reporter: "DON'T BE STODGY! When selecting your Presents for your Lady Friends – give them something that will not merely please, but prove of constant value to them. For instance… Ladies' Hair Slides, Dainty Bottles of High-Class Perfume, Manicure Sets, Hair Creams, Hair Brushes, etc."
Thomas Dolan was a haulage contractor and coal dealer from Lowe Street in St Helens who had gone into bankruptcy. But he had tried to disguise some of his assets, including two motor wagons and a warehouse. Dolan had even done a bogus deal with Edward Henry from New Cross Street in which he supposedly had sold the man his vehicles and then hired them back.
Such cheating was treated seriously and on the 5th the St Helens magistrates sentenced Dolan to three months in prison in the second division. This was a class of prisoner who were granted certain privileges. These included being allowed to wear clothes of a different colour to the standard prison issue and being able to receive more frequent visits and letters than other prisoners.
Coal stealing from railway sidings and colliery waste heaps increased during times of high unemployment and poverty and could become a communal activity. When two women and a boy appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 5th charged with taking coal from Sherdley Colliery in Peasley Cross, the police stated that numerous others had been with them.
They had all fled once the two officers appeared on the scene leaving their bags of coal behind. The police said they had counted 33 bags that were nearly all full that had been discarded in the scramble to get away. The three slow coaches that the police had nabbed were each fined between 5 shillings and 10 shillings.
St Helens had a number of flying clubs that did not involve planes taking off and landing on some field in the town. Aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer! Michael McHale was an official of the South Eccleston Short Distance Flying Club but had got himself into a right mess with members' money.
The 31-year-old from Bridgewater Street – which used to be in the town centre near Liverpool Road – appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 6th. McHale was charged with embezzling £2 16 shillings, although the total amount owed was believed to be about £4 6 shillings. The Sutton Manor Colliery miner received subscriptions from flying club members but said some had borrowed money from him. As a result things had got "into a muddle", as he put it. McHale's books had been taken from him and so he said he was unable to sort things out.
The magistrates decided that he had to repay 4 guineas to the club and he was also fined £5 or, alternatively, serve 28 days in prison. At that point, McHale's wife, Gertrude, shouted "Do it, Mick". To which he replied: "Yes, I will go down for it". These were hard times and it was clearly preferable to serve a month in prison than have to find nearly £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ex-soldier's suicide in Eccleston Mill Dam, the boys that raided sweet shops, the abusive Westfield Street tobacconist and the Crank man too poor to make his own fireguard whose child burned to death.
This week's many stories including the cheating bankrupt of Lowe Street, the poor children's New Year breakfasts, the severe Sutton floods, the council calls for smallpox vaccination exemptions to end, the mass coal stealing from Sherdley Colliery and the Eccleston flying club official accused of embezzling members' money.
We begin at St Helens Town Council's meeting on the 3rd when the recent severe flooding in the Moss Nook district of Sutton (as pictured above) was discussed.
The floods were annual winter events and although a scheme to improve matters was in hand, that did nothing to help the hard-pressed householders at present.
Cllr. Gibbons called for temporary measures to be put in place, such as raising the footpaths.
Currently, as a result of the floodwaters having subsided, the footpaths in the area were covered in mud – and so were the house floors in many homes.
When it rained heavily many of the families were forced to live upstairs – and they were getting heartily sick of it.
Cllr. Gibbons told the meeting that the present state of things constituted a menace to the residents' health.
In addition many other persons passed daily along the waterlogged roads to and from the collieries in the vicinity of Moss Nook.
Their feet got so wet that they took with them an extra pair of socks to change into at work. Cllr. Gibbons described some of the difficulties that had recently been faced:
"A party of men has had to carry a dead body out of a house at Moss Nook through the flood. People in the district are beginning to study seafaring lore, and to come out with nautical phrases which I never expected to hear in that place.
"Quite recently a clergyman, who was fulfilling a sick call, had to be taken in a coal cart and wound up through the bedroom window. The doctor also went by the same means."
