IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (2nd - 8th MAY 1922)
This week's many stories include the bizarre experiment on a captive rat, the financial embarrassment of Providence Hospital, the reckless driving of a horse and cart outside the YMCA, the strange street betting claims in College Street and the "heinous crime" committed at Thatto Heath railway station.
We begin on the 4th when the annual meeting of Providence Hospital (pictured above) was held in which the chairman said the institution was suffering from "financial embarrassment". That was blamed on a combination of a depression in trade and "the most disastrous strike this country has ever seen". Edward Hollingsworth was referring to the 3-month-long coal strike from last year. Providence was dependent on contributions from workers and donations, both of which had been greatly affected by the economic crisis. "Industrial stagnation to an extent probably never experienced before, and certainly not anticipated by anyone", was how Hollingsworth described the present situation.
The Daily Herald published an extraordinary story on the 5th about the general manager of the St Helens Cable and Rubber Company who had been prosecuted for starving a captive rat. J. H. Brooking claimed to have received complaints that rats gnawed at their cables. So he'd set up an experiment giving a rat in a cage some water but nothing to eat, except a small piece of bread – which the rodent was said to have eaten ravenously. Inside the cage were pieces of rubber sheathing smeared with aniseed oil, which the rat did not touch and after three days it died of starvation.
The firm then advertised in a trade paper the merits of its rubber sheathing for cables. Their rodent experiment was described in detail and even included an illustration, with the company declaring its cable covering impervious to rats. Brooking's act was considered cruel by the court and he was fined £5 and ordered to pay the RSPCA – who had brought the prosecution – 2 guineas towards their costs. The St Helens Cable and Rubber Company was actually based in Warrington – but it was too bizarre a story not to include in this week's article!
Dr Thomas Best was in fighting mood in St Helens Police Court on the 5th. Not literally, but the analytical chemist from Laurel Road was clearly furious that the railway company had brought a prosecution against his son Charles. The "heinous crime" – as Dr Best sarcastically called it – was travelling on the footboard of a railway carriage at Thatto Heath station. The 23-year-old had left his compartment to talk to a passenger in the next carriage.
When the train began to move, he jumped onto the footboard outside the train and remained there for a time disobeying instructions from the stationmaster. His father did not help his case when he declared to the magistrates: "I don't know why the railway company should take the case up in such a manner. The only thing I can think is that the railway company have a presumptive right of keeping everybody alive so that they can make a dividend out of them." Dr Best was effectively conceding that his son had broken the railway's safety regulations and Charles Best was fined 20 shillings.
There were three aspects of another case heard in St Helens Police Court this week that don't occur these days. 1) Folk no longer drive horses and carts recklessly (or at all) through St Helens town centre. 2) The police don't perform point duty any more. 3) There are no tramlines on the street. All these aspects came into play at 5pm one afternoon when PC Graham was directing traffic by the St Helens YMCA, at the junction of Duke Street, Baldwin Street and North Road.
Jesse Blease was accused of driving his horse-drawn vehicle so recklessly down Baldwin Street at a speed as fast as 10 mph that it skidded five yards over the tramlines and it came close to upsetting the constable. And Jesse from Vincent Street was not a young man. "I'm seventy-five come next month", he proudly told the Bench. Upon hearing PC Graham tell the court it was fortunate no traffic had been approaching from Corporation Street, Jesse said: "It's all right, there are no bones broken." The Chairman said the Bench did not like to see a man of 75 years in such a position and the charge would be dismissed upon payment of costs.
The Liverpool Echo described on the 8th that the St Helens MP, James Sexton (pictured above), had complained to a meeting of Labour party supporters in the town that workers took too much interest in sport and insufficient interest in politics. That apathy, he said, was allowing extremists, though comparatively few in number, to wield considerable power. Sexton was a moderate and would often be heckled by Communists at meetings unhappy that his position on many issues was not sufficiently radical.
Also on the 8th, there was a row in St Helens Police Court between a rather stroppy female witness and the clerk to the court. This is how the Shields Daily News reported it: "In a case at St. Helens yesterday, in which John Egan was charged with unlawful wounding, subsequently reduced to assault, the complainant, Robert Metcalf said Egan came to his stall in the market on Saturday afternoon and without provocation struck him four times in the face. Miss Metcalf was called as witness and the justices' clerk asked what her full name was. Witness: I don't think I need to give my name. The Clerk: Now don't be stupid.
