IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (22nd - 28th FEBRUARY 1921)
This week's stories include the prospect of Sunday golf at Grange Park Golf Club, the man who conned a Peter Street landlady into believing he was a policeman, comic Herbert Mundin plays his home town and the IRA target Merseyside.
As I've often said, newspapers a century ago contained many adverts for "medicines" of dubious benefit, which made wild preventative and cure-all claims. Getting testimonials was easy. People would regularly confuse the effect of taking some mixture with the body's own natural powers of recovery. And if you took something to ward off illness and you didn't get sick – hey presto, that's proof it works! The makers of Angier's Emulsion reckoned their concoction was good for "consumption, all lung affections, stomach and bowel disorders, ulcers, chronic indigestion, diarrhoea, dysentery, nervous dyspepsia and constipation".
Baptist minister William Holroyd from Windle Street in St Helens was a fan of Angier's powers of prevention and on the 23rd the 58-year-old had this glowing testimonial published in the Daily Mirror: "As a preventive against taking cold and as a sure pick-me-up when run down I have found nothing to equal Angier's Emulsion. It is so pleasant to the taste that the most fastidious need not be deterred from taking it. Its beneficial effects are soon discovered by those who give it a genuine trial. Its efficacy in so many ailments makes it a household necessity. Many an illness would be avoided or shortened by its prompt use. It is a pleasure to recommend it."
Writing more recently online, Chris Langton said he hated being given Angier's Emulsion as a child: "Emulsion was probably a good description because it had the consistency of paint and stuck to the roof of your mouth!"
What a dreadfully dull day Sunday must have been a century ago! There was so little to do, with only a walk in the park and going to the pub during restricted opening hours as possible activities. Just why it was permissible to drink but considered wrong to go to the cinema or play any sport is one of those strange paradoxes. Private golf clubs could choose to play on the Sabbath but it was a sensitive subject with great opposition from the church. So when it came to the vote, clerical pressure tended to win.
That said it had been a close run thing last year at Grange Park Golf Club. They had held an extraordinary meeting to discuss allowing their members to play golf on the Sabbath. Canon Albert Baines, the vicar of St Helens, and Rev Luke Beaumont, the minister at Ormskirk Street Congregational Church, were both strongly against the move. Canon Baines told the meeting that it would be the thin edge of the wedge and would lead to demands for Sunday cricket, football and even racing to take place.
The vicar said that would be detrimental to juveniles and called for the members of the golf club to defend the principle in the interests of the young people of St Helens. I suspect that nobody had actually asked the young folk what they thought of having something to do on a Sunday. There was a popular Sunday School football league in St Helens which, of course, had to play their matches on a Saturday!
The proposal for Sunday golf at Grange Park was in 1920 lost by just two votes and the narrow defeat encouraged its supporters to take another vote this year. So on February 24th the members met again and predictably Canon Baines was in strong opposition but Father Duckett, of the Sacred Heart RC Church, was surprisingly in favour. He told the meeting that he had played golf, cricket, football and tennis in an ecclesiastical seminary on Sundays for a great many years and did not consider himself an immoral person for doing so. Sunday golf, he added, should be a matter of personal opinion not of morality. Emboldened by the priest's words, the proposal was carried by 49 votes to 15.
The Hippodrome music hall in Corporation Street was back in panto mode this week for its third and final offering of the season with a presentation of 'Mother Goose'. Meanwhile the Theatre Royal presented 'The Kiss Call' which The Stage in its review said was "brimful of good songs, dances and excellent comedy. An artist of unlimited humour is Herbert Mundin, who, in the part of Dr. Pym, keeps the audience in continuous laughter." The theatrical weekly could also have stated (if they had known) that the 22-year-old was making a return to his home town – having been born at 206 Windleshaw Road in St Helens.
Although brought up in St Albans, Herbert (pictured above) retained strong family connections with St Helens and his father is buried in the town cemetery. The Stage could have added (if they'd had a crystal ball) that Mundin's theatrical career during the 1920s would include eight Royal Command shows and performances in many revues and plays in London, New York and Australia.
Throughout the 1930s Herbert would become a popular Hollywood film actor who was cast in over 60 films – including 'Mutiny on The Bounty' in 1935 with Charles Laughton and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' in 1938 with Errol Flynn. Known as 'Tommy' to his family and friends, critics dubbed Herbert "The Man of 1000 Faces" and "The Great Hollywood Scene Stealer". Tragically Herbert's Hollywood career was cut short in 1939 by his death in a California car crash.
