IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (11th - 17th MAY 1920)
This week's stories include the man who said he was "done up" in a Parr pawnbrokers, the Haresfinch horse that was beaten in a temper, the Sutton Manor ruckus over a drunken carter, the rat plague in St Helens and the banning of children from potato picking in Rainford.
We begin on the 11th with a description in the Liverpool Echo of how the building trade in St Helens was in difficulty. The Corporation housing scheme at Windlehurst had not yet begun and Pilkingtons were struggling to get labour for their planned estate in Eccleston. The Echo reported that representatives of firms carrying out large Government contracts in Scotland had been in St Helens last week offering wages to bricklayers well in excess of local rates. The newspaper added that the joiners of the district had "almost to a man" left the town for Liverpool where the rate of pay was much higher and the builders were now following suit.
An update on the town's war on rats was given at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 12th. The extermination campaign had been on-going for some months but had got off to a chequered start. A number of complaints had been made about the effectiveness of the methods used and the fees charged to property owners. Dr Joseph Cates – the Medical Officer of Health for St Helens – told the meeting that the rodents were now being killed by a variety of methods, however the "chief and most satisfactory way" was the use of ferrets.
Poison was also popular (although not with the rats!) and from January to early May, 800 poisoned baits had been laid down, which had seen off 320 rats. In addition a "patent rat varnish" had been used. This was described by Dr Cates as being like "catching flies on sticky paper". The varnish was smeared on thin cardboard sheets and bait was placed in the centre. In attempting to get to the bait, the rat become stuck to the cardboard and by the following morning was dead.
A possibly cruel method, although Dr Cates said it was only employed when other means were impracticable or unsafe. A total of 136 rats had been caught on the Corporation's refuse dump at Parr and the rat catchers were now spending one or two days a week on the site. Previously the council had been charging private property owners and householders for the time spent in catching rats. However they were now being charged a set fee of 1 shilling per caught rat, which was proving more satisfactory. Two examples of houses that had been plagued with rats were given by Dr Cates and in total 28 rodents had been caught on their premises.
On the 14th John Huxley appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with cruelty to a horse. Two police officers had been in Haresfinch when they heard the sound of blows coming from a field and found Huxley employing a heavy stick on a horse. The animal was being beaten so hard across its ribs and shoulders that the man's stick broke. When spoken to by the police Huxley explained that the horse had run off into the field and added: "Anyone would do it in a temper." He was fined £1.
Also in court that day was John Spencer from Wilmere Farm in Bold, who'd had a ruckus with John Fairhurst. The latter from Eldon Street, off Prescot Road, had worked for Spencer as a carter and summonsed his former boss for assault and damaging his false teeth. Giving evidence to the Bench, John Fairhurst said that on May 5th he had collected some coal from Sutton Manor Colliery and then delivered it to some nearby houses.
He then had a drink in the Green Dragon but claimed that he had only stayed at the pub for five minutes. Having served in the war, Fairhurst was a member of the Discharged Sailors and Soldiers Federation and he also had a drink in their clubhouse in Gartons Lane. When he returned to the colliery his boss demanded an explanation after he had seen the cart parked outside the Green Dragon for over 40 minutes. John Spencer told the court that his employee regularly spent time in the pub when he should be working and had been under the influence of drink.
After the 59-year-old had dismissed Fairhurst the pair then tussled over the horse. The confused animal was told by John Spencer to go but John Fairhurst ordered it to stop! The carter finally halted the horse by grabbing its head, which – according to Fairhurst – led to his boss punching him and bursting his nose and mouth. Two of his false teeth were also broken for which he sought compensation of 6 guineas.
John Fairhurst had a witness who supported his account but John Spencer said he had only pushed Fairhurst in self-defence and had not struck him. The magistrates fined Spencer 10 shillings and allowed Fairhurst a guinea costs for his advocate's fee. But they were not convinced that his false teeth had been broken and refused Fairhurst the six guineas that he wanted to get them fixed.
Sharples of Church Street was advertising ladies and children's umbrellas in the Reporter on the 14th, as well as dainty blouses and "ostrich and marabout ties & capes". Their telephone number was simply 168. Scales & Sons was also in Church Street and was offering "New Goods for Whitsuntide", which included "Gent's tan and Tony boots". During the warmer months some people swapped their flat cap or bowler for a straw hat. Balshaw Brothers of Bridge Street – run by John and Joseph Balshaw – was advertising the "newest shapes" of straw hats and the "latest London neckwear".
