IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 13 - 19 JANUARY 1925
This week's many stories include the man who threatened to pull a policeman's liver out, the Rainford Potteries fancy dress ball and carnival, there's concern over road safety in St Helens, the sympathy for a shoplifter whose husband the police called a "proper rotter" and how a Christmas morning raffle of geese in Thatto Heath led to a court case.
We begin on the 16th with a St Helens Reporter article that bore the headline "When The Banshee Shrieked – Lively Scene In Hardy Street". Hardy Street used to be near Waterloo Street in the town centre and the paper quoted "diminutive collier" Joseph Daniels as telling the magistrates in St Helens Police Court: "I challenge the community of St. Helens to prove that ever since I met my wife up to the present day we have ever had a wrong word, or been out in the street fighting, or falling out in any shape or form."
Daniels had been charged with committing a breach of the peace and PC Spence explained to the magistrates how he and PC Tinsley had been on the streets in plain clothes on the previous Saturday night. He said shortly before 11pm they heard sounds of a disturbance coming from Hardy Street. They hurried to the scene but arrived too late, although a fresh row occurred a few minutes later. Joseph Daniels was shouting and using bad language and his wife had said, "The bother is between ourselves and does not concern anybody else."
The constable added that when told he would be reported, Daniels told the police, "I will pull your liver out." In his defence, Daniels, who gave evidence on oath, explained that he had been lighting a fire for his mother-in-law in the parlour when he heard a row taking place outside. He said on going to the door he saw a woman talking to his mother. Thinking she might be innocently drawn into the bother, he called her to come in.
Daniels said there had been no plainclothes policemen about at the time. But just as he got into his parlour two men had "popped" inside his house and before he could offer a word of explanation, he claimed he was seized by the arm and dragged to the door causing his shirt sleeve to be torn. He said he "felt mesmerised" and did not know what to think. "I have been summoned for nothing at all," he continued. "I took no part whatever in the fighting and I have the names of the two parties who were concerned, who have sent their sympathy to myself and my ‘missis’."
When asked to give the names, Daniels replied: "Could I have police protection if I get in any bother by mentioning the names? I am only a small fellow and there's some “big ‘uns” knocking about." Eventually he named the Tynan family as the guilty parties and when Mrs Daniels gave evidence she said: "Jack Tynan had been at the top of the street making a complete fool of himself. He was shouting “Ship ahoy,” and somebody spat in his face.
"John Tynan, Micky Ryan and Maggie Ann Ryan were fighting in their clogs, and the daughter came up shouting and giving her pay out, and saying what she would do. When she gets drunk she is always giving her banshee cry and swearing." After hearing further evidence the Bench dismissed the charge.
Another curious court case concerned the Christmas morning raffle of a couple of geese that had taken place in the Thatto Heath British Legion. Superintendent Dunn explained to the magistrates that a few days before Christmas the police had received a report of a couple of geese having been stolen from the Thatto Heath district. As part of their investigations they learnt that Henry Barker from Sunbury Street had two geese at his house.
They turned out not to be the stolen ones but as Mr Barker explained how he had possession of the geese, he landed himself in a different form of trouble. He said he was out of work and had come to an arrangement with a butcher from Sutton Road to sell two geese. As he had experienced difficulty in selling them, Barker explained that he had decided to raffle them off. There was loud laughter in the courtroom when his brother Levi Barker said he had held the hat during the Christmas morning draw and admitted winning the first prize after paying sixpence for his ticket.
It was pointed out that none of the club officials had been aware of the raffle and those involved insisted it had been all above board and they had not realised they were doing anything wrong. In his defence Henry Barker said that he did not have a halfpenny for the Christmas holidays and that was why he ran the raffle. The magistrates appeared to take pity on him, as they said they would dismiss the case under the Probation of Offenders Act on condition that Barker paid the court costs of six shillings. To that the defendant said, "You will have to give me time to pay it."
