IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (7 - 13 AUGUST 1923)
This week's many stories include the St Helens shop-breaker that literally went on the run, the Westfield Street separation case that resulted in an attempted suicide, the crippled children's outing to Southport, the claim of manslaughter in a chip shop that caused a punch up, another car parking conumdrum and a church minister's controversial comments on Sunday sport.
We begin with the drunken behaviour of James Cunliffe of Crispin Street, off Borough Road, who had enjoyed himself far too much during last week's August Bank Holiday. Cunliffe appeared in court on the 7th after initially quarrelling with his wife. He then became disorderly in the street and finally he assaulted PC Dillon. The constable described how a large crowd had gathered at 10.10pm to watch Cunliffe's activities and the man became so violent that he needed the assistance of three other officers to get him to the station. Cunliffe was fined 20 shillings.
Patrick Kelly of Carter Street in St Helens was also in the Police Court on the 7th where he pleaded guilty to taking bets on the street. There was a limit as to how long such persons could stand around at the same location receiving betting slips and cash without attracting the attention of the police or being reported by residents. A constable told the court that when charged the man had said: "I knew it would have to come soon".
Despite its reputation as the archetypal dirty town, the St Helens air was getting better. On the 8th the Liverpool Echo wrote: "In a comparative table showing the total solids collected in soot and dust gauges in ten towns and cities during the year 1921-22, Liverpool heads the list. This is an honour about which there will be no boasting. Even St. Helens can point the finger of scorn at Liverpool."
On the 8th John Burke returned to St Helens Police Court to face charges of being involved in eighteen cases of shop-breaking. Supt. Dunn told the court that during 1922 there had been numerous break-ins at various St Helens shops. Last November Corrins' pawnbrokers in Duke Street had been broken into and many watches stolen. Joseph Townsend, who lodged in Howards Lane in Eccleston, was arrested while attempting to pawn some of the timepieces and had since appeared in court.
However, his accomplice, John Burke, literally went on the run when police went to his home in Sidney Street (off Rivington Road). Despite being pursued on foot by Detective Arthur Cust – who was considered one of the best sprinters in the force – the 20-year-old had shot off towards Dentons Green and was not seen again until he was arrested last week in Winchester. Burke has previously been sent to Borstal for breaking into schools and homes in St Helens and was committed for trial.
In October 1921 James Pollock Bagley had appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with assaulting and beating Florence Barnaby. The 47-year-old Bagley then worked in his wife Sarah's tobacconist's shop in Westfield Street (shown above) that her niece Florence partly owned – and the 1911 census shows the two females living together over the shop. The trouble began some time later when Sarah married Bagley and her new husband moved in. Sarah complained that since their marriage James had continually beaten her, adding:
"I have been too ashamed to come to court, because it served me right for marrying such a man knowing what sort of a man he was." However, a string of attacks upon her niece had stung Sarah into action. Complaining to the Bench about her uncle's treatment of her, the 24-year-old Florence had said: "He has repeatedly assaulted me and made me black and blue". Her aunt Sarah also said that her husband was driving people away from their shop by using bad language. The magistrates bound him over for twelve months with a total of £20 in sureties having to be found.
On the 10th of this week James Bagley failed to appear in court to face a further summons of acting in a brutal manner to his wife. The case in reality was an application for a separation order complete with court enforceable maintenance payments. The man was now employed as a bottlemaker and his attendance in court was not absolutely necessary – it just meant the magistrates only heard his wife's side. The separation order was issued but hours later PC Cook was called to Bagley's Westfield Street home and found him unconscious inside a locked kitchen.
He was lying by a gas oven that had its door open and its gas turned on. The constable used artificial respiration to bring Bagley round and on the following day he appeared in court charged with attempting suicide and was remanded in custody for a week. Upon his return to court Bagley promised not to repeat the act and stay off the drink and was discharged. Maybe Bagley kept to his promise to go teetotal. In the wartime census known as the 1939 Register, the couple are shown as still living together over the Westfield Street tobacconist's shop.