There was now considerable competition amongst businesses that hired out charabancs. The St Helens Cycle & Motor Company of Crab Street was advertising "the best machinery that man can invent" at "prices sure to please". There was some variety in spelling charabancs, with Marshalls of Hardshaw Street referring to their open-topped coach as a "chars-a-banc". They had eight "luxurious" 28-seater Daimlers available and their telephone number was simply 73. James Bridge of Ashcroft Street in Parr preferred to spell his coaches as "char-a-banc" – "No party too large" was his strap line.
The 15th was Providence Hospital's annual flower day. Their ads said: "Give gladly and generously; give in “gradely” fashion; give worthily of our town's prosperity." Several hundred pounds was raised each year for the hospital pictured above, which had previously been called Hardshaw Hall and opened as Providence Free Hospital in 1884.
John Fenney, alias Rudd, began a three-month prison sentence on the 15th. PC Featherstone had found the 45-year-old in the backyard of Philip Corrin's pawnbrokers shop in Parr Stocks Road at 11:20pm. Fenney told the constable that he had no intention of breaking into the premises. He claimed he simply wanted to sleep in the outside toilet, as he was exhausted after walking to St Helens from Macclesfield after having had a stomach operation. I'm sure surgeons always recommend a 40-mile walk after a stomach op!
However the constable said he'd found Fenney two yards from the back door of the shop, having gone 12 yards past the closet. The St Helens Reporter stated that the man had said he was "completely beaten", although the Liverpool Echo claimed he'd said he was "done up". However with sixteen convictions to his name – including one in which he'd served a 5-year-prison term – Fenney had little chance of being believed and so was returned to prison.
Rainford Council met on the 17th and was told that that its Management Committee had approved a draft agreement for the provision of a cinema. Wilson Grundy of North Road in St Helens planned to show films in Rainford Village Hall on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, although the council reserved the right to reclaim the hall for its own events. The building of what was called an "operating house" – or projection room, as we would call it – had already begun and the first screenings were expected soon.
The councillors also banned schoolchildren from potato picking on local farms. Each year 15 - 20,000 tons of potatoes of the late variety were picked in Rainford. For the past 25 to 30 years the children from Rainford Village School, Crank School, Corpus Christi and Bushey Lane School had been given two weeks away from their lessons in order to pick spuds. Councillor Hopgood told the meeting that their parents liked the fact that the children had a fortnight in the fresh air and they also appreciated the extra cash their kids brought in. However the school managers did not like the children missing lessons and so the councillors voted to stop the practice.
These were the music hall turns performing at the Hippodrome Theatre from the 17th: Dan Bros. and Sherry ("A merry and mirthful melange"); Alpho ("The bushman ventriloquist"); The Wynfords ("The world's champion jumpers"); Elen and Gallimore ("Two versatile girls and a piano"); Tom Burton ("Up-to-date comedian"); Carr Lynn ("Mimic & humorist") and Alma le Dare ("The popular comedienne").
Meanwhile at the Theatre Royal on the 17th, the 1,000th performance of a play called The Jeffersons took place. The comedy drama about Lancashire life had been continually on tour in Britain for 3½ years and would continue for several more.
Next week's stories will include a case of wife swapping in St Helens, there's bigamy in Water Street, the great Whit Monday motorcycle exodus, the axing of four St Helens pubs and barrel organs are permitted to play again at town fun fairs.
We begin on the 11th with a description in the Liverpool Echo of how the building trade in St Helens was in difficulty. The Corporation housing scheme at Windlehurst had not yet begun and Pilkingtons were struggling to get labour for their planned estate in Eccleston. The Echo reported that representatives of firms carrying out large Government contracts in Scotland had been in St Helens last week offering wages to bricklayers well in excess of local rates. The newspaper added that the joiners of the district had "almost to a man" left the town for Liverpool where the rate of pay was much higher and the builders were now following suit.
An update on the town's war on rats was given at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 12th. The extermination campaign had been on-going for some months but had got off to a chequered start. A number of complaints had been made about the effectiveness of the methods used and the fees charged to property owners. Dr Joseph Cates – the Medical Officer of Health for St Helens – told the meeting that the rodents were now being killed by a variety of methods, however the "chief and most satisfactory way" was the use of ferrets.