Pity was also shown to Elizabeth Schofield from Baker Street who was charged with stealing a pair of boots and a pair of slippers from a shoe shop in Higher Parr Street (pictured above). Some sympathy even came from the police, with Supt Dunn telling the Bench that the husband of the defendant was a "proper rotter" and was currently in prison.
Mrs Schofield had been caught taking the footwear but had eventually paid the shop for them. The matter would have been allowed to rest there if it had not been for a row between Mrs Schofield and her landlady who told PC Parkinson about the shoe business. George Marsden was the owner of the shoe shop and he would become the Mayor of St Helens in 1943.
I would have thought that the matter had been a private one between Marsden and Elizabeth Schofield and it was up to the former to decide whether to prosecute. But the Chief Constable of St Helens thought differently and decided to give Marsden a formal warning for his action in not reporting the theft and "compounding a felony".
During the court case Mrs Schofield sobbed bitterly as it was explained that she had given the pair of boots to her landlady as part payment of back rent because she was in such dire straits. And so the Bench decided to bind her over "to come up for judgement when called upon". In other words the offence would be taken into account if she were ever in court again.
In an editorial the Reporter echoed the comments of Coroner Samuel Brighouse who was calling for a safety first campaign for the roads and for legislation to be passed for "the better control of the highways". But the paper also wanted the local authority in St Helens to do more, complaining how "…nobody seems to care. Little children and adults are killed – the record of the past year is distinctly upsetting; the Coroner returns a verdict, and things go on just as they were before."
Since the war there had been a huge increase in motor traffic on St Helens' highly congested narrow roads and a corresponding rise in the number of accidents and deaths. Although some steps were being taken to ease congestion, there was no driving test; motor cyclists did not routinely wear a helmet and children and drivers were not taught the Highway Code, which was six years away.
The coroner's comments had been made at the inquest on Harry Ball who had died in a motor car accident in Ormskirk Street last week. Although no fault was found with the driver, it was felt that the town centre street should be better lit. It was relatively simple things such as lighting that would help improve safety on the roads of St Helens but only alongside a raft of other improvements, most of which would require legislation.
The Reporter also described how Rainford Potteries Recreation Club had held a fancy dress ball and carnival. They wrote: "Rarely has the Village Hall been seen to better advantage. Festoons and streamers in multitudinous colours adorned the walls and ceiling, and the scene was one of sparkling colour and joyous movement as the dancers, attired in rich, dainty, and picturesque costumes revelled with twinkling feet in the joys of the dance."
The Hippodrome Theatre in Corporation Street liked to mix up its performances, sometimes presenting plays or revues and at other times acting as a cinema. From time to time it reverted back to its original purpose as a music hall and for a week from the 19th the Hippodrome hosted a new batch of acts. These included:
Nixon Grey ("The Zig-Zog comedian in his latest successes"); The Dakotas ("In Western pasttimes, as performed at Wembley"); Lena Brown ("Low comedienne and whistler"); Jimmy Law and His Six Supremes ("In mirth, music, harmony and dancing"); Griff ("Babbling bubble blower"); Billy French ("Dancing comedian") and Auntie ("She would a-wheeling go").
The somewhat baffling descriptions are taken from the Reporter advert. There is a YouTube video showing Griff the bubble man whose act the kids must have loved, in an era when it wasn't as easy as today to create bubbles. One newspaper in describing Griff's visit to the children's ward of East Sussex Hospital in January 1926 wrote: "To see the bubbles bouncing on the cots and hear the laughter of the little ones was something to carry away as a happy recollection for many a day." The Dakotas comprised Buck, Chic and Tex and they called themselves "the greatest American attraction" and demonstrated rope spinning, whip cracking and "whip manipulating" etc.
Since Boxing Day the Theatre Royal had been in panto mode with a performance of the "gorgeous comic pantomime" Red Riding Hood. Then an "up-to-date version" of Robinson Crusoe was performed for a week and now the "grand spectacular and comic pantomime" Dick Whittington and his Cat was treading the boards at the theatre. The show starred Jimmy Jewel, the father of the man of the same name who became a well-known comedian in the later years of the 20th century.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the children that failed to qualify for the clog and stocking fund, the Vicar of St Helens shocks his Parochial Council, the Marshalls Cross garage fire and the man accused of being a Peeping Tom in Speakman Road.