On the 25th the Liverpool Echo wrote: "Mr. John Black, of Sutton, one of the oldest engine-drivers in the district, died suddenly on Wednesday night. Mr. Black was driver for over 50 years, and worked on [the] old St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, which was one of the first to be operated in the country. A week last Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Black celebrated their golden wedding. Mr. Black met with an accident at St. Helens railway station about ten years ago, when his arm was cut off by an engine." In the 1911 census John Black was living in Station Road and aged 68 but still driving engines.
On the 26th Walter Plows made his second appearance in court after claiming to be a police officer. There have been many people over the years who have spun yarns to St Helens landladies claiming to be someone they weren't. This was done in order to get free food and lodgings, as they promised to pay their rent when their wages came through. Convincing conmen could smooth-talk landladies into believing she had an important lodger until the time came for them to decamp – often with money or property belonging to the landlady. However it was a bad idea to claim to be a policeman, as Walter Plows learned to his cost.
The 25-year-old had written to Abigail Crossland of Peter Street to say he was joining the police force in St Helens and wanted lodgings with her. Plows subsequently arrived and each day left the house at certain times claiming to be going on duty. His explanation for not having a police uniform was a little odd, claiming that a shortage of the force's special buttons meant he had none to put on his tunic. But Mrs Crossland was seemingly not suspicious until the time came for Plows to disappear – as such cons only had a limited life.
Fifteen shillings went with the man – money that belonged to Mrs Crossland's son – along with an unpaid bill for food and lodgings. But claiming to have been a police officer was treated as a serious crime and in total Plows received nine months in prison on three counts. Some criminals that had served with distinction in the war received a discount when they were sentenced. However those with a bad war record appear to have been given a longer sentence and Walter Plows had not been good in the army. As soon as his unit had been put on draft for foreign service, Plows had deserted and had faced three court martials. This also appears to have been taken into account in the sentencing.
And to conclude a few other stories that were in the Liverpool Echo this week that made me raise an eyebrow. The first bore the headline: "The Girl Who Won't Get Up – Driven From Home By Daughter Who Smokes In Bed": "A won't–work daughter, aged 20, was the subject of an application to-day at Tottenham. “She is now in bed,” said the mother. “She spends most of the day there, and when I say anything to her she assaults me. She has driven her father from home. He and my sons are out of work.”
"The Magistrate. – Who feeds her? The Mother. – She shares in what we get from charity, and complains if she doesn't get enough or if it is not the food she wants. The Magistrate. – Does she leave her bed at all? The Mother. – In the afternoon, and than she goes out and returns home at four or five in the morning. The mother added that the girl smoked cigarettes in bed. The Magistrate. – Where does she get the money? The mother didn't know. A police-sergeant is to call."
The minimum cost of a tram journey in Liverpool had recently been raised to twopence, creating much anger in the letters column of the Echo with this missive published this week: "A minimum charge of 2d is an outrage upon a long-suffering public. I have used the 1d stages pretty freely during the week in the past, but when it comes to [an] 100 per cent increase I object to pay, and have decided to make better use of shanks's pony for the future, and I am glad to know that many more have come to the same decision. I hope the public will continue to boycott the short but very dear stages, and by turning out a little earlier benefit in pocket and in health – K. MILLER."
And finally "Merseyside Favourable Place For Outrages!" was an Echo headline to another article. It described how the Chief Secretary for Ireland had read to MPs in the House of Commons passages from a document captured from the Sinn Fein Republican Army – as they were called. It was a frank assessment of the state of their members' preparedness for attacks on the mainland:
"Large-scale operations are of paramount importance. I fear, however, that the volunteers abroad, owing to their lack of training, cannot be relied on absolutely for operations on a large scale with certainty and success. Liverpool gives the greatest hope. Manchester is hopeless. London will do something on a small scale. There are possibilities in Newcastle-on-Tyne.
"The following operations can be carried on, but obviously they require a considerable amount of preparation:- Destruction of large ships by fire; destruction of buildings, blast-furnaces, coal-mines, aqueducts, telegraph and telephone systems; wrecking of trains and trams; destruction of farm property."
Next week's stories will include the man who stole £190 from a St Helens grocery boss, a sad Sutton suicide after a job loss, Saints decide to train for matches and the Haydock miner who died because of a loose shirt.