Poison was also popular (although not with the rats!) and from January to early May, 800 poisoned baits had been laid down, which had seen off 320 rats. In addition a "patent rat varnish" had been used. This was described by Dr Cates as being like "catching flies on sticky paper". The varnish was smeared on thin cardboard sheets and bait was placed in the centre. In attempting to get to the bait, the rat become stuck to the cardboard and by the following morning was dead.
A possibly cruel method, although Dr Cates said it was only employed when other means were impracticable or unsafe. A total of 136 rats had been caught on the Corporation's refuse dump at Parr and the rat catchers were now spending one or two days a week on the site. Previously the council had been charging private property owners and householders for the time spent in catching rats. However they were now being charged a set fee of 1 shilling per caught rat, which was proving more satisfactory. Two examples of houses that had been plagued with rats were given by Dr Cates and in total 28 rodents had been caught on their premises.
On the 14th John Huxley appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with cruelty to a horse. Two police officers had been in Haresfinch when they heard the sound of blows coming from a field and found Huxley employing a heavy stick on a horse. The animal was being beaten so hard across its ribs and shoulders that the man's stick broke. When spoken to by the police Huxley explained that the horse had run off into the field and added: "Anyone would do it in a temper." He was fined £1.
Also in court that day was John Spencer from Wilmere Farm in Bold, who'd had a ruckus with John Fairhurst. The latter from Eldon Street, off Prescot Road, had worked for Spencer as a carter and summonsed his former boss for assault and damaging his false teeth. Giving evidence to the Bench, John Fairhurst said that on May 5th he had collected some coal from Sutton Manor Colliery and then delivered it to some nearby houses.
He then had a drink in the Green Dragon but claimed that he had only stayed at the pub for five minutes. Having served in the war, Fairhurst was a member of the Discharged Sailors and Soldiers Federation and he also had a drink in their clubhouse in Gartons Lane. When he returned to the colliery his boss demanded an explanation after he had seen the cart parked outside the Green Dragon for over 40 minutes. John Spencer told the court that his employee regularly spent time in the pub when he should be working and had been under the influence of drink.
After the 59-year-old had dismissed Fairhurst the pair then tussled over the horse. The confused animal was told by John Spencer to go but John Fairhurst ordered it to stop! The carter finally halted the horse by grabbing its head, which – according to Fairhurst – led to his boss punching him and bursting his nose and mouth. Two of his false teeth were also broken for which he sought compensation of 6 guineas.
John Fairhurst had a witness who supported his account but John Spencer said he had only pushed Fairhurst in self-defence and had not struck him. The magistrates fined Spencer 10 shillings and allowed Fairhurst a guinea costs for his advocate's fee. But they were not convinced that his false teeth had been broken and refused Fairhurst the six guineas that he wanted to get them fixed.
Sharples of Church Street was advertising ladies and children's umbrellas in the Reporter on the 14th, as well as dainty blouses and "ostrich and marabout ties & capes". Their telephone number was simply 168. Scales & Sons was also in Church Street and was offering "New Goods for Whitsuntide", which included "Gent's tan and Tony boots". During the warmer months some people swapped their flat cap or bowler for a straw hat. Balshaw Brothers of Bridge Street – run by John and Joseph Balshaw – was advertising the "newest shapes" of straw hats and the "latest London neckwear".
There was now considerable competition amongst businesses that hired out charabancs. The St Helens Cycle & Motor Company of Crab Street was advertising "the best machinery that man can invent" at "prices sure to please". There was some variety in spelling charabancs, with Marshalls of Hardshaw Street referring to their open-topped coach as a "chars-a-banc". They had eight "luxurious" 28-seater Daimlers available and their telephone number was simply 73. James Bridge of Ashcroft Street in Parr preferred to spell his coaches as "char-a-banc" – "No party too large" was his strap line.
John Fenney, alias Rudd, began a three-month prison sentence on the 15th. PC Featherstone had found the 45-year-old in the backyard of Philip Corrin's pawnbrokers shop in Parr Stocks Road at 11:20pm. Fenney told the constable that he had no intention of breaking into the premises. He claimed he simply wanted to sleep in the outside toilet, as he was exhausted after walking to St Helens from Macclesfield after having had a stomach operation. I'm sure surgeons always recommend a 40-mile walk after a stomach op!