Cllr. O’Brien complained of the state of the footpaths in Sutton Manor, which he said were getting into the same condition as at Moss Nook, adding: "Some of the people there were calling the place “Venice in St. Helens”."
Then Cllr. Jackson chipped into the conversation wondering how many miles of streets there were in St. Helens that were unflagged and unpaved.
In reply Ald. Bishop said there were a great number of such streets that had not been taken over by the Corporation and made up.
If they were to force their residents to put the necessary street improvements in hand, it would probably reduce many small owners "to a state of bankruptcy or beggary".
The meeting also discussed the controversial question of compulsory vaccination against smallpox.
During the 19th century, inoculation was mandatory for all children. However, in 1898 parents were allowed to apply to a magistrate for a certificate of conscientious objection that would exempt their child from being vaccinated.
The Council's Health Committee had passed a resolution calling on the Government to revoke the exemption from vaccination.
However, some members of the Town Council objected and wanted the resolution struck from the minutes.
Ald. Henry Bates, the Chairman of the Health Committee and himself a doctor, explained that since exemptions had been brought in, smallpox had steadily spread throughout the country.
He said they had got into a "very serious state" in St Helens with 10% of the people unvaccinated. "If we have an outbreak of smallpox, it will be God help us", he warned.
Dr Bates added that only those who had had an opportunity of seeing the ravages of smallpox would appreciate the dangers, declaring: "We must protect the community".
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 5th and described the recent holding of New Year's Day breakfasts for poor children.
The annual event had been organised since 1877 by the estate agent Sir Joseph Bethell Leach until his death in 1917 and then Joseph's son Wilfred Leach took over.
In some years as many as 7,000 poor kids – a number in bare feet – were treated to food and amusements but on the first day of 1923 those fed and entertained totalled 3,000.
The children were accommodated at ten centres in the town. These were mainly schools such as St Anne's in Sutton, St Austin's in Thatto Heath and Sacred Heart in Borough Road.
However, the centres also included the Catholic Temperance League Hall in Lord Street and the Salvation Army Hall in Milk Street (now the Citadel).
At each place 15 to 20 volunteers helped to look after the children and Ald. Peter Phythian, the Mayor of St Helens, accompanied by the Mayoress, visited them all.
The Reporter also described a New Year's Ball that had taken place in Rainford:
"On the evening of New Year's Day the scene at the Village Hall was a merry one as the assembly whirled and twirled to the lovely music of Mr. Sam Pye's Band, which rendered all the latest dance pieces."
Whitehouse's store in Westfield Street had joined the small number of places in St Helens that were selling radio sets, now that a BBC station had begun broadcasting from Manchester. Their ad in the paper said:
"Buy your New Year gifts at the above address and listen to a wireless concert at the same time."
Some people did then buy New Year presents for family and friends, although by January 5th one might have thought they would have already bought them.
Still, Lockhart's ladies hairdresser of 14 George Street had this advert in the Reporter:
"DON'T BE STODGY! When selecting your Presents for your Lady Friends – give them something that will not merely please, but prove of constant value to them.
"For instance… Ladies' Hair Slides, Dainty Bottles of High-Class Perfume, Manicure Sets, Hair Creams, Hair Brushes, etc."
Thomas Dolan was a haulage contractor and coal dealer from Lowe Street in St Helens who had gone into bankruptcy.
But he had tried to disguise some of his assets, including two motor wagons and a warehouse.
Dolan had even done a bogus deal with Edward Henry from New Cross Street in which he supposedly had sold the man his vehicles and then hired them back.
Such cheating was treated seriously and on the 5th the St Helens magistrates sentenced Dolan to three months in prison in the second division.
This was a class of prisoner who were granted certain privileges. These included being allowed to wear clothes of a different colour to the standard prison issue and being able to receive more frequent visits and letters than other prisoners.
Coal stealing from railway sidings and colliery waste heaps increased during times of high unemployment and poverty and could become a communal activity.
When two women and a boy appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 5th charged with taking coal from Sherdley Colliery in Peasley Cross, the police stated that numerous others had been with them.
