IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (18th - 24th JANUARY 1921)
This week's stories include the Ormskirk Street shop fraudster and wife deserter, the death of a Pilkington boss through a broken leg, there are hard times ahead for workers in St Helens and a drunk performs a war dance on Prescot Road. And as a bonus I have a Liverpool Echo article on the invention of the helicopter!
We begin with Henry Beecham, the brother of Sir Thomas Beecham. Last week I wrote that the latter's 16-year-old son Adrian was to have his operatic version of 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London in February. However this week there was bad news for the St Helens pill-making family. On the 18th Henry Beecham was charged with manslaughter after his car had killed a 6-year-old boy.
One witness described the speed of his vehicle as "terrific" and another estimated it as 65mph. Beecham would later be sentenced to 12-month's imprisonment in the second division. That meant he had special privileges in prison – such as being able to wear his own clothes. Incidentally Beecham was living in luxury in the mansion called Knebworth House in Hertfordshire – the grounds of which the Knebworth Festival would from 1974 be held.
A century ago even the very well off could die from conditions that are treatable today. Arthur Pilkington was chairman of the glassmaking giant and lived at Windle Hall. In early December the 49-year-old tripped while walking through the firm's offices and broke a leg. Pilkington was described as not having been in robust health and the fractured leg led to complications that on the 18th caused his demise.
Just what these complications were, the newspapers did not say. But it seems most unlikely that death would occur from them today. Pilkington left £386,076 in his will, which is around £20 million in today's money. He bequeathed to his wife his motor vehicles and aeroplanes and it was believed that this was the first occasion the word "aircraft" or "aeroplane" had appeared in a will granted probate.
The bodies of those who drowned in the St Helens Canal were often not found for some weeks but those who perished in the Mersey could stay undetected for even longer. The inquest on a man called Alison Prescott (I've confirmed the Christian name with a census) from Cyprus Street in Prescot was held on the 19th. The 53-year-old suffered from loss of memory and had last been seen alive in Liverpool after travelling there on November 14th. It wasn't until four days before the inquest – after two months of being undetected – that Alison's body was discovered in the dock at Toxteth.
The post-war boom in the country had been short-lived and now unemployment was on the rise. Much of the cause was because the German blockade of British merchant shipping during the war had led to important export markets being lost. On the 20th an article in the Guardian bearing the headline "Hard Times In All Trades" was published that said:
"In the Widnes district a large number of workmen in the chemical industry – between 500 and 1,000 – who were suspended at Christmas, have not yet restarted work. A similar state of affairs exists at St. Helens. There one firm employing 250 workmen have not restarted, and this week have finally discharged their workpeople, stating that they will be unable to resume work for at least two months."
John William was certainly suffering hard times. The young Welshman had been working for Pilkington's since last August and earning a decent wage of £3 7 shillings per week. However William had been out of work since January 7th when the glass giant had to let him go because of the slump in trade. Despite this he continued visiting the works and on one occasion stole three packets of food from a former work colleague, presumably out of desperate need.
Appearing in St Helens Police Court this week the magistrates told John William that they were prepared to give him another chance. However he would have to repay the cost of the food, pay a fine of 10 shillings and find the £2 5 shillings arrears that he owed for lodgings. Just where the money would come from I cannot say. However John gave his present address as Caernarvonshire and so appeared to have returned home. So perhaps his family would have been able to help him out?
On the 21st the Lancashire Evening Post wrote about the jobs crisis in an article titled "The Unemployed Problem" and briefly mentioned the situation in St Helens: "The first indications of the trade slump were felt at St. Helen's this week, when several thousand colliers had to cease work for two days owing to the sidings being choked with coal."
The Government was calling on companies suffering from a drop in demand to go on "short time" rather than sack staff but many firms preferred to hire and fire labour as required. The Evening Post added: "Among the proposals which are now being considered for making use of the services of the unemployed is an extensive scheme of land reclamation."
