IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (19th - 25th JULY 1921)
This week's many stories include the Parr boy who died after eating a poisonous plant, the town's heroes are honoured in the Police Court, a St Helens miner's poem about paper boys and why the will of the late chairman of Pilkington's had broken new ground.
We begin with the death of Benjamin Bradshaw Glover, one of the leading St Helens industrialists of the 19th century and a long-time magistrate. B.B. had opened the Phoenix Colliery in Ravenhead in 1872, having been born into the wealthy Glover rope-making family.
At the council's Parks Committee meeting on the 20th, complaints about systematic stealing of flowers from St Helens Cemetery were discussed. It was stated that one woman had been caught with her carpet bag full of flowers. It was decided to reprimand the woman but in future offenders would be prosecuted.
Danby Jay was the pen name of Dan Jaundrill, the St Helens coal miner poet. On the 22nd the Liverpool Echo published a poem that the 42-year-old had written about the paper's newsboys in St Helens announcing the end of the coal strike. The Echo had its own paperboys – or newsboys – who'd walk the streets selling their papers and shouting out its name as they went. However the St Helens lads converted the two-syllable word "Echo" into the four-syllable "Ay-ek-ee-aw". Here are a few verses:
"The stocks of coals were dwindling fast,
When through St. Helens streets there passed,
A youth, who roared with all his might,
“End of the great coal strike in sight,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
His brow was glad, his nose and chin
Were merged in one tremendous grin,
And like a cracked tin trumpet rang
The accents of that well-known song,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
In many homes he saw the light
Of smouldering hopes gleam warm and bright,
And as he sped along the street,
The music that he made was sweet:
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
No need to gather withered branch,
The coals will come like avalanche;
The “Echos” sold both left and right,
He soon sold out his stock that night –
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”. DANBY JAY"
During the summer months many people in St Helens would bathe or swim in the town's many waterways. Inevitably a few would drown as the canals and reservoirs could prove deeper and more dangerous than people thought. However the death of Edward Briers was rather different. The six-year-old had been bathing with his brother and another boy in a pit near his home in Broad Oak Road. Then the threesome went for a walk to Carr Mill and picked and ate some flag-root that they found in an old dried-up brook.
Wikipedia states that flag-root (aka calamus and sweet flag) is a "species of flowering plant used in traditional medicine to treat digestive disorders and pain". However the article adds that there is no clinical evidence for its safety or efficacy – and "ingested calamus may be toxic". It certainly was for Edward Briers of Broad Oak Road in Parr, as the 6-year-old collapsed while walking home and died the same night.
At Edward's inquest on the 23rd, Dr Thomas O’Keefe reported that while conducting a post-mortem he had found all the boy's organs to be normal but there had been poison in his stomach. Strangely Edward's eleven-year-old brother and friend, who also ate some flag-root, were unaffected but the coroner thought they might have consumed less than Edward.
The 23rd was also the day when the long drought finally broke within the St Helens district. Although there had been a few short showers last week, the Echo reported that the "merry splashing of raindrops on the windows" was the heaviest fall for almost two months and had led to much rejoicing. The paper added that the drought has not only played havoc with the hay and fruit crops but was also having an effect upon the sea: "Fishermen state that the surface of the sea has become dirty and evil-smelling, and that the herrings, which are rather particular, prefer to remain in the depths."
The St Helens Society for the Blind did not appreciate the break in the warm weather, as it reduced attendance for their fundraising fete in Eccleston Park. The event took place in the rain-drenched grounds of Ingleholme, which was the residence of Frederick Dixon-Nuttall, the bottlemaker and ex-mayor of St Helens. The Ravenhead St John's Military Band played selections and there was a tennis tournament and fun golf games played and the usual side-shows.
This week St Helens publicans would have been digesting the plans for a new licensing law. The Bill before Parliament was set to create a framework for opening hours that would last for the rest of the 20th century. The general rule for weekday opening would be 11:30am to 3pm and 5:30pm to 10pm, although local licensing authorities could modify these times but only slightly. Before the curtailment of drinking hours during the war, there was an almost "open all hours" approach by some drinking houses.
