IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (9th - 15th MARCH 1920)
This week's many stories include the Church Street ironmonger who sold ammunition to children, the two miners charged with violent behaviour in Ashtons Green Colliery, the marriage destroyed by interfering in-laws after only three weeks and the Salvation Army chimney sweep who deserted his wife and children because his honour was questioned.
We begin on the 9th when John Kelly from Ardwick Street in Fingerpost appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being drunk and incapable. Sergeant Pratt told the Bench that at 3pm on the previous day the labourer had been crawling about Church Street on his hands and knees helplessly drunk and had to be locked up for his own good. John Kelly was fined 5 shillings or 7 days in prison.
The St Helens Reporter described on the 12th how a Salvation Army man called William Walker from Lyon Street (near Prescot Road) had been summoned for deserting his wife and four children. Walker had quit their home and gone to live in a house with a married woman after his wife had accused him of cheating on her. The Reporter stated that Walker had excitedly told the Bench how important his honour was to him:
"My honour is more to me than a dead man. If this woman is to take my character from me what have I to do for my children? There is not a man in the world who loves his children more." Asked why he had left his home, the man – who was a chimney sweep by profession – said: "Because I was accused of misconduct." This was after he had spent time with another woman while he had been in Liverpool with the Salvation Army Council.
Walker said the lady was a Sunday school teacher who he had previously met. "Would it be manly to leave a woman by herself in the same place?", he asked rhetorically. He made it clear that he did not intend to live with his wife again and threatened consequences if he ever did: "I have sworn to God that if I live with that lady again I will make her the greatest fiend on earth. I shall give her a life like a dog because she has taken my character away."
Walker admitted that he was living in the same house with a married woman but insisted that he was only lodging there. The court's home missionary / probation officer John Holmes said he had tried to reason with the man but to no avail. The Chairman of the Bench asked Walker whether he considered it a Christian duty to look after his children, to which he replied: "Yes but my honour is at stake". The Bench ordered Walker to pay £2 per week maintenance to his wife, which he said he would refuse to do and threatened to go to Canada rather than pay.
The Reporter also related a recent court case in which interfering in-laws had seemingly driven a young couple apart. William Hall of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) was summoned by his wife Elizabeth for desertion. The couple had only married on January 17th this year and on February 11th William walked out on his wife. Soon afterwards Elizabeth had seen him in the street and asked him why he had left her. His reply was that there was no reason but he simply wanted to go home.
On another occasion he said that all the solicitors in town could not make him attend court and in any case he would pay her no money. However William had been persuaded to come to court where he now declared an objection to his wife's family. He had married Elizabeth, he said, not his in-laws. In response his wife said she would not live in William's parents' house, as she felt despised by them. The chairman of the Bench said there had been faults on both sides but it had been foolish of the husband to leave his wife after only three weeks of marriage.
He decided to adjourn the hearing for three weeks, during which time the town’s probation officer, John Holmes, would attempt a reconciliation. In the meantime William Hall would have to pay Elizabeth 25 shillings a week. This he told the Bench he would refuse to do unless his wife came to live with him. Of course if she did that there would be no need to pay any maintenance, as the couple would no longer be separated!
The Reporter also described how a soldier from Liverpool had appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a handcart. It was alleged that Thomas Hattersley had sent a boy named Webster to Alfred Payne's marine store in Water Street on December 23rd to hire a handcart. Marine shop owners offered all kinds of odds and ends that were usually sea-related but sold other items as well.
The cart was hired for 6d but Payne did not see it again until March when it was discovered in Liverpool. After using the cart Hattersley had sold it for 7/6 and in court said he would rather be flogged than sent to prison. He needn't have worried as he was only fined 20 shillings but as he had apparently been AWOL from the army, Hattersley was remanded in custody awaiting a military escort.