"Witness: I am not stupid and don't you dare to say I am stupid. If the market was under protection men like this would not be allowed to get about. Where was the uniformed man? The Chairman: Let her go. Witness: Yes, I will go, but I shall want compensation for the overall they have torn. Sergeant White said the previous witness made a statement, which she signed, to the effect she was standing at the door of her mother's stall when she saw the prisoner wrestling with her father. Prisoner was fined 40s. or 28 days."
Beechams had for some time been advertising the merits of regularly taking their pills to ward off illness, as opposed to simply treating poor health. That would, of course, mean more income for the Westfield Street firm in St Helens. On the 8th Beechams had this advert published in the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette:
"Take care to check the beginnings of ill health. Digestive ailments often seem almost negligible at first, and many people make the mistake of disregarding them. Yet a large proportion of very serious illness is due, primarily, to derangements of the digestive system. If you are wise, you will nip such ailments in the bud. The sensible use of this popular Medicine from time to time will purify the blood, brace the nerves, give tone to the whole system and keep you in really good health and condition."
The police campaign against what the St Helens Reporter regularly called the "evil" of street betting led to another prosecution on the 8th. Last week George Parr had been heavily fined in St Helens Police Court after taking bets on the corner of College Street and Cowley Street. The police had found betting slips on his person but no cash. That was because Stanley Millett had been removing the money that Parr had collected and, presumably, taking it to the bookmaker in charge of the illegal operation.
The police had been on surveillance duty and observed the two together – but Millett had left the scene when they undertook a raid. Despite the evidence of money being passed between the pair and Millett standing with Parr for as long as thirty minutes, a vehement denial of the charge of aiding and abetting street betting was made. Millett from College Street insisted that he was only standing about on the street and had never received any cash from George Parr.
The latter was in court as a defence witness and backed up Millett's statement. Although his claim that he had no cash on his person when arrested because the men that had handed him betting slips were allowed credit was hard to believe. Despite that, the magistrates decided to give Millett the benefit of the doubt and cleared him, as he had three other witnesses who supported his dubious claim.
When the police superintendent asked one of the witnesses if much betting went on in Gerards Bridge, he caused laughter in the court by replying: "That is up to you people to find out". The cat and mouse game between the police and the betting fraternity would continue…
Next week's stories will include the Tiller Children at the Hippodrome, the pedlar girl thief who lived in a caravan at Sutton Moss, the measles deaths in St Helens, the largesse of the Reporter Man and a particularly sad Sutton Manor Colliery death.
The Daily Herald published an extraordinary story on the 5th about the general manager of the St Helens Cable and Rubber Company who had been prosecuted for starving a captive rat. J. H. Brooking claimed to have received complaints that rats gnawed at their cables. So he'd set up an experiment giving a rat in a cage some water but nothing to eat, except a small piece of bread – which the rodent was said to have eaten ravenously. Inside the cage were pieces of rubber sheathing smeared with aniseed oil, which the rat did not touch and after three days it died of starvation.
The firm then advertised in a trade paper the merits of its rubber sheathing for cables. Their rodent experiment was described in detail and even included an illustration, with the company declaring its cable covering impervious to rats. Brooking's act was considered cruel by the court and he was fined £5 and ordered to pay the RSPCA – who had brought the prosecution – 2 guineas towards their costs. The St Helens Cable and Rubber Company was actually based in Warrington – but it was too bizarre a story not to include in this week's article!
Dr Thomas Best was in fighting mood in St Helens Police Court on the 5th. Not literally, but the analytical chemist from Laurel Road was clearly furious that the railway company had brought a prosecution against his son Charles. The "heinous crime" – as Dr Best sarcastically called it – was travelling on the footboard of a railway carriage at Thatto Heath station. The 23-year-old had left his compartment to talk to a passenger in the next carriage.
When the train began to move, he jumped onto the footboard outside the train and remained there for a time disobeying instructions from the stationmaster. His father did not help his case when he declared to the magistrates: "I don't know why the railway company should take the case up in such a manner. The only thing I can think is that the railway company have a presumptive right of keeping everybody alive so that they can make a dividend out of them." Dr Best was effectively conceding that his son had broken the railway's safety regulations and Charles Best was fined 20 shillings.