There was some good and bad news in the legislation for drinkers of spirits. The war had led to whisky, brandy and gin being reduced in strength but the new Bill would remove all limits. However the Echo was not convinced that brewers would increase the strength of spirits and had this warning for drinkers: "Even if spirits do return to pre-war strength, they certainly will not return to pre-war prices." The then maximum price of a bottle of whisky was 12s 6d compared to 1914 when it had cost 4s 6d.
It was reported on the 24th that Arthur Pilkington of the glassmaking family who had died in January had left £386,076 gross in his will – that's the equivalent of around £18 million in today's money. Pilkington bequeathed to his widow his fleet of motor vehicles and aircraft and it was thought that this was the first occasion that airplanes had featured in a will.
Curiously the 49-year-old from Windle Hall (pictured above) had died after tripping over something while walking through the firm's offices. Pilkington broke a leg, complications set in and his great wealth could not save his life. He had also been a magistrate and once told an Italian who had broken regulations by leaving a light burning in his Junction Lane shop that having come to this country he must do what he was told.
In St Helens Police Court on the 25th mineral water manufacturer and magistrate Thomas Edmondson declared: "It has been a great pleasure to the Bench to see that although the war is over we still have men amongst us who are willing to risk their lives to save others." One of the more pleasant duties of the JPs was to hand out awards to the town's brave heroes on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
So Arthur Travers from Sherdley Road received a certificate and medal for rescuing two youths in difficulties in the Ravenhead Dam. John Pennington and John Henderson, both of Powell Street in Sutton, and Jacob Proudlove of Morris Street, were also rewarded for rescuing a fellow mineworker. A man called Williams had been overcome by gas whilst trying to obtain so-called crop-coal during the recent miners strike but the men had saved him.
And finally the non-St Helens item in the Echo that made me smile this week was a story about a couple getting locked in an office building. It was another example of how in the pre-radio and TV days huge crowds could quickly appear when there was a hint of excitement in the air:
"What was a comedy for the onlookers but an annoying experience for the participants, occurred last evening in some offices at the London-road corner of Norton-street, Liverpool. The premises are let off in various suites, and one of the tenants locked the front door on leaving, being unaware that the occupant of rooms on the first floor was still inside, with his wife. Not having keys for the main entrance, the imprisoned tenant rang up the police, and within a short time some officers appeared with a ladder which they propped against the window.
"A large crowd immediately gathered, and as invariably happens in such circumstances, picturesque rumours were quickly afloat. The ladder promised to offer a speedy way out of the difficulty, but when the feminine element is present it is never wise to be too sure. The lady in the present case gave fresh demonstration of the truth of this. Darkly looked she at the ladder, and darkly at the crowd – and refused to swarm down in public. She declared that would rather remain locked in the office for a week than secure her freedom at such a price.
"A motor fire-escape, frequently employed in such rescues as this or in picking marooned burglars off housetops, came motoring into the street just before 9 o'clock, but this increased the lady's determination to stand fast. Eventually what neither the police nor the brigadesmen could do was accomplished by a workman single-handed. He smoothed the lady's path by entering the building by a window, and, with the aid of tools he had brought, made his way to the locked door, which he opened from the inside. The couple got into the street shortly after 9 p.m. So large was the crowd at this time that a number of policemen were required to control and disperse it."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens MP's claim that a clerical sex scandal had been a conspiracy, there are more deaths on the road and down coal mines and a St Helens woman demands the restitution of her conjugal rights.
We begin with the death of Benjamin Bradshaw Glover, one of the leading St Helens industrialists of the 19th century and a long-time magistrate. B.B. had opened the Phoenix Colliery in Ravenhead in 1872, having been born into the wealthy Glover rope-making family.
At the council's Parks Committee meeting on the 20th, complaints about systematic stealing of flowers from St Helens Cemetery were discussed. It was stated that one woman had been caught with her carpet bag full of flowers. It was decided to reprimand the woman but in future offenders would be prosecuted.