Since the ending of the wartime restrictions, motor cars were now on the streets of St Helens in increasing numbers. However cars were far too expensive for the working man, many of whom used bikes to get to work. Rudd's of Baldwin Street was advertising their bicycles in the Reporter, claiming 70 machines in stock that were made by Triumph, Royal Enfield, Swift etc. They were offering them on weekly payments, which would have been a great boon for the less well off. However Rudd's did not have the franchise for Raleigh "the all-steel bicycle", which was available from Cook's cycle shop in Church Street and Pennington's of Blackbrook Road.
Also advertising in the Reporter was Crane & Sons who sold pianos from their shop at 2 Church Street. They said they had been in business for over 70 years. Another businessman in Church Street was ironmonger Edwin Goodwin who appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 12th charged with selling ammunition to a child under the age of 18.
In fact the 60-year-old did not have a licence to sell ammunition to anyone but had sold cartridges to 11-year-old Gregory Fishwick and 14-year-old Herbert Stewart. Goodwin admitted the offences but said they were very small cartridges that might be used for killing vermin. The ironmonger also claimed that he hadn't understood the regulations, saying they were written, "so that neither you nor I nor anybody else can understand them". Goodwin was fined £4.
Two young brothers called John and Len Pennington from Peckers Hill Road in Sutton also appeared in the Police Court charged with violent behaviour down Ashtons Green Colliery (pictured above). The pair also faced a charge of walking on the haulage road underground. This was reserved for the transportation of coal wagons and stepping foot on it was a dangerous act. John Sharrock was an undermanager at Ashtons Green Colliery and told the court that the two brothers had demanded he give them a paper that would permit them to return to the surface.
Their shift was not yet finished and he told them that he would have to see a fireman before granting permission. Some time later they approached him again and behaved in a violent and threatening manner, calling him a Bolshevist and a German. I don't think he could have been both! The two men were fined £1 each. Ashtons Green Colliery was situated between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road and closed in 1931 with 1,100 men on its books.
Talking of Bolshevism a debate was held in the Co-operative Hall in Baldwin Street during the evening of the 12th on the subject of "Capitalism vs. Sovietism". The term "Sovietism" was used extensively during the 1920s but largely stopped being used by the end of WW2. It was a serious debate chaired by Alderman Henry Bates, who until recently had been the Mayor of St Helens.
Rainford Urban District Council met on the 15th and approved plans for a new recreation hut to be erected at Crank "for the young men of the district". Not for women, obviously! It was also reported that their Clerk had received some objections from the Housing Commissioner in regard to new houses that the council planned to build in Bushey Lane and Ormskirk Road that would have to be overcome.
And finally these were the music hall acts appearing at the Hippodrome from the 15th with descriptions taken from the theatre's advert in the Reporter: The Famous 5 Whartons ("Greatest springboard flyers achieving the seemingly impossible"); Tubby Turner & Partner ("In original comic oddities"); Bert Elliott and His Topsy Turvy Toppers ("From the Palace London"); Fred Brand ("The Premier Coloured Representative") and Doris Brunton ("The operatic soprano").
According to some newspaper reviews I've found, Fred Brand was a very funny comic and dancer. Sadly the colour of his skin was seen as more important in adverts.
Next week's stories will include the vanishing watch trick in a Shaw Street pub, the bookies that were taking bets in Central Library, the Prescot man severely fined for running a lottery, a concert in aid of the Clog and Stocking Fund and war memorials are planned for Sutton.
We begin on the 9th when John Kelly from Ardwick Street in Fingerpost appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being drunk and incapable. Sergeant Pratt told the Bench that at 3pm on the previous day the labourer had been crawling about Church Street on his hands and knees helplessly drunk and had to be locked up for his own good. John Kelly was fined 5 shillings or 7 days in prison.
The St Helens Reporter described on the 12th how a Salvation Army man called William Walker from Lyon Street (near Prescot Road) had been summoned for deserting his wife and four children. Walker had quit their home and gone to live in a house with a married woman after his wife had accused him of cheating on her. The Reporter stated that Walker had excitedly told the Bench how important his honour was to him:
"My honour is more to me than a dead man. If this woman is to take my character from me what have I to do for my children? There is not a man in the world who loves his children more." Asked why he had left his home, the man – who was a chimney sweep by profession – said: "Because I was accused of misconduct." This was after he had spent time with another woman while he had been in Liverpool with the Salvation Army Council.