We begin on the 16th with a St Helens Reporter article that bore the headline "When The Banshee Shrieked – Lively Scene In Hardy Street". Hardy Street used to be near Waterloo Street in the town centre and the paper quoted "diminutive collier" Joseph Daniels as telling the magistrates in St Helens Police Court: "I challenge the community of St. Helens to prove that ever since I met my wife up to the present day we have ever had a wrong word, or been out in the street fighting, or falling out in any shape or form."
Daniels had been charged with committing a breach of the peace and PC Spence explained to the magistrates how he and PC Tinsley had been on the streets in plain clothes on the previous Saturday night. He said shortly before 11pm they heard sounds of a disturbance coming from Hardy Street. They hurried to the scene but arrived too late, although a fresh row occurred a few minutes later. Joseph Daniels was shouting and using bad language and his wife had said, "The bother is between ourselves and does not concern anybody else."
The constable added that when told he would be reported, Daniels told the police, "I will pull your liver out." In his defence, Daniels, who gave evidence on oath, explained that he had been lighting a fire for his mother-in-law in the parlour when he heard a row taking place outside. He said on going to the door he saw a woman talking to his mother. Thinking she might be innocently drawn into the bother, he called her to come in.
Daniels said there had been no plainclothes policemen about at the time. But just as he got into his parlour two men had "popped" inside his house and before he could offer a word of explanation, he claimed he was seized by the arm and dragged to the door causing his shirt sleeve to be torn. He said he "felt mesmerised" and did not know what to think. "I have been summoned for nothing at all," he continued. "I took no part whatever in the fighting and I have the names of the two parties who were concerned, who have sent their sympathy to myself and my ‘missis’."
When asked to give the names, Daniels replied: "Could I have police protection if I get in any bother by mentioning the names? I am only a small fellow and there's some “big ‘uns” knocking about." Eventually he named the Tynan family as the guilty parties and when Mrs Daniels gave evidence she said: "Jack Tynan had been at the top of the street making a complete fool of himself. He was shouting “Ship ahoy,” and somebody spat in his face.
"John Tynan, Micky Ryan and Maggie Ann Ryan were fighting in their clogs, and the daughter came up shouting and giving her pay out, and saying what she would do. When she gets drunk she is always giving her banshee cry and swearing." After hearing further evidence the Bench dismissed the charge.
Another curious court case concerned the Christmas morning raffle of a couple of geese that had taken place in the Thatto Heath British Legion. Superintendent Dunn explained to the magistrates that a few days before Christmas the police had received a report of a couple of geese having been stolen from the Thatto Heath district. As part of their investigations they learnt that Henry Barker from Sunbury Street had two geese at his house.
They turned out not to be the stolen ones but as Mr Barker explained how he had possession of the geese, he landed himself in a different form of trouble. He said he was out of work and had come to an arrangement with a butcher from Sutton Road to sell two geese. As he had experienced difficulty in selling them, Barker explained that he had decided to raffle them off. There was loud laughter in the courtroom when his brother Levi Barker said he had held the hat during the Christmas morning draw and admitted winning the first prize after paying sixpence for his ticket.
It was pointed out that none of the club officials had been aware of the raffle and those involved insisted it had been all above board and they had not realised they were doing anything wrong. In his defence Henry Barker said that he did not have a halfpenny for the Christmas holidays and that was why he ran the raffle. The magistrates appeared to take pity on him, as they said they would dismiss the case under the Probation of Offenders Act on condition that Barker paid the court costs of six shillings. To that the defendant said, "You will have to give me time to pay it."