As I've often said, newspapers a century ago contained many adverts for "medicines" of dubious benefit, which made wild preventative and cure-all claims. Getting testimonials was easy. People would regularly confuse the effect of taking some mixture with the body's own natural powers of recovery. And if you took something to ward off illness and you didn't get sick – hey presto, that's proof it works! The makers of Angier's Emulsion reckoned their concoction was good for "consumption, all lung affections, stomach and bowel disorders, ulcers, chronic indigestion, diarrhoea, dysentery, nervous dyspepsia and constipation".
Baptist minister William Holroyd from Windle Street in St Helens was a fan of Angier's powers of prevention and on the 23rd the 58-year-old had this glowing testimonial published in the Daily Mirror: "As a preventive against taking cold and as a sure pick-me-up when run down I have found nothing to equal Angier's Emulsion. It is so pleasant to the taste that the most fastidious need not be deterred from taking it. Its beneficial effects are soon discovered by those who give it a genuine trial. Its efficacy in so many ailments makes it a household necessity. Many an illness would be avoided or shortened by its prompt use. It is a pleasure to recommend it."
Writing more recently online, Chris Langton said he hated being given Angier's Emulsion as a child: "Emulsion was probably a good description because it had the consistency of paint and stuck to the roof of your mouth!"
What a dreadfully dull day Sunday must have been a century ago! There was so little to do, with only a walk in the park and going to the pub during restricted opening hours as possible activities. Just why it was permissible to drink but considered wrong to go to the cinema or play any sport is one of those strange paradoxes. Private golf clubs could choose to play on the Sabbath but it was a sensitive subject with great opposition from the church. So when it came to the vote, clerical pressure tended to win.
That said it had been a close run thing last year at Grange Park Golf Club. They had held an extraordinary meeting to discuss allowing their members to play golf on the Sabbath. Canon Albert Baines, the vicar of St Helens, and Rev Luke Beaumont, the minister at Ormskirk Street Congregational Church, were both strongly against the move. Canon Baines told the meeting that it would be the thin edge of the wedge and would lead to demands for Sunday cricket, football and even racing to take place.
The vicar said that would be detrimental to juveniles and called for the members of the golf club to defend the principle in the interests of the young people of St Helens. I suspect that nobody had actually asked the young folk what they thought of having something to do on a Sunday. There was a popular Sunday School football league in St Helens which, of course, had to play their matches on a Saturday!
The proposal for Sunday golf at Grange Park was in 1920 lost by just two votes and the narrow defeat encouraged its supporters to take another vote this year. So on February 24th the members met again and predictably Canon Baines was in strong opposition but Father Duckett, of the Sacred Heart RC Church, was surprisingly in favour. He told the meeting that he had played golf, cricket, football and tennis in an ecclesiastical seminary on Sundays for a great many years and did not consider himself an immoral person for doing so. Sunday golf, he added, should be a matter of personal opinion not of morality. Emboldened by the priest's words, the proposal was carried by 49 votes to 15.
The Hippodrome music hall in Corporation Street was back in panto mode this week for its third and final offering of the season with a presentation of 'Mother Goose'. Meanwhile the Theatre Royal presented 'The Kiss Call' which The Stage in its review said was "brimful of good songs, dances and excellent comedy. An artist of unlimited humour is Herbert Mundin, who, in the part of Dr. Pym, keeps the audience in continuous laughter." The theatrical weekly could also have stated (if they had known) that the 22-year-old was making a return to his home town – having been born at 206 Windleshaw Road in St Helens.
Throughout the 1930s Herbert would become a popular Hollywood film actor who was cast in over 60 films – including 'Mutiny on The Bounty' in 1935 with Charles Laughton and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' in 1938 with Errol Flynn. Known as 'Tommy' to his family and friends, critics dubbed Herbert "The Man of 1000 Faces" and "The Great Hollywood Scene Stealer". Tragically Herbert's Hollywood career was cut short in 1939 by his death in a California car crash.
On the 25th the Liverpool Echo wrote: "Mr. John Black, of Sutton, one of the oldest engine-drivers in the district, died suddenly on Wednesday night. Mr. Black was driver for over 50 years, and worked on [the] old St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, which was one of the first to be operated in the country. A week last Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Black celebrated their golden wedding. Mr. Black met with an accident at St. Helens railway station about ten years ago, when his arm was cut off by an engine." In the 1911 census John Black was living in Station Road and aged 68 but still driving engines.
