IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th NOVEMBER 1922)
This week's stories include the child molester at the Co-op cinema, the harsh sentences imposed on boy thieves, the Sefton Place horse that went walkabout, the dedication of Christ Church Eccleston's war memorial, plans for a special cross in St Helens Cemetery and the hawker in Worsley Brow exchanging rubbing stone for jam jars who could not read that his trading licence had expired.
We begin on the 21st when a lecture on the recently formed League of Nations was given in the Ormskirk Street Lecture Hall in St Helens. It was claimed that the League had already prevented wars and improved the conditions of labour throughout the world.
At the St Helens Health Committee meeting on the 22nd the town's Medical Officer revealed that infantile mortality rates had recently been very high. Dr Hauxwell explained that the considerable number of deaths amongst children from pneumonia and bronchitis during the previous four months had been the cause.
The council's Parks Committee also met on the 22nd and revealed that they'd received a letter from the Memorial War Graves Commission suggesting a permanent cross should be erected in St Helens Cemetery. The memorial would be intended to commemorate the former soldiers that were buried there. The Commission stated that they would be prepared to pay for the cross as long as the cemetery authority would agree to its upkeep. The remit of the Parks Committee included the cemetery and they decided to accept the offer and ask their cemetery sub-committee to choose a suitable position for the cross.
From my point of view as a researcher, the crime of "indecency" – as reported in the old newspapers – is a very frustrating one. It was a catch-all term that could mean anything from a man caught taking a public pee to a couple having a sexual encounter in some alley. Rarely did the newspapers specify what the offence had entailed, as they did not want to offend the sensibilities of their readers.
However, there was far more detail provided in the St Helens Reporter of the 24th concerning the indecent behaviour of John Davies. The man from Park Avenue, off West End Road in Haydock, appeared in St Helens Police Court after visiting the Co-op cinema (inside the Co-op Stores pictured above) and molesting a 7-year-old girl in front of her mother. The Reporter wrote:
"During the performance the woman saw prisoner interfering with the little girl. He then bought some chocolates and gave them to the girl, after which the woman again saw him act objectionably, and she drew the attention of two of the attendants. She asked the prisoner what sort of game he was playing and struck him, and he then left the hall. The woman followed, and gave him into the custody of P.C. Johnson. Prisoner said he begged her pardon, he was very sorry."
John Davies claimed that he had met with an accident many years earlier and at times he did not know what he was doing. However, the magistrates disagreed and sentenced him to a month in prison.
Oxleys, on the corner of Claughton Street and Barrow Street, claimed to have 18 separate departments and this week had this advert published in the Reporter: "Oxleys Woodland Grotto has already delighted thousands of adults and children. Santa Claus in daily attendance, as well as Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother and the Wolf. Parcels 3d, 6d, & 1/-. Better value than ever. Adequate arrangements have now been made as to dealing with the large crowds we have had, so … come to-day to Babyland." Babyland was Oxleys children's department. I don't know if any person played the role of the big bad wolf. But if so, it would have been a good gig, as a previous advert for the grotto had stated that the wolf stayed in bed all day!
The Reporter described how at Rainford Council's meeting this week the subject of smoking in the Village Hall was discussed. Rainford's blind councillor, James Eden, stated that despite notices in the hall banning smoking, the practice was continuing at dances and whist drives. The council's clerk said that must be a nuisance to the ladies – to which Cllr. Eden retorted: "No. I believe some of the ladies themselves are the offenders."
On the 24th Joseph Tickett – who gave his address as the Salisbury Lodging House in St Helens – appeared in court charging with hawking without a licence. Sutton bobby PC Alexander Trail gave evidence of seeing Tickett in Worsley Brow with his pony and cart. The man was collecting rags and jam jars from women – but not giving them cash in return. Instead they received chalk and rubbing stone in exchange.
Mr Tickett produced a licence but it had run out two years earlier and he told the court that he thought he had been "all right". That was because the hawker could neither read nor write and so claimed to be unaware his licence had expired. A good excuse but not quite good enough as he was fined 10 shillings.