It was a common practice for better-off folk to send someone to a shop to collect goods on their behalf. These would often be bought on credit – or on account, as it was known – with the bill settled at the end of the month. As few people had telephones or carried identification documents, the shopkeeper could not easily check that the intermediary was whom they claimed. The system worked on trust and unscrupulous individuals could take advantage of the arrangement and falsely claim to be acting on someone else's behalf.
One of these was Robert Penketh from New Cross Street (off Duke Street) who appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 24th. The glassworker had gone into Robert Lawson's tailor's shop in Ormskirk Street (pictured above) and taken away clothing worth twelve guineas supposedly for a man that Mr Lawson knew and trusted. However Penketh sold the clothes and then disappeared but was arrested by the police in Prescot after getting off a tram. At first he denied he was the wanted man but then confessed to the crime, telling the police: "Yes, I am Penketh, and I am glad to get it over; but I don't like to think my wife has sold me."
The last comment was a reference to another charge that the man faced. He had deserted his wife and family and the relieving officer of the Prescot Union Guardians had had to fork out £33 19s 9d in subsistence payments to her. One of his children was described as a cripple suffering from spinal disease and for the offence of wife desertion Penketh was given 28 days hard labour. And for the fraud on Lawson the tailor, the magistrates handed him an additional 28 days in prison.
Georges Carpentier was an action-man of the ‘20s – a famous French boxer and actor and formerly a World War I pilot (pictured above). This week Carpentier made a personal appearance in Liverpool and later in the year would be beaten by Jack Dempsey in a world heavyweight fight. He was also the hero of a man called Marsh who also appeared in the Police Court on the 24th. Under the headline "St. Helens Man's War Dance On The Roadway", this is how the Liverpool Echo described his case:
"A St. Helens glassmaker named Marsh, living in Grafton-street, felt somewhat embarrassed when before the magistrates, this morning, at the description which Police-constable Phillips gave of his conduct on Saturday night in Prescot-road. The officer said the man was under the influence of drink and was dancing about the roadway. He said he was Georges Carpentier, and had to be locked up because he was creating a scene. Defendant said that he remembered borrowing a cigarette from the officer when they were coming to the Town Hall on a tramcar, so he did not think he was as drunk as that. He was fined 10s."
I end with an extraordinary article that was published this week in the Echo. It was short and buried at the back of the paper but heralded the invention of the helicopter! The piece was published under the headline: "New Flying Invention. French Government To See A New Wonder":
"Paris is talking to-day about a new flying vehicle, the story of whose invention reads like a romance. It is called the “Hélicoptère,” and we are told that the inventor, M. Pateras-Pescara, a Barcelona engineer, made his discovery in the Santé prison at two o’clock in the morning. It is claimed for this new flying vehicle, in which the French Government is interested, for it will send a technical mission to Barcelona to witness the trials this week, that passengers can descend from the air with the same comfort as though they were sitting in armchairs.
"The invention consists of an axle fixed to a motor which is placed in the vehicle. The axle sets in motion sets of propellers, one set turning one way, one another. The vehicle rises vertically from the ground; it can dip in every direction, remain immobile in space, and descend like an aeroplane with engine stopped."
Next week's stories will include the assaults on tram conductors in Haydock, the Parr entertainment tax prosecution, a most cowardly act takes place at Pilkingtons and an ex-soldier's fury over women taking men's jobs.
We begin with Henry Beecham, the brother of Sir Thomas Beecham. Last week I wrote that the latter's 16-year-old son Adrian was to have his operatic version of 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London in February. However this week there was bad news for the St Helens pill-making family. On the 18th Henry Beecham was charged with manslaughter after his car had killed a 6-year-old boy.
One witness described the speed of his vehicle as "terrific" and another estimated it as 65mph. Beecham would later be sentenced to 12-month's imprisonment in the second division. That meant he had special privileges in prison – such as being able to wear his own clothes. Incidentally Beecham was living in luxury in the mansion called Knebworth House in Hertfordshire – the grounds of which the Knebworth Festival would from 1974 be held.
