IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 11 - 17 NOVEMBER 1924
This week's many stories include the jazz music in the Town Hall that was disturbing councillors, the Armistice Day service in Victoria Square, the annual police ball, more on the post office worker that resorted to theft, the Australians attempting to lure St Helens folk down under, a debate on the colour bar and the boy thief that was in a poor physical condition.
We begin with the news that St Helens Station was to have its platforms re-built at a cost of £3,000. Longer trains were now in use and the existing platforms at Shaw Street were not considered long enough to accommodate them.
In a case in St Helens County Police Court on the 11th, Francis Yates was charged with stealing a pair of boots from Maypole Farm in Bold. The 14-year-old had then pledged them at Hunter's pawnshop in Clock Face.
"This boy is fast qualifying to be sent away," said Superintendent Lewis, meaning to a reformatory or an industrial school. The lad had now left school but John Holmes, the probation officer, told the court that although there had been times when he was very attentive at school, on other occasions Francis had felt ill and faint "owing to his physical condition".
This comment was not further explained, at least not in the newspaper report. But it was probably a reference to the boy having not been sufficiently fed, which was not uncommon. The Chairman of the Bench said they were going to give the lad another chance and he would be placed on probation again with the father ordered to pay £1.
Last week I described how post officer worker Frederick Reynolds had been accused of stealing from letters. The 28-year-old from Windleshaw Road had been charged with taking two £1 and five 10-shilling notes while working at the St Helens Post Office. After a remand Reynolds returned to court on the 11th where it was revealed how seriously the GPO then took letter theft.
A post office investigator had travelled from London to St Helens accompanied by a Metropolitan Police sergeant to conduct inquiries over several days. Three test letters containing bank notes had been posted on a recent Sunday evening. Early on the following morning – some hours after the pillar-box had been emptied and its letters transferred to the St Helens sorting office – a thorough search was made.
The three letters could not be found but the notes within them were discovered in Reynolds' possession with their numbers matching the ones that had been posted. Frederick Reynolds immediately admitted stealing the letters and he was said to have fully cooperated with the investigation. The Reporter described his demeanour while in court:
"Prisoner wore a dejected look, and frequently buried his face in his hands during the hearing of the case." Reynolds only earned around £3 a week but as well as his own family he said he had his mother in Cornwall to support and his father-in-law was out of work. "I was financially embarrassed at the time, owing to sickness at home", Reynolds explained.
"But I can honestly say I have never stolen anything before this sudden temptation. I am extremely sorry." The magistrates could have chosen to deal leniently with the man there and then. But theft by public servants was treated very seriously and he was committed to the next assizes where a harsh sentence was likely.
On the 12th the inquest on William Foster was held in St Helens Town Hall (pictured above). The 66-year-old had lived in a hut on Sutton Moss and had been out of work for some time. But he had found work in building a new brick kiln for the Sutton Heath & Lea Green Colliery Company.
However, upon returning home after his first day on the job, William was found by Jack Parr at the side of the road near Lea Green Station in a crouching position. Mr Parr told the inquest that he had said: "Hello, old chap, what's the matter?" Getting no response he grabbed hold of the man and found he was dead, having seemingly suffered a heart attack.
The Conservative-supporting St Helens Reporter ran a lengthy editorial on the 14th complaining how the Labour controlled council had changed the time of the monthly council meeting from 6pm to 6:30pm. Traditionally such meetings had always been held in the afternoon. But when Labour came to power in St Helens they switched them to the evenings because they said their councillors often lost money through having to take time off work.
One unexpected problem of evening sittings was the competition from jazz bands, as the paper explained: "Jazz music is not the finest inspiration for Demosthenic [lucid] eloquence, and the Council have had experience aforetime of the difficulty of trying to concentrate upon knotty problems of municipal government while the dance bands in the adjoining Assembly Room create enthusiasm for “the muse of the many twinkling feet”."
Above is a photograph of the St Helens police force pictured in 1920. The Reporter also described how the 25th annual St Helens Police Ball had taken place. Otherwise known as the annual whist drive and dance of the St Helens Police Recreation Club, the event had been held at the Town Hall and a wide gathering of townspeople had attended. The paper wrote: "The Assembly Room was specially decorated for the occasion with bunting, and on the platform there was a brave show of chrysanthemums, palms and ferns, behind which Mr. Leyland's orchestra discoursed the latest dance airs.