Danby Jay was the pen name of Dan Jaundrill, the St Helens coal miner poet. On the 22nd the Liverpool Echo published a poem that the 42-year-old had written about the paper's newsboys in St Helens announcing the end of the coal strike. The Echo had its own paperboys – or newsboys – who'd walk the streets selling their papers and shouting out its name as they went. However the St Helens lads converted the two-syllable word "Echo" into the four-syllable "Ay-ek-ee-aw". Here are a few verses:
"The stocks of coals were dwindling fast,
When through St. Helens streets there passed,
A youth, who roared with all his might,
“End of the great coal strike in sight,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
His brow was glad, his nose and chin
Were merged in one tremendous grin,
And like a cracked tin trumpet rang
The accents of that well-known song,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
In many homes he saw the light
Of smouldering hopes gleam warm and bright,
And as he sped along the street,
The music that he made was sweet:
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
No need to gather withered branch,
The coals will come like avalanche;
The “Echos” sold both left and right,
He soon sold out his stock that night –
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”. DANBY JAY"
During the summer months many people in St Helens would bathe or swim in the town's many waterways. Inevitably a few would drown as the canals and reservoirs could prove deeper and more dangerous than people thought. However the death of Edward Briers was rather different. The six-year-old had been bathing with his brother and another boy in a pit near his home in Broad Oak Road. Then the threesome went for a walk to Carr Mill and picked and ate some flag-root that they found in an old dried-up brook.
Wikipedia states that flag-root (aka calamus and sweet flag) is a "species of flowering plant used in traditional medicine to treat digestive disorders and pain". However the article adds that there is no clinical evidence for its safety or efficacy – and "ingested calamus may be toxic". It certainly was for Edward Briers of Broad Oak Road in Parr, as the 6-year-old collapsed while walking home and died the same night.
At Edward's inquest on the 23rd, Dr Thomas O’Keefe reported that while conducting a post-mortem he had found all the boy's organs to be normal but there had been poison in his stomach. Strangely Edward's eleven-year-old brother and friend, who also ate some flag-root, were unaffected but the coroner thought they might have consumed less than Edward.
The 23rd was also the day when the long drought finally broke within the St Helens district. Although there had been a few short showers last week, the Echo reported that the "merry splashing of raindrops on the windows" was the heaviest fall for almost two months and had led to much rejoicing. The paper added that the drought has not only played havoc with the hay and fruit crops but was also having an effect upon the sea: "Fishermen state that the surface of the sea has become dirty and evil-smelling, and that the herrings, which are rather particular, prefer to remain in the depths."
The St Helens Society for the Blind did not appreciate the break in the warm weather, as it reduced attendance for their fundraising fete in Eccleston Park. The event took place in the rain-drenched grounds of Ingleholme, which was the residence of Frederick Dixon-Nuttall, the bottlemaker and ex-mayor of St Helens. The Ravenhead St John's Military Band played selections and there was a tennis tournament and fun golf games played and the usual side-shows.
This week St Helens publicans would have been digesting the plans for a new licensing law. The Bill before Parliament was set to create a framework for opening hours that would last for the rest of the 20th century. The general rule for weekday opening would be 11:30am to 3pm and 5:30pm to 10pm, although local licensing authorities could modify these times but only slightly. Before the curtailment of drinking hours during the war, there was an almost "open all hours" approach by some drinking houses.
There was some good and bad news in the legislation for drinkers of spirits. The war had led to whisky, brandy and gin being reduced in strength but the new Bill would remove all limits. However the Echo was not convinced that brewers would increase the strength of spirits and had this warning for drinkers: "Even if spirits do return to pre-war strength, they certainly will not return to pre-war prices." The then maximum price of a bottle of whisky was 12s 6d compared to 1914 when it had cost 4s 6d.
It was reported on the 24th that Arthur Pilkington of the glassmaking family who had died in January had left £386,076 gross in his will – that's the equivalent of around £18 million in today's money. Pilkington bequeathed to his widow his fleet of motor vehicles and aircraft and it was thought that this was the first occasion that airplanes had featured in a will.
In St Helens Police Court on the 25th mineral water manufacturer and magistrate Thomas Edmondson declared: "It has been a great pleasure to the Bench to see that although the war is over we still have men amongst us who are willing to risk their lives to save others." One of the more pleasant duties of the JPs was to hand out awards to the town's brave heroes on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
So Arthur Travers from Sherdley Road received a certificate and medal for rescuing two youths in difficulties in the Ravenhead Dam. John Pennington and John Henderson, both of Powell Street in Sutton, and Jacob Proudlove of Morris Street, were also rewarded for rescuing a fellow mineworker. A man called Williams had been overcome by gas whilst trying to obtain so-called crop-coal during the recent miners strike but the men had saved him.