A century ago even the very well off could die from conditions that are treatable today. Arthur Pilkington was chairman of the glassmaking giant and lived at Windle Hall. In early December the 49-year-old tripped while walking through the firm's offices and broke a leg. Pilkington was described as not having been in robust health and the fractured leg led to complications that on the 18th caused his demise.
Just what these complications were, the newspapers did not say. But it seems most unlikely that death would occur from them today. Pilkington left £386,076 in his will, which is around £20 million in today's money. He bequeathed to his wife his motor vehicles and aeroplanes and it was believed that this was the first occasion the word "aircraft" or "aeroplane" had appeared in a will granted probate.
The bodies of those who drowned in the St Helens Canal were often not found for some weeks but those who perished in the Mersey could stay undetected for even longer. The inquest on a man called Alison Prescott (I've confirmed the Christian name with a census) from Cyprus Street in Prescot was held on the 19th. The 53-year-old suffered from loss of memory and had last been seen alive in Liverpool after travelling there on November 14th. It wasn't until four days before the inquest – after two months of being undetected – that Alison's body was discovered in the dock at Toxteth.
The post-war boom in the country had been short-lived and now unemployment was on the rise. Much of the cause was because the German blockade of British merchant shipping during the war had led to important export markets being lost. On the 20th an article in the Guardian bearing the headline "Hard Times In All Trades" was published that said:
"In the Widnes district a large number of workmen in the chemical industry – between 500 and 1,000 – who were suspended at Christmas, have not yet restarted work. A similar state of affairs exists at St. Helens. There one firm employing 250 workmen have not restarted, and this week have finally discharged their workpeople, stating that they will be unable to resume work for at least two months."
John William was certainly suffering hard times. The young Welshman had been working for Pilkington's since last August and earning a decent wage of £3 7 shillings per week. However William had been out of work since January 7th when the glass giant had to let him go because of the slump in trade. Despite this he continued visiting the works and on one occasion stole three packets of food from a former work colleague, presumably out of desperate need.
Appearing in St Helens Police Court this week the magistrates told John William that they were prepared to give him another chance. However he would have to repay the cost of the food, pay a fine of 10 shillings and find the £2 5 shillings arrears that he owed for lodgings. Just where the money would come from I cannot say. However John gave his present address as Caernarvonshire and so appeared to have returned home. So perhaps his family would have been able to help him out?
On the 21st the Lancashire Evening Post wrote about the jobs crisis in an article titled "The Unemployed Problem" and briefly mentioned the situation in St Helens: "The first indications of the trade slump were felt at St. Helen's this week, when several thousand colliers had to cease work for two days owing to the sidings being choked with coal."
The Government was calling on companies suffering from a drop in demand to go on "short time" rather than sack staff but many firms preferred to hire and fire labour as required. The Evening Post added: "Among the proposals which are now being considered for making use of the services of the unemployed is an extensive scheme of land reclamation."
It was a common practice for better-off folk to send someone to a shop to collect goods on their behalf. These would often be bought on credit – or on account, as it was known – with the bill settled at the end of the month. As few people had telephones or carried identification documents, the shopkeeper could not easily check that the intermediary was whom they claimed. The system worked on trust and unscrupulous individuals could take advantage of the arrangement and falsely claim to be acting on someone else's behalf.
The last comment was a reference to another charge that the man faced. He had deserted his wife and family and the relieving officer of the Prescot Union Guardians had had to fork out £33 19s 9d in subsistence payments to her. One of his children was described as a cripple suffering from spinal disease and for the offence of wife desertion Penketh was given 28 days hard labour. And for the fraud on Lawson the tailor, the magistrates handed him an additional 28 days in prison.