On the 26th Walter Plows made his second appearance in court after claiming to be a police officer. There have been many people over the years who have spun yarns to St Helens landladies claiming to be someone they weren't. This was done in order to get free food and lodgings, as they promised to pay their rent when their wages came through. Convincing conmen could smooth-talk landladies into believing she had an important lodger until the time came for them to decamp – often with money or property belonging to the landlady. However it was a bad idea to claim to be a policeman, as Walter Plows learned to his cost.
The 25-year-old had written to Abigail Crossland of Peter Street to say he was joining the police force in St Helens and wanted lodgings with her. Plows subsequently arrived and each day left the house at certain times claiming to be going on duty. His explanation for not having a police uniform was a little odd, claiming that a shortage of the force's special buttons meant he had none to put on his tunic. But Mrs Crossland was seemingly not suspicious until the time came for Plows to disappear – as such cons only had a limited life.
Fifteen shillings went with the man – money that belonged to Mrs Crossland's son – along with an unpaid bill for food and lodgings. But claiming to have been a police officer was treated as a serious crime and in total Plows received nine months in prison on three counts. Some criminals that had served with distinction in the war received a discount when they were sentenced. However those with a bad war record appear to have been given a longer sentence and Walter Plows had not been good in the army. As soon as his unit had been put on draft for foreign service, Plows had deserted and had faced three court martials. This also appears to have been taken into account in the sentencing.
And to conclude a few other stories that were in the Liverpool Echo this week that made me raise an eyebrow. The first bore the headline: "The Girl Who Won't Get Up – Driven From Home By Daughter Who Smokes In Bed": "A won't–work daughter, aged 20, was the subject of an application to-day at Tottenham. “She is now in bed,” said the mother. “She spends most of the day there, and when I say anything to her she assaults me. She has driven her father from home. He and my sons are out of work.”
"The Magistrate. – Who feeds her? The Mother. – She shares in what we get from charity, and complains if she doesn't get enough or if it is not the food she wants. The Magistrate. – Does she leave her bed at all? The Mother. – In the afternoon, and than she goes out and returns home at four or five in the morning. The mother added that the girl smoked cigarettes in bed. The Magistrate. – Where does she get the money? The mother didn't know. A police-sergeant is to call."
The minimum cost of a tram journey in Liverpool had recently been raised to twopence, creating much anger in the letters column of the Echo with this missive published this week: "A minimum charge of 2d is an outrage upon a long-suffering public. I have used the 1d stages pretty freely during the week in the past, but when it comes to [an] 100 per cent increase I object to pay, and have decided to make better use of shanks's pony for the future, and I am glad to know that many more have come to the same decision. I hope the public will continue to boycott the short but very dear stages, and by turning out a little earlier benefit in pocket and in health – K. MILLER."
And finally "Merseyside Favourable Place For Outrages!" was an Echo headline to another article. It described how the Chief Secretary for Ireland had read to MPs in the House of Commons passages from a document captured from the Sinn Fein Republican Army – as they were called. It was a frank assessment of the state of their members' preparedness for attacks on the mainland:
"Large-scale operations are of paramount importance. I fear, however, that the volunteers abroad, owing to their lack of training, cannot be relied on absolutely for operations on a large scale with certainty and success. Liverpool gives the greatest hope. Manchester is hopeless. London will do something on a small scale. There are possibilities in Newcastle-on-Tyne.
"The following operations can be carried on, but obviously they require a considerable amount of preparation:- Destruction of large ships by fire; destruction of buildings, blast-furnaces, coal-mines, aqueducts, telegraph and telephone systems; wrecking of trains and trams; destruction of farm property."
Next week's stories will include the man who stole £190 from a St Helens grocery boss, a sad Sutton suicide after a job loss, Saints decide to train for matches and the Haydock miner who died because of a loose shirt.
This week's stories include the prospect of Sunday golf at Grange Park Golf Club, the man who conned a Peter Street landlady into believing he was a policeman, comic Herbert Mundin plays his home town and the IRA target Merseyside.
As I've often said, newspapers a century ago contained many adverts for "medicines" of dubious benefit, which made wild preventative and cure-all claims.
Getting testimonials was easy. People would regularly confuse the effect of taking some mixture with the body's own natural powers of recovery.
And if you took something to ward off illness and you didn't get sick – hey presto, that's proof it works!