There were three aspects of another case heard in St Helens Police Court this week that don't occur these days. 1) Folk no longer drive horses and carts recklessly (or at all) through St Helens town centre. 2) The police don't perform point duty any more. 3) There are no tramlines on the street. All these aspects came into play at 5pm one afternoon when PC Graham was directing traffic by the St Helens YMCA, at the junction of Duke Street, Baldwin Street and North Road.
Jesse Blease was accused of driving his horse-drawn vehicle so recklessly down Baldwin Street at a speed as fast as 10 mph that it skidded five yards over the tramlines and it came close to upsetting the constable. And Jesse from Vincent Street was not a young man. "I'm seventy-five come next month", he proudly told the Bench. Upon hearing PC Graham tell the court it was fortunate no traffic had been approaching from Corporation Street, Jesse said: "It's all right, there are no bones broken." The Chairman said the Bench did not like to see a man of 75 years in such a position and the charge would be dismissed upon payment of costs.
Also on the 8th, there was a row in St Helens Police Court between a rather stroppy female witness and the clerk to the court. This is how the Shields Daily News reported it: "In a case at St. Helens yesterday, in which John Egan was charged with unlawful wounding, subsequently reduced to assault, the complainant, Robert Metcalf said Egan came to his stall in the market on Saturday afternoon and without provocation struck him four times in the face. Miss Metcalf was called as witness and the justices' clerk asked what her full name was. Witness: I don't think I need to give my name. The Clerk: Now don't be stupid.
"Witness: I am not stupid and don't you dare to say I am stupid. If the market was under protection men like this would not be allowed to get about. Where was the uniformed man? The Chairman: Let her go. Witness: Yes, I will go, but I shall want compensation for the overall they have torn. Sergeant White said the previous witness made a statement, which she signed, to the effect she was standing at the door of her mother's stall when she saw the prisoner wrestling with her father. Prisoner was fined 40s. or 28 days."
Beechams had for some time been advertising the merits of regularly taking their pills to ward off illness, as opposed to simply treating poor health. That would, of course, mean more income for the Westfield Street firm in St Helens. On the 8th Beechams had this advert published in the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette:
"Take care to check the beginnings of ill health. Digestive ailments often seem almost negligible at first, and many people make the mistake of disregarding them. Yet a large proportion of very serious illness is due, primarily, to derangements of the digestive system. If you are wise, you will nip such ailments in the bud. The sensible use of this popular Medicine from time to time will purify the blood, brace the nerves, give tone to the whole system and keep you in really good health and condition."
The police campaign against what the St Helens Reporter regularly called the "evil" of street betting led to another prosecution on the 8th. Last week George Parr had been heavily fined in St Helens Police Court after taking bets on the corner of College Street and Cowley Street. The police had found betting slips on his person but no cash. That was because Stanley Millett had been removing the money that Parr had collected and, presumably, taking it to the bookmaker in charge of the illegal operation.
The police had been on surveillance duty and observed the two together – but Millett had left the scene when they undertook a raid. Despite the evidence of money being passed between the pair and Millett standing with Parr for as long as thirty minutes, a vehement denial of the charge of aiding and abetting street betting was made. Millett from College Street insisted that he was only standing about on the street and had never received any cash from George Parr.
The latter was in court as a defence witness and backed up Millett's statement. Although his claim that he had no cash on his person when arrested because the men that had handed him betting slips were allowed credit was hard to believe. Despite that, the magistrates decided to give Millett the benefit of the doubt and cleared him, as he had three other witnesses who supported his dubious claim.
When the police superintendent asked one of the witnesses if much betting went on in Gerards Bridge, he caused laughter in the court by replying: "That is up to you people to find out". The cat and mouse game between the police and the betting fraternity would continue…
Next week's stories will include the Tiller Children at the Hippodrome, the pedlar girl thief who lived in a caravan at Sutton Moss, the measles deaths in St Helens, the largesse of the Reporter Man and a particularly sad Sutton Manor Colliery death.
This week's many stories include the bizarre experiment on a captive rat, the financial embarrassment of Providence Hospital, the reckless driving of a horse and cart outside the YMCA, the strange street betting claims in College Street and the "heinous crime" committed at Thatto Heath railway station.
We begin on the 4th when the annual meeting of Providence Hospital (pictured above) was held in which the chairman said the institution was suffering from "financial embarrassment".