"A St. Helens glassmaker named Marsh, living in Grafton-street, felt somewhat embarrassed when before the magistrates, this morning, at the description which Police-constable Phillips gave of his conduct on Saturday night in Prescot-road. The officer said the man was under the influence of drink and was dancing about the roadway. He said he was Georges Carpentier, and had to be locked up because he was creating a scene. Defendant said that he remembered borrowing a cigarette from the officer when they were coming to the Town Hall on a tramcar, so he did not think he was as drunk as that. He was fined 10s."
I end with an extraordinary article that was published this week in the Echo. It was short and buried at the back of the paper but heralded the invention of the helicopter! The piece was published under the headline: "New Flying Invention. French Government To See A New Wonder":
"Paris is talking to-day about a new flying vehicle, the story of whose invention reads like a romance. It is called the “Hélicoptère,” and we are told that the inventor, M. Pateras-Pescara, a Barcelona engineer, made his discovery in the Santé prison at two o’clock in the morning. It is claimed for this new flying vehicle, in which the French Government is interested, for it will send a technical mission to Barcelona to witness the trials this week, that passengers can descend from the air with the same comfort as though they were sitting in armchairs.
"The invention consists of an axle fixed to a motor which is placed in the vehicle. The axle sets in motion sets of propellers, one set turning one way, one another. The vehicle rises vertically from the ground; it can dip in every direction, remain immobile in space, and descend like an aeroplane with engine stopped."
Next week's stories will include the assaults on tram conductors in Haydock, the Parr entertainment tax prosecution, a most cowardly act takes place at Pilkingtons and an ex-soldier's fury over women taking men's jobs.
This week's stories include the Ormskirk Street shop fraudster and wife deserter, the death of a Pilkington boss through a broken leg, there are hard times ahead for workers in St Helens and a drunk performs a war dance on Prescot Road. And as a bonus I have a Liverpool Echo article on the invention of the helicopter!
We begin with Henry Beecham, the brother of Sir Thomas Beecham. Last week I wrote that the latter's 16-year-old son Adrian was to have his operatic version of 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London in February.
However this week there was bad news for the St Helens pill-making family.
On the 18th Henry Beecham was charged with manslaughter after his car had killed a 6-year-old boy.
One witness described the speed of his vehicle as "terrific" and another estimated it as 65mph.
Beecham would later be sentenced to 12-month's imprisonment in the second division. That meant he had special privileges in prison – such as being able to wear his own clothes.
Incidentally Beecham was living in luxury in the mansion called Knebworth House in Hertfordshire – the grounds of which the Knebworth Festival would from 1974 be held.
A century ago even the very well off could die from conditions that are treatable today.
Arthur Pilkington was chairman of the glassmaking giant and lived at Windle Hall.
In early December the 49-year-old tripped while walking through the firm's offices and broke a leg.
Pilkington was described as not having been in robust health and the fractured leg led to complications that on the 18th caused his demise.
Just what these complications were, the newspapers did not say. But it seems most unlikely that death would occur from them today.
Pilkington left £386,076 in his will, which is around £20 million in today's money.
He bequeathed to his wife his motor vehicles and aeroplanes and it was believed that this was the first occasion the word "aircraft" or "aeroplane" had appeared in a will granted probate.
The bodies of those who drowned in the St Helens Canal were often not found for some weeks but those who perished in the Mersey could stay undetected for even longer.
The inquest on a man called Alison Prescott (I've confirmed the Christian name with a census) from Cyprus Street in Prescot was held on the 19th.
The 53-year-old suffered from loss of memory and had last been seen alive in Liverpool after travelling there on November 14th.
It wasn't until four days before the inquest – after two months of being undetected – that Alison's body was discovered in the dock at Toxteth.
The post-war boom in the country had been short-lived and now unemployment was on the rise.
Much of the reason was because the German blockade of British merchant shipping during the war had led to important export markets being lost.
On the 20th an article in the Guardian bearing the headline "Hard Times In All Trades" was published that said:
"In the Widnes district a large number of workmen in the chemical industry – between 500 and 1,000 – who were suspended at Christmas, have not yet restarted work.