The trouble with horses is that they don't come with a handbrake like a car and if left on their tod there's nothing to stop them going walkies! If the rag and bone man's nag had gone AWOL in Worsley Brow while its master was handing out his rubbing stone, it's likely no calamity would have occurred. But in busy Sefton Place in St Helens town centre (pictured above), a horse going walkabout was asking for trouble.
David Fletcher of Ellamsbridge Road was also in court charged with not exercising proper control over a horse and lorry on the highway. A chap called Edward Hill had found the horse attached to a wagon roaming about Ormskirk Street near to what would become known as the Scala cinema. When the horse owner came on the scene, he explained that he'd been in a shop in Duke Street buying some oil and when he came out his horse had gone. Ch. Insp. Roe told the Bench that Sefton Place was one of the most dangerous corners in St Helens and Fletcher was fined ten shillings.
One thing that was pretty much guaranteed on Saturday nights in the Liverpool Road district known as Greenbank was that some drunken idiot would be bursting for a fight! It was very common for police to prosecute men for standing in the street challenging all-comers to a punch up. This week it was the turn of Frank Kerr of Back Bath Street to be charged with committing a breach of the peace. PC Taylor gave evidence of seeing the man standing in the middle of a crowd in Liverpool Road at 11pm making use of obscene language and challenging anyone to fight him. Kerr proceeded to take his coat off ready for business but when he saw the constable approaching he ran off but was eventually caught. He was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
A few months ago an imposing war memorial had been unveiled at Eccleston Lane Ends and this week, on the 25th, another memorial was dedicated at the parish church. However, Christ Church's tribute to the fallen was quite different to the usual plaques and statues, as it comprised a new lychgate, tower clock and gallery column. The lychgate entrance was constructed of English oak and bears the inscription: "To the glory of God and in memory of the men of this parish who died in the Great War, 1914-1919". The Lord Bishop of Liverpool dedicated the memorial in front of a large gathering of parishioners.
By the 1920s, it was rare for naughty boys in St Helens to be given the birch and/or sent to a reformatory. The introduction of probation officers meant supervision was the more likely sentence. But some magistrates were more hard-line than others and some boys didn't seem prepared to learn their lesson. So a good beating and incarceration was sometimes seen as the solution to repeat offending.
On the 27th six such lads appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a football from a shop in Church Street and stealing oranges from market stalls. The St Helens Reporter had recently decided not to name youngsters that appeared in court. But the Liverpool Echo appeared to think that a public naming and shaming should be part of their punishment. So they reported that Fred Cardwell and Arthur Porter – who had previously been convicted of setting fire to two stacks of straw – were each given six strokes of the birch and Christopher Tully received four strokes. And the magistrates thought the latter's brother, John Tully, was getting into a "hopeless state" and he was sent to a reformatory for five years.
The Chairman of the Bench told the parents that their boys were on course to become confirmed criminals and he reminded them of their responsibilities, saying: "It is your duty to see what your children are doing and if you found they were doing wrong, to chastise them and teach them to be as honest as you are." The father of John Tully protested about his son being sent to a reformatory, saying he was simply a "soft innocent lad" who only wanted a bit of watching. The Chairman responded that the boy would be well watched at the reformatory.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the young Parr woman's strange suicide in St Helens Canal, the curious begging by baby and gramophone, the Clock Face Colliery pick stealer and the café chantant and exhibition of dressed dolls at the Town Hall.
We begin on the 21st when a lecture on the recently formed League of Nations was given in the Ormskirk Street Lecture Hall in St Helens. It was claimed that the League had already prevented wars and improved the conditions of labour throughout the world.
At the St Helens Health Committee meeting on the 22nd the town's Medical Officer revealed that infantile mortality rates had recently been very high. Dr Hauxwell explained that the considerable number of deaths amongst children from pneumonia and bronchitis during the previous four months had been the cause.