That was blamed on a combination of a depression in trade and "the most disastrous strike this country has ever seen".
Edward Hollingsworth was referring to the 3-month-long coal strike from last year. Providence was dependent on contributions from workers and donations, both of which had been greatly affected by the economic crisis.
"Industrial stagnation to an extent probably never experienced before, and certainly not anticipated by anyone", was how Hollingsworth described the present situation.
The Daily Herald published an extraordinary story on the 5th about the general manager of the St Helens Cable and Rubber Company who had been prosecuted for starving a captive rat.
J. H. Brooking claimed to have received complaints that rats gnawed at their cables.
So he'd set up an experiment giving a rat in a cage some water but nothing to eat, except a small piece of bread – which the rodent was said to have eaten ravenously.
Inside the cage were pieces of rubber sheathing smeared with aniseed oil, which the rat did not touch and after three days it died of starvation.
The firm then advertised in a trade paper the merits of its rubber sheathing for cables.
Their rodent experiment was described in detail and even included an illustration, with the company declaring its cable covering impervious to rats.
Brooking's act was considered cruel by the court and he was fined £5 and ordered to pay the RSPCA – who had brought the prosecution – 2 guineas towards their costs.
The St Helens Cable and Rubber Company was actually based in Warrington – but it was too bizarre a story not to include in this week's article!
Dr Thomas Best was in fighting mood in St Helens Police Court on the 5th. Not literally, but the analytical chemist from Laurel Road was clearly furious that the railway company had brought a prosecution against his son Charles.
The "heinous crime" – as Dr Best sarcastically called it – was travelling on the footboard of a railway carriage at Thatto Heath station.
The 23-year-old had left his compartment to talk to a passenger in the next carriage. When the train began to move, he jumped onto the footboard outside the train and remained there for a time disobeying instructions from the stationmaster.
His father did not help his case when he declared to the magistrates:
"I don't know why the railway company should take the case up in such a manner. The only thing I can think is that the railway company have a presumptive right of keeping everybody alive so that they can make a dividend out of them."
Dr Best was effectively conceding that his son had broken the railway's safety regulations and Charles Best was fined 20 shillings.
There were three aspects of another case heard in St Helens Police Court this week that don't occur these days.
1) Folk no longer drive horses and carts recklessly (or at all) through St Helens town centre.
2) The police don't perform point duty any more.
3) There are no tramlines on the street.
All these aspects came into play at 5pm one afternoon when PC Graham was directing traffic by the St Helens YMCA, at the junction of Duke Street, Baldwin Street and North Road.
Jesse Blease was accused of driving his horse-drawn vehicle so recklessly down Baldwin Street at a speed as fast as 10 mph that it skidded five yards over the tramlines and it came close to upsetting the constable.
And Jesse from Vincent Street was not a young man. "I'm seventy-five come next month", he proudly told the Bench.
Upon hearing PC Graham tell the court it was fortunate no traffic had been approaching from Corporation Street, Jesse said: "It's all right, there are no bones broken."
The Chairman said the Bench did not like to see a man of 75 years in such a position and the charge would be dismissed upon payment of costs.
The Liverpool Echo described on the 8th that the St Helens MP, James Sexton (pictured above), had complained to a meeting of Labour party supporters in the town that workers took too much interest in sport and insufficient interest in politics.
That apathy, he said, was allowing extremists, though comparatively few in number, to wield considerable power.
Sexton was a moderate and would often be heckled by Communists at meetings unhappy that his position on many issues was not sufficiently radical.
Also on the 8th, there was a row in St Helens Police Court between a rather stroppy female witness and the clerk to the court. This is how the Shields Daily News reported it:
"In a case at St. Helens yesterday, in which John Egan was charged with unlawful wounding, subsequently reduced to assault, the complainant, Robert Metcalf said Egan came to his stall in the market on Saturday afternoon and without provocation struck him four times in the face.
"Miss Metcalf was called as witness and the justices' clerk asked what her full name was.
"Witness: I don't think I need to give my name. The Clerk: Now don't be stupid.
"Witness: I am not stupid and don't you dare to say I am stupid. If the market was under protection men like this would not be allowed to get about. Where was the uniformed man?
"The Chairman: Let her go. Witness: Yes, I will go, but I shall want compensation for the overall they have torn.