Walker said the lady was a Sunday school teacher who he had previously met. "Would it be manly to leave a woman by herself in the same place?", he asked rhetorically. He made it clear that he did not intend to live with his wife again and threatened consequences if he ever did: "I have sworn to God that if I live with that lady again I will make her the greatest fiend on earth. I shall give her a life like a dog because she has taken my character away."
Walker admitted that he was living in the same house with a married woman but insisted that he was only lodging there. The court's home missionary / probation officer John Holmes said he had tried to reason with the man but to no avail. The Chairman of the Bench asked Walker whether he considered it a Christian duty to look after his children, to which he replied: "Yes but my honour is at stake". The Bench ordered Walker to pay £2 per week maintenance to his wife, which he said he would refuse to do and threatened to go to Canada rather than pay.
The Reporter also related a recent court case in which interfering in-laws had seemingly driven a young couple apart. William Hall of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) was summoned by his wife Elizabeth for desertion. The couple had only married on January 17th this year and on February 11th William walked out on his wife. Soon afterwards Elizabeth had seen him in the street and asked him why he had left her. His reply was that there was no reason but he simply wanted to go home.
On another occasion he said that all the solicitors in town could not make him attend court and in any case he would pay her no money. However William had been persuaded to come to court where he now declared an objection to his wife's family. He had married Elizabeth, he said, not his in-laws. In response his wife said she would not live in William's parents' house, as she felt despised by them. The chairman of the Bench said there had been faults on both sides but it had been foolish of the husband to leave his wife after only three weeks of marriage.
He decided to adjourn the hearing for three weeks, during which time the town’s probation officer, John Holmes, would attempt a reconciliation. In the meantime William Hall would have to pay Elizabeth 25 shillings a week. This he told the Bench he would refuse to do unless his wife came to live with him. Of course if she did that there would be no need to pay any maintenance, as the couple would no longer be separated!
The Reporter also described how a soldier from Liverpool had appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a handcart. It was alleged that Thomas Hattersley had sent a boy named Webster to Alfred Payne's marine store in Water Street on December 23rd to hire a handcart. Marine shop owners offered all kinds of odds and ends that were usually sea-related but sold other items as well.
The cart was hired for 6d but Payne did not see it again until March when it was discovered in Liverpool. After using the cart Hattersley had sold it for 7/6 and in court said he would rather be flogged than sent to prison. He needn't have worried as he was only fined 20 shillings but as he had apparently been AWOL from the army, Hattersley was remanded in custody awaiting a military escort.
Two advertisements for Raleigh and Triumph bicycles from the early 1920s
Two newspaper ads for bicycles from the early 1920s
Advertisement for Raleigh bike
Also advertising in the Reporter was Crane & Sons who sold pianos from their shop at 2 Church Street. They said they had been in business for over 70 years. Another businessman in Church Street was ironmonger Edwin Goodwin who appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 12th charged with selling ammunition to a child under the age of 18.
In fact the 60-year-old did not have a licence to sell ammunition to anyone but had sold cartridges to 11-year-old Gregory Fishwick and 14-year-old Herbert Stewart. Goodwin admitted the offences but said they were very small cartridges that might be used for killing vermin. The ironmonger also claimed that he hadn't understood the regulations, saying they were written, "so that neither you nor I nor anybody else can understand them". Goodwin was fined £4.
Their shift was not yet finished and he told them that he would have to see a fireman before granting permission. Some time later they approached him again and behaved in a violent and threatening manner, calling him a Bolshevist and a German. I don't think he could have been both! The two men were fined £1 each. Ashtons Green Colliery was situated between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road and closed in 1931 with 1,100 men on its books.