The council's Parks Committee also met on the 22nd and revealed that they'd received a letter from the Memorial War Graves Commission suggesting a permanent cross should be erected in St Helens Cemetery. The memorial would be intended to commemorate the former soldiers that were buried there. The Commission stated that they would be prepared to pay for the cross as long as the cemetery authority would agree to its upkeep. The remit of the Parks Committee included the cemetery and they decided to accept the offer and ask their cemetery sub-committee to choose a suitable position for the cross.
However, there was far more detail provided in the St Helens Reporter of the 24th concerning the indecent behaviour of John Davies. The man from Park Avenue, off West End Road in Haydock, appeared in St Helens Police Court after visiting the Co-op cinema (inside the Co-op Stores pictured above) and molesting a 7-year-old girl in front of her mother. The Reporter wrote:
"During the performance the woman saw prisoner interfering with the little girl. He then bought some chocolates and gave them to the girl, after which the woman again saw him act objectionably, and she drew the attention of two of the attendants. She asked the prisoner what sort of game he was playing and struck him, and he then left the hall. The woman followed, and gave him into the custody of P.C. Johnson. Prisoner said he begged her pardon, he was very sorry."
John Davies claimed that he had met with an accident many years earlier and at times he did not know what he was doing. However, the magistrates disagreed and sentenced him to a month in prison.
Oxleys, on the corner of Claughton Street and Barrow Street, claimed to have 18 separate departments and this week had this advert published in the Reporter: "Oxleys Woodland Grotto has already delighted thousands of adults and children. Santa Claus in daily attendance, as well as Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother and the Wolf. Parcels 3d, 6d, & 1/-. Better value than ever. Adequate arrangements have now been made as to dealing with the large crowds we have had, so … come to-day to Babyland." Babyland was Oxleys children's department. I don't know if any person played the role of the big bad wolf. But if so, it would have been a good gig, as a previous advert for the grotto had stated that the wolf stayed in bed all day!
The Reporter described how at Rainford Council's meeting this week the subject of smoking in the Village Hall was discussed. Rainford's blind councillor, James Eden, stated that despite notices in the hall banning smoking, the practice was continuing at dances and whist drives. The council's clerk said that must be a nuisance to the ladies – to which Cllr. Eden retorted: "No. I believe some of the ladies themselves are the offenders."
On the 24th Joseph Tickett – who gave his address as the Salisbury Lodging House in St Helens – appeared in court charging with hawking without a licence. Sutton bobby PC Alexander Trail gave evidence of seeing Tickett in Worsley Brow with his pony and cart. The man was collecting rags and jam jars from women – but not giving them cash in return. Instead they received chalk and rubbing stone in exchange.
Mr Tickett produced a licence but it had run out two years earlier and he told the court that he thought he had been "all right". That was because the hawker could neither read nor write and so claimed to be unaware his licence had expired. A good excuse but not quite good enough as he was fined 10 shillings.
David Fletcher of Ellamsbridge Road was also in court charged with not exercising proper control over a horse and lorry on the highway. A chap called Edward Hill had found the horse attached to a wagon roaming about Ormskirk Street near to what would become known as the Scala cinema. When the horse owner came on the scene, he explained that he'd been in a shop in Duke Street buying some oil and when he came out his horse had gone. Ch. Insp. Roe told the Bench that Sefton Place was one of the most dangerous corners in St Helens and Fletcher was fined ten shillings.
One thing that was pretty much guaranteed on Saturday nights in the Liverpool Road district known as Greenbank was that some drunken idiot would be bursting for a fight! It was very common for police to prosecute men for standing in the street challenging all-comers to a punch up. This week it was the turn of Frank Kerr of Back Bath Street to be charged with committing a breach of the peace. PC Taylor gave evidence of seeing the man standing in the middle of a crowd in Liverpool Road at 11pm making use of obscene language and challenging anyone to fight him. Kerr proceeded to take his coat off ready for business but when he saw the constable approaching he ran off but was eventually caught. He was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
A few months ago an imposing war memorial had been unveiled at Eccleston Lane Ends and this week, on the 25th, another memorial was dedicated at the parish church. However, Christ Church's tribute to the fallen was quite different to the usual plaques and statues, as it comprised a new lychgate, tower clock and gallery column. The lychgate entrance was constructed of English oak and bears the inscription: "To the glory of God and in memory of the men of this parish who died in the Great War, 1914-1919". The Lord Bishop of Liverpool dedicated the memorial in front of a large gathering of parishioners.