"A similar state of affairs exists at St. Helens. There one firm employing 250 workmen have not restarted, and this week have finally discharged their workpeople, stating that they will be unable to resume work for at least two months."
John William was certainly suffering hard times. The young Welshman had been working for Pilkington's since last August and earning a decent wage of £3 7 shillings per week.
However William had been out of work since January 7th when the glass giant had to let him go because of the slump in trade.
Despite this he continued visiting the works and on one occasion stole three packets of food from a former work colleague, presumably out of desperate need.
Appearing in St Helens Police Court this week the magistrates told John William that they were prepared to give him another chance.
However he would have to repay the cost of the food, pay a fine of 10 shillings and find the £2 5 shillings arrears that he owed for lodgings.
Just where the money would come from I cannot say. However John gave his present address as Caernarvonshire and so appeared to have returned home.
So perhaps his family would have been able to help him out?
On the 21st the Lancashire Evening Post wrote about the jobs crisis in an article titled "The Unemployed Problem" and briefly mentioned the situation in St Helens:
"The first indications of the trade slump were felt at St. Helen's this week, when several thousand colliers had to cease work for two days owing to the sidings being choked with coal."
The Government was calling on companies suffering from a drop in demand to go on "short time" rather than sack staff but many firms preferred to hire and fire labour as required.
The Evening Post added: "Among the proposals which are now being considered for making use of the services of the unemployed is an extensive scheme of land reclamation."
It was a common practice for better-off folk to send someone to a shop to collect goods on their behalf.
These would often be bought on credit – or on account, as it was known – with the bill settled at the end of the month.
As few people had telephones or carried identification documents, the shopkeeper could not easily check that the intermediary was whom they claimed.
The system worked on trust and unscrupulous individuals could take advantage of the arrangement and falsely claim to be acting on someone else's behalf.
One of these was Robert Penketh from New Cross Street (off Duke Street) who appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 24th.
The glassworker had gone into Robert Lawson's tailor's shop in Ormskirk Street (pictured above) and taken away clothing worth twelve guineas supposedly for a man that Mr Lawson knew and trusted.
However Penketh sold the clothes and then disappeared but was arrested by the police in Prescot after getting off a tram.
At first he denied he was the wanted man but then confessed to the crime, telling the police:
"Yes, I am Penketh, and I am glad to get it over; but I don't like to think my wife has sold me."
The last comment was a reference to another charge that the man faced.
He had deserted his wife and family and the relieving officer of the Prescot Union Guardians had had to fork out £33 19s 9d in subsistence payments to her.
One of his children was described as a cripple suffering from spinal disease and for the offence of wife desertion Penketh was given 28 days hard labour.
And for the fraud on Lawson the tailor, the magistrates handed him an additional 28 days in prison.
Georges Carpentier was an action-man of the ‘20s – a famous French boxer and actor and formerly a World War I pilot (pictured above).
This week Carpentier made a personal appearance in Liverpool and later in the year would be beaten by Jack Dempsey in a world heavyweight fight.
He was also the hero of a man called Marsh who also appeared in the Police Court on the 24th.
Under the headline "St. Helens Man's War Dance On The Roadway", this is how the Liverpool Echo described his case:
"A St. Helens glassmaker named Marsh, living in Grafton-street, felt somewhat embarrassed when before the magistrates, this morning, at the description which Police-constable Phillips gave of his conduct on Saturday night in Prescot-road.
"The officer said the man was under the influence of drink and was dancing about the roadway. He said he was Georges Carpentier, and had to be locked up because he was creating a scene.
"Defendant said that he remembered borrowing a cigarette from the officer when they were coming to the Town Hall on a tramcar, so he did not think he was as drunk as that. He was fined 10s."
I end with an extraordinary article that was published this week in the Echo. It was short and buried at the back of the paper but heralded the invention of the helicopter!
