IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (7th - 13th SEPTEMBER 1920)
This week's stories include trouble at Parr Labour Club, the baby suffocated in Lyon Street through overcrowding, the Robins Lane house conundrum, the girl housebreakers of Gladstone Street, the violent lodger of Fingerpost and the great anti-profiteering campaign in Duke Street.
We begin on the 7th when an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall on a child named Andrew Thompson. The four-month-old infant from Lyon Street did what many St Helens babies did and slept in the same bed as his parents. During the previous night his mother had twice fed Andrew but when she woke at 6:35am she found his face was black and his body lifeless. Dr Robinson Officer had carried out a post-mortem and told the inquest that death was due to suffocation "caused by the child having been overlain".
The Coroner, Fred Jones, asked Dr Officer if it was a desirable thing for a child to sleep between their parents. The doctor from Cowley Hill Lane said it was not desirable and better provision should be made. Mr Jones suggested that cots should be used. To that Dr Officer replied: "They don't seem to fall into that idea much here", adding that overcrowding of houses in St Helens was so severe that there was little room for cots.
This week representatives from Pilkingtons glass factory at Maubeuge in Northern France spent a few days in St Helens. The works had almost been totally destroyed by the Germans in 1918 but was now close to being rebuilt. The Newspaper wrote:
"Throughout the war the French staff at the Maubeuge works was especially subjected to many hardships and persecutions at the hands of the enemy, and it was in recognition of the loyalty of the staff and workmen in these circumstances that they were invited to meet the directors and representatives of the St. Helens staff in the Board Room at Grove-street." One of the men that came to St Helens was Mons. Huard who had been imprisoned by the Germans and at one time sentenced to be shot.
The unprecedented inflation during the war years had led to many accusations of profiteering. Some complaints were no doubt justified but others were probably because of a lack of understanding how prices rose when traders' costs increased. The Government had passed a Profiteering Act in which local committees investigated complaints of overcharging. However the ones created within the St Helens' district had very little to do. Even so the belief of profiteering continued and led to "A Great Anti-Profiteering Campaign" taking place for a fortnight from the 8th.
The venue was the YMCA Gymnasium in Duke Street (pictured above), although the youth organisation appears to have only hired out their hall to an unnamed company. "We want all your help to kill the profiteers", said their ad in the St Helens Reporter. However the reality was that they were simply trying to profit from the public's fears over profiteering by selling cheap clothes and shoes.
Taking in lodgers used to be much more common than today, as it provided an easy source of extra income for hard-pressed families. However it also led to overcrowding, romantic entanglements and troublesome people being in your home. Martin Hopkins certainly fitted into the last category! Daniel and Annie Regan from Bolton Street in Fingerpost said they took the young Irishman in because he had nowhere else to live.
That was a decision the couple in their mid-40s soon regretted, as in the Police Court on the 10th Annie Regan said he had "spoiled the beds". In what way I'll leave to your imagination, as it wasn't explained! However after just 7 days as the couple's lodger, Hopkins was given a week's notice to quit but as he could not find other lodgings, this was extended by a further week.
Daniel Regan told the court that on the previous Sunday night he and his wife were sat in their house when Hopkins entered. He said the Irishman struck him twice on the face and knocked his head against the wall and then used "vile language" to his wife before hitting her several times. Daniel Regan added that he was now frightened for his life through the man's violence.
In his defence Martin Hopkins claimed that Mrs Regan had thrown his things out and that her husband had thrown a jug at him, which Daniel Regan denied. Hopkins was fined ten shillings and the Regans probably thought twice about taking in lodgers in future.
Also in court was Joseph Moss, who the St Helens Reporter described as "a collier, with a most pronounced Lancashire accent". PC McHale gave evidence said that at ten past eleven on the previous Saturday night he had been in Park Road with another officer, when they saw a number of men standing outside the Labour Club. As they approached the club Joseph Moss stepped forward and knocked Patrick Griffin down.
There had been a dispute between the pair within the club over a game. Moss told another police officer that it was against the rules of the Labour Club to hit someone inside and so they had to wait until they got outside! Joseph Moss was ordered to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for three months.