Mrs Schofield had been caught taking the footwear but had eventually paid the shop for them. The matter would have been allowed to rest there if it had not been for a row between Mrs Schofield and her landlady who told PC Parkinson about the shoe business. George Marsden was the owner of the shoe shop and he would become the Mayor of St Helens in 1943.
I would have thought that the matter had been a private one between Marsden and Elizabeth Schofield and it was up to the former to decide whether to prosecute. But the Chief Constable of St Helens thought differently and decided to give Marsden a formal warning for his action in not reporting the theft and "compounding a felony".
During the court case Mrs Schofield sobbed bitterly as it was explained that she had given the pair of boots to her landlady as part payment of back rent because she was in such dire straits. And so the Bench decided to bind her over "to come up for judgement when called upon". In other words the offence would be taken into account if she were ever in court again.
In an editorial the Reporter echoed the comments of Coroner Samuel Brighouse who was calling for a safety first campaign for the roads and for legislation to be passed for "the better control of the highways". But the paper also wanted the local authority in St Helens to do more, complaining how "…nobody seems to care. Little children and adults are killed – the record of the past year is distinctly upsetting; the Coroner returns a verdict, and things go on just as they were before."
Since the war there had been a huge increase in motor traffic on St Helens' highly congested narrow roads and a corresponding rise in the number of accidents and deaths. Although some steps were being taken to ease congestion, there was no driving test; motor cyclists did not routinely wear a helmet and children and drivers were not taught the Highway Code, which was six years away.
The coroner's comments had been made at the inquest on Harry Ball who had died in a motor car accident in Ormskirk Street last week. Although no fault was found with the driver, it was felt that the town centre street should be better lit. It was relatively simple things such as lighting that would help improve safety on the roads of St Helens but only alongside a raft of other improvements, most of which would require legislation.
The Reporter also described how Rainford Potteries Recreation Club had held a fancy dress ball and carnival. They wrote: "Rarely has the Village Hall been seen to better advantage. Festoons and streamers in multitudinous colours adorned the walls and ceiling, and the scene was one of sparkling colour and joyous movement as the dancers, attired in rich, dainty, and picturesque costumes revelled with twinkling feet in the joys of the dance."
The Hippodrome Theatre in Corporation Street liked to mix up its performances, sometimes presenting plays or revues and at other times acting as a cinema. From time to time it reverted back to its original purpose as a music hall and for a week from the 19th the Hippodrome hosted a new batch of acts. These included:
Nixon Grey ("The Zig-Zog comedian in his latest successes"); The Dakotas ("In Western pasttimes, as performed at Wembley"); Lena Brown ("Low comedienne and whistler"); Jimmy Law and His Six Supremes ("In mirth, music, harmony and dancing"); Griff ("Babbling bubble blower"); Billy French ("Dancing comedian") and Auntie ("She would a-wheeling go").
The somewhat baffling descriptions are taken from the Reporter advert. There is a YouTube video showing Griff the bubble man whose act the kids must have loved, in an era when it wasn't as easy as today to create bubbles. One newspaper in describing Griff's visit to the children's ward of East Sussex Hospital in January 1926 wrote: "To see the bubbles bouncing on the cots and hear the laughter of the little ones was something to carry away as a happy recollection for many a day." The Dakotas comprised Buck, Chic and Tex and they called themselves "the greatest American attraction" and demonstrated rope spinning, whip cracking and "whip manipulating" etc.
Since Boxing Day the Theatre Royal had been in panto mode with a performance of the "gorgeous comic pantomime" Red Riding Hood. Then an "up-to-date version" of Robinson Crusoe was performed for a week and now the "grand spectacular and comic pantomime" Dick Whittington and his Cat was treading the boards at the theatre. The show starred Jimmy Jewel, the father of the man of the same name who became a well-known comedian in the later years of the 20th century.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the children that failed to qualify for the clog and stocking fund, the Vicar of St Helens shocks his Parochial Council, the Marshalls Cross garage fire and the man accused of being a Peeping Tom in Speakman Road.