Talking of Bolshevism a debate was held in the Co-operative Hall in Baldwin Street during the evening of the 12th on the subject of "Capitalism vs. Sovietism". The term "Sovietism" was used extensively during the 1920s but largely stopped being used by the end of WW2. It was a serious debate chaired by Alderman Henry Bates, who until recently had been the Mayor of St Helens.
Rainford Urban District Council met on the 15th and approved plans for a new recreation hut to be erected at Crank "for the young men of the district". Not for women, obviously! It was also reported that their Clerk had received some objections from the Housing Commissioner in regard to new houses that the council planned to build in Bushey Lane and Ormskirk Road that would have to be overcome.
And finally these were the music hall acts appearing at the Hippodrome from the 15th with descriptions taken from the theatre's advert in the Reporter: The Famous 5 Whartons ("Greatest springboard flyers achieving the seemingly impossible"); Tubby Turner & Partner ("In original comic oddities"); Bert Elliott and His Topsy Turvy Toppers ("From the Palace London"); Fred Brand ("The Premier Coloured Representative") and Doris Brunton ("The operatic soprano").
According to some newspaper reviews I've found, Fred Brand was a very funny comic and dancer. Sadly the colour of his skin was seen as more important in adverts.
Next week's stories will include the vanishing watch trick in a Shaw Street pub, the bookies that were taking bets in Central Library, the Prescot man severely fined for running a lottery, a concert in aid of the Clog and Stocking Fund and war memorials are planned for Sutton.
This week's many stories include the Church Street ironmonger who sold ammunition to children, the two miners charged with violent behaviour in Ashtons Green Colliery, the marriage destroyed by interfering in-laws after only three weeks and the Salvation Army chimney sweep who deserted his wife and children because his honour was questioned.
We begin on the 9th when John Kelly from Ardwick Street in Fingerpost appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being drunk and incapable.
Sergeant Pratt told the Bench that at 3pm on the previous day the labourer had been crawling about Church Street on his hands and knees helplessly drunk and had to be locked up for his own good.
John Kelly was fined 5 shillings or if in default serve 7 days in prison.
The St Helens Reporter described on the 12th how a Salvation Army man called William Walker from Lyon Street (near Prescot Road) had been summoned for deserting his wife and four children.
Walker had quit their home and gone to live in a house with a married woman after his wife had accused him of cheating on her.
The Reporter stated that Walker had excitedly told the Bench how important his honour was to him:
"My honour is more to me than a dead man. If this woman is to take my character from me what have I to do for my children? There is not a man in the world who loves his children more."
Asked why he had left his home, the man – who was a chimney sweep by profession – said: "Because I was accused of misconduct."
This was after he had spent time with another woman while he had been in Liverpool with the Salvation Army Council.
Walker said the lady was a Sunday school teacher who he had previously met. "Would it be manly to leave a woman by herself in the same place?", he asked rhetorically.
He made it clear that he did not intend to live with his wife again and threatened consequences if he ever did:
"I have sworn to God that if I live with that lady again I will make her the greatest fiend on earth. I shall give her a life like a dog because she has taken my character away."
Walker admitted that he was living in the same house with a married woman but insisted that he was only lodging there.
The court's home missionary / probation officer John Holmes said he had tried to reason with the man but to no avail.
The Chairman of the Bench asked Walker whether he considered it a Christian duty to look after his children, to which he replied: "Yes but my honour is at stake".
The Bench ordered Walker to pay £2 per week maintenance to his wife, which he said he would refuse to do and threatened to go to Canada rather than pay.
The Reporter also related a recent court case in which interfering in-laws had seemingly driven a young couple apart.
William Hall of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) was summoned by his wife Elizabeth for desertion.
The couple had only married on January 17th this year and on February 11th William walked out on his wife.
Soon afterwards Elizabeth had seen him in the street and asked him why he had left her. His reply was that there was no reason but he simply wanted to go home.