The piece was published under the headline: "New Flying Invention. French Government To See A New Wonder":
"Paris is talking to-day about a new flying vehicle, the story of whose invention reads like a romance.
"It is called the “Hélicoptère,” and we are told that the inventor, M. Pateras-Pescara, a Barcelona engineer, made his discovery in the Santé prison at two o’clock in the morning.
"It is claimed for this new flying vehicle, in which the French Government is interested, for it will send a technical mission to Barcelona to witness the trials this week, that passengers can descend from the air with the same comfort as though they were sitting in armchairs.
"The invention consists of an axle fixed to a motor which is placed in the vehicle. The axle sets in motion sets of propellers, one set turning one way, one another.
"The vehicle rises vertically from the ground; it can dip in every direction, remain immobile in space, and descend like an aeroplane with engine stopped."
Next week's stories will include the assaults on tram conductors in Haydock, the Parr entertainment tax prosecution, a most cowardly act takes place at Pilkingtons and an ex-soldier's fury over the women taking men's jobs.
We begin with Henry Beecham, the brother of Sir Thomas Beecham. Last week I wrote that the latter's 16-year-old son Adrian was to have his operatic version of 'The Merchant of Venice' performed in London in February.
However this week there was bad news for the St Helens pill-making family.
On the 18th Henry Beecham was charged with manslaughter after his car had killed a 6-year-old boy.
One witness described the speed of his vehicle as "terrific" and another estimated it as 65mph.
Beecham would later be sentenced to 12-month's imprisonment in the second division. That meant he had special privileges in prison – such as being able to wear his own clothes.
Incidentally Beecham was living in luxury in the mansion called Knebworth House in Hertfordshire – the grounds of which the Knebworth Festival would from 1974 be held.
A century ago even the very well off could die from conditions that are treatable today.
Arthur Pilkington was chairman of the glassmaking giant and lived at Windle Hall.
In early December the 49-year-old tripped while walking through the firm's offices and broke a leg.
Pilkington was described as not having been in robust health and the fractured leg led to complications that on the 18th caused his demise.
Just what these complications were, the newspapers did not say. But it seems most unlikely that death would occur from them today.
Pilkington left £386,076 in his will, which is around £20 million in today's money.
He bequeathed to his wife his motor vehicles and aeroplanes and it was believed that this was the first occasion the word "aircraft" or "aeroplane" had appeared in a will granted probate.
The bodies of those who drowned in the St Helens Canal were often not found for some weeks but those who perished in the Mersey could stay undetected for even longer.
The inquest on a man called Alison Prescott (I've confirmed the Christian name with a census) from Cyprus Street in Prescot was held on the 19th.
The 53-year-old suffered from loss of memory and had last been seen alive in Liverpool after travelling there on November 14th.
It wasn't until four days before the inquest – after two months of being undetected – that Alison's body was discovered in the dock at Toxteth.
The post-war boom in the country had been short-lived and now unemployment was on the rise.
Much of the reason was because the German blockade of British merchant shipping during the war had led to important export markets being lost.
On the 20th an article in the Guardian bearing the headline "Hard Times In All Trades" was published that said:
"In the Widnes district a large number of workmen in the chemical industry – between 500 and 1,000 – who were suspended at Christmas, have not yet restarted work.
"A similar state of affairs exists at St. Helens. There one firm employing 250 workmen have not restarted, and this week have finally discharged their workpeople, stating that they will be unable to resume work for at least two months."
John William was certainly suffering hard times. The young Welshman had been working for Pilkington's since last August and earning a decent wage of £3 7 shillings per week.
However William had been out of work since January 7th when the glass giant had to let him go because of the slump in trade.
Despite this he continued visiting the works and on one occasion stole three packets of food from a former work colleague, presumably out of desperate need.
Appearing in St Helens Police Court this week the magistrates told John William that they were prepared to give him another chance.