"Sergeant White said the previous witness made a statement, which she signed, to the effect she was standing at the door of her mother's stall when she saw the prisoner wrestling with her father. Prisoner was fined 40s. or 28 days."
Beechams had for some time been advertising the merits of regularly taking their pills to ward off illness, as opposed to simply treating poor health.
That would, of course, mean more income for the Westfield Street firm in St Helens.
On the 8th Beechams had this advert published in the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette:
"Take care to check the beginnings of ill health. Digestive ailments often seem almost negligible at first, and many people make the mistake of disregarding them.
"Yet a large proportion of very serious illness is due, primarily, to derangements of the digestive system. If you are wise, you will nip such ailments in the bud.
"The sensible use of this popular Medicine from time to time will purify the blood, brace the nerves, give tone to the whole system and keep you in really good health and condition."
The police campaign against what the St Helens Reporter regularly called the "evil" of street betting led to another prosecution on the 8th.
Last week George Parr had been heavily fined in St Helens Police Court after taking bets on the corner of College Street and Cowley Street.
The police had found betting slips on his person but no cash. That was because Stanley Millett had been removing the money that Parr had collected and, presumably, taking it to the bookmaker in charge of the illegal operation.
The police had been on surveillance duty and observed the two together – but Millett had left the scene when they undertook a raid.
Despite the evidence of money being passed between the pair and Millett standing with Parr for as long as thirty minutes, a vehement denial of the charge of aiding and abetting street betting was made.
Millett from College Street insisted that he was only standing about on the street and had never received any cash from George Parr.
The latter was in court as a defence witness and backed up Millett's statement. Although his claim that he had no cash on his person when arrested because the men that had handed him betting slips were allowed credit was hard to believe.
Despite that, the magistrates decided to give Millett the benefit of the doubt and cleared him, as he had three other witnesses who supported his dubious claim.
When the police superintendent asked one of the witnesses if much betting went on in Gerards Bridge, he caused laughter in the court by replying: "That is up to you people to find out".
The cat and mouse game between the police and the betting fraternity would continue…
Next week's stories will include the Tiller Children at the Hippodrome, the pedlar girl thief who lived in a caravan at Sutton Moss, the measles deaths in St Helens, the largesse of the Reporter Man and a particularly sad Sutton Manor Colliery death.
That was blamed on a combination of a depression in trade and "the most disastrous strike this country has ever seen".
Edward Hollingsworth was referring to the 3-month-long coal strike from last year. Providence was dependent on contributions from workers and donations, both of which had been greatly affected by the economic crisis.
"Industrial stagnation to an extent probably never experienced before, and certainly not anticipated by anyone", was how Hollingsworth described the present situation.
The Daily Herald published an extraordinary story on the 5th about the general manager of the St Helens Cable and Rubber Company who had been prosecuted for starving a captive rat.
J. H. Brooking claimed to have received complaints that rats gnawed at their cables.
So he'd set up an experiment giving a rat in a cage some water but nothing to eat, except a small piece of bread – which the rodent was said to have eaten ravenously.
Inside the cage were pieces of rubber sheathing smeared with aniseed oil, which the rat did not touch and after three days it died of starvation.
The firm then advertised in a trade paper the merits of its rubber sheathing for cables.
Their rodent experiment was described in detail and even included an illustration, with the company declaring its cable covering impervious to rats.
Brooking's act was considered cruel by the court and he was fined £5 and ordered to pay the RSPCA – who had brought the prosecution – 2 guineas towards their costs.
The St Helens Cable and Rubber Company was actually based in Warrington – but it was too bizarre a story not to include in this week's article!
Dr Thomas Best was in fighting mood in St Helens Police Court on the 5th. Not literally, but the analytical chemist from Laurel Road was clearly furious that the railway company had brought a prosecution against his son Charles.
The "heinous crime" – as Dr Best sarcastically called it – was travelling on the footboard of a railway carriage at Thatto Heath station.
The 23-year-old had left his compartment to talk to a passenger in the next carriage. When the train began to move, he jumped onto the footboard outside the train and remained there for a time disobeying instructions from the stationmaster.
His father did not help his case when he declared to the magistrates:
"I don't know why the railway company should take the case up in such a manner. The only thing I can think is that the railway company have a presumptive right of keeping everybody alive so that they can make a dividend out of them."