They had all fled once the two officers appeared on the scene leaving their bags of coal behind.
The police said they had counted 33 bags that were nearly all full that had been discarded in the scramble to get away.
The three slow coaches that the police had nabbed were each fined between 5 shillings and 10 shillings.
St Helens had a number of flying clubs that did not involve planes taking off and landing on some field in the town.
Aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer!
Michael McHale was an official of the South Eccleston Short Distance Flying Club but had got himself into a right mess with members' money.
The 31-year-old from Bridgewater Street – which used to be in the town centre near Liverpool Road – appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 6th.
McHale was charged with embezzling £2 16 shillings, although the total amount owed was believed to be about £4 6 shillings.
The Sutton Manor Colliery miner received subscriptions from flying club members but said some had borrowed money from him. As a result things had got "into a muddle", as he put it.
McHale's books had been taken from him and so he said he was unable to sort things out.
The magistrates decided that he had to repay 4 guineas to the club and he was also fined £5 or, alternatively, serve 28 days in prison.
At that point, McHale's wife, Gertrude, shouted "Do it, Mick". To which he replied: "Yes, I will go down for it".
These were hard times and it was clearly preferable to serve a month in prison than have to find nearly £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ex-soldier's suicide in Eccleston Mill Dam, the boys that raided sweet shops, the abusive Westfield Street tobacconist and the Crank man too poor to make his own fireguard whose child burned to death.
The floods were annual winter events and although a scheme to improve matters was in hand, that did nothing to help the hard-pressed householders at present.
Cllr. Gibbons called for temporary measures to be put in place, such as raising the footpaths.
Currently, as a result of the floodwaters having subsided, the footpaths in the area were covered in mud – and so were the house floors in many homes.
When it rained heavily many of the families were forced to live upstairs – and they were getting heartily sick of it.
Cllr. Gibbons told the meeting that the present state of things constituted a menace to the residents' health.
In addition many other persons passed daily along the waterlogged roads to and from the collieries in the vicinity of Moss Nook.
Their feet got so wet that they took with them an extra pair of socks to change into at work. Cllr. Gibbons described some of the difficulties that had recently been faced:
"A party of men has had to carry a dead body out of a house at Moss Nook through the flood. People in the district are beginning to study seafaring lore, and to come out with nautical phrases which I never expected to hear in that place.
"Quite recently a clergyman, who was fulfilling a sick call, had to be taken in a coal cart and wound up through the bedroom window. The doctor also went by the same means."
Cllr. O’Brien complained of the state of the footpaths in Sutton Manor, which he said were getting into the same condition as at Moss Nook, adding: "Some of the people there were calling the place “Venice in St. Helens”."
Then Cllr. Jackson chipped into the conversation wondering how many miles of streets there were in St. Helens that were unflagged and unpaved.
In reply Ald. Bishop said there were a great number of such streets that had not been taken over by the Corporation and made up.
If they were to force their residents to put the necessary street improvements in hand, it would probably reduce many small owners "to a state of bankruptcy or beggary".
The meeting also discussed the controversial question of compulsory vaccination against smallpox.
During the 19th century, inoculation was mandatory for all children. However, in 1898 parents were allowed to apply to a magistrate for a certificate of conscientious objection that would exempt their child from being vaccinated.
The Council's Health Committee had passed a resolution calling on the Government to revoke the exemption from vaccination.
However, some members of the Town Council objected and wanted the resolution struck from the minutes.
Ald. Henry Bates, the Chairman of the Health Committee and himself a doctor, explained that since exemptions had been brought in, smallpox had steadily spread throughout the country.
He said they had got into a "very serious state" in St Helens with 10% of the people unvaccinated. "If we have an outbreak of smallpox, it will be God help us", he warned.
Dr Bates added that only those who had had an opportunity of seeing the ravages of smallpox would appreciate the dangers, declaring: "We must protect the community".
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 5th and described the recent holding of New Year's Day breakfasts for poor children.