"Insp. Blackhurst and P.C. Ridding were on “point” duty as M.C.'s directing the stream of dancers along the proper channels, while a burly policeman shouted down the corridor, “Any more for the knock-out?” He was not, however, provoking a breach of the peace, but merely calling competitors together in the whist drive knock-out competition."
The Victoria Square Cenotaph had yet to be officially opened, as the mammoth task of collating and inscribing the names of all those that had died still had a long way to go. But the war memorial had had its protective covering removed for last week's Armistice Day service and the Reporter described how in spite of pouring rain a large crowd had assembled to remember the fallen.
One impressed former soldier had declared: "Sentiment is not dead in England yet." The paper added, "Wreaths of laurel and of flowers, in which the scarlet poppy predominated, were laid at the base." The Mayor, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, told those that had braved the elements:
"If those heroes could be consulted, if they could send us a wireless message from the spirit world, they would say, with no uncertain voice, ‘In remembering us, remember the living; our disabled comrades, our wives and children, our bereaved parents and other dependents.’ They would tell us not to lose in the peace what they fought and died for – a war to end war."
The Reporter also described the recent debate by the New Century Debating Society that had been held at the YMCA. The subject of the meeting had been "Racial Problems – Ought We To Recognise the Colour Bar?" James Gordon was the Secretary of the YMCA and he opened the debate expressing concern over the gradual ascendancy of the white race over the last 500 years.
He described it as a very serious problem as out of every seven persons in the British Empire, six he referred to as coloured. Mr Gordon gave as an example the treatment of a "cultured native" from India called Gandhi. The man, he argued, had been distinctly pro-British but after visiting this country and having insults heaped upon him, his sympathies for England had been converted into hatred.
Mr Gordon also pointed out that there was not equal justice in Africa and America for the white man and what he described as natives. He said petty crimes by white men were condoned but when committed by natives they were severely punished. Although the discussion was generally progressive, one speaker felt that the elimination of the colour bar was a great idea in principle but not a practical one. That he said was because "As a rule, educated coloured men were not morally equal to white men".
Last February the St Helens Reporter had reproduced a letter that an unnamed young man had sent from Australia thanking the Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip". It continued: "I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it. Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience."
On the 17th what was described as an Australian Government Representative was at the St Helens Employment Exchange in Church Street to give advice and encouragement to others that might also be considering emigrating. Sending people to Oz was clearly one way to get the unemployment numbers down in St Helens!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the maid attacked in Ravenhead, the 17 persons sleeping in a two-bedroomed house, electricity is set to come to Rainford and the Leonard Street residents who said they could hear coal shifting under their feet.
We begin with the news that St Helens Station was to have its platforms re-built at a cost of £3,000. Longer trains were now in use and the existing platforms at Shaw Street were not considered long enough to accommodate them.
In a case in St Helens County Police Court on the 11th, Francis Yates was charged with stealing a pair of boots from Maypole Farm in Bold. The 14-year-old had then pledged them at Hunter's pawnshop in Clock Face.
"This boy is fast qualifying to be sent away," said Superintendent Lewis, meaning to a reformatory or an industrial school. The lad had now left school but John Holmes, the probation officer, told the court that although there had been times when he was very attentive at school, on other occasions Francis had felt ill and faint "owing to his physical condition".
This comment was not further explained, at least not in the newspaper report. But it was probably a reference to the boy having not been sufficiently fed, which was not uncommon. The Chairman of the Bench said they were going to give the lad another chance and he would be placed on probation again with the father ordered to pay £1.
Last week I described how post officer worker Frederick Reynolds had been accused of stealing from letters. The 28-year-old from Windleshaw Road had been charged with taking two £1 and five 10-shilling notes while working at the St Helens Post Office. After a remand Reynolds returned to court on the 11th where it was revealed how seriously the GPO then took letter theft.
A post office investigator had travelled from London to St Helens accompanied by a Metropolitan Police sergeant to conduct inquiries over several days. Three test letters containing bank notes had been posted on a recent Sunday evening. Early on the following morning – some hours after the pillar-box had been emptied and its letters transferred to the St Helens sorting office – a thorough search was made.
The three letters could not be found but the notes within them were discovered in Reynolds' possession with their numbers matching the ones that had been posted. Frederick Reynolds immediately admitted stealing the letters and he was said to have fully cooperated with the investigation. The Reporter described his demeanour while in court:
"Prisoner wore a dejected look, and frequently buried his face in his hands during the hearing of the case." Reynolds only earned around £3 a week but as well as his own family he said he had his mother in Cornwall to support and his father-in-law was out of work. "I was financially embarrassed at the time, owing to sickness at home", Reynolds explained.