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop. These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live.
Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books. A surprising number of people owned just one or two houses, which they rented out, with the owners often living in rented accommodation elsewhere. However as their own families expanded, the owners might decide to move into their own houses. This was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first. There was a good example of this in St Helens Police Court on the 10th, which one solicitor described as a "three-cornered contest".
The case concerned a Mrs Foster of Junction Lane, who owned a house at 37 Robins Lane. She wanted possession from her tenant called Pickavance, so her son who was coming out of the Navy could have somewhere to live. Mr Pickavance wanted to move next door into the property he owned at 39 Robins Lane, which he rented to a Mr Fowler. The latter and his wife had been offered alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross but had refused it, saying it was unsuitable.
Mr Pickavance's counsel said his client was happy to move but was stuck between "the devil and the deep sea". "And which is the devil", mischievously quipped Alderman Phythian, the Chairman of the Bench. "I know not", came the reply, "But I am the deep sea". "Nay", countered Mr Fowler's counsel, "[my client] is the man betwist and between. These two people have bought houses, but my client, Fowler, has none."
The court heard how the alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross Lane was simply a kitchen and a bedroom. This was in a house that was lived in by another family and which was also being used as a newsagents and barber's. The magistrates dismissed this arrangement as quite unsuitable for Mr and Mrs Fowler. But then Mrs Foster's counsel had a brainwave. She was the Junction Lane woman who owned the first house in Robins Lane. He suggested that the two neighbours Mr Pickavance and Mr Fowler should swap homes.
Then when Mrs Foster's son came out of the Navy he could demand the house off Mr Fowler, which he would be compelled to give up under recent legislation. "That is a jolly good idea", said Mr Pickavance's counsel, although it didn't impress Mr Fowler's. However the magistrates thought it was the best suggestion – not exactly breaking the chain but reassembling it, so at least one person would be in the right house – and they signed the necessary court orders.
Two girls aged about fourteen from Gladstone Street appeared in front of the magistrates in St Helens on the 13th charged with housebreaking. Mary Waring and Josephine Appleton had broken into four of their neighbours' houses in Gladstone Street and Balfour Street and stolen cash and other items. Not long ago the girls would have been severely dealt with but these days with a probation officer attached to the court, the magistrates were happy to bind them over for two years.
Another girl in trouble was Mary Barrow of Edward Street who appeared in court charged with "lodging out". Her age was not stated but Mary had been found by a police officer in Higher Parr Street at 2:30am, having been locked out of her home. Mr Barrow described his daughter as "extremely violent when crossed in any way" and said her habits had driven her two brothers away. Mary's mother had died and the girl was needed at home to look after the house and cook dinner. But she had the habit of spending the money that her father gave her to buy food on herself.
"She had good brothers", Mary's father added, "who would look after her and dress her up if she would behave herself. But what was the use of dressing her up to stay out at two o’clock in the morning with the class she was mixing with?" The Bench bound Mary over for two years and warned her if she failed to be a good girl (their words), she would be sent to a home.
Next week's stories will include the Irish mob in Bridge Street, the stifling Boundary Road baths, the violent drunk "swinging along" North Road, a war memorial is unveiled at St Nicholas Church and the hornless gramophones in Church Street.
We begin on the 7th when an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall on a child named Andrew Thompson. The four-month-old infant from Lyon Street did what many St Helens babies did and slept in the same bed as his parents. During the previous night his mother had twice fed Andrew but when she woke at 6:35am she found his face was black and his body lifeless. Dr Robinson Officer had carried out a post-mortem and told the inquest that death was due to suffocation "caused by the child having been overlain".
The Coroner, Fred Jones, asked Dr Officer if it was a desirable thing for a child to sleep between their parents. The doctor from Cowley Hill Lane said it was not desirable and better provision should be made. Mr Jones suggested that cots should be used. To that Dr Officer replied: "They don't seem to fall into that idea much here", adding that overcrowding of houses in St Helens was so severe that there was little room for cots.