On another occasion he said that all the solicitors in town could not make him attend court and in any case he would pay her no money.
However William had been persuaded to come to court where he now declared an objection to his wife's family.
He had married Elizabeth, he said, not his in-laws. In response his wife said she would not live in William's parents' house, as she felt despised by them.
The chairman of the Bench said there had been faults on both sides but it had been foolish of the husband to leave his wife after only three weeks of marriage.
He decided to adjourn the hearing for three weeks, during which time the town’s probation officer, John Holmes, would attempt a reconciliation.
In the meantime William Hall would have to pay Elizabeth 25 shillings a week. This he told the Bench he would refuse to do unless his wife came to live with him.
Of course if she did that there would be no need to pay any maintenance, as the couple would no longer be separated!
The Reporter also described how a soldier from Liverpool had appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a handcart.
It was alleged that Thomas Hattersley had sent a boy named Webster to Alfred Payne's marine store in Water Street on December 23rd to hire a handcart.
Marine shop owners offered all kinds of odds and ends that were usually sea-related but sold other items as well.
The cart was hired for 6d but Payne did not see it again until March when it was discovered in Liverpool.
After using the cart Hattersley had sold it for 7/6 and in court said he would rather be flogged than sent to prison.
He needn't have worried as he was only fined 20 shillings but as he had apparently been AWOL from the army, Hattersley was remanded in custody awaiting a military escort.
Since the ending of the wartime restrictions, motor cars were now on the streets of St Helens in increasing numbers.
However cars were far too expensive for the working man, many of whom used bikes to get to work.
Rudd's of Baldwin Street was advertising their bicycles in the Reporter, claiming 70 machines in stock that were made by Triumph, Royal Enfield, Swift etc.
They were offering them on weekly payments, which would have been a great boon for the less well off.
However Rudd's did not have the franchise for Raleigh "the all-steel bicycle", which was available from Cook's cycle shop in Church Street and Pennington's of Blackbrook Road.
Also advertising in the Reporter was Crane & Sons who sold pianos from their shop at 2 Church Street. They said they had been in business for over 70 years.
Another businessman in Church Street was ironmonger Edwin Goodwin who appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 12th charged with selling ammunition to a child under the age of 18.
In fact the 60-year-old did not have a licence to sell ammunition to anyone but had sold cartridges to 11-year-old Gregory Fishwick and 14-year-old Herbert Stewart.
Goodwin admitted the offences but said they were very small cartridges that might be used for killing vermin.
The ironmonger also claimed that he hadn't understood the regulations, saying they were written, "so that neither you nor I nor anybody else can understand them". Goodwin was fined £4.
Two young brothers called John and Len Pennington from Peckers Hill Road in Sutton also appeared in the Police Court charged with violent behaviour down Ashtons Green Colliery (pictured above).
The pair also faced a charge of walking on the haulage road underground.
This was reserved for the transportation of coal wagons and stepping foot on it was a dangerous act.
John Sharrock was an undermanager at Ashtons Green Colliery and told the court that the two brothers had demanded he give them a paper that would permit them to return to the surface.
Their shift was not yet finished and he told them that he would have to see a fireman before granting permission.
Some time later they approached him again and behaved in a violent and threatening manner, calling him a Bolshevist and a German.
I don't think he could have been both! The two men were fined £1 each.
Ashtons Green Colliery was situated between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road and closed in 1931 with 1,100 men on its books.
Talking of Bolshevism a debate was held in the Co-operative Hall in Baldwin Street during the evening of the 12th on the subject of "Capitalism vs. Sovietism".
The term "Sovietism" was used extensively during the 1920s but largely stopped being used by the end of WW2.
It was a serious debate chaired by Alderman Henry Bates, who until recently had been the Mayor of St Helens.
Rainford Urban District Council met on the 15th and approved plans for a new recreation hut to be erected at Crank "for the young men of the district". Not for women, obviously!