This week's many stories include the man who threatened to pull a policeman's liver out, the Rainford Potteries fancy dress ball and carnival, there's concern over road safety in St Helens, the sympathy for a shoplifter whose husband the police called a "proper rotter" and how a Christmas morning raffle of geese in Thatto Heath led to a court case.
We begin on the 16th with a St Helens Reporter article that bore the headline "When The Banshee Shrieked – Lively Scene In Hardy Street".
Hardy Street used to be near Waterloo Street in the town centre and the paper quoted "diminutive collier" Joseph Daniels as telling the magistrates in St Helens Police Court:
"I challenge the community of St. Helens to prove that ever since I met my wife up to the present day we have ever had a wrong word, or been out in the street fighting, or falling out in any shape or form."
Daniels had been charged with committing a breach of the peace and PC Spence explained to the magistrates how he and PC Tinsley had been on the streets in plain clothes on the previous Saturday night.
He said shortly before 11pm they heard sounds of a disturbance coming from Hardy Street.
They hurried to the scene but arrived too late, although a fresh row occurred a few minutes later.
Joseph Daniels was shouting and using bad language and his wife had said, "The bother is between ourselves and does not concern anybody else."
The constable added that when told he would be reported, Daniels told the police, "I will pull your liver out."
In his defence, Daniels, who gave evidence on oath, explained that he had been lighting a fire for his mother-in-law in the parlour when he heard a row taking place outside.
He said on going to the door he saw a woman talking to his mother. Thinking she might be innocently drawn into the bother, he called her to come in.
Daniels said there had been no plainclothes policemen about at the time.
But just as he got into his parlour two men had "popped" inside his house and before he could offer a word of explanation, he claimed he was seized by the arm and dragged to the door causing his shirt sleeve to be torn.
He said he "felt mesmerised" and did not know what to think.
"I have been summoned for nothing at all," he continued. "I took no part whatever in the fighting and I have the names of the two parties who were concerned, who have sent their sympathy to myself and my ‘missis’."
When asked to give the names, Daniels replied: "Could I have police protection if I get in any bother by mentioning the names? I am only a small fellow and there's some “big ‘uns” knocking about."
Eventually he named the Tynan family as the guilty parties and when Mrs Daniels gave evidence she said:
"Jack Tynan had been at the top of the street making a complete fool of himself. He was shouting “Ship ahoy,” and somebody spat in his face.
"John Tynan, Micky Ryan and Maggie Ann Ryan were fighting in their clogs, and the daughter came up shouting and giving her pay out, and saying what she would do. When she gets drunk she is always giving her banshee cry and swearing."
After hearing further evidence the Bench dismissed the charge.
Another curious court case concerned the Christmas morning raffle of a couple of geese that had taken place in the Thatto Heath British Legion.
Superintendent Dunn explained to the magistrates that a few days before Christmas the police had received a report of a couple of geese having been stolen from the Thatto Heath district.
As part of their investigations they learnt that Henry Barker from Sunbury Street had two geese at his house.
They turned out not to be the stolen ones but as Mr Barker explained how he had possession of the geese, he landed himself in a different form of trouble.
He said he was out of work and had come to an arrangement with a butcher from Sutton Road to sell two geese.
As he had experienced difficulty in selling them, Barker explained that he had decided to raffle them off.
There was loud laughter in the courtroom when his brother Levi Barker said he had held the hat during the Christmas morning draw and admitted winning the first prize after paying sixpence for his ticket.
It was pointed out that none of the club officials had been aware of the raffle and those involved insisted it had been all above board and they had not realised they were doing anything wrong.
In his defence Henry Barker said that he did not have a halfpenny for the Christmas holidays and that was why he ran the raffle.
The magistrates appeared to take pity on him, as they said they would dismiss the case under the Probation of Offenders Act on condition that Barker paid the court costs of six shillings.
To that the defendant said, "You will have to give me time to pay it."
Pity was also shown to Elizabeth Schofield from Baker Street who was charged with stealing a pair of boots and a pair of slippers from a shoe shop in Higher Parr Street (pictured above).