This week representatives from Pilkingtons glass factory at Maubeuge in Northern France spent a few days in St Helens. The works had almost been totally destroyed by the Germans in 1918 but was now close to being rebuilt. The Newspaper wrote:
"Throughout the war the French staff at the Maubeuge works was especially subjected to many hardships and persecutions at the hands of the enemy, and it was in recognition of the loyalty of the staff and workmen in these circumstances that they were invited to meet the directors and representatives of the St. Helens staff in the Board Room at Grove-street." One of the men that came to St Helens was Mons. Huard who had been imprisoned by the Germans and at one time sentenced to be shot.
The unprecedented inflation during the war years had led to many accusations of profiteering. Some complaints were no doubt justified but others were probably because of a lack of understanding how prices rose when traders' costs increased. The Government had passed a Profiteering Act in which local committees investigated complaints of overcharging. However the ones created within the St Helens' district had very little to do. Even so the belief of profiteering continued and led to "A Great Anti-Profiteering Campaign" taking place for a fortnight from the 8th.
Taking in lodgers used to be much more common than today, as it provided an easy source of extra income for hard-pressed families. However it also led to overcrowding, romantic entanglements and troublesome people being in your home. Martin Hopkins certainly fitted into the last category! Daniel and Annie Regan from Bolton Street in Fingerpost said they took the young Irishman in because he had nowhere else to live.
That was a decision the couple in their mid-40s soon regretted, as in the Police Court on the 10th Annie Regan said he had "spoiled the beds". In what way I'll leave to your imagination, as it wasn't explained! However after just 7 days as the couple's lodger, Hopkins was given a week's notice to quit but as he could not find other lodgings, this was extended by a further week.
Daniel Regan told the court that on the previous Sunday night he and his wife were sat in their house when Hopkins entered. He said the Irishman struck him twice on the face and knocked his head against the wall and then used "vile language" to his wife before hitting her several times. Daniel Regan added that he was now frightened for his life through the man's violence.
In his defence Martin Hopkins claimed that Mrs Regan had thrown his things out and that her husband had thrown a jug at him, which Daniel Regan denied. Hopkins was fined ten shillings and the Regans probably thought twice about taking in lodgers in future.
Also in court was Joseph Moss, who the St Helens Reporter described as "a collier, with a most pronounced Lancashire accent". PC McHale gave evidence said that at ten past eleven on the previous Saturday night he had been in Park Road with another officer, when they saw a number of men standing outside the Labour Club. As they approached the club Joseph Moss stepped forward and knocked Patrick Griffin down.
There had been a dispute between the pair within the club over a game. Moss told another police officer that it was against the rules of the Labour Club to hit someone inside and so they had to wait until they got outside! Joseph Moss was ordered to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for three months.
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop. These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live.
Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books. A surprising number of people owned just one or two houses, which they rented out, with the owners often living in rented accommodation elsewhere. However as their own families expanded, the owners might decide to move into their own houses. This was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first. There was a good example of this in St Helens Police Court on the 10th, which one solicitor described as a "three-cornered contest".
The case concerned a Mrs Foster of Junction Lane, who owned a house at 37 Robins Lane. She wanted possession from her tenant called Pickavance, so her son who was coming out of the Navy could have somewhere to live. Mr Pickavance wanted to move next door into the property he owned at 39 Robins Lane, which he rented to a Mr Fowler. The latter and his wife had been offered alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross but had refused it, saying it was unsuitable.
Mr Pickavance's counsel said his client was happy to move but was stuck between "the devil and the deep sea". "And which is the devil", mischievously quipped Alderman Phythian, the Chairman of the Bench. "I know not", came the reply, "But I am the deep sea". "Nay", countered Mr Fowler's counsel, "[my client] is the man betwist and between. These two people have bought houses, but my client, Fowler, has none."
The court heard how the alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross Lane was simply a kitchen and a bedroom. This was in a house that was lived in by another family and which was also being used as a newsagents and barber's. The magistrates dismissed this arrangement as quite unsuitable for Mr and Mrs Fowler. But then Mrs Foster's counsel had a brainwave. She was the Junction Lane woman who owned the first house in Robins Lane. He suggested that the two neighbours Mr Pickavance and Mr Fowler should swap homes.