By the 1920s, it was rare for naughty boys in St Helens to be given the birch and/or sent to a reformatory. The introduction of probation officers meant supervision was the more likely sentence. But some magistrates were more hard-line than others and some boys didn't seem prepared to learn their lesson. So a good beating and incarceration was sometimes seen as the solution to repeat offending.
On the 27th six such lads appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a football from a shop in Church Street and stealing oranges from market stalls. The St Helens Reporter had recently decided not to name youngsters that appeared in court. But the Liverpool Echo appeared to think that a public naming and shaming should be part of their punishment. So they reported that Fred Cardwell and Arthur Porter – who had previously been convicted of setting fire to two stacks of straw – were each given six strokes of the birch and Christopher Tully received four strokes. And the magistrates thought the latter's brother, John Tully, was getting into a "hopeless state" and he was sent to a reformatory for five years.
The Chairman of the Bench told the parents that their boys were on course to become confirmed criminals and he reminded them of their responsibilities, saying: "It is your duty to see what your children are doing and if you found they were doing wrong, to chastise them and teach them to be as honest as you are." The father of John Tully protested about his son being sent to a reformatory, saying he was simply a "soft innocent lad" who only wanted a bit of watching. The Chairman responded that the boy would be well watched at the reformatory.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the young Parr woman's strange suicide in St Helens Canal, the curious begging by baby and gramophone, the Clock Face Colliery pick stealer and the café chantant and exhibition of dressed dolls at the Town Hall.
This week's stories include the child molester at the Co-op cinema, the harsh sentences imposed on boy thieves, the Sefton Place horse that went walkabout, the dedication of Christ Church Eccleston's war memorial, plans for a special cross in St Helens Cemetery and the hawker in Worsley Brow exchanging rubbing stone for jam jars who could not read that his trading licence had expired.
We begin on the 21st when a lecture on the recently formed League of Nations was given in the Ormskirk Street Lecture Hall in St Helens.
It was claimed that the League had already prevented wars and improved the conditions of labour throughout the world.
At the St Helens Health Committee meeting on the 22nd the town's Medical Officer revealed that infantile mortality rates had recently been very high.
Dr Hauxwell explained that the considerable number of deaths amongst children from pneumonia and bronchitis during the previous four months had been the cause.
The council's Parks Committee also met on the 22nd and revealed that they'd received a letter from the Memorial War Graves Commission suggesting a permanent cross should be erected in St Helens Cemetery.
The memorial would be intended to commemorate the former soldiers that were buried there.
The Commission stated that they would be prepared to pay for the cross as long as the cemetery authority would agree to its upkeep.
The remit of the Parks Committee included the cemetery and they decided to accept the offer and ask their cemetery sub-committee to choose a suitable position for the cross.
From my point of view as a researcher, the crime of "indecency" – as reported in the old newspapers – is a very frustrating one.
It was a catch-all term that could mean anything from a man caught taking a public pee to a couple having a sexual encounter in some alley.
Rarely did the newspapers specify what the offence had entailed, as they did not want to offend the sensibilities of their readers.
However, there was far more detail provided in the St Helens Reporter of the 24th concerning the indecent behaviour of John Davies.
The man from Park Avenue, off West End Road in Haydock, appeared in St Helens Police Court after visiting the Co-op cinema (inside the Co-op Stores pictured above) and molesting a 7-year-old girl in front of her mother. The Reporter wrote:
"During the performance the woman saw prisoner interfering with the little girl. He then bought some chocolates and gave them to the girl, after which the woman again saw him act objectionably, and she drew the attention of two of the attendants.
"She asked the prisoner what sort of game he was playing and struck him, and he then left the hall. The woman followed, and gave him into the custody of P.C. Johnson. Prisoner said he begged her pardon, he was very sorry."