"But I can honestly say I have never stolen anything before this sudden temptation. I am extremely sorry." The magistrates could have chosen to deal leniently with the man there and then. But theft by public servants was treated very seriously and he was committed to the next assizes where a harsh sentence was likely.
However, upon returning home after his first day on the job, William was found by Jack Parr at the side of the road near Lea Green Station in a crouching position. Mr Parr told the inquest that he had said: "Hello, old chap, what's the matter?" Getting no response he grabbed hold of the man and found he was dead, having seemingly suffered a heart attack.
The Conservative-supporting St Helens Reporter ran a lengthy editorial on the 14th complaining how the Labour controlled council had changed the time of the monthly council meeting from 6pm to 6:30pm. Traditionally such meetings had always been held in the afternoon. But when Labour came to power in St Helens they switched them to the evenings because they said their councillors often lost money through having to take time off work.
One unexpected problem of evening sittings was the competition from jazz bands, as the paper explained: "Jazz music is not the finest inspiration for Demosthenic [lucid] eloquence, and the Council have had experience aforetime of the difficulty of trying to concentrate upon knotty problems of municipal government while the dance bands in the adjoining Assembly Room create enthusiasm for “the muse of the many twinkling feet”."
"Insp. Blackhurst and P.C. Ridding were on “point” duty as M.C.'s directing the stream of dancers along the proper channels, while a burly policeman shouted down the corridor, “Any more for the knock-out?” He was not, however, provoking a breach of the peace, but merely calling competitors together in the whist drive knock-out competition."
The Victoria Square Cenotaph had yet to be officially opened, as the mammoth task of collating and inscribing the names of all those that had died still had a long way to go. But the war memorial had had its protective covering removed for last week's Armistice Day service and the Reporter described how in spite of pouring rain a large crowd had assembled to remember the fallen.
One impressed former soldier had declared: "Sentiment is not dead in England yet." The paper added, "Wreaths of laurel and of flowers, in which the scarlet poppy predominated, were laid at the base." The Mayor, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, told those that had braved the elements:
"If those heroes could be consulted, if they could send us a wireless message from the spirit world, they would say, with no uncertain voice, ‘In remembering us, remember the living; our disabled comrades, our wives and children, our bereaved parents and other dependents.’ They would tell us not to lose in the peace what they fought and died for – a war to end war."
The Reporter also described the recent debate by the New Century Debating Society that had been held at the YMCA. The subject of the meeting had been "Racial Problems – Ought We To Recognise the Colour Bar?" James Gordon was the Secretary of the YMCA and he opened the debate expressing concern over the gradual ascendancy of the white race over the last 500 years.
He described it as a very serious problem as out of every seven persons in the British Empire, six he referred to as coloured. Mr Gordon gave as an example the treatment of a "cultured native" from India called Gandhi. The man, he argued, had been distinctly pro-British but after visiting this country and having insults heaped upon him, his sympathies for England had been converted into hatred.
Mr Gordon also pointed out that there was not equal justice in Africa and America for the white man and what he described as natives. He said petty crimes by white men were condoned but when committed by natives they were severely punished. Although the discussion was generally progressive, one speaker felt that the elimination of the colour bar was a great idea in principle but not a practical one. That he said was because "As a rule, educated coloured men were not morally equal to white men".
Last February the St Helens Reporter had reproduced a letter that an unnamed young man had sent from Australia thanking the Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip". It continued: "I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it. Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience."
On the 17th what was described as an Australian Government Representative was at the St Helens Employment Exchange in Church Street to give advice and encouragement to others that might also be considering emigrating. Sending people to Oz was clearly one way to get the unemployment numbers down in St Helens!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the maid attacked in Ravenhead, the 17 persons sleeping in a two-bedroomed house, electricity is set to come to Rainford and the Leonard Street residents who said they could hear coal shifting under their feet.
This week's many stories include the jazz music in the Town Hall that was disturbing councillors, the Armistice Day service in Victoria Square, the annual police ball, more on the post office worker that resorted to theft, the Australians attempting to lure St Helens folk down under, a debate on the colour bar and the boy thief that was in a poor physical condition.
We begin with the news that St Helens Station was to have its platforms re-built at a cost of £3,000.
Longer trains were now in use and the existing platforms at Shaw Street were not considered long enough to accommodate them.