The Reporter described on the 10th how the Rev. Harold Wilde had put the cat amongst the pigeons. The former curate at St Helens Parish Church was currently involved in what was described as missionary work in Egypt – but had returned to the town on furlough. Last Sunday at a morning church service and an afternoon Bible reading class, he had annoyed parishioners by expressing his views on the playing of Sunday sport.
Rev. Wilde told his audience that he had no objection to such games, provided they were conducted in a proper spirit and inspired by a desire for recreation that could not be sufficiently obtained during the week. Such activity, he insisted, would not bring the Sabbath into disrepute, and there would be no suggestion of the sanctity of Sunday being swallowed up by a desire to make the Sabbath like any other day. However, his thoughts did not go down well with some who felt it would be the thin end of the wedge if sport or games were allowed on Sundays.
The Reporter wrote that it had not been the first time that Rev. Wilde had courted controversy with his outspoken remarks and when he'd left the town to become a missionary, some of his congregation seemed glad to see the back of him. The paper said: "…his send off was memorable, and it may safely be said that no other minister of any denomination has ever had such a wonderful God speed on leaving St. Helens."
The Reporter carried an account of this year’s Crippled Children's Outing which had involved 106 youngsters being taken by a fleet of motor coaches to Southport. The Chief Constable of the seaside resort had given the party special permission to unload on Marine Drive, so that the children would not have to walk or be pushed too far. The Reporter wrote: "They played about happily until 3.30, when they were conveyed by miniature railway to the pleasure ground, where tea was provided. After having cleared the tables, each child was given sixpence to spend on the fair. All voted the day one of the best."
The Reporter also described a curious row between two men near North John Street in St Helens. PC Marshall said William Higgins of Eldon Street had approached him on the street claiming that John Harrison of Silkstone Street had struck him in a chip shop and knocked out one of his teeth. Both men then caused such a disturbance that they had to be arrested and on the journey to the police station Higgins called Harrison a "manslaughterer" and murderer.
Harrison claimed that he had been hit first and explained that the dispute was because in 1922 he had faced a charge of manslaughter in Liverpool Assizes. That was after he had been accused of attacking a man in Eccleston Street in St Helens – but the judge had dismissed the case. Both Higgins and Harrison were bound over.
Thomas Morton was described as a traveller when the salesman appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obstructing the highway with a motor car. It was another case when a person coming into St Helens had parked their vehicle on the side of the road while visiting local shops. That was against the law – at least in St Helens. There were no yellow lines or notices posted prohibiting car parking. The regulation applied to all St Helens' streets and the police did not have to prove any actual obstruction. Simply parking your car on the road was enough to become a lawbreaker.
A constable told the court that he had seen the defendant's vehicle at the old market place and Church Street corner and he had been forced to wait 35 minutes before the driver returned. Mr Morton said he had been coming to St Helens and leaving his car at that particular place for some years and they should have warned him about the regulation. That was a regular complaint, but he was still fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a haemophiliac boy from Charles Street, new sanctions on hand-outs for unemployed men, the dog that chased cars in Liverpool Road and the inaugural Sutton Manor Colliery Institute's Sports Festival.
We begin with the drunken behaviour of James Cunliffe of Crispin Street, off Borough Road, who had enjoyed himself far too much during last week's August Bank Holiday. Cunliffe appeared in court on the 7th after initially quarrelling with his wife. He then became disorderly in the street and finally he assaulted PC Dillon. The constable described how a large crowd had gathered at 10.10pm to watch Cunliffe's activities and the man became so violent that he needed the assistance of three other officers to get him to the station. Cunliffe was fined 20 shillings.
Patrick Kelly of Carter Street in St Helens was also in the Police Court on the 7th where he pleaded guilty to taking bets on the street. There was a limit as to how long such persons could stand around at the same location receiving betting slips and cash without attracting the attention of the police or being reported by residents. A constable told the court that when charged the man had said: "I knew it would have to come soon".