The makers of Angier's Emulsion reckoned their concoction was good for "consumption, all lung affections, stomach and bowel disorders, ulcers, chronic indigestion, diarrhoea, dysentery, nervous dyspepsia and constipation".
Baptist minister William Holroyd from Windle Street in St Helens was a fan of Angier's powers of prevention and on the 23rd the 58-year-old had this glowing testimonial published in the Daily Mirror:
"As a preventive against taking cold and as a sure pick-me-up when run down I have found nothing to equal Angier's Emulsion. It is so pleasant to the taste that the most fastidious need not be deterred from taking it.
"Its beneficial effects are soon discovered by those who give it a genuine trial. Its efficacy in so many ailments makes it a household necessity. Many an illness would be avoided or shortened by its prompt use. It is a pleasure to recommend it."
Writing more recently online, Chris Langton said he hated being given Angier's Emulsion as a child: "Emulsion was probably a good description because it had the consistency of paint and stuck to the roof of your mouth!"
What a dreadfully dull day Sunday must have been a century ago! There was so little to do, with only a walk in the park and going to the pub during restricted opening hours as possible activities.
Just why it was permissible to drink but considered wrong to go to the cinema or play any sport is one of those strange paradoxes.
Private golf clubs could choose to play on the Sabbath but it was a sensitive subject with great opposition from the church. So when it came to the vote, clerical pressure tended to win.
That said it had been a close run thing last year at Grange Park Golf Club. They had held an extraordinary meeting to discuss allowing their members to play golf on the Sabbath.
Canon Albert Baines, the vicar of St Helens, and Rev Luke Beaumont, the minister at Ormskirk Street Congregational Church, were both strongly against the move.
Canon Baines told the meeting that it would be the thin edge of the wedge and would lead to demands for Sunday cricket, football and even racing to take place.
The vicar said that would be detrimental to juveniles and called for the members of the golf club to defend the principle in the interests of the young people of St Helens.
I suspect that nobody had actually asked the young folk what they thought of having something to do on a Sunday.
There was a popular Sunday School football league in St Helens which, of course, had to play their matches on a Saturday!
The proposal for Sunday golf at Grange Park was in 1920 lost by just two votes and the narrow defeat encouraged its supporters to take another vote this year.
So on February 24th the members met again and predictably Canon Baines was in strong opposition but Father Duckett, of the Sacred Heart RC Church, was surprisingly in favour.
He told the meeting that he had played golf, cricket, football and tennis in an ecclesiastical seminary on Sundays for a great many years and did not consider himself an immoral person for doing so.
Sunday golf, he added, should be a matter of personal opinion not of morality. Emboldened by the priest's words, the proposal was carried by 49 votes to 15.
The Hippodrome music hall in Corporation Street was back in panto mode this week for its third and final offering of the season with a presentation of 'Mother Goose'.
Meanwhile the Theatre Royal presented 'The Kiss Call' which The Stage in its review said was "brimful of good songs, dances and excellent comedy. An artist of unlimited humour is Herbert Mundin, who, in the part of Dr. Pym, keeps the audience in continuous laughter."
The theatrical weekly could also have stated (if they had known) that the 22-year-old was making a return to his home town – having been born at 206 Windleshaw Road in St Helens.
Although brought up in St Albans, Herbert (pictured above) retained strong family connections with St Helens and his father is buried in the town cemetery.
The Stage could have added (if they'd had a crystal ball) that Mundin's theatrical career during the 1920s would include eight Royal Command shows and performances in many revues and plays in London, New York and Australia.
Throughout the 1930s Herbert would become a popular Hollywood film actor who was cast in over 60 films – including 'Mutiny on The Bounty' in 1935 with Charles Laughton and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' in 1938 with Errol Flynn.
Known as 'Tommy' to his family and friends, critics dubbed Herbert "The Man of 1000 Faces" and "The Great Hollywood Scene Stealer".
Tragically Herbert's Hollywood career was cut short in 1939 by his death in a California car crash.
On the 25th the Liverpool Echo wrote: "Mr. John Black, of Sutton, one of the oldest engine-drivers in the district, died suddenly on Wednesday night.
"Mr. Black was driver for over 50 years, and worked on [the] old St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, which was one of the first to be operated in the country.
"A week last Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Black celebrated their golden wedding. Mr. Black met with an accident at St. Helens railway station about ten years ago, when his arm was cut off by an engine."