In a case in St Helens County Police Court on the 11th, Francis Yates was charged with stealing a pair of boots from Maypole Farm in Bold. The 14-year-old had then pledged them at Hunter's pawnshop in Clock Face.
"This boy is fast qualifying to be sent away," said Superintendent Lewis, meaning to a reformatory or an industrial school.
The lad had now left school but John Holmes, the probation officer, told the court that although there had been times when he was very attentive at school, on other occasions Francis had felt ill and faint "owing to his physical condition".
This comment was not further explained, at least not in the newspaper report. But it was probably a reference to the boy having not been sufficiently fed, which was not uncommon.
The Chairman of the Bench said they were going to give the lad another chance and he would be placed on probation again with the father ordered to pay £1.
Last week I described how post officer worker Frederick Reynolds had been accused of stealing from letters.
The 28-year-old from Windleshaw Road had been charged with taking two £1 and five 10-shilling notes while working at the St Helens Post Office.
After a remand Reynolds returned to court on the 11th where it was revealed how seriously the GPO then took letter theft.
A post office investigator had travelled from London to St Helens accompanied by a Metropolitan Police sergeant to conduct inquiries over several days.
Three test letters containing bank notes had been posted on a recent Sunday evening.
Early on the following morning – some hours after the pillar-box had been emptied and its letters transferred to the St Helens sorting office – a thorough search was made.
The three letters could not be found but the notes within them were discovered in Reynolds' possession with their numbers matching the ones that had been posted.
Frederick Reynolds immediately admitted stealing the letters and he was said to have fully cooperated with the investigation. The Reporter described his demeanour while in court:
"Prisoner wore a dejected look, and frequently buried his face in his hands during the hearing of the case."
Reynolds only earned around £3 a week but as well as his own family he said he had his mother in Cornwall to support and his father-in-law was out of work.
"I was financially embarrassed at the time, owing to sickness at home", Reynolds explained.
"But I can honestly say I have never stolen anything before this sudden temptation. I am extremely sorry."
The magistrates could have chosen to deal leniently with the man there and then.
But theft by public servants was treated very seriously and he was committed to the next assizes where a harsh sentence was likely.
On the 12th the inquest on William Foster was held in St Helens Town Hall (pictured above). The 66-year-old had lived in a hut on Sutton Moss and had been out of work for some time.
But he had found work in building a new brick kiln for the Sutton Heath & Lea Green Colliery Company.
However, upon returning home after his first day on the job, William was found by Jack Parr at the side of the road near Lea Green Station in a crouching position.
Mr Parr told the inquest that he had said: "Hello, old chap, what's the matter?"
Getting no response he grabbed hold of the man and found he was dead, having seemingly suffered a heart attack.
The Conservative-supporting St Helens Reporter ran a lengthy editorial on the 14th complaining how the Labour controlled council had changed the time of the monthly council meeting from 6pm to 6:30pm.
Traditionally such meetings had always been held in the afternoon. But when Labour came to power in St Helens they switched them to the evenings because they said their councillors often lost money through having to take time off work.
One unexpected problem of evening sittings was the competition from jazz bands, as the paper explained:
"Jazz music is not the finest inspiration for Demosthenic [lucid] eloquence, and the Council have had experience aforetime of the difficulty of trying to concentrate upon knotty problems of municipal government while the dance bands in the adjoining Assembly Room create enthusiasm for “the muse of the many twinkling feet”."
Above is a photograph of the St Helens police force pictured in 1920. The Reporter also described how the 25th annual St Helens Police Ball had taken place.
Otherwise known as the annual whist drive and dance of the St Helens Police Recreation Club, the event had been held at the Town Hall and a wide gathering of townspeople had attended. The paper wrote:
"The Assembly Room was specially decorated for the occasion with bunting, and on the platform there was a brave show of chrysanthemums, palms and ferns, behind which Mr. Leyland's orchestra discoursed the latest dance airs.
"Insp. Blackhurst and P.C. Ridding were on “point” duty as M.C.'s directing the stream of dancers along the proper channels, while a burly policeman shouted down the corridor, “Any more for the knock-out?”
"He was not, however, provoking a breach of the peace, but merely calling competitors together in the whist drive knock-out competition."
The Victoria Square Cenotaph had yet to be officially opened, as the mammoth task of collating and inscribing the names of all those that had died still had a long way to go.
But the war memorial had had its protective covering removed for last week's Armistice Day service and the Reporter described how in spite of pouring rain a large crowd had assembled to remember the fallen.