Davies claimed that he had met with an accident many years earlier and at times he did not know what he was doing. However, the magistrates disagreed and sentenced him to a month in prison.
Oxleys, on the corner of Claughton Street and Barrow Street, claimed to have 18 separate departments and this week had this advert published in the Reporter:
"Oxleys Woodland Grotto has already delighted thousands of adults and children. Santa Claus in daily attendance, as well as Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother and the Wolf. Parcels 3d, 6d, & 1/-. Better value than ever. Adequate arrangements have now been made as to dealing with the large crowds we have had, so … come to-day to Babyland."
Babyland was Oxleys children's department. I don't know if any person played the role of the big bad wolf. But if so, it would have been a good gig, as a previous advert for the grotto had stated that the wolf stayed in bed all day!
The Reporter described how at Rainford Council's meeting this week the subject of smoking in the Village Hall was discussed.
Rainford's blind councillor, James Eden, stated that despite notices in the hall banning smoking, the practice was continuing at dances and whist drives.
The council's clerk said that must be a nuisance to the ladies – to which Cllr. Eden retorted: "No. I believe some of the ladies themselves are the offenders."
On the 24th Joseph Tickett – who gave his address as the Salisbury Lodging House in St Helens – appeared in court charging with hawking without a licence.
Sutton bobby PC Alexander Trail gave evidence of seeing Tickett in Worsley Brow with his pony and cart.
The man was collecting rags and jam jars from women – but not giving them cash in return. Instead they received chalk and rubbing stone in exchange.
Mr Tickett produced a licence but it had run out two years earlier and he told the court that he thought he had been "all right".
That was because the hawker could neither read nor write and so claimed to be unaware his licence had expired. A good excuse but not quite good enough as he was fined 10 shillings.
The trouble with horses is that they don't come with a handbrake like a car and if left on their tod there's nothing to stop them going walkies!
If the rag and bone man's nag had gone AWOL in Worsley Brow while its master was handing out his rubbing stone, it's likely no calamity would have occurred.
But in busy Sefton Place (pictured above) in St Helens town centre, a horse going walkabout was asking for trouble.
David Fletcher of Ellamsbridge Road was also in court charged with not exercising proper control over a horse and lorry on the highway.
A chap called Edward Hill had found the horse attached to a wagon roaming about Ormskirk Street near to what would become known as the Scala cinema.
When the horse owner came on the scene, he explained that he'd been in a shop in Duke Street buying some oil and when he came out his horse had gone.
Ch. Insp. Roe told the Bench that Sefton Place was one of the most dangerous corners in St Helens and Fletcher was fined ten shillings.
One thing that was pretty much guaranteed on Saturday nights in the Liverpool Road district known as Greenbank was that some drunken idiot would be bursting for a fight!
It was very common for police to prosecute men for standing in the street challenging all-comers to a punch up.
This week it was the turn of Frank Kerr of Back Bath Street to be charged with committing a breach of the peace.
PC Taylor gave evidence of seeing the man standing in the middle of a crowd in Liverpool Road at 11pm making use of obscene language and challenging anyone to fight him.
Kerr proceeded to take his coat off ready for business but when he saw the constable approaching he ran off but was eventually caught. He was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
A few months ago an imposing war memorial had been unveiled at Eccleston Lane Ends and this week, on the 25th, another memorial was dedicated at the parish church.
However, Christ Church's tribute to the fallen was quite different to the usual plaques and statues, as it comprised a new lychgate, tower clock and gallery column.
The lychgate entrance was constructed of English oak and bears the inscription: "To the glory of God and in memory of the men of this parish who died in the Great War, 1914-1919".
The Lord Bishop of Liverpool dedicated the memorial in front of a large gathering of parishioners.
By the 1920s, it was rare for naughty boys in St Helens to be given the birch and/or sent to a reformatory. The introduction of probation officers meant supervision was the more likely sentence.
But some magistrates were more hard-line than others and some boys didn't seem prepared to learn their lesson.
So a good beating and incarceration was sometimes seen as the solution to repeat offending.