In the 1911 census John Black was living in Station Road and aged 68 but still driving engines.
On the 26th Walter Plows made his second appearance in court after claiming to be a police officer.
There have been many people over the years who have spun yarns to St Helens landladies claiming to be someone they weren't.
This was done in order to get free food and lodgings, as they promised to pay their rent when their wages came through.
Convincing conmen could smooth-talk landladies into believing she had an important lodger until the time came for them to decamp – often with money or property belonging to the landlady.
However it was a bad idea to claim to be a policeman, as Walter Plows learned to his cost.
The 25-year-old had written to Abigail Crossland of Peter Street to say he was joining the police force in St Helens and wanted lodgings with her.
Plows subsequently arrived and each day left the house at certain times claiming to be going on duty.
His explanation for not having a police uniform was a little odd, claiming that a shortage of the force's special buttons meant he had none to put on his tunic.
But Mrs Crossland was seemingly not suspicious until the time came for Plows to disappear – as such cons only had a limited life.
Fifteen shillings went with the man – money that belonged to Mrs Crossland's son – along with an unpaid bill for food and lodgings.
But claiming to have been a police officer was treated as a serious crime and in total Plows received nine months in prison on three counts.
Some criminals that had served with distinction in the war received a discount when they were sentenced.
However those with a bad war record appear to have been given a longer sentence and Walter Plows had not been good in the army.
As soon as his unit had been put on draft for foreign service, Plows had deserted and had faced three court martials. This also appears to have been taken into account in the sentencing.
And to conclude a few other stories that were in the Liverpool Echo this week that made me raise an eyebrow.
The first bore the headline: "The Girl Who Won't Get Up – Driven From Home By Daughter Who Smokes In Bed":
"A won't–work daughter, aged 20, was the subject of an application to-day at Tottenham. “She is now in bed,” said the mother.
“She spends most of the day there, and when I say anything to her she assaults me. She has driven her father from home. He and my sons are out of work.”
"The Magistrate. – Who feeds her? The Mother. – She shares in what we get from charity, and complains if she doesn't get enough or if it is not the food she wants.
"The Magistrate. – Does she leave her bed at all? The Mother. – In the afternoon, and than she goes out and returns home at four or five in the morning.
"The mother added that the girl smoked cigarettes in bed.
"The Magistrate. – Where does she get the money? The mother didn't know. A police-sergeant is to call."
The minimum cost of a tram journey in Liverpool had recently been raised to twopence, creating much anger in the letters column of the Echo with this missive published this week:
"A minimum charge of 2d is an outrage upon a long-suffering public. I have used the 1d stages pretty freely during the week in the past, but when it comes to [an] 100 per cent increase I object to pay, and have decided to make better use of shanks's pony for the future, and I am glad to know that many more have come to the same decision.
"I hope the public will continue to boycott the short but very dear stages, and by turning out a little earlier benefit in pocket and in health – K. MILLER."
And finally "Merseyside Favourable Place For Outrages!" was an Echo headline to another article.
It described how the Chief Secretary for Ireland had read to MPs in the House of Commons passages from a document captured from the Sinn Fein Republican Army – as they were called.
It was a frank assessment of the state of their members' preparedness for attacks on the mainland:
"Large-scale operations are of paramount importance. I fear, however, that the volunteers abroad, owing to their lack of training, cannot be relied on absolutely for operations on a large scale with certainty and success.
"Liverpool gives the greatest hope. Manchester is hopeless. London will do something on a small scale. There are possibilities in Newcastle-on-Tyne.
"The following operations can be carried on, but obviously they require a considerable amount of preparation:-
"Destruction of large ships by fire; destruction of buildings, blast-furnaces, coal-mines, aqueducts, telegraph and telephone systems; wrecking of trains and trams; destruction of farm property."
Next week's stories will include the man who stole £190 from a St Helens grocery boss, a sad Sutton suicide after a job loss, Saints decide to train for matches and the Haydock miner who died because of a loose shirt.
As I've often said, newspapers a century ago contained many adverts for "medicines" of dubious benefit, which made wild preventative and cure-all claims.
Getting testimonials was easy. People would regularly confuse the effect of taking some mixture with the body's own natural powers of recovery.
And if you took something to ward off illness and you didn't get sick – hey presto, that's proof it works!
The makers of Angier's Emulsion reckoned their concoction was good for "consumption, all lung affections, stomach and bowel disorders, ulcers, chronic indigestion, diarrhoea, dysentery, nervous dyspepsia and constipation".