One impressed former soldier had declared: "Sentiment is not dead in England yet."
The paper added, "Wreaths of laurel and of flowers, in which the scarlet poppy predominated, were laid at the base." The Mayor, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, told those that had braved the elements:
"If those heroes could be consulted, if they could send us a wireless message from the spirit world, they would say, with no uncertain voice, ‘In remembering us, remember the living; our disabled comrades, our wives and children, our bereaved parents and other dependents.’
"They would tell us not to lose in the peace what they fought and died for – a war to end war."
The Reporter also described the recent debate by the New Century Debating Society that had been held at the YMCA. The subject of the meeting had been "Racial Problems – Ought We To Recognise the Colour Bar?"
James Gordon was the Secretary of the YMCA and he opened the debate expressing concern over the gradual ascendancy of the white race over the last 500 years.
He described it as a very serious problem as out of every seven persons in the British Empire, six he referred to as coloured.
Mr Gordon gave as an example the treatment of a "cultured native" from India called Gandhi.
The man, he argued, had been distinctly pro-British but after visiting this country and having insults heaped upon him, his sympathies for England had been converted into hatred.
Mr Gordon also pointed out that there was not equal justice in Africa and America for the white man and what he described as natives.
He said petty crimes by white men were condoned but when committed by natives they were severely punished.
Although the discussion was generally progressive, one speaker felt that the elimination of the colour bar was a great idea in principle but not a practical one.
That he said was because "As a rule, educated coloured men were not morally equal to white men".
Last February the St Helens Reporter had reproduced a letter that an unnamed young man had sent from Australia thanking the Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip".
It continued: "I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it.
"Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience."
On the 17th what was described as an Australian Government Representative was at the St Helens Employment Exchange in Church Street to give advice and encouragement to others that might also be considering emigrating.
Sending people to Oz was clearly one way to get the unemployment numbers down in St Helens!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the maid attacked in Ravenhead, the 17 persons sleeping in a two-bedroomed house, electricity is set to come to Rainford and the Leonard Street residents who said they could hear coal shifting under their feet.
We begin with the news that St Helens Station was to have its platforms re-built at a cost of £3,000.
Longer trains were now in use and the existing platforms at Shaw Street were not considered long enough to accommodate them.
In a case in St Helens County Police Court on the 11th, Francis Yates was charged with stealing a pair of boots from Maypole Farm in Bold. The 14-year-old had then pledged them at Hunter's pawnshop in Clock Face.
"This boy is fast qualifying to be sent away," said Superintendent Lewis, meaning to a reformatory or an industrial school.
The lad had now left school but John Holmes, the probation officer, told the court that although there had been times when he was very attentive at school, on other occasions Francis had felt ill and faint "owing to his physical condition".
This comment was not further explained, at least not in the newspaper report. But it was probably a reference to the boy having not been sufficiently fed, which was not uncommon.
The Chairman of the Bench said they were going to give the lad another chance and he would be placed on probation again with the father ordered to pay £1.
Last week I described how post officer worker Frederick Reynolds had been accused of stealing from letters.
The 28-year-old from Windleshaw Road had been charged with taking two £1 and five 10-shilling notes while working at the St Helens Post Office.
After a remand Reynolds returned to court on the 11th where it was revealed how seriously the GPO then took letter theft.
A post office investigator had travelled from London to St Helens accompanied by a Metropolitan Police sergeant to conduct inquiries over several days.
Three test letters containing bank notes had been posted on a recent Sunday evening.
Early on the following morning – some hours after the pillar-box had been emptied and its letters transferred to the St Helens sorting office – a thorough search was made.
The three letters could not be found but the notes within them were discovered in Reynolds' possession with their numbers matching the ones that had been posted.
Frederick Reynolds immediately admitted stealing the letters and he was said to have fully cooperated with the investigation. The Reporter described his demeanour while in court:
"Prisoner wore a dejected look, and frequently buried his face in his hands during the hearing of the case."
Reynolds only earned around £3 a week but as well as his own family he said he had his mother in Cornwall to support and his father-in-law was out of work.
"I was financially embarrassed at the time, owing to sickness at home", Reynolds explained.
"But I can honestly say I have never stolen anything before this sudden temptation. I am extremely sorry."
The magistrates could have chosen to deal leniently with the man there and then.
But theft by public servants was treated very seriously and he was committed to the next assizes where a harsh sentence was likely.