The annual event had been organised since 1877 by the estate agent Sir Joseph Bethell Leach until his death in 1917 and then Joseph's son Wilfred Leach took over.
In some years as many as 7,000 poor kids – a number in bare feet – were treated to food and amusements but on the first day of 1923 those fed and entertained totalled 3,000.
The children were accommodated at ten centres in the town. These were mainly schools such as St Anne's in Sutton, St Austin's in Thatto Heath and Sacred Heart in Borough Road.
However, the centres also included the Catholic Temperance League Hall in Lord Street and the Salvation Army Hall in Milk Street (now the Citadel).
At each place 15 to 20 volunteers helped to look after the children and Ald. Peter Phythian, the Mayor of St Helens, accompanied by the Mayoress, visited them all.
The Reporter also described a New Year's Ball that had taken place in Rainford:
"On the evening of New Year's Day the scene at the Village Hall was a merry one as the assembly whirled and twirled to the lovely music of Mr. Sam Pye's Band, which rendered all the latest dance pieces."
Whitehouse's store in Westfield Street had joined the small number of places in St Helens that were selling radio sets, now that a BBC station had begun broadcasting from Manchester. Their ad in the paper said:
"Buy your New Year gifts at the above address and listen to a wireless concert at the same time."
Some people did then buy New Year presents for family and friends, although by January 5th one might have thought they would have already bought them.
Still, Lockhart's ladies hairdresser of 14 George Street had this advert in the Reporter:
"DON'T BE STODGY! When selecting your Presents for your Lady Friends – give them something that will not merely please, but prove of constant value to them.
"For instance… Ladies' Hair Slides, Dainty Bottles of High-Class Perfume, Manicure Sets, Hair Creams, Hair Brushes, etc."
Thomas Dolan was a haulage contractor and coal dealer from Lowe Street in St Helens who had gone into bankruptcy.
But he had tried to disguise some of his assets, including two motor wagons and a warehouse.
Dolan had even done a bogus deal with Edward Henry from New Cross Street in which he supposedly had sold the man his vehicles and then hired them back.
Such cheating was treated seriously and on the 5th the St Helens magistrates sentenced Dolan to three months in prison in the second division.
This was a class of prisoner who were granted certain privileges. These included being allowed to wear clothes of a different colour to the standard prison issue and being able to receive more frequent visits and letters than other prisoners.
Coal stealing from railway sidings and colliery waste heaps increased during times of high unemployment and poverty and could become a communal activity.
When two women and a boy appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 5th charged with taking coal from Sherdley Colliery in Peasley Cross, the police stated that numerous others had been with them.
They had all fled once the two officers appeared on the scene leaving their bags of coal behind.
The police said they had counted 33 bags that were nearly all full that had been discarded in the scramble to get away.
The three slow coaches that the police had nabbed were each fined between 5 shillings and 10 shillings.
St Helens had a number of flying clubs that did not involve planes taking off and landing on some field in the town.
Aeroplanes were still a recent invention and pigeons had being flying a lot longer – and were a lot cheaper to run and safer!
Michael McHale was an official of the South Eccleston Short Distance Flying Club but had got himself into a right mess with members' money.
The 31-year-old from Bridgewater Street – which used to be in the town centre near Liverpool Road – appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 6th.
McHale was charged with embezzling £2 16 shillings, although the total amount owed was believed to be about £4 6 shillings.
The Sutton Manor Colliery miner received subscriptions from flying club members but said some had borrowed money from him. As a result things had got "into a muddle", as he put it.
McHale's books had been taken from him and so he said he was unable to sort things out.
The magistrates decided that he had to repay 4 guineas to the club and he was also fined £5 or, alternatively, serve 28 days in prison.
At that point, McHale's wife, Gertrude, shouted "Do it, Mick". To which he replied: "Yes, I will go down for it".
These were hard times and it was clearly preferable to serve a month in prison than have to find nearly £10.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the ex-soldier's suicide in Eccleston Mill Dam, the boys that raided sweet shops, the abusive Westfield Street tobacconist and the Crank man too poor to make his own fireguard whose child burned to death.