Some sympathy even came from the police, with Supt Dunn telling the Bench that the husband of the defendant was a "proper rotter" and was currently in prison.
Mrs Schofield had been caught taking the footwear but had eventually paid the shop for them.
The matter would have been allowed to rest there if it had not been for a row between Mrs Schofield and her landlady who told PC Parkinson about the shoe business.
George Marsden was the owner of the shoe shop and he would become the Mayor of St Helens in 1943.
I would have thought that the matter had been a private one between Marsden and Elizabeth Schofield and it was up to the former to decide whether to prosecute.
But the Chief Constable of St Helens thought differently and decided to give Marsden a formal warning for his action in not reporting the theft and "compounding a felony".
During the court case Mrs Schofield sobbed bitterly as it was explained that she had given the pair of boots to her landlady as part payment of back rent because she was in such dire straits.
And so the Bench decided to bind her over "to come up for judgement when called upon". In other words the offence would be taken into account if she were ever in court again.
In an editorial the Reporter echoed the comments of Coroner Samuel Brighouse (pictured above) who was calling for a safety first campaign for the roads and for legislation to be passed for "the better control of the highways".
But the paper also wanted the local authority in St Helens to do more, complaining how "…nobody seems to care. Little children and adults are killed – the record of the past year is distinctly upsetting; the Coroner returns a verdict, and things go on just as they were before."
Since the war there had been a huge increase in motor traffic on St Helens' highly congested narrow roads and a corresponding rise in the number of accidents and deaths.
Although some steps were being taken to ease congestion, there was no driving test; motor cyclists did not routinely wear a helmet and children and drivers were not taught the Highway Code, which was six years away.
The coroner's comments had been made at the inquest on Harry Ball who had died in a motor car accident in Ormskirk Street last week.
Although no fault was found with the driver, it was felt that the town centre street should be better lit.
It was relatively simple things such as lighting that would help improve safety on the roads of St Helens but only alongside a raft of other improvements, most of which would require legislation.
The Reporter also described how Rainford Potteries Recreation Club had held a fancy dress ball and carnival. They wrote:
"Rarely has the Village Hall been seen to better advantage. Festoons and streamers in multitudinous colours adorned the walls and ceiling, and the scene was one of sparkling colour and joyous movement as the dancers, attired in rich, dainty, and picturesque costumes revelled with twinkling feet in the joys of the dance."
The Hippodrome Theatre in Corporation Street liked to mix up its performances, sometimes presenting plays or revues and at other times acting as a cinema.
From time to time it reverted back to its original purpose as a music hall and for a week from the 19th the Hippodrome hosted a new batch of acts. These included:
Nixon Grey ("The Zig-Zog comedian in his latest successes"); The Dakotas ("In Western pasttimes, as performed at Wembley"); Lena Brown ("Low comedienne and whistler"); Jimmy Law and His Six Supremes ("In mirth, music, harmony and dancing"); Griff ("Babbling bubble blower"); Billy French ("Dancing comedian") and Auntie ("She would a-wheeling go").
The somewhat baffling descriptions are taken from the Reporter advert.
There is a YouTube video showing Griff the bubble man whose act the kids must have loved, in an era when it wasn't as easy as today to create bubbles.
One newspaper in describing Griff's visit to the children's ward of East Sussex Hospital in January 1926 wrote:
"To see the bubbles bouncing on the cots and hear the laughter of the little ones was something to carry away as a happy recollection for many a day."
The Dakotas comprised Buck, Chic and Tex and they called themselves "the greatest American attraction" and demonstrated rope spinning, whip cracking and "whip manipulating" etc.
Since Boxing Day the Theatre Royal had been in panto mode with a performance of the "gorgeous comic pantomime" Red Riding Hood.
Then an "up-to-date version" of Robinson Crusoe was performed for a week and now the "grand spectacular and comic pantomime" Dick Whittington and his Cat was treading the boards at the theatre.