Then when Mrs Foster's son came out of the Navy he could demand the house off Mr Fowler, which he would be compelled to give up under recent legislation. "That is a jolly good idea", said Mr Pickavance's counsel, although it didn't impress Mr Fowler's. However the magistrates thought it was the best suggestion – not exactly breaking the chain but reassembling it, so at least one person would be in the right house – and they signed the necessary court orders.
Two girls aged about fourteen from Gladstone Street appeared in front of the magistrates in St Helens on the 13th charged with housebreaking. Mary Waring and Josephine Appleton had broken into four of their neighbours' houses in Gladstone Street and Balfour Street and stolen cash and other items. Not long ago the girls would have been severely dealt with but these days with a probation officer attached to the court, the magistrates were happy to bind them over for two years.
Another girl in trouble was Mary Barrow of Edward Street who appeared in court charged with "lodging out". Her age was not stated but Mary had been found by a police officer in Higher Parr Street at 2:30am, having been locked out of her home. Mr Barrow described his daughter as "extremely violent when crossed in any way" and said her habits had driven her two brothers away. Mary's mother had died and the girl was needed at home to look after the house and cook dinner. But she had the habit of spending the money that her father gave her to buy food on herself.
"She had good brothers", Mary's father added, "who would look after her and dress her up if she would behave herself. But what was the use of dressing her up to stay out at two o’clock in the morning with the class she was mixing with?" The Bench bound Mary over for two years and warned her if she failed to be a good girl (their words), she would be sent to a home.
Next week's stories will include the Irish mob in Bridge Street, the stifling Boundary Road baths, the violent drunk "swinging along" North Road, a war memorial is unveiled at St Nicholas Church and the hornless gramophones in Church Street.
This week's stories include trouble at Parr Labour Club, the baby suffocated in Lyon Street through overcrowding, the Robins Lane house conundrum, the girl housebreakers of Gladstone Street, the violent lodger of Fingerpost and the great anti-profiteering campaign in Duke Street.
We begin on the 7th when an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall on a child named Andrew Thompson.
The four-month-old infant from Lyon Street did what many St Helens babies did and slept in the same bed as his parents.
During the previous night his mother had twice fed Andrew but when she woke at 6:35am she found his face was black and his body lifeless.
Dr Robinson Officer had carried out a post-mortem and told the inquest that death was due to suffocation "caused by the child having been overlain".
The Coroner, Fred Jones, asked Dr Officer if it was a desirable thing for a child to sleep between their parents.
The doctor from Cowley Hill Lane said it was not desirable and better provision should be made.
Mr Jones suggested that cots should be used. To that Dr Officer replied:
"They don't seem to fall into that idea much here", adding that overcrowding of houses in St Helens was so severe that there was little room for cots.
This week representatives from Pilkingtons glass factory at Maubeuge in Northern France spent a few days in St Helens.
The works had almost been totally destroyed by the Germans in 1918 but was now close to being rebuilt. The Newspaper wrote:
"Throughout the war the French staff at the Maubeuge works was especially subjected to many hardships and persecutions at the hands of the enemy, and it was in recognition of the loyalty of the staff and workmen in these circumstances that they were invited to meet the directors and representatives of the St. Helens staff in the Board Room at Grove-street."
One of the men that came to St Helens was Mons. Huard who had been imprisoned by the Germans and at one time sentenced to be shot.
The unprecedented inflation during the war years had led to many accusations of profiteering.
Some complaints were no doubt justified but others were probably because of a lack of understanding how prices rose when traders' costs increased.
The Government had passed a Profiteering Act in which local committees investigated complaints of overcharging.
However the ones created within the St Helens' district had very little to do.
Even so the belief of profiteering continued and led to "A Great Anti-Profiteering Campaign" taking place for a fortnight from the 8th.
The venue was the YMCA Gymnasium in Duke Street (pictured above), although the youth organisation appears to have only hired out their hall to an unnamed company.
"We want all your help to kill the profiteers", said their ad in the St Helens Reporter.
However the reality was that they were simply trying to profit from the public's fears over profiteering by selling cheap clothes and shoes.