However the constable said he'd found Fenney two yards from the back door of the shop, having gone 12 yards past the closet. The St Helens Reporter stated that the man had said he was "completely beaten", although the Liverpool Echo claimed he'd said he was "done up". However with sixteen convictions to his name – including one in which he'd served a 5-year-prison term – Fenney had little chance of being believed and so was returned to prison.
Rainford Council met on the 17th and was told that that its Management Committee had approved a draft agreement for the provision of a cinema. Wilson Grundy of North Road in St Helens planned to show films in Rainford Village Hall on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, although the council reserved the right to reclaim the hall for its own events. The building of what was called an "operating house" – or projection room, as we would call it – had already begun and the first screenings were expected soon.
The councillors also banned schoolchildren from potato picking on local farms. Each year 15 - 20,000 tons of potatoes of the late variety were picked in Rainford. For the past 25 to 30 years the children from Rainford Village School, Crank School, Corpus Christi and Bushey Lane School had been given two weeks away from their lessons in order to pick spuds. Councillor Hopgood told the meeting that their parents liked the fact that the children had a fortnight in the fresh air and they also appreciated the extra cash their kids brought in. However the school managers did not like the children missing lessons and so the councillors voted to stop the practice.
These were the music hall turns performing at the Hippodrome Theatre from the 17th: Dan Bros. and Sherry ("A merry and mirthful melange"); Alpho ("The bushman ventriloquist"); The Wynfords ("The world's champion jumpers"); Elen and Gallimore ("Two versatile girls and a piano"); Tom Burton ("Up-to-date comedian"); Carr Lynn ("Mimic & humorist") and Alma le Dare ("The popular comedienne").
Next week's stories will include a case of wife swapping in St Helens, there's bigamy in Water Street, the great Whit Monday motorcycle exodus, the axing of four St Helens pubs and barrel organs are permitted to play again at town fun fairs.
This week's stories include the man who said he was "done up" in a Parr pawnbrokers, the Haresfinch horse that was beaten in a temper, the Sutton Manor ruckus over a drunken carter, the rat plague in St Helens and the banning of children from potato picking in Rainford.
We begin on the 11th with a description in the Liverpool Echo of how the building trade in St Helens was in difficulty.
The Corporation housing scheme at Windlehurst had not yet begun and Pilkingtons were struggling to get labour for their planned estate in Eccleston.
The Echo reported that representatives of firms carrying out large Government contracts in Scotland had been in St Helens last week offering wages to bricklayers well in excess of local rates.
The newspaper added that the joiners of the district had "almost to a man" left the town for Liverpool where the rate of pay was much higher and the builders were now following suit.
An update on the town's war on rats was given at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 12th.
The extermination campaign had been on-going for some months but had got off to a chequered start.
A number of complaints had been made about the effectiveness of the methods used and the fees charged to property owners.
Dr Joseph Cates – the Medical Officer of Health for St Helens – told the meeting that the rodents were now being killed by a variety of methods, however the "chief and most satisfactory way" was the use of ferrets.
Poison was also popular (although not with the rats!) and from January to early May, 800 poisoned baits had been laid down, which had seen off 320 rats.
In addition a "patent rat varnish" had been used. This was described by Dr Cates as being like "catching flies on sticky paper".
The varnish was smeared on thin cardboard sheets and bait was placed in the centre. In attempting to get to the bait, the rat become stuck to the cardboard and by the following morning was dead.
A possibly cruel method, although Dr Cates said it was only employed when other means were impracticable or unsafe.
A total of 136 rats had been caught on the Corporation's refuse dump at Parr and the rat catchers were now spending one or two days a week on the site.
Previously the council had been charging private property owners and householders for the time spent in catching rats.
However they were now being charged a set fee of 1 shilling per caught rat, which was proving more satisfactory.
Two examples of houses that had been plagued with rats were given by Dr Cates and in total 28 rodents had been caught on their premises.
On the 14th John Huxley appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with cruelty to a horse.
Two police officers had been in Haresfinch when they heard the sound of blows coming from a field and found Huxley employing a heavy stick on a horse.
The animal was being beaten so hard across its ribs and shoulders that the man's stick broke.
When spoken to by the police Huxley explained that the horse had run off into the field and added: "Anyone would do it in a temper." He was fined £1.