It was also reported that their Clerk had received some objections from the Housing Commissioner in regard to new houses that the council planned to build in Bushey Lane and Ormskirk Road that would have to be overcome.
And finally these were the music hall acts appearing at the Hippodrome from the 15th with descriptions taken from the theatre's advert in the Reporter:
The Famous 5 Whartons ("Greatest springboard flyers achieving the seemingly impossible"); Tubby Turner & Partner ("In original comic oddities"); Bert Elliott and His Topsy Turvy Toppers ("From the Palace London"); Fred Brand ("The Premier Coloured Representative") and Doris Brunton ("The operatic soprano").
According to some newspaper reviews I've found, Fred Brand was a very funny comic and dancer. Sadly the colour of his skin was seen as more important in adverts.
Next week's stories will include the vanishing watch trick in a Shaw Street pub, the bookies that were taking bets in Central Library, the Prescot man severely fined for running a lottery, a concert in aid of the Clog and Stocking Fund and war memorials are planned for Sutton.
We begin on the 9th when John Kelly from Ardwick Street in Fingerpost appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with being drunk and incapable.
Sergeant Pratt told the Bench that at 3pm on the previous day the labourer had been crawling about Church Street on his hands and knees helplessly drunk and had to be locked up for his own good.
John Kelly was fined 5 shillings or if in default serve 7 days in prison.
The St Helens Reporter described on the 12th how a Salvation Army man called William Walker from Lyon Street (near Prescot Road) had been summoned for deserting his wife and four children.
Walker had quit their home and gone to live in a house with a married woman after his wife had accused him of cheating on her.
The Reporter stated that Walker had excitedly told the Bench how important his honour was to him:
"My honour is more to me than a dead man. If this woman is to take my character from me what have I to do for my children? There is not a man in the world who loves his children more."
Asked why he had left his home, the man – who was a chimney sweep by profession – said: "Because I was accused of misconduct."
This was after he had spent time with another woman while he had been in Liverpool with the Salvation Army Council.
Walker said the lady was a Sunday school teacher who he had previously met. "Would it be manly to leave a woman by herself in the same place?", he asked rhetorically.
He made it clear that he did not intend to live with his wife again and threatened consequences if he ever did:
"I have sworn to God that if I live with that lady again I will make her the greatest fiend on earth. I shall give her a life like a dog because she has taken my character away."
Walker admitted that he was living in the same house with a married woman but insisted that he was only lodging there.
The court's home missionary / probation officer John Holmes said he had tried to reason with the man but to no avail.
The Chairman of the Bench asked Walker whether he considered it a Christian duty to look after his children, to which he replied: "Yes but my honour is at stake".
The Bench ordered Walker to pay £2 per week maintenance to his wife, which he said he would refuse to do and threatened to go to Canada rather than pay.
The Reporter also related a recent court case in which interfering in-laws had seemingly driven a young couple apart.
William Hall of Gilbert Street (which used to be near Waterloo Street) was summoned by his wife Elizabeth for desertion.
The couple had only married on January 17th this year and on February 11th William walked out on his wife.
Soon afterwards Elizabeth had seen him in the street and asked him why he had left her. His reply was that there was no reason but he simply wanted to go home.
On another occasion he said that all the solicitors in town could not make him attend court and in any case he would pay her no money.
However William had been persuaded to come to court where he now declared an objection to his wife's family.
He had married Elizabeth, he said, not his in-laws. In response his wife said she would not live in William's parents' house, as she felt despised by them.
The chairman of the Bench said there had been faults on both sides but it had been foolish of the husband to leave his wife after only three weeks of marriage.
He decided to adjourn the hearing for three weeks, during which time the town’s probation officer, John Holmes, would attempt a reconciliation.
In the meantime William Hall would have to pay Elizabeth 25 shillings a week. This he told the Bench he would refuse to do unless his wife came to live with him.
Of course if she did that there would be no need to pay any maintenance, as the couple would no longer be separated!
The Reporter also described how a soldier from Liverpool had appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a handcart.