Despite its reputation as the archetypal dirty town, the St Helens air was getting better. On the 8th the Liverpool Echo wrote: "In a comparative table showing the total solids collected in soot and dust gauges in ten towns and cities during the year 1921-22, Liverpool heads the list. This is an honour about which there will be no boasting. Even St. Helens can point the finger of scorn at Liverpool."
On the 8th John Burke returned to St Helens Police Court to face charges of being involved in eighteen cases of shop-breaking. Supt. Dunn told the court that during 1922 there had been numerous break-ins at various St Helens shops. Last November Corrins' pawnbrokers in Duke Street had been broken into and many watches stolen. Joseph Townsend, who lodged in Howards Lane in Eccleston, was arrested while attempting to pawn some of the timepieces and had since appeared in court.
However, his accomplice, John Burke, literally went on the run when police went to his home in Sidney Street (off Rivington Road). Despite being pursued on foot by Detective Arthur Cust – who was considered one of the best sprinters in the force – the 20-year-old had shot off towards Dentons Green and was not seen again until he was arrested last week in Winchester. Burke has previously been sent to Borstal for breaking into schools and homes in St Helens and was committed for trial.
"I have been too ashamed to come to court, because it served me right for marrying such a man knowing what sort of a man he was." However, a string of attacks upon her niece had stung Sarah into action. Complaining to the Bench about her uncle's treatment of her, the 24-year-old Florence had said: "He has repeatedly assaulted me and made me black and blue". Her aunt Sarah also said that her husband was driving people away from their shop by using bad language. The magistrates bound him over for twelve months with a total of £20 in sureties having to be found.
On the 10th of this week James Bagley failed to appear in court to face a further summons of acting in a brutal manner to his wife. The case in reality was an application for a separation order complete with court enforceable maintenance payments. The man was now employed as a bottlemaker and his attendance in court was not absolutely necessary – it just meant the magistrates only heard his wife's side. The separation order was issued but hours later PC Cook was called to Bagley's Westfield Street home and found him unconscious inside a locked kitchen.
He was lying by a gas oven that had its door open and its gas turned on. The constable used artificial respiration to bring Bagley round and on the following day he appeared in court charged with attempting suicide and was remanded in custody for a week. Upon his return to court Bagley promised not to repeat the act and stay off the drink and was discharged. Maybe Bagley kept to his promise to go teetotal. In the wartime census known as the 1939 Register, the couple are shown as still living together over the Westfield Street tobacconist's shop.
The Reporter described on the 10th how the Rev. Harold Wilde had put the cat amongst the pigeons. The former curate at St Helens Parish Church was currently involved in what was described as missionary work in Egypt – but had returned to the town on furlough. Last Sunday at a morning church service and an afternoon Bible reading class, he had annoyed parishioners by expressing his views on the playing of Sunday sport.
Rev. Wilde told his audience that he had no objection to such games, provided they were conducted in a proper spirit and inspired by a desire for recreation that could not be sufficiently obtained during the week. Such activity, he insisted, would not bring the Sabbath into disrepute, and there would be no suggestion of the sanctity of Sunday being swallowed up by a desire to make the Sabbath like any other day. However, his thoughts did not go down well with some who felt it would be the thin end of the wedge if sport or games were allowed on Sundays.
The Reporter wrote that it had not been the first time that Rev. Wilde had courted controversy with his outspoken remarks and when he'd left the town to become a missionary, some of his congregation seemed glad to see the back of him. The paper said: "…his send off was memorable, and it may safely be said that no other minister of any denomination has ever had such a wonderful God speed on leaving St. Helens."