Also in court that day was John Spencer from Wilmere Farm in Bold, who'd had a ruckus with John Fairhurst.
The latter from Eldon Street, off Prescot Road, had worked for Spencer as a carter and summonsed his former boss for assault and damaging his false teeth.
Giving evidence to the Bench, John Fairhurst said that on May 5th he had collected some coal from Sutton Manor Colliery and then delivered it to some nearby houses.
He then had a drink in the Green Dragon but claimed that he had only stayed at the pub for five minutes.
Having served in the war, Fairhurst was a member of the Discharged Sailors and Soldiers Federation and he also had a drink in their clubhouse in Gartons Lane.
When he returned to the colliery his boss demanded an explanation after he had seen the cart parked outside the Green Dragon for over 40 minutes.
John Spencer told the court that his employee regularly spent time in the pub when he should be working and had been under the influence of drink.
After the 59-year-old had dismissed Fairhurst the pair then tussled over the horse. The confused animal was told by John Spencer to go but John Fairhurst ordered it to stop!
The carter finally halted the horse by grabbing its head, which – according to Fairhurst – led to his boss punching him and bursting his nose and mouth.
Two of his false teeth were also broken for which he sought compensation of six guineas.
John Fairhurst had a witness who supported his account but John Spencer said he had only pushed Fairhurst in self-defence and had not struck him.
The magistrates fined Spencer 10 shillings and allowed Fairhurst a guinea costs for his advocate's fee.
But they were not convinced that his false teeth had been broken and refused Fairhurst the six guineas that he wanted to get them fixed.
Sharples of Church Street was advertising ladies and children's umbrellas in the Reporter on the 14th, as well as dainty blouses and "ostrich and marabout ties & capes". Their telephone number was simply 168.
Scales & Sons was also in Church Street and was offering "New Goods for Whitsuntide", which included "Gent's tan and Tony boots".
During the warmer months some people swapped their flat cap or bowler for a straw hat.
Balshaw Brothers of Bridge Street – run by John and Joseph Balshaw – was advertising the "newest shapes" of straw hats and the "latest London neckwear".
There was now considerable competition amongst businesses that hired out charabancs.
The St Helens Cycle & Motor Company of Crab Street was advertising "the best machinery that man can invent" at "prices sure to please".
There was some variety in spelling charabancs, with Marshalls of Hardshaw Street referring to their open-topped coach as a "chars-a-banc".
They had eight "luxurious" 28-seater Daimlers available and their telephone number was simply 73.
James Bridge of Ashcroft Street in Parr preferred to spell his coaches as "char-a-banc" – "No party too large" was his strap line.
The 15th was Providence Hospital's annual flower day. Their ads said: "Give gladly and generously; give in “gradely” fashion; give worthily of our town's prosperity."
Several hundred pounds was raised each year for the hospital pictured above, which had previously been called Hardshaw Hall and opened as Providence Free Hospital in 1884.
John Fenney, alias Rudd, began a three-month prison sentence on the 15th.
PC Featherstone had found the 45-year-old in the backyard of Philip Corrin's pawnbrokers shop in Parr Stocks Road at 11:20pm.
Fenney told the constable that he had no intention of breaking into the premises.
He claimed he simply wanted to sleep in the outside toilet, as he was exhausted after walking to St Helens from Macclesfield after having had a stomach operation.
I'm sure surgeons always recommend a 40-mile walk after a stomach op!
However the constable said he’d found Fenney two yards from the back door of the shop, having gone 12 yards past the closet.
The St Helens Reporter stated that the man had said he was "completely beaten", although the Liverpool Echo claimed he'd said he was "done up".
However with sixteen convictions to his name – including one in which he'd served a 5-year-prison term – Fenney had little chance of being believed and so was returned to prison.
Rainford Council met on the 17th and was told that that its Management Committee had approved a draft agreement for the provision of a cinema.
Wilson Grundy of North Road in St Helens planned to show films in Rainford Village Hall on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, although the council reserved the right to reclaim the hall for its own events.
The building of what was called an "operating house" – or projection room, as we would call it – had already begun and the first screenings were expected soon.
The councillors also banned schoolchildren from potato picking on local farms. Each year 15 - 20,000 tons of potatoes of the late variety were picked in Rainford.