It was alleged that Thomas Hattersley had sent a boy named Webster to Alfred Payne's marine store in Water Street on December 23rd to hire a handcart.
Marine shop owners offered all kinds of odds and ends that were usually sea-related but sold other items as well.
The cart was hired for 6d but Payne did not see it again until March when it was discovered in Liverpool.
After using the cart Hattersley had sold it for 7/6 and in court said he would rather be flogged than sent to prison.
He needn't have worried as he was only fined 20 shillings but as he had apparently been AWOL from the army, Hattersley was remanded in custody awaiting a military escort.
Two advertisements for Raleigh and Triumph bicycles from the early 1920s
Two newspaper ads for bicycles from the early 1920s
Advertisement for Raleigh bike
However cars were far too expensive for the working man, many of whom used bikes to get to work.
Rudd's of Baldwin Street was advertising their bicycles in the Reporter, claiming 70 machines in stock that were made by Triumph, Royal Enfield, Swift etc.
They were offering them on weekly payments, which would have been a great boon for the less well off.
However Rudd's did not have the franchise for Raleigh "the all-steel bicycle", which was available from Cook's cycle shop in Church Street and Pennington's of Blackbrook Road.
Also advertising in the Reporter was Crane & Sons who sold pianos from their shop at 2 Church Street. They said they had been in business for over 70 years.
Another businessman in Church Street was ironmonger Edwin Goodwin who appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 12th charged with selling ammunition to a child under the age of 18.
In fact the 60-year-old did not have a licence to sell ammunition to anyone but had sold cartridges to 11-year-old Gregory Fishwick and 14-year-old Herbert Stewart.
Goodwin admitted the offences but said they were very small cartridges that might be used for killing vermin.
The ironmonger also claimed that he hadn't understood the regulations, saying they were written, "so that neither you nor I nor anybody else can understand them". Goodwin was fined £4.
The pair also faced a charge of walking on the haulage road underground.
This was reserved for the transportation of coal wagons and stepping foot on it was a dangerous act.
John Sharrock was an undermanager at Ashtons Green Colliery and told the court that the two brothers had demanded he give them a paper that would permit them to return to the surface.
Their shift was not yet finished and he told them that he would have to see a fireman before granting permission.
Some time later they approached him again and behaved in a violent and threatening manner, calling him a Bolshevist and a German.
I don't think he could have been both! The two men were fined £1 each.
Ashtons Green Colliery was situated between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road and closed in 1931 with 1,100 men on its books.
Talking of Bolshevism a debate was held in the Co-operative Hall in Baldwin Street during the evening of the 12th on the subject of "Capitalism vs. Sovietism".
The term "Sovietism" was used extensively during the 1920s but largely stopped being used by the end of WW2.
It was a serious debate chaired by Alderman Henry Bates, who until recently had been the Mayor of St Helens.
Rainford Urban District Council met on the 15th and approved plans for a new recreation hut to be erected at Crank "for the young men of the district". Not for women, obviously!
It was also reported that their Clerk had received some objections from the Housing Commissioner in regard to new houses that the council planned to build in Bushey Lane and Ormskirk Road that would have to be overcome.
And finally these were the music hall acts appearing at the Hippodrome from the 15th with descriptions taken from the theatre's advert in the Reporter:
The Famous 5 Whartons ("Greatest springboard flyers achieving the seemingly impossible"); Tubby Turner & Partner ("In original comic oddities"); Bert Elliott and His Topsy Turvy Toppers ("From the Palace London"); Fred Brand ("The Premier Coloured Representative") and Doris Brunton ("The operatic soprano").
According to some newspaper reviews I've found, Fred Brand was a very funny comic and dancer. Sadly the colour of his skin was seen as more important in adverts.
Next week's stories will include the vanishing watch trick in a Shaw Street pub, the bookies that were taking bets in Central Library, the Prescot man severely fined for running a lottery, a concert in aid of the Clog and Stocking Fund and war memorials are planned for Sutton.