Taking in lodgers used to be much more common than today, as it provided an easy source of extra income for hard-pressed families.
However it also led to overcrowding, romantic entanglements and troublesome people being in your home. Martin Hopkins certainly fitted into the last category!
Daniel and Annie Regan from Bolton Street in Fingerpost said they took the young Irishman in because he had nowhere else to live.
That was a decision the couple in their mid-40s soon regretted, as in the Police Court on the 10th Annie Regan said he had "spoiled the beds".
In what way I'll leave to your imagination, as it wasn't explained!
However after just 7 days as the couple's lodger, Hopkins was given a week's notice to quit but as he could not find other lodgings, this was extended by a further week.
Daniel Regan told the court that on the previous Sunday night he and his wife were sat in their house when Hopkins entered.
He said the Irishman struck him twice on the face and knocked his head against the wall and then used "vile language" to his wife before hitting her several times.
Daniel Regan added that he was now frightened for his life through the man's violence.
In his defence Martin Hopkins claimed that Mrs Regan had thrown his things out and that her husband had thrown a jug at him, which Daniel Regan denied.
Hopkins was fined ten shillings and the Regans probably thought twice about taking in lodgers in future.
Also in court was Joseph Moss, who the St Helens Reporter described as "a collier, with a most pronounced Lancashire accent".
PC McHale gave evidence said that at ten past eleven on the previous Saturday night he had been in Park Road with another officer, when they saw a number of men standing outside the Labour Club.
As they approached the club Joseph Moss stepped forward and knocked Patrick Griffin down.
There had been a dispute between the pair within the club over a game.
Moss told a police officer that it was against the rules of the Labour Club to hit someone inside and so they had to wait until they got outside!
Joseph Moss was ordered to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for three months.
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop.
These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live.
Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books.
A surprising number of people owned just one or two houses, which they rented out, with the owners often living in rented accommodation elsewhere.
However as their own families expanded, the owners might decide to move into their own houses.
This was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first.
There was a good example of this in St Helens Police Court on the 10th, which one solicitor described as a "three-cornered contest".
The case concerned a Mrs Foster of Junction Lane, who owned a house at 37 Robins Lane.
She wanted possession from her tenant called Pickavance, so her son who was coming out of the Navy could have somewhere to live.
Mr Pickavance wanted to move next door into the property he owned at 39 Robins Lane, which he rented to a Mr Fowler.
The latter and his wife had been offered alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross but had refused it, saying it was unsuitable.
Mr Pickavance's counsel said his client was happy to move but was stuck between "the devil and the deep sea".
"And which is the devil", mischievously quipped Alderman Phythian, the Chairman of the Bench. "I know not", came the reply, "But I am the deep sea".
"Nay", countered Mr Fowler's counsel, "[my client] is the man betwist and between. These two people have bought houses, but my client, Fowler, has none."
The court heard how the alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross Lane was simply a kitchen and a bedroom.
This was in a house that was lived in by another family and which was also being used as a newsagents and barber's.
The magistrates dismissed this arrangement as quite unsuitable for Mr and Mrs Fowler.
But then Mrs Foster's counsel had a brainwave. She was the Junction Lane woman who owned the first house in Robins Lane.
He suggested that the two neighbours Mr Pickavance and Mr Fowler should swap homes.
Then when Mrs Foster's son came out of the Navy he could demand the house off Mr Fowler, which he would be compelled to give up under recent legislation.
"That is a jolly good idea", said Mr Pickavance's counsel, although it didn't impress Mr Fowler's.
However the magistrates thought it was the best suggestion – not exactly breaking the chain but reassembling it, so at least one person would be in the right house – and they signed the necessary court orders.
Two girls aged about fourteen from Gladstone Street appeared in front of the magistrates in St Helens on the 13th charged with housebreaking.
Mary Waring and Josephine Appleton had broken into four of their neighbours' houses in Gladstone Street and Balfour Street and stolen cash and other items.
Not long ago the girls would have been severely dealt with but these days with a probation officer attached to the court, the magistrates were happy to bind them over for two years.
Another girl in trouble was Mary Barrow of Edward Street who appeared in court charged with "lodging out".