The Reporter carried an account of this year’s Crippled Children's Outing which had involved 106 youngsters being taken by a fleet of motor coaches to Southport. The Chief Constable of the seaside resort had given the party special permission to unload on Marine Drive, so that the children would not have to walk or be pushed too far. The Reporter wrote: "They played about happily until 3.30, when they were conveyed by miniature railway to the pleasure ground, where tea was provided. After having cleared the tables, each child was given sixpence to spend on the fair. All voted the day one of the best."
The Reporter also described a curious row between two men near North John Street in St Helens. PC Marshall said William Higgins of Eldon Street had approached him on the street claiming that John Harrison of Silkstone Street had struck him in a chip shop and knocked out one of his teeth. Both men then caused such a disturbance that they had to be arrested and on the journey to the police station Higgins called Harrison a "manslaughterer" and murderer.
Harrison claimed that he had been hit first and explained that the dispute was because in 1922 he had faced a charge of manslaughter in Liverpool Assizes. That was after he had been accused of attacking a man in Eccleston Street in St Helens – but the judge had dismissed the case. Both Higgins and Harrison were bound over.
Thomas Morton was described as a traveller when the salesman appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obstructing the highway with a motor car. It was another case when a person coming into St Helens had parked their vehicle on the side of the road while visiting local shops. That was against the law – at least in St Helens. There were no yellow lines or notices posted prohibiting car parking. The regulation applied to all St Helens' streets and the police did not have to prove any actual obstruction. Simply parking your car on the road was enough to become a lawbreaker.
A constable told the court that he had seen the defendant's vehicle at the old market place and Church Street corner and he had been forced to wait 35 minutes before the driver returned. Mr Morton said he had been coming to St Helens and leaving his car at that particular place for some years and they should have warned him about the regulation. That was a regular complaint, but he was still fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a haemophiliac boy from Charles Street, new sanctions on hand-outs for unemployed men, the dog that chased cars in Liverpool Road and the inaugural Sutton Manor Colliery Institute's Sports Festival.
This week's many stories include the St Helens shop-breaker that literally went on the run, the Westfield Street separation case that resulted in an attempted suicide, the crippled children's outing to Southport, the claim of manslaughter in a chip shop that caused a punch up, another car parking conundrum and a church minister's controversial comments on Sunday sport.
We begin with the drunken behaviour of James Cunliffe of Crispin Street, off Borough Road, who had enjoyed himself far too much during last week's August Bank Holiday.
Cunliffe appeared in court on the 7th after initially quarrelling with his wife. He then became disorderly in the street and finally he assaulted PC Dillon.
The constable described how a large crowd had gathered at 10.10pm to watch Cunliffe's activities and the man became so violent that he needed the assistance of three other officers to get him to the station. Cunliffe was fined 20 shillings.
Patrick Kelly of Carter Street in St Helens was also in the Police Court on the 7th where he pleaded guilty to taking bets on the street.
There was a limit as to how long such persons could stand around at the same location receiving betting slips and cash without attracting the attention of the police or being reported by residents.
A constable told the court that when charged the man had said: "I knew it would have to come soon".
Despite its reputation as the archetypal dirty town, the St Helens air was getting better. On the 8th the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"In a comparative table showing the total solids collected in soot and dust gauges in ten towns and cities during the year 1921-22, Liverpool heads the list.
"This is an honour about which there will be no boasting. Even St. Helens can point the finger of scorn at Liverpool."
On the 8th John Burke returned to St Helens Police Court to face charges of being involved in eighteen cases of shop-breaking.
Supt. Dunn told the court that during 1922 there had been numerous break-ins at various St Helens shops.
Last November Corrins' pawnbrokers in Duke Street had been broken into and many watches stolen.
Joseph Townsend, who lodged in Howards Lane in Eccleston, was arrested while attempting to pawn some of the timepieces and had since appeared in court.
However, his accomplice, John Burke, literally went on the run when police went to his home in Sidney Street (off Rivington Road).
Despite being pursued on foot by Detective Arthur Cust – who was considered one of the best sprinters in the force – the 20-year-old had shot off towards Dentons Green and was not seen again until he was arrested last week in Winchester.