On the 27th six such lads appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a football from a shop in Church Street and stealing oranges from market stalls.
The St Helens Reporter had recently decided not to name youngsters that appeared in court.
But the Liverpool Echo appeared to think that a public naming and shaming should be part of their punishment.
So they reported that Fred Cardwell and Arthur Porter – who had previously been convicted of setting fire to two stacks of straw – were each given six strokes of the birch and Christopher Tully received four strokes.
And the magistrates thought the latter's brother, John Tully, was getting into a "hopeless state" and he was sent to a reformatory for five years.
The Chairman of the Bench told the parents that their boys were on course to become confirmed criminals and he reminded them of their responsibilities, saying:
"It is your duty to see what your children are doing and if you found they were doing wrong, to chastise them and teach them to be as honest as you are."
The father of John Tully protested about his son being sent to a reformatory, saying he was simply a "soft innocent lad" who only wanted a bit of watching. The Chairman responded that the boy would be well watched at the reformatory.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the young Parr woman's strange suicide in St Helens Canal, the curious begging by baby and gramophone, the Clock Face Colliery pick stealer and the café chantant and exhibition of dressed dolls at the Town Hall.
We begin on the 21st when a lecture on the recently formed League of Nations was given in the Ormskirk Street Lecture Hall in St Helens.
It was claimed that the League had already prevented wars and improved the conditions of labour throughout the world.
At the St Helens Health Committee meeting on the 22nd the town's Medical Officer revealed that infantile mortality rates had recently been very high.
Dr Hauxwell explained that the considerable number of deaths amongst children from pneumonia and bronchitis during the previous four months had been the cause.
The council's Parks Committee also met on the 22nd and revealed that they'd received a letter from the Memorial War Graves Commission suggesting a permanent cross should be erected in St Helens Cemetery.
The memorial would be intended to commemorate the former soldiers that were buried there.
The Commission stated that they would be prepared to pay for the cross as long as the cemetery authority would agree to its upkeep.
The remit of the Parks Committee included the cemetery and they decided to accept the offer and ask their cemetery sub-committee to choose a suitable position for the cross.
From my point of view as a researcher, the crime of "indecency" – as reported in the old newspapers – is a very frustrating one.
It was a catch-all term that could mean anything from a man caught taking a public pee to a couple having a sexual encounter in some alley.
Rarely did the newspapers specify what the offence had entailed, as they did not want to offend the sensibilities of their readers.
However, there was far more detail provided in the St Helens Reporter of the 24th concerning the indecent behaviour of John Davies.
"During the performance the woman saw prisoner interfering with the little girl. He then bought some chocolates and gave them to the girl, after which the woman again saw him act objectionably, and she drew the attention of two of the attendants.
"She asked the prisoner what sort of game he was playing and struck him, and he then left the hall. The woman followed, and gave him into the custody of P.C. Johnson. Prisoner said he begged her pardon, he was very sorry."
Davies claimed that he had met with an accident many years earlier and at times he did not know what he was doing. However, the magistrates disagreed and sentenced him to a month in prison.
Oxleys, on the corner of Claughton Street and Barrow Street, claimed to have 18 separate departments and this week had this advert published in the Reporter:
"Oxleys Woodland Grotto has already delighted thousands of adults and children. Santa Claus in daily attendance, as well as Red Riding Hood, her Grandmother and the Wolf. Parcels 3d, 6d, & 1/-. Better value than ever. Adequate arrangements have now been made as to dealing with the large crowds we have had, so … come to-day to Babyland."
Babyland was Oxleys children's department. I don't know if any person played the role of the big bad wolf. But if so, it would have been a good gig, as a previous advert for the grotto had stated that the wolf stayed in bed all day!
The Reporter described how at Rainford Council's meeting this week the subject of smoking in the Village Hall was discussed.
Rainford's blind councillor, James Eden, stated that despite notices in the hall banning smoking, the practice was continuing at dances and whist drives.
The council's clerk said that must be a nuisance to the ladies – to which Cllr. Eden retorted: "No. I believe some of the ladies themselves are the offenders."