For the past 25 to 30 years the children from Rainford Village School, Crank School, Corpus Christi and Bushey Lane School had been given two weeks away from their lessons in order to pick spuds.
Councillor Hopgood told the meeting that their parents liked the fact that the children had a fortnight in the fresh air and they also appreciated the extra cash their kids brought in.
However the school managers did not like the children missing lessons and so the councillors voted to stop the practice.
These were the music hall turns performing at the Hippodrome Theatre from the 17th:
Dan Bros. and Sherry ("A merry and mirthful melange"); Alpho ("The bushman ventriloquist"); The Wynfords ("The world's champion jumpers"); Elen and Gallimore ("Two versatile girls and a piano"); Tom Burton ("Up-to-date comedian"); Carr Lynn ("Mimic & humorist") and Alma le Dare ("The popular comedienne").
Meanwhile at the Theatre Royal on the 17th, the 1,000th performance of a play called The Jeffersons took place.
The comedy drama about Lancashire life had been continually on tour in Britain for 3½ years and would continue for several more.
Next week's stories will include a case of wife swapping in St Helens, there's bigamy in Water Street, the great Whit Monday motorcycle exodus, the axing of four St Helens pubs and barrel organs are permitted to play again at town fun fairs.
We begin on the 11th with a description in the Liverpool Echo of how the building trade in St Helens was in difficulty.
The Corporation housing scheme at Windlehurst had not yet begun and Pilkingtons were struggling to get labour for their planned estate in Eccleston.
The Echo reported that representatives of firms carrying out large Government contracts in Scotland had been in St Helens last week offering wages to bricklayers well in excess of local rates.
The newspaper added that the joiners of the district had "almost to a man" left the town for Liverpool where the rate of pay was much higher and the builders were now following suit.
An update on the town's war on rats was given at the council's Health Committee meeting on the 12th.
The extermination campaign had been on-going for some months but had got off to a chequered start.
A number of complaints had been made about the effectiveness of the methods used and the fees charged to property owners.
Dr Joseph Cates – the Medical Officer of Health for St Helens – told the meeting that the rodents were now being killed by a variety of methods, however the "chief and most satisfactory way" was the use of ferrets.
Poison was also popular (although not with the rats!) and from January to early May, 800 poisoned baits had been laid down, which had seen off 320 rats.
In addition a "patent rat varnish" had been used. This was described by Dr Cates as being like "catching flies on sticky paper".
The varnish was smeared on thin cardboard sheets and bait was placed in the centre. In attempting to get to the bait, the rat become stuck to the cardboard and by the following morning was dead.
A possibly cruel method, although Dr Cates said it was only employed when other means were impracticable or unsafe.
A total of 136 rats had been caught on the Corporation's refuse dump at Parr and the rat catchers were now spending one or two days a week on the site.
Previously the council had been charging private property owners and householders for the time spent in catching rats.
However they were now being charged a set fee of 1 shilling per caught rat, which was proving more satisfactory.
Two examples of houses that had been plagued with rats were given by Dr Cates and in total 28 rodents had been caught on their premises.
On the 14th John Huxley appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with cruelty to a horse.
Two police officers had been in Haresfinch when they heard the sound of blows coming from a field and found Huxley employing a heavy stick on a horse.
The animal was being beaten so hard across its ribs and shoulders that the man's stick broke.
When spoken to by the police Huxley explained that the horse had run off into the field and added: "Anyone would do it in a temper." He was fined £1.
Also in court that day was John Spencer from Wilmere Farm in Bold, who'd had a ruckus with John Fairhurst.
The latter from Eldon Street, off Prescot Road, had worked for Spencer as a carter and summonsed his former boss for assault and damaging his false teeth.
Giving evidence to the Bench, John Fairhurst said that on May 5th he had collected some coal from Sutton Manor Colliery and then delivered it to some nearby houses.
He then had a drink in the Green Dragon but claimed that he had only stayed at the pub for five minutes.
Having served in the war, Fairhurst was a member of the Discharged Sailors and Soldiers Federation and he also had a drink in their clubhouse in Gartons Lane.
When he returned to the colliery his boss demanded an explanation after he had seen the cart parked outside the Green Dragon for over 40 minutes.
John Spencer told the court that his employee regularly spent time in the pub when he should be working and had been under the influence of drink.