And finally the non-St Helens item in the Echo that made me smile this week was a story about a couple getting locked in an office building. It was another example of how in the pre-radio and TV days huge crowds could quickly appear when there was a hint of excitement in the air:
"What was a comedy for the onlookers but an annoying experience for the participants, occurred last evening in some offices at the London-road corner of Norton-street, Liverpool. The premises are let off in various suites, and one of the tenants locked the front door on leaving, being unaware that the occupant of rooms on the first floor was still inside, with his wife. Not having keys for the main entrance, the imprisoned tenant rang up the police, and within a short time some officers appeared with a ladder which they propped against the window.
"A large crowd immediately gathered, and as invariably happens in such circumstances, picturesque rumours were quickly afloat. The ladder promised to offer a speedy way out of the difficulty, but when the feminine element is present it is never wise to be too sure. The lady in the present case gave fresh demonstration of the truth of this. Darkly looked she at the ladder, and darkly at the crowd – and refused to swarm down in public. She declared that would rather remain locked in the office for a week than secure her freedom at such a price.
"A motor fire-escape, frequently employed in such rescues as this or in picking marooned burglars off housetops, came motoring into the street just before 9 o'clock, but this increased the lady's determination to stand fast. Eventually what neither the police nor the brigadesmen could do was accomplished by a workman single-handed. He smoothed the lady's path by entering the building by a window, and, with the aid of tools he had brought, made his way to the locked door, which he opened from the inside. The couple got into the street shortly after 9 p.m. So large was the crowd at this time that a number of policemen were required to control and disperse it."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens MP's claim that a clerical sex scandal had been a conspiracy, there are more deaths on the road and down coal mines and a St Helens woman demands the restitution of her conjugal rights.
This week's many stories include the Parr boy who died after eating a poisonous plant, the town's heroes are honoured in the Police Court, a St Helens miner's poem about paper boys and why the will of the late chairman of Pilkington's had broken new ground.
We begin with the death of Benjamin Bradshaw Glover, one of the leading St Helens industrialists of the 19th century and a long-time magistrate.
B.B. had opened the Phoenix Colliery in Ravenhead in 1872, having been born into the wealthy Glover rope-making family.
At the council's Parks Committee meeting on the 20th, complaints about systematic stealing of flowers from St Helens Cemetery were discussed.
It was stated that one woman had been caught with her carpet bag full of flowers. It was decided to reprimand the woman but in future offenders would be prosecuted.
Danby Jay was the pen name of Dan Jaundrill, the St Helens coal miner poet.
On the 22nd the Liverpool Echo published a poem that the 42-year-old had written about the paper's newsboys in St Helens announcing the end of the coal strike.
The Echo had its own paperboys – or newsboys – who'd walk the streets selling their papers and shouting out its name as they went.
However the St Helens lads converted the two-syllable word "Echo" into the four-syllable "Ay-ek-ee-aw". Here are a few verses:
"The stocks of coals were dwindling fast,
When through St. Helens streets there passed,
A youth, who roared with all his might,
“End of the great coal strike in sight,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
His brow was glad, his nose and chin
Were merged in one tremendous grin,
And like a cracked tin trumpet rang
The accents of that well-known song,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
In many homes he saw the light
Of smouldering hopes gleam warm and bright,
And as he sped along the street,
The music that he made was sweet:
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
No need to gather withered branch,
The coals will come like avalanche;
The “Echos” sold both left and right,
He soon sold out his stock that night –
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”. DANBY JAY"
During the summer months many people in St Helens would bathe or swim in the town's many waterways.
Inevitably a few would drown as the canals and reservoirs could prove deeper and more dangerous than people thought.
However the death of Edward Briers was rather different. The six-year-old had been bathing with his brother and another boy in a pit near his home in Broad Oak Road.
Then the threesome went for a walk to Carr Mill and picked and ate some flag-root that they found in an old dried-up brook.
Wikipedia states that flag-root (aka calamus and sweet flag) is a "species of flowering plant used in traditional medicine to treat digestive disorders and pain".