The show starred Jimmy Jewel, the father of the man of the same name who became a well-known comedian in the later years of the 20th century.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the children that failed to qualify for the clog and stocking fund, the Vicar of St Helens shocks his Parochial Council, the Marshalls Cross garage fire and the man accused of being a Peeping Tom in Speakman Road.
We begin on the 16th with a St Helens Reporter article that bore the headline "When The Banshee Shrieked – Lively Scene In Hardy Street".
Hardy Street used to be near Waterloo Street in the town centre and the paper quoted "diminutive collier" Joseph Daniels as telling the magistrates in St Helens Police Court:
"I challenge the community of St. Helens to prove that ever since I met my wife up to the present day we have ever had a wrong word, or been out in the street fighting, or falling out in any shape or form."
Daniels had been charged with committing a breach of the peace and PC Spence explained to the magistrates how he and PC Tinsley had been on the streets in plain clothes on the previous Saturday night.
He said shortly before 11pm they heard sounds of a disturbance coming from Hardy Street.
They hurried to the scene but arrived too late, although a fresh row occurred a few minutes later.
Joseph Daniels was shouting and using bad language and his wife had said, "The bother is between ourselves and does not concern anybody else."
The constable added that when told he would be reported, Daniels told the police, "I will pull your liver out."
In his defence, Daniels, who gave evidence on oath, explained that he had been lighting a fire for his mother-in-law in the parlour when he heard a row taking place outside.
He said on going to the door he saw a woman talking to his mother. Thinking she might be innocently drawn into the bother, he called her to come in.
Daniels said there had been no plainclothes policemen about at the time.
But just as he got into his parlour two men had "popped" inside his house and before he could offer a word of explanation, he claimed he was seized by the arm and dragged to the door causing his shirt sleeve to be torn.
He said he "felt mesmerised" and did not know what to think.
"I have been summoned for nothing at all," he continued. "I took no part whatever in the fighting and I have the names of the two parties who were concerned, who have sent their sympathy to myself and my ‘missis’."
When asked to give the names, Daniels replied: "Could I have police protection if I get in any bother by mentioning the names? I am only a small fellow and there's some “big ‘uns” knocking about."
Eventually he named the Tynan family as the guilty parties and when Mrs Daniels gave evidence she said:
"Jack Tynan had been at the top of the street making a complete fool of himself. He was shouting “Ship ahoy,” and somebody spat in his face.
"John Tynan, Micky Ryan and Maggie Ann Ryan were fighting in their clogs, and the daughter came up shouting and giving her pay out, and saying what she would do. When she gets drunk she is always giving her banshee cry and swearing."
After hearing further evidence the Bench dismissed the charge.
Another curious court case concerned the Christmas morning raffle of a couple of geese that had taken place in the Thatto Heath British Legion.
Superintendent Dunn explained to the magistrates that a few days before Christmas the police had received a report of a couple of geese having been stolen from the Thatto Heath district.
As part of their investigations they learnt that Henry Barker from Sunbury Street had two geese at his house.
They turned out not to be the stolen ones but as Mr Barker explained how he had possession of the geese, he landed himself in a different form of trouble.
He said he was out of work and had come to an arrangement with a butcher from Sutton Road to sell two geese.
As he had experienced difficulty in selling them, Barker explained that he had decided to raffle them off.
There was loud laughter in the courtroom when his brother Levi Barker said he had held the hat during the Christmas morning draw and admitted winning the first prize after paying sixpence for his ticket.
It was pointed out that none of the club officials had been aware of the raffle and those involved insisted it had been all above board and they had not realised they were doing anything wrong.
In his defence Henry Barker said that he did not have a halfpenny for the Christmas holidays and that was why he ran the raffle.
The magistrates appeared to take pity on him, as they said they would dismiss the case under the Probation of Offenders Act on condition that Barker paid the court costs of six shillings.
To that the defendant said, "You will have to give me time to pay it."