After the 59-year-old had dismissed Fairhurst the pair then tussled over the horse. The confused animal was told by John Spencer to go but John Fairhurst ordered it to stop!
The carter finally halted the horse by grabbing its head, which – according to Fairhurst – led to his boss punching him and bursting his nose and mouth.
Two of his false teeth were also broken for which he sought compensation of six guineas.
John Fairhurst had a witness who supported his account but John Spencer said he had only pushed Fairhurst in self-defence and had not struck him.
The magistrates fined Spencer 10 shillings and allowed Fairhurst a guinea costs for his advocate's fee.
But they were not convinced that his false teeth had been broken and refused Fairhurst the six guineas that he wanted to get them fixed.
Sharples of Church Street was advertising ladies and children's umbrellas in the Reporter on the 14th, as well as dainty blouses and "ostrich and marabout ties & capes". Their telephone number was simply 168.
Scales & Sons was also in Church Street and was offering "New Goods for Whitsuntide", which included "Gent's tan and Tony boots".
During the warmer months some people swapped their flat cap or bowler for a straw hat.
Balshaw Brothers of Bridge Street – run by John and Joseph Balshaw – was advertising the "newest shapes" of straw hats and the "latest London neckwear".
There was now considerable competition amongst businesses that hired out charabancs.
The St Helens Cycle & Motor Company of Crab Street was advertising "the best machinery that man can invent" at "prices sure to please".
There was some variety in spelling charabancs, with Marshalls of Hardshaw Street referring to their open-topped coach as a "chars-a-banc".
They had eight "luxurious" 28-seater Daimlers available and their telephone number was simply 73.
James Bridge of Ashcroft Street in Parr preferred to spell his coaches as "char-a-banc" – "No party too large" was his strap line.
Several hundred pounds was raised each year for the hospital pictured above, which had previously been called Hardshaw Hall and opened as Providence Free Hospital in 1884.
John Fenney, alias Rudd, began a three-month prison sentence on the 15th.
PC Featherstone had found the 45-year-old in the backyard of Philip Corrin's pawnbrokers shop in Parr Stocks Road at 11:20pm.
Fenney told the constable that he had no intention of breaking into the premises.
He claimed he simply wanted to sleep in the outside toilet, as he was exhausted after walking to St Helens from Macclesfield after having had a stomach operation.
I'm sure surgeons always recommend a 40-mile walk after a stomach op!
However the constable said he’d found Fenney two yards from the back door of the shop, having gone 12 yards past the closet.
The St Helens Reporter stated that the man had said he was "completely beaten", although the Liverpool Echo claimed he'd said he was "done up".
However with sixteen convictions to his name – including one in which he'd served a 5-year-prison term – Fenney had little chance of being believed and so was returned to prison.
Rainford Council met on the 17th and was told that that its Management Committee had approved a draft agreement for the provision of a cinema.
Wilson Grundy of North Road in St Helens planned to show films in Rainford Village Hall on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, although the council reserved the right to reclaim the hall for its own events.
The building of what was called an "operating house" – or projection room, as we would call it – had already begun and the first screenings were expected soon.
The councillors also banned schoolchildren from potato picking on local farms. Each year 15 - 20,000 tons of potatoes of the late variety were picked in Rainford.
For the past 25 to 30 years the children from Rainford Village School, Crank School, Corpus Christi and Bushey Lane School had been given two weeks away from their lessons in order to pick spuds.
Councillor Hopgood told the meeting that their parents liked the fact that the children had a fortnight in the fresh air and they also appreciated the extra cash their kids brought in.
However the school managers did not like the children missing lessons and so the councillors voted to stop the practice.
These were the music hall turns performing at the Hippodrome Theatre from the 17th:
Dan Bros. and Sherry ("A merry and mirthful melange"); Alpho ("The bushman ventriloquist"); The Wynfords ("The world's champion jumpers"); Elen and Gallimore ("Two versatile girls and a piano"); Tom Burton ("Up-to-date comedian"); Carr Lynn ("Mimic & humorist") and Alma le Dare ("The popular comedienne").
The comedy drama about Lancashire life had been continually on tour in Britain for 3½ years and would continue for several more.
Next week's stories will include a case of wife swapping in St Helens, there's bigamy in Water Street, the great Whit Monday motorcycle exodus, the axing of four St Helens pubs and barrel organs are permitted to play again at town fun fairs.