Burke has previously been sent to Borstal for breaking into schools and homes in St Helens and was committed for trial.
In October 1921 James Pollock Bagley had appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with assaulting and beating Florence Barnaby.
The 47-year-old Bagley then worked in his wife Sarah's tobacconist's shop in Westfield Street (shown above) that her niece Florence partly owned – and the 1911 census shows the two females living together over the shop.
The trouble began some time later when Sarah married Bagley and her new husband moved in.
Sarah complained that since their marriage James had continually beaten her, adding:
"I have been too ashamed to come to court, because it served me right for marrying such a man knowing what sort of a man he was."
However, a string of attacks upon her niece had stung Sarah into action. Complaining to the Bench about her uncle's treatment of her, the 24-year-old Florence had said: "He has repeatedly assaulted me and made me black and blue".
Her aunt Sarah also said that her husband was driving people away from their shop by using bad language.
The magistrates bound him over for twelve months with a total of £20 in sureties having to be found.
On the 10th of this week James Bagley failed to appear in court to face a further summons of acting in a brutal manner to his wife.
The case in reality was an application for a separation order complete with court enforceable maintenance payments.
The man was now employed as a bottlemaker and his attendance in court was not absolutely necessary – it just meant the magistrates only heard his wife's side.
The separation order was issued but hours later PC Cook was called to Bagley's Westfield Street home and found him unconscious inside a locked kitchen.
He was lying by a gas oven that had its door open and its gas turned on. The constable used artificial respiration to bring Bagley round and on the following day he appeared in court charged with attempting suicide and was remanded in custody for a week.
Upon his return to court Bagley promised not to repeat the act and stay off the drink and was discharged.
Maybe Bagley kept to his promise to go teetotal. In the wartime census known as the 1939 Register, the couple are shown as still living together over the Westfield Street tobacconist's shop.
The Reporter described on the 10th how the Rev. Harold Wilde had put the cat amongst the pigeons.
The former curate at St Helens Parish Church was currently involved in what was described as missionary work in Egypt – but had returned to the town on furlough.
Last Sunday at a morning church service and an afternoon Bible reading class, he had annoyed parishioners by expressing his views on the playing of Sunday sport.
Rev. Wilde told his audience that he had no objection to such games, provided they were conducted in a proper spirit and inspired by a desire for recreation that could not be sufficiently obtained during the week.
Such activity, he insisted, would not bring the Sabbath into disrepute, and there would be no suggestion of the sanctity of Sunday being swallowed up by a desire to make the Sabbath like any other day.
However, his thoughts did not go down well with some who felt it would be the thin end of the wedge if sport or games were allowed on Sundays.
The Reporter wrote that it had not been the first time that Rev. Wilde had courted controversy with his outspoken remarks and when he'd left the town to become a missionary, some of his congregation seemed glad to see the back of him.
The paper said: "…his send off was memorable, and it may safely be said that no other minister of any denomination has ever had such a wonderful God speed on leaving St. Helens."
The Reporter carried an account of this year’s Crippled Children's Outing which had involved 106 youngsters being taken by a fleet of motor coaches to Southport.
The Chief Constable of the seaside resort had given the party special permission to unload on Marine Drive, so that the children would not have to walk or be pushed too far. The Reporter wrote:
"They played about happily until 3.30, when they were conveyed by miniature railway to the pleasure ground, where tea was provided.
"After having cleared the tables, each child was given sixpence to spend on the fair. All voted the day one of the best."
The Reporter also described a curious row between two men near North John Street in St Helens.
PC Marshall said William Higgins of Eldon Street had approached him on the street claiming that John Harrison of Silkstone Street had struck him in a chip shop and knocked out one of his teeth.
Both men then caused such a disturbance that they had to be arrested and on the journey to the police station Higgins called Harrison a "manslaughterer" and murderer.