Some sympathy even came from the police, with Supt Dunn telling the Bench that the husband of the defendant was a "proper rotter" and was currently in prison.
Mrs Schofield had been caught taking the footwear but had eventually paid the shop for them.
The matter would have been allowed to rest there if it had not been for a row between Mrs Schofield and her landlady who told PC Parkinson about the shoe business.
George Marsden was the owner of the shoe shop and he would become the Mayor of St Helens in 1943.
I would have thought that the matter had been a private one between Marsden and Elizabeth Schofield and it was up to the former to decide whether to prosecute.
But the Chief Constable of St Helens thought differently and decided to give Marsden a formal warning for his action in not reporting the theft and "compounding a felony".
During the court case Mrs Schofield sobbed bitterly as it was explained that she had given the pair of boots to her landlady as part payment of back rent because she was in such dire straits.
And so the Bench decided to bind her over "to come up for judgement when called upon". In other words the offence would be taken into account if she were ever in court again.
But the paper also wanted the local authority in St Helens to do more, complaining how "…nobody seems to care. Little children and adults are killed – the record of the past year is distinctly upsetting; the Coroner returns a verdict, and things go on just as they were before."
Since the war there had been a huge increase in motor traffic on St Helens' highly congested narrow roads and a corresponding rise in the number of accidents and deaths.
Although some steps were being taken to ease congestion, there was no driving test; motor cyclists did not routinely wear a helmet and children and drivers were not taught the Highway Code, which was six years away.
The coroner's comments had been made at the inquest on Harry Ball who had died in a motor car accident in Ormskirk Street last week.
Although no fault was found with the driver, it was felt that the town centre street should be better lit.
It was relatively simple things such as lighting that would help improve safety on the roads of St Helens but only alongside a raft of other improvements, most of which would require legislation.
The Reporter also described how Rainford Potteries Recreation Club had held a fancy dress ball and carnival. They wrote:
"Rarely has the Village Hall been seen to better advantage. Festoons and streamers in multitudinous colours adorned the walls and ceiling, and the scene was one of sparkling colour and joyous movement as the dancers, attired in rich, dainty, and picturesque costumes revelled with twinkling feet in the joys of the dance."
The Hippodrome Theatre in Corporation Street liked to mix up its performances, sometimes presenting plays or revues and at other times acting as a cinema.
From time to time it reverted back to its original purpose as a music hall and for a week from the 19th the Hippodrome hosted a new batch of acts. These included:
Nixon Grey ("The Zig-Zog comedian in his latest successes"); The Dakotas ("In Western pasttimes, as performed at Wembley"); Lena Brown ("Low comedienne and whistler"); Jimmy Law and His Six Supremes ("In mirth, music, harmony and dancing"); Griff ("Babbling bubble blower"); Billy French ("Dancing comedian") and Auntie ("She would a-wheeling go").
The somewhat baffling descriptions are taken from the Reporter advert.
There is a YouTube video showing Griff the bubble man whose act the kids must have loved, in an era when it wasn't as easy as today to create bubbles.
One newspaper in describing Griff's visit to the children's ward of East Sussex Hospital in January 1926 wrote:
"To see the bubbles bouncing on the cots and hear the laughter of the little ones was something to carry away as a happy recollection for many a day."
The Dakotas comprised Buck, Chic and Tex and they called themselves "the greatest American attraction" and demonstrated rope spinning, whip cracking and "whip manipulating" etc.
Since Boxing Day the Theatre Royal had been in panto mode with a performance of the "gorgeous comic pantomime" Red Riding Hood.
Then an "up-to-date version" of Robinson Crusoe was performed for a week and now the "grand spectacular and comic pantomime" Dick Whittington and his Cat was treading the boards at the theatre.
The show starred Jimmy Jewel, the father of the man of the same name who became a well-known comedian in the later years of the 20th century.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the children that failed to qualify for the clog and stocking fund, the Vicar of St Helens shocks his Parochial Council, the Marshalls Cross garage fire and the man accused of being a Peeping Tom in Speakman Road.