However the article adds that there is no clinical evidence for its safety or efficacy – and "ingested calamus may be toxic".
It certainly was for Edward Briers of Broad Oak Road in Parr, as the 6-year-old collapsed while walking home and died the same night.
At Edward's inquest on the 23rd, Dr Thomas O’Keefe reported that while conducting a post-mortem he had found all the boy's organs to be normal but there had been poison in his stomach.
Strangely Edward's eleven-year-old brother and friend, who also ate some flag-root, were unaffected but the coroner thought they might have consumed less than Edward.
The 23rd was also the day when the long drought finally broke within the St Helens district.
Although there had been a few short showers last week, the Echo reported that the "merry splashing of raindrops on the windows" was the heaviest fall for almost two months and had led to much rejoicing.
The paper added that the drought has not only played havoc with the hay and fruit crops but was also having an effect upon the sea:
"Fishermen state that the surface of the sea has become dirty and evil-smelling, and that the herrings, which are rather particular, prefer to remain in the depths."
The St Helens Society for the Blind did not appreciate the break in the warm weather, as it reduced attendance for their fundraising fete in Eccleston Park.
The event took place in the rain-drenched grounds of Ingleholme, which was the residence of Frederick Dixon-Nuttall, the bottlemaker and ex-mayor of St Helens.
The Ravenhead St John's Military Band played selections and there was a tennis tournament and fun golf games played and the usual side-shows.
This week St Helens publicans would have been digesting the plans for a new licensing law.
The Bill before Parliament was set to create a framework for opening hours that would last for the rest of the 20th century.
The general rule for weekday opening would be 11:30am to 3pm and 5:30pm to 10pm, although local licensing authorities could modify these times but only slightly.
Before the curtailment of drinking hours during the war, there was an almost "open all hours" approach by some drinking houses.
There was some good and bad news in the legislation for drinkers of spirits. The war had led to whisky, brandy and gin being reduced in strength but the new Bill would remove all limits.
However the Echo was not convinced that brewers would increase the strength of spirits and had this warning for drinkers:
"Even if spirits do return to pre-war strength, they certainly will not return to pre-war prices."
The then maximum price of a bottle of whisky was 12s 6d compared to 1914 when it had cost 4s 6d.
It was reported on the 24th that Arthur Pilkington of the glassmaking family who had died in January had left £386,076 gross in his will – that's the equivalent of around £18 million in today's money.
Pilkington bequeathed to his widow his fleet of motor vehicles and aircraft and it was thought that this was the first occasion that airplanes had featured in a will.
Curiously the 49-year-old from Windle Hall (pictured above) had died after tripping over something while walking through the firm's offices.
Pilkington broke a leg, complications set in and his great wealth could not save his life.
He had also been a magistrate and once told an Italian who had broken regulations by leaving a light burning in his Junction Lane shop that having come to this country he must do what he was told.
In St Helens Police Court on the 25th mineral water manufacturer and magistrate Thomas Edmondson declared:
"It has been a great pleasure to the Bench to see that although the war is over we still have men amongst us who are willing to risk their lives to save others."
One of the more pleasant duties of the JPs was to hand out awards to the town's brave heroes on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
So Arthur Travers from Sherdley Road received a certificate and medal for rescuing two youths in difficulties in the Ravenhead Dam.
John Pennington and John Henderson, both of Powell Street in Sutton, and Jacob Proudlove of Morris Street, were also rewarded for rescuing a fellow mineworker.
A man called Williams had been overcome by gas whilst trying to obtain so-called crop-coal during the recent miners strike but the men had saved him.
And finally the non-St Helens item in the Echo that made me smile this week was a story about a couple getting locked in an office building.
It was another example of how in the pre-radio and TV days huge crowds could quickly appear when there was a hint of excitement in the air:
"What was a comedy for the onlookers but an annoying experience for the participants, occurred last evening in some offices at the London-road corner of Norton-street, Liverpool.
"The premises are let off in various suites, and one of the tenants locked the front door on leaving, being unaware that the occupant of rooms on the first floor was still inside, with his wife.
"Not having keys for the main entrance, the imprisoned tenant rang up the police, and within a short time some officers appeared with a ladder which they propped against the window.
"A large crowd immediately gathered, and as invariably happens in such circumstances, picturesque rumours were quickly afloat.