Harrison claimed that he had been hit first and explained that the dispute was because in 1922 he had faced a charge of manslaughter in Liverpool Assizes.
That was after he had been accused of attacking a man in Eccleston Street in St Helens – but the judge had dismissed the case. Both Higgins and Harrison were bound over.
Thomas Morton was described as a traveller when the salesman appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obstructing the highway with a motor car.
It was another case when a person coming into St Helens had parked their vehicle on the side of the road while visiting local shops. That was against the law – at least in St Helens.
There were no yellow lines or notices posted prohibiting car parking. The regulation applied to all St Helens' streets and the police did not have to prove any actual obstruction. Simply parking your car on the road was enough to become a lawbreaker.
A constable told the court that he had seen the defendant's vehicle at the old market place and Church Street corner and he had been forced to wait 35 minutes before the driver returned.
Mr Morton said he had been coming to St Helens and leaving his car at that particular place for some years and they should have warned him about the regulation.
That was a regular complaint, but he was still fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a haemophiliac boy from Charles Street, new sanctions on hand-outs for unemployed men, the dog that chased cars in Liverpool Road and the inaugural Sutton Manor Colliery Institute's Sports Festival.
We begin with the drunken behaviour of James Cunliffe of Crispin Street, off Borough Road, who had enjoyed himself far too much during last week's August Bank Holiday.
Cunliffe appeared in court on the 7th after initially quarrelling with his wife. He then became disorderly in the street and finally he assaulted PC Dillon.
The constable described how a large crowd had gathered at 10.10pm to watch Cunliffe's activities and the man became so violent that he needed the assistance of three other officers to get him to the station. Cunliffe was fined 20 shillings.
Patrick Kelly of Carter Street in St Helens was also in the Police Court on the 7th where he pleaded guilty to taking bets on the street.
There was a limit as to how long such persons could stand around at the same location receiving betting slips and cash without attracting the attention of the police or being reported by residents.
A constable told the court that when charged the man had said: "I knew it would have to come soon".
Despite its reputation as the archetypal dirty town, the St Helens air was getting better. On the 8th the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"In a comparative table showing the total solids collected in soot and dust gauges in ten towns and cities during the year 1921-22, Liverpool heads the list.
"This is an honour about which there will be no boasting. Even St. Helens can point the finger of scorn at Liverpool."
On the 8th John Burke returned to St Helens Police Court to face charges of being involved in eighteen cases of shop-breaking.
Supt. Dunn told the court that during 1922 there had been numerous break-ins at various St Helens shops.
Last November Corrins' pawnbrokers in Duke Street had been broken into and many watches stolen.
Joseph Townsend, who lodged in Howards Lane in Eccleston, was arrested while attempting to pawn some of the timepieces and had since appeared in court.
However, his accomplice, John Burke, literally went on the run when police went to his home in Sidney Street (off Rivington Road).
Despite being pursued on foot by Detective Arthur Cust – who was considered one of the best sprinters in the force – the 20-year-old had shot off towards Dentons Green and was not seen again until he was arrested last week in Winchester.
Burke has previously been sent to Borstal for breaking into schools and homes in St Helens and was committed for trial.
In October 1921 James Pollock Bagley had appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with assaulting and beating Florence Barnaby.
The trouble began some time later when Sarah married Bagley and her new husband moved in.
Sarah complained that since their marriage James had continually beaten her, adding:
"I have been too ashamed to come to court, because it served me right for marrying such a man knowing what sort of a man he was."
However, a string of attacks upon her niece had stung Sarah into action. Complaining to the Bench about her uncle's treatment of her, the 24-year-old Florence had said: "He has repeatedly assaulted me and made me black and blue".
Her aunt Sarah also said that her husband was driving people away from their shop by using bad language.
The magistrates bound him over for twelve months with a total of £20 in sureties having to be found.
On the 10th of this week James Bagley failed to appear in court to face a further summons of acting in a brutal manner to his wife.
The case in reality was an application for a separation order complete with court enforceable maintenance payments.