Dr Best was effectively conceding that his son had broken the railway's safety regulations and Charles Best was fined 20 shillings.
There were three aspects of another case heard in St Helens Police Court this week that don't occur these days.
1) Folk no longer drive horses and carts recklessly (or at all) through St Helens town centre.
2) The police don't perform point duty any more.
3) There are no tramlines on the street.
All these aspects came into play at 5pm one afternoon when PC Graham was directing traffic by the St Helens YMCA, at the junction of Duke Street, Baldwin Street and North Road.
Jesse Blease was accused of driving his horse-drawn vehicle so recklessly down Baldwin Street at a speed as fast as 10 mph that it skidded five yards over the tramlines and it came close to upsetting the constable.
And Jesse from Vincent Street was not a young man. "I'm seventy-five come next month", he proudly told the Bench.
Upon hearing PC Graham tell the court it was fortunate no traffic had been approaching from Corporation Street, Jesse said: "It's all right, there are no bones broken."
The Chairman said the Bench did not like to see a man of 75 years in such a position and the charge would be dismissed upon payment of costs.
That apathy, he said, was allowing extremists, though comparatively few in number, to wield considerable power.
Sexton was a moderate and would often be heckled by Communists at meetings unhappy that his position on many issues was not sufficiently radical.
Also on the 8th, there was a row in St Helens Police Court between a rather stroppy female witness and the clerk to the court. This is how the Shields Daily News reported it:
"In a case at St. Helens yesterday, in which John Egan was charged with unlawful wounding, subsequently reduced to assault, the complainant, Robert Metcalf said Egan came to his stall in the market on Saturday afternoon and without provocation struck him four times in the face.
"Miss Metcalf was called as witness and the justices' clerk asked what her full name was.
"Witness: I don't think I need to give my name. The Clerk: Now don't be stupid.
"Witness: I am not stupid and don't you dare to say I am stupid. If the market was under protection men like this would not be allowed to get about. Where was the uniformed man?
"The Chairman: Let her go. Witness: Yes, I will go, but I shall want compensation for the overall they have torn.
"Sergeant White said the previous witness made a statement, which she signed, to the effect she was standing at the door of her mother's stall when she saw the prisoner wrestling with her father. Prisoner was fined 40s. or 28 days."
Beechams had for some time been advertising the merits of regularly taking their pills to ward off illness, as opposed to simply treating poor health.
That would, of course, mean more income for the Westfield Street firm in St Helens.
On the 8th Beechams had this advert published in the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette:
"Take care to check the beginnings of ill health. Digestive ailments often seem almost negligible at first, and many people make the mistake of disregarding them.
"Yet a large proportion of very serious illness is due, primarily, to derangements of the digestive system. If you are wise, you will nip such ailments in the bud.
"The sensible use of this popular Medicine from time to time will purify the blood, brace the nerves, give tone to the whole system and keep you in really good health and condition."
The police campaign against what the St Helens Reporter regularly called the "evil" of street betting led to another prosecution on the 8th.
Last week George Parr had been heavily fined in St Helens Police Court after taking bets on the corner of College Street and Cowley Street.
The police had found betting slips on his person but no cash. That was because Stanley Millett had been removing the money that Parr had collected and, presumably, taking it to the bookmaker in charge of the illegal operation.
The police had been on surveillance duty and observed the two together – but Millett had left the scene when they undertook a raid.
Despite the evidence of money being passed between the pair and Millett standing with Parr for as long as thirty minutes, a vehement denial of the charge of aiding and abetting street betting was made.
Millett from College Street insisted that he was only standing about on the street and had never received any cash from George Parr.
The latter was in court as a defence witness and backed up Millett's statement. Although his claim that he had no cash on his person when arrested because the men that had handed him betting slips were allowed credit was hard to believe.
Despite that, the magistrates decided to give Millett the benefit of the doubt and cleared him, as he had three other witnesses who supported his dubious claim.
When the police superintendent asked one of the witnesses if much betting went on in Gerards Bridge, he caused laughter in the court by replying: "That is up to you people to find out".
The cat and mouse game between the police and the betting fraternity would continue…
Next week's stories will include the Tiller Children at the Hippodrome, the pedlar girl thief who lived in a caravan at Sutton Moss, the measles deaths in St Helens, the largesse of the Reporter Man and a particularly sad Sutton Manor Colliery death.