"The ladder promised to offer a speedy way out of the difficulty, but when the feminine element is present it is never wise to be too sure. The lady in the present case gave fresh demonstration of the truth of this.
"Darkly looked she at the ladder, and darkly at the crowd – and refused to swarm down in public.
"She declared that would rather remain locked in the office for a week than secure her freedom at such a price.
"A motor fire-escape, frequently employed in such rescues as this or in picking marooned burglars off housetops, came motoring into the street just before 9 o'clock, but this increased the lady's determination to stand fast.
"Eventually what neither the police nor the brigadesmen could do was accomplished by a workman single-handed.
"He smoothed the lady's path by entering the building by a window, and, with the aid of tools he had brought, made his way to the locked door, which he opened from the inside.
"The couple got into the street shortly after 9 p.m. So large was the crowd at this time that a number of policemen were required to control and disperse it."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens MP's claim that a clerical sex scandal had been a conspiracy, there are more deaths on the road and down coal mines and a St Helens woman demands the restitution of her conjugal rights.
We begin with the death of Benjamin Bradshaw Glover, one of the leading St Helens industrialists of the 19th century and a long-time magistrate.
B.B. had opened the Phoenix Colliery in Ravenhead in 1872, having been born into the wealthy Glover rope-making family.
At the council's Parks Committee meeting on the 20th, complaints about systematic stealing of flowers from St Helens Cemetery were discussed.
It was stated that one woman had been caught with her carpet bag full of flowers. It was decided to reprimand the woman but in future offenders would be prosecuted.
Danby Jay was the pen name of Dan Jaundrill, the St Helens coal miner poet.
On the 22nd the Liverpool Echo published a poem that the 42-year-old had written about the paper's newsboys in St Helens announcing the end of the coal strike.
The Echo had its own paperboys – or newsboys – who'd walk the streets selling their papers and shouting out its name as they went.
However the St Helens lads converted the two-syllable word "Echo" into the four-syllable "Ay-ek-ee-aw". Here are a few verses:
"The stocks of coals were dwindling fast,
When through St. Helens streets there passed,
A youth, who roared with all his might,
“End of the great coal strike in sight,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
His brow was glad, his nose and chin
Were merged in one tremendous grin,
And like a cracked tin trumpet rang
The accents of that well-known song,
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
In many homes he saw the light
Of smouldering hopes gleam warm and bright,
And as he sped along the street,
The music that he made was sweet:
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”.
No need to gather withered branch,
The coals will come like avalanche;
The “Echos” sold both left and right,
He soon sold out his stock that night –
“Ay-ek-ee-aw”. DANBY JAY"
During the summer months many people in St Helens would bathe or swim in the town's many waterways.
Inevitably a few would drown as the canals and reservoirs could prove deeper and more dangerous than people thought.
However the death of Edward Briers was rather different. The six-year-old had been bathing with his brother and another boy in a pit near his home in Broad Oak Road.
Then the threesome went for a walk to Carr Mill and picked and ate some flag-root that they found in an old dried-up brook.
Wikipedia states that flag-root (aka calamus and sweet flag) is a "species of flowering plant used in traditional medicine to treat digestive disorders and pain".
However the article adds that there is no clinical evidence for its safety or efficacy – and "ingested calamus may be toxic".
It certainly was for Edward Briers of Broad Oak Road in Parr, as the 6-year-old collapsed while walking home and died the same night.
At Edward's inquest on the 23rd, Dr Thomas O’Keefe reported that while conducting a post-mortem he had found all the boy's organs to be normal but there had been poison in his stomach.
Strangely Edward's eleven-year-old brother and friend, who also ate some flag-root, were unaffected but the coroner thought they might have consumed less than Edward.
The 23rd was also the day when the long drought finally broke within the St Helens district.
Although there had been a few short showers last week, the Echo reported that the "merry splashing of raindrops on the windows" was the heaviest fall for almost two months and had led to much rejoicing.
The paper added that the drought has not only played havoc with the hay and fruit crops but was also having an effect upon the sea:
"Fishermen state that the surface of the sea has become dirty and evil-smelling, and that the herrings, which are rather particular, prefer to remain in the depths."