However he would have to repay the cost of the food, pay a fine of 10 shillings and find the £2 5 shillings arrears that he owed for lodgings.
Just where the money would come from I cannot say. However John gave his present address as Caernarvonshire and so appeared to have returned home.
So perhaps his family would have been able to help him out?
On the 21st the Lancashire Evening Post wrote about the jobs crisis in an article titled "The Unemployed Problem" and briefly mentioned the situation in St Helens:
"The first indications of the trade slump were felt at St. Helen's this week, when several thousand colliers had to cease work for two days owing to the sidings being choked with coal."
The Government was calling on companies suffering from a drop in demand to go on "short time" rather than sack staff but many firms preferred to hire and fire labour as required.
The Evening Post added: "Among the proposals which are now being considered for making use of the services of the unemployed is an extensive scheme of land reclamation."
It was a common practice for better-off folk to send someone to a shop to collect goods on their behalf.
These would often be bought on credit – or on account, as it was known – with the bill settled at the end of the month.
As few people had telephones or carried identification documents, the shopkeeper could not easily check that the intermediary was whom they claimed.
The system worked on trust and unscrupulous individuals could take advantage of the arrangement and falsely claim to be acting on someone else's behalf.
One of these was Robert Penketh from New Cross Street (off Duke Street) who appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 24th.
However Penketh sold the clothes and then disappeared but was arrested by the police in Prescot after getting off a tram.
At first he denied he was the wanted man but then confessed to the crime, telling the police:
"Yes, I am Penketh, and I am glad to get it over; but I don't like to think my wife has sold me."
The last comment was a reference to another charge that the man faced.
He had deserted his wife and family and the relieving officer of the Prescot Union Guardians had had to fork out £33 19s 9d in subsistence payments to her.
One of his children was described as a cripple suffering from spinal disease and for the offence of wife desertion Penketh was given 28 days hard labour.
And for the fraud on Lawson the tailor, the magistrates handed him an additional 28 days in prison.
This week Carpentier made a personal appearance in Liverpool and later in the year would be beaten by Jack Dempsey in a world heavyweight fight.
He was also the hero of a man called Marsh who also appeared in the Police Court on the 24th.
Under the headline "St. Helens Man's War Dance On The Roadway", this is how the Liverpool Echo described his case:
"A St. Helens glassmaker named Marsh, living in Grafton-street, felt somewhat embarrassed when before the magistrates, this morning, at the description which Police-constable Phillips gave of his conduct on Saturday night in Prescot-road.
"The officer said the man was under the influence of drink and was dancing about the roadway. He said he was Georges Carpentier, and had to be locked up because he was creating a scene.
"Defendant said that he remembered borrowing a cigarette from the officer when they were coming to the Town Hall on a tramcar, so he did not think he was as drunk as that. He was fined 10s."
I end with an extraordinary article that was published this week in the Echo. It was short and buried at the back of the paper but heralded the invention of the helicopter!
The piece was published under the headline: "New Flying Invention. French Government To See A New Wonder":
"Paris is talking to-day about a new flying vehicle, the story of whose invention reads like a romance.
"It is called the “Hélicoptère,” and we are told that the inventor, M. Pateras-Pescara, a Barcelona engineer, made his discovery in the Santé prison at two o’clock in the morning.
"It is claimed for this new flying vehicle, in which the French Government is interested, for it will send a technical mission to Barcelona to witness the trials this week, that passengers can descend from the air with the same comfort as though they were sitting in armchairs.
"The invention consists of an axle fixed to a motor which is placed in the vehicle. The axle sets in motion sets of propellers, one set turning one way, one another.
"The vehicle rises vertically from the ground; it can dip in every direction, remain immobile in space, and descend like an aeroplane with engine stopped."
Next week's stories will include the assaults on tram conductors in Haydock, the Parr entertainment tax prosecution, a most cowardly act takes place at Pilkingtons and an ex-soldier's fury over the women taking men's jobs.