But he had found work in building a new brick kiln for the Sutton Heath & Lea Green Colliery Company.
However, upon returning home after his first day on the job, William was found by Jack Parr at the side of the road near Lea Green Station in a crouching position.
Mr Parr told the inquest that he had said: "Hello, old chap, what's the matter?"
Getting no response he grabbed hold of the man and found he was dead, having seemingly suffered a heart attack.
The Conservative-supporting St Helens Reporter ran a lengthy editorial on the 14th complaining how the Labour controlled council had changed the time of the monthly council meeting from 6pm to 6:30pm.
Traditionally such meetings had always been held in the afternoon. But when Labour came to power in St Helens they switched them to the evenings because they said their councillors often lost money through having to take time off work.
One unexpected problem of evening sittings was the competition from jazz bands, as the paper explained:
"Jazz music is not the finest inspiration for Demosthenic [lucid] eloquence, and the Council have had experience aforetime of the difficulty of trying to concentrate upon knotty problems of municipal government while the dance bands in the adjoining Assembly Room create enthusiasm for “the muse of the many twinkling feet”."
Otherwise known as the annual whist drive and dance of the St Helens Police Recreation Club, the event had been held at the Town Hall and a wide gathering of townspeople had attended. The paper wrote:
"The Assembly Room was specially decorated for the occasion with bunting, and on the platform there was a brave show of chrysanthemums, palms and ferns, behind which Mr. Leyland's orchestra discoursed the latest dance airs.
"Insp. Blackhurst and P.C. Ridding were on “point” duty as M.C.'s directing the stream of dancers along the proper channels, while a burly policeman shouted down the corridor, “Any more for the knock-out?”
"He was not, however, provoking a breach of the peace, but merely calling competitors together in the whist drive knock-out competition."
The Victoria Square Cenotaph had yet to be officially opened, as the mammoth task of collating and inscribing the names of all those that had died still had a long way to go.
But the war memorial had had its protective covering removed for last week's Armistice Day service and the Reporter described how in spite of pouring rain a large crowd had assembled to remember the fallen.
One impressed former soldier had declared: "Sentiment is not dead in England yet."
The paper added, "Wreaths of laurel and of flowers, in which the scarlet poppy predominated, were laid at the base." The Mayor, Alderman Thomas Hamblett, told those that had braved the elements:
"If those heroes could be consulted, if they could send us a wireless message from the spirit world, they would say, with no uncertain voice, ‘In remembering us, remember the living; our disabled comrades, our wives and children, our bereaved parents and other dependents.’
"They would tell us not to lose in the peace what they fought and died for – a war to end war."
The Reporter also described the recent debate by the New Century Debating Society that had been held at the YMCA. The subject of the meeting had been "Racial Problems – Ought We To Recognise the Colour Bar?"
James Gordon was the Secretary of the YMCA and he opened the debate expressing concern over the gradual ascendancy of the white race over the last 500 years.
He described it as a very serious problem as out of every seven persons in the British Empire, six he referred to as coloured.
Mr Gordon gave as an example the treatment of a "cultured native" from India called Gandhi.
The man, he argued, had been distinctly pro-British but after visiting this country and having insults heaped upon him, his sympathies for England had been converted into hatred.
Mr Gordon also pointed out that there was not equal justice in Africa and America for the white man and what he described as natives.
He said petty crimes by white men were condoned but when committed by natives they were severely punished.
Although the discussion was generally progressive, one speaker felt that the elimination of the colour bar was a great idea in principle but not a practical one.
That he said was because "As a rule, educated coloured men were not morally equal to white men".
Last February the St Helens Reporter had reproduced a letter that an unnamed young man had sent from Australia thanking the Labour Exchange "for the help you gave me and my pal in making the trip".
It continued: "I have got a good job with an Englishman with his family. They show me every kindness, and I don't think I could go to another place like it.
"Australia, what I have seen of it, is a great place, and as there is plenty of work here, and good money, it is a man's opportunity to make a nice pile, especially when he takes a farm up on his own, which you are allowed to do after twelve months' experience."
On the 17th what was described as an Australian Government Representative was at the St Helens Employment Exchange in Church Street to give advice and encouragement to others that might also be considering emigrating.
Sending people to Oz was clearly one way to get the unemployment numbers down in St Helens!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the maid attacked in Ravenhead, the 17 persons sleeping in a two-bedroomed house, electricity is set to come to Rainford and the Leonard Street residents who said they could hear coal shifting under their feet.