On the 24th Joseph Tickett – who gave his address as the Salisbury Lodging House in St Helens – appeared in court charging with hawking without a licence.
Sutton bobby PC Alexander Trail gave evidence of seeing Tickett in Worsley Brow with his pony and cart.
The man was collecting rags and jam jars from women – but not giving them cash in return. Instead they received chalk and rubbing stone in exchange.
Mr Tickett produced a licence but it had run out two years earlier and he told the court that he thought he had been "all right".
That was because the hawker could neither read nor write and so claimed to be unaware his licence had expired. A good excuse but not quite good enough as he was fined 10 shillings.
If the rag and bone man's nag had gone AWOL in Worsley Brow while its master was handing out his rubbing stone, it's likely no calamity would have occurred.
But in busy Sefton Place (pictured above) in St Helens town centre, a horse going walkabout was asking for trouble.
David Fletcher of Ellamsbridge Road was also in court charged with not exercising proper control over a horse and lorry on the highway.
A chap called Edward Hill had found the horse attached to a wagon roaming about Ormskirk Street near to what would become known as the Scala cinema.
When the horse owner came on the scene, he explained that he'd been in a shop in Duke Street buying some oil and when he came out his horse had gone.
Ch. Insp. Roe told the Bench that Sefton Place was one of the most dangerous corners in St Helens and Fletcher was fined ten shillings.
One thing that was pretty much guaranteed on Saturday nights in the Liverpool Road district known as Greenbank was that some drunken idiot would be bursting for a fight!
It was very common for police to prosecute men for standing in the street challenging all-comers to a punch up.
This week it was the turn of Frank Kerr of Back Bath Street to be charged with committing a breach of the peace.
PC Taylor gave evidence of seeing the man standing in the middle of a crowd in Liverpool Road at 11pm making use of obscene language and challenging anyone to fight him.
Kerr proceeded to take his coat off ready for business but when he saw the constable approaching he ran off but was eventually caught. He was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
A few months ago an imposing war memorial had been unveiled at Eccleston Lane Ends and this week, on the 25th, another memorial was dedicated at the parish church.
However, Christ Church's tribute to the fallen was quite different to the usual plaques and statues, as it comprised a new lychgate, tower clock and gallery column.
The lychgate entrance was constructed of English oak and bears the inscription: "To the glory of God and in memory of the men of this parish who died in the Great War, 1914-1919".
The Lord Bishop of Liverpool dedicated the memorial in front of a large gathering of parishioners.
By the 1920s, it was rare for naughty boys in St Helens to be given the birch and/or sent to a reformatory. The introduction of probation officers meant supervision was the more likely sentence.
But some magistrates were more hard-line than others and some boys didn't seem prepared to learn their lesson.
So a good beating and incarceration was sometimes seen as the solution to repeat offending.
On the 27th six such lads appeared before St Helens Police Court charged with stealing a football from a shop in Church Street and stealing oranges from market stalls.
The St Helens Reporter had recently decided not to name youngsters that appeared in court.
But the Liverpool Echo appeared to think that a public naming and shaming should be part of their punishment.
So they reported that Fred Cardwell and Arthur Porter – who had previously been convicted of setting fire to two stacks of straw – were each given six strokes of the birch and Christopher Tully received four strokes.
And the magistrates thought the latter's brother, John Tully, was getting into a "hopeless state" and he was sent to a reformatory for five years.
The Chairman of the Bench told the parents that their boys were on course to become confirmed criminals and he reminded them of their responsibilities, saying:
"It is your duty to see what your children are doing and if you found they were doing wrong, to chastise them and teach them to be as honest as you are."
The father of John Tully protested about his son being sent to a reformatory, saying he was simply a "soft innocent lad" who only wanted a bit of watching. The Chairman responded that the boy would be well watched at the reformatory.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the young Parr woman's strange suicide in St Helens Canal, the curious begging by baby and gramophone, the Clock Face Colliery pick stealer and the café chantant and exhibition of dressed dolls at the Town Hall.