Her age was not stated but Mary had been found by a police officer in Higher Parr Street at 2:30am, having been locked out of her home.
Mr Barrow described his daughter as "extremely violent when crossed in any way" and said her habits had driven her two brothers away.
Mary's mother had died and the girl was needed at home to look after the house and cook dinner.
But she had the habit of spending the money that her father gave her to buy food on herself.
"She had good brothers", Mary's father added, "who would look after her and dress her up if she would behave herself. But what was the use of dressing her up to stay out at two o’clock in the morning with the class she was mixing with?"
The Bench bound Mary over for two years and warned her if she failed to be a good girl (their words), she would be sent to a home.
Next week's stories will include the Irish mob in Bridge Street, the stifling Boundary Road baths, the violent drunk "swinging along" North Road, a war memorial is unveiled at St Nicholas Church and the hornless gramophones in Church Street.
We begin on the 7th when an inquest was held at St Helens Town Hall on a child named Andrew Thompson.
The four-month-old infant from Lyon Street did what many St Helens babies did and slept in the same bed as his parents.
During the previous night his mother had twice fed Andrew but when she woke at 6:35am she found his face was black and his body lifeless.
Dr Robinson Officer had carried out a post-mortem and told the inquest that death was due to suffocation "caused by the child having been overlain".
The Coroner, Fred Jones, asked Dr Officer if it was a desirable thing for a child to sleep between their parents.
The doctor from Cowley Hill Lane said it was not desirable and better provision should be made.
Mr Jones suggested that cots should be used. To that Dr Officer replied:
"They don't seem to fall into that idea much here", adding that overcrowding of houses in St Helens was so severe that there was little room for cots.
This week representatives from Pilkingtons glass factory at Maubeuge in Northern France spent a few days in St Helens.
The works had almost been totally destroyed by the Germans in 1918 but was now close to being rebuilt. The Newspaper wrote:
"Throughout the war the French staff at the Maubeuge works was especially subjected to many hardships and persecutions at the hands of the enemy, and it was in recognition of the loyalty of the staff and workmen in these circumstances that they were invited to meet the directors and representatives of the St. Helens staff in the Board Room at Grove-street."
One of the men that came to St Helens was Mons. Huard who had been imprisoned by the Germans and at one time sentenced to be shot.
The unprecedented inflation during the war years had led to many accusations of profiteering.
Some complaints were no doubt justified but others were probably because of a lack of understanding how prices rose when traders' costs increased.
The Government had passed a Profiteering Act in which local committees investigated complaints of overcharging.
However the ones created within the St Helens' district had very little to do.
Even so the belief of profiteering continued and led to "A Great Anti-Profiteering Campaign" taking place for a fortnight from the 8th.
"We want all your help to kill the profiteers", said their ad in the St Helens Reporter.
However the reality was that they were simply trying to profit from the public's fears over profiteering by selling cheap clothes and shoes.
Taking in lodgers used to be much more common than today, as it provided an easy source of extra income for hard-pressed families.
However it also led to overcrowding, romantic entanglements and troublesome people being in your home. Martin Hopkins certainly fitted into the last category!
Daniel and Annie Regan from Bolton Street in Fingerpost said they took the young Irishman in because he had nowhere else to live.
That was a decision the couple in their mid-40s soon regretted, as in the Police Court on the 10th Annie Regan said he had "spoiled the beds".
In what way I'll leave to your imagination, as it wasn't explained!
However after just 7 days as the couple's lodger, Hopkins was given a week's notice to quit but as he could not find other lodgings, this was extended by a further week.
Daniel Regan told the court that on the previous Sunday night he and his wife were sat in their house when Hopkins entered.
He said the Irishman struck him twice on the face and knocked his head against the wall and then used "vile language" to his wife before hitting her several times.
Daniel Regan added that he was now frightened for his life through the man's violence.
In his defence Martin Hopkins claimed that Mrs Regan had thrown his things out and that her husband had thrown a jug at him, which Daniel Regan denied.
Hopkins was fined ten shillings and the Regans probably thought twice about taking in lodgers in future.