The St Helens Society for the Blind did not appreciate the break in the warm weather, as it reduced attendance for their fundraising fete in Eccleston Park.
The event took place in the rain-drenched grounds of Ingleholme, which was the residence of Frederick Dixon-Nuttall, the bottlemaker and ex-mayor of St Helens.
The Ravenhead St John's Military Band played selections and there was a tennis tournament and fun golf games played and the usual side-shows.
This week St Helens publicans would have been digesting the plans for a new licensing law.
The Bill before Parliament was set to create a framework for opening hours that would last for the rest of the 20th century.
The general rule for weekday opening would be 11:30am to 3pm and 5:30pm to 10pm, although local licensing authorities could modify these times but only slightly.
Before the curtailment of drinking hours during the war, there was an almost "open all hours" approach by some drinking houses.
There was some good and bad news in the legislation for drinkers of spirits. The war had led to whisky, brandy and gin being reduced in strength but the new Bill would remove all limits.
However the Echo was not convinced that brewers would increase the strength of spirits and had this warning for drinkers:
"Even if spirits do return to pre-war strength, they certainly will not return to pre-war prices."
The then maximum price of a bottle of whisky was 12s 6d compared to 1914 when it had cost 4s 6d.
It was reported on the 24th that Arthur Pilkington of the glassmaking family who had died in January had left £386,076 gross in his will – that's the equivalent of around £18 million in today's money.
Pilkington bequeathed to his widow his fleet of motor vehicles and aircraft and it was thought that this was the first occasion that airplanes had featured in a will.
Pilkington broke a leg, complications set in and his great wealth could not save his life.
He had also been a magistrate and once told an Italian who had broken regulations by leaving a light burning in his Junction Lane shop that having come to this country he must do what he was told.
In St Helens Police Court on the 25th mineral water manufacturer and magistrate Thomas Edmondson declared:
"It has been a great pleasure to the Bench to see that although the war is over we still have men amongst us who are willing to risk their lives to save others."
One of the more pleasant duties of the JPs was to hand out awards to the town's brave heroes on behalf of the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
So Arthur Travers from Sherdley Road received a certificate and medal for rescuing two youths in difficulties in the Ravenhead Dam.
John Pennington and John Henderson, both of Powell Street in Sutton, and Jacob Proudlove of Morris Street, were also rewarded for rescuing a fellow mineworker.
A man called Williams had been overcome by gas whilst trying to obtain so-called crop-coal during the recent miners strike but the men had saved him.
And finally the non-St Helens item in the Echo that made me smile this week was a story about a couple getting locked in an office building.
It was another example of how in the pre-radio and TV days huge crowds could quickly appear when there was a hint of excitement in the air:
"What was a comedy for the onlookers but an annoying experience for the participants, occurred last evening in some offices at the London-road corner of Norton-street, Liverpool.
"The premises are let off in various suites, and one of the tenants locked the front door on leaving, being unaware that the occupant of rooms on the first floor was still inside, with his wife.
"Not having keys for the main entrance, the imprisoned tenant rang up the police, and within a short time some officers appeared with a ladder which they propped against the window.
"A large crowd immediately gathered, and as invariably happens in such circumstances, picturesque rumours were quickly afloat.
"The ladder promised to offer a speedy way out of the difficulty, but when the feminine element is present it is never wise to be too sure. The lady in the present case gave fresh demonstration of the truth of this.
"Darkly looked she at the ladder, and darkly at the crowd – and refused to swarm down in public.
"She declared that would rather remain locked in the office for a week than secure her freedom at such a price.
"A motor fire-escape, frequently employed in such rescues as this or in picking marooned burglars off housetops, came motoring into the street just before 9 o'clock, but this increased the lady's determination to stand fast.
"Eventually what neither the police nor the brigadesmen could do was accomplished by a workman single-handed.
"He smoothed the lady's path by entering the building by a window, and, with the aid of tools he had brought, made his way to the locked door, which he opened from the inside.
"The couple got into the street shortly after 9 p.m. So large was the crowd at this time that a number of policemen were required to control and disperse it."
Next week's stories will include the St Helens MP's claim that a clerical sex scandal had been a conspiracy, there are more deaths on the road and down coal mines and a St Helens woman demands the restitution of her conjugal rights.