The man was now employed as a bottlemaker and his attendance in court was not absolutely necessary – it just meant the magistrates only heard his wife's side.
The separation order was issued but hours later PC Cook was called to Bagley's Westfield Street home and found him unconscious inside a locked kitchen.
He was lying by a gas oven that had its door open and its gas turned on. The constable used artificial respiration to bring Bagley round and on the following day he appeared in court charged with attempting suicide and was remanded in custody for a week.
Upon his return to court Bagley promised not to repeat the act and stay off the drink and was discharged.
Maybe Bagley kept to his promise to go teetotal. In the wartime census known as the 1939 Register, the couple are shown as still living together over the Westfield Street tobacconist's shop.
The Reporter described on the 10th how the Rev. Harold Wilde had put the cat amongst the pigeons.
The former curate at St Helens Parish Church was currently involved in what was described as missionary work in Egypt – but had returned to the town on furlough.
Last Sunday at a morning church service and an afternoon Bible reading class, he had annoyed parishioners by expressing his views on the playing of Sunday sport.
Rev. Wilde told his audience that he had no objection to such games, provided they were conducted in a proper spirit and inspired by a desire for recreation that could not be sufficiently obtained during the week.
Such activity, he insisted, would not bring the Sabbath into disrepute, and there would be no suggestion of the sanctity of Sunday being swallowed up by a desire to make the Sabbath like any other day.
However, his thoughts did not go down well with some who felt it would be the thin end of the wedge if sport or games were allowed on Sundays.
The Reporter wrote that it had not been the first time that Rev. Wilde had courted controversy with his outspoken remarks and when he'd left the town to become a missionary, some of his congregation seemed glad to see the back of him.
The paper said: "…his send off was memorable, and it may safely be said that no other minister of any denomination has ever had such a wonderful God speed on leaving St. Helens."
The Reporter carried an account of this year’s Crippled Children's Outing which had involved 106 youngsters being taken by a fleet of motor coaches to Southport.
The Chief Constable of the seaside resort had given the party special permission to unload on Marine Drive, so that the children would not have to walk or be pushed too far. The Reporter wrote:
"They played about happily until 3.30, when they were conveyed by miniature railway to the pleasure ground, where tea was provided.
"After having cleared the tables, each child was given sixpence to spend on the fair. All voted the day one of the best."
The Reporter also described a curious row between two men near North John Street in St Helens.
PC Marshall said William Higgins of Eldon Street had approached him on the street claiming that John Harrison of Silkstone Street had struck him in a chip shop and knocked out one of his teeth.
Both men then caused such a disturbance that they had to be arrested and on the journey to the police station Higgins called Harrison a "manslaughterer" and murderer.
Harrison claimed that he had been hit first and explained that the dispute was because in 1922 he had faced a charge of manslaughter in Liverpool Assizes.
That was after he had been accused of attacking a man in Eccleston Street in St Helens – but the judge had dismissed the case. Both Higgins and Harrison were bound over.
Thomas Morton was described as a traveller when the salesman appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obstructing the highway with a motor car.
It was another case when a person coming into St Helens had parked their vehicle on the side of the road while visiting local shops. That was against the law – at least in St Helens.
There were no yellow lines or notices posted prohibiting car parking. The regulation applied to all St Helens' streets and the police did not have to prove any actual obstruction. Simply parking your car on the road was enough to become a lawbreaker.
A constable told the court that he had seen the defendant's vehicle at the old market place and Church Street corner and he had been forced to wait 35 minutes before the driver returned.
Mr Morton said he had been coming to St Helens and leaving his car at that particular place for some years and they should have warned him about the regulation.
That was a regular complaint, but he was still fined 10 shillings.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a haemophiliac boy from Charles Street, new sanctions on hand-outs for unemployed men, the dog that chased cars in Liverpool Road and the inaugural Sutton Manor Colliery Institute's Sports Festival.