Also in court was Joseph Moss, who the St Helens Reporter described as "a collier, with a most pronounced Lancashire accent".
PC McHale gave evidence said that at ten past eleven on the previous Saturday night he had been in Park Road with another officer, when they saw a number of men standing outside the Labour Club.
As they approached the club Joseph Moss stepped forward and knocked Patrick Griffin down.
There had been a dispute between the pair within the club over a game.
Moss told a police officer that it was against the rules of the Labour Club to hit someone inside and so they had to wait until they got outside!
Joseph Moss was ordered to find sureties to guarantee his good behaviour for three months.
With the great scarcity of houses in St Helens a century ago, complicated chains could develop.
These were rental chains unlike present-day house-buying chains, with tenants unable to move because they couldn't find anywhere else to live.
Like today not all landlords had large numbers of properties on their books.
A surprising number of people owned just one or two houses, which they rented out, with the owners often living in rented accommodation elsewhere.
However as their own families expanded, the owners might decide to move into their own houses.
This was easier said than done, as they had to get their tenants out first.
There was a good example of this in St Helens Police Court on the 10th, which one solicitor described as a "three-cornered contest".
The case concerned a Mrs Foster of Junction Lane, who owned a house at 37 Robins Lane.
She wanted possession from her tenant called Pickavance, so her son who was coming out of the Navy could have somewhere to live.
Mr Pickavance wanted to move next door into the property he owned at 39 Robins Lane, which he rented to a Mr Fowler.
The latter and his wife had been offered alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross but had refused it, saying it was unsuitable.
Mr Pickavance's counsel said his client was happy to move but was stuck between "the devil and the deep sea".
"And which is the devil", mischievously quipped Alderman Phythian, the Chairman of the Bench. "I know not", came the reply, "But I am the deep sea".
"Nay", countered Mr Fowler's counsel, "[my client] is the man betwist and between. These two people have bought houses, but my client, Fowler, has none."
The court heard how the alternative accommodation in Peasley Cross Lane was simply a kitchen and a bedroom.
This was in a house that was lived in by another family and which was also being used as a newsagents and barber's.
The magistrates dismissed this arrangement as quite unsuitable for Mr and Mrs Fowler.
But then Mrs Foster's counsel had a brainwave. She was the Junction Lane woman who owned the first house in Robins Lane.
He suggested that the two neighbours Mr Pickavance and Mr Fowler should swap homes.
Then when Mrs Foster's son came out of the Navy he could demand the house off Mr Fowler, which he would be compelled to give up under recent legislation.
"That is a jolly good idea", said Mr Pickavance's counsel, although it didn't impress Mr Fowler's.
However the magistrates thought it was the best suggestion – not exactly breaking the chain but reassembling it, so at least one person would be in the right house – and they signed the necessary court orders.
Two girls aged about fourteen from Gladstone Street appeared in front of the magistrates in St Helens on the 13th charged with housebreaking.
Mary Waring and Josephine Appleton had broken into four of their neighbours' houses in Gladstone Street and Balfour Street and stolen cash and other items.
Not long ago the girls would have been severely dealt with but these days with a probation officer attached to the court, the magistrates were happy to bind them over for two years.
Another girl in trouble was Mary Barrow of Edward Street who appeared in court charged with "lodging out".
Her age was not stated but Mary had been found by a police officer in Higher Parr Street at 2:30am, having been locked out of her home.
Mr Barrow described his daughter as "extremely violent when crossed in any way" and said her habits had driven her two brothers away.
Mary's mother had died and the girl was needed at home to look after the house and cook dinner.
But she had the habit of spending the money that her father gave her to buy food on herself.
"She had good brothers", Mary's father added, "who would look after her and dress her up if she would behave herself. But what was the use of dressing her up to stay out at two o’clock in the morning with the class she was mixing with?"
The Bench bound Mary over for two years and warned her if she failed to be a good girl (their words), she would be sent to a home.
Next week's stories will include the Irish mob in Bridge Street, the stifling Boundary Road baths, the violent drunk "swinging along" North Road, a war memorial is unveiled at St Nicholas Church and the hornless gramophones in Church Street.