Baptist minister William Holroyd from Windle Street in St Helens was a fan of Angier's powers of prevention and on the 23rd the 58-year-old had this glowing testimonial published in the Daily Mirror:
"As a preventive against taking cold and as a sure pick-me-up when run down I have found nothing to equal Angier's Emulsion. It is so pleasant to the taste that the most fastidious need not be deterred from taking it.
"Its beneficial effects are soon discovered by those who give it a genuine trial. Its efficacy in so many ailments makes it a household necessity. Many an illness would be avoided or shortened by its prompt use. It is a pleasure to recommend it."
Writing more recently online, Chris Langton said he hated being given Angier's Emulsion as a child: "Emulsion was probably a good description because it had the consistency of paint and stuck to the roof of your mouth!"
What a dreadfully dull day Sunday must have been a century ago! There was so little to do, with only a walk in the park and going to the pub during restricted opening hours as possible activities.
Just why it was permissible to drink but considered wrong to go to the cinema or play any sport is one of those strange paradoxes.
Private golf clubs could choose to play on the Sabbath but it was a sensitive subject with great opposition from the church. So when it came to the vote, clerical pressure tended to win.
That said it had been a close run thing last year at Grange Park Golf Club. They had held an extraordinary meeting to discuss allowing their members to play golf on the Sabbath.
Canon Albert Baines, the vicar of St Helens, and Rev Luke Beaumont, the minister at Ormskirk Street Congregational Church, were both strongly against the move.
Canon Baines told the meeting that it would be the thin edge of the wedge and would lead to demands for Sunday cricket, football and even racing to take place.
The vicar said that would be detrimental to juveniles and called for the members of the golf club to defend the principle in the interests of the young people of St Helens.
I suspect that nobody had actually asked the young folk what they thought of having something to do on a Sunday.
There was a popular Sunday School football league in St Helens which, of course, had to play their matches on a Saturday!
The proposal for Sunday golf at Grange Park was in 1920 lost by just two votes and the narrow defeat encouraged its supporters to take another vote this year.
So on February 24th the members met again and predictably Canon Baines was in strong opposition but Father Duckett, of the Sacred Heart RC Church, was surprisingly in favour.
He told the meeting that he had played golf, cricket, football and tennis in an ecclesiastical seminary on Sundays for a great many years and did not consider himself an immoral person for doing so.
Sunday golf, he added, should be a matter of personal opinion not of morality. Emboldened by the priest's words, the proposal was carried by 49 votes to 15.
The Hippodrome music hall in Corporation Street was back in panto mode this week for its third and final offering of the season with a presentation of 'Mother Goose'.
Meanwhile the Theatre Royal presented 'The Kiss Call' which The Stage in its review said was "brimful of good songs, dances and excellent comedy. An artist of unlimited humour is Herbert Mundin, who, in the part of Dr. Pym, keeps the audience in continuous laughter."
The theatrical weekly could also have stated (if they had known) that the 22-year-old was making a return to his home town – having been born at 206 Windleshaw Road in St Helens.
The Stage could have added (if they'd had a crystal ball) that Mundin's theatrical career during the 1920s would include eight Royal Command shows and performances in many revues and plays in London, New York and Australia.
Throughout the 1930s Herbert would become a popular Hollywood film actor who was cast in over 60 films – including 'Mutiny on The Bounty' in 1935 with Charles Laughton and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' in 1938 with Errol Flynn.
Known as 'Tommy' to his family and friends, critics dubbed Herbert "The Man of 1000 Faces" and "The Great Hollywood Scene Stealer".
Tragically Herbert's Hollywood career was cut short in 1939 by his death in a California car crash.
On the 25th the Liverpool Echo wrote: "Mr. John Black, of Sutton, one of the oldest engine-drivers in the district, died suddenly on Wednesday night.
"Mr. Black was driver for over 50 years, and worked on [the] old St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway, which was one of the first to be operated in the country.
"A week last Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Black celebrated their golden wedding. Mr. Black met with an accident at St. Helens railway station about ten years ago, when his arm was cut off by an engine."
In the 1911 census John Black was living in Station Road and aged 68 but still driving engines.
On the 26th Walter Plows made his second appearance in court after claiming to be a police officer.
There have been many people over the years who have spun yarns to St Helens landladies claiming to be someone they weren't.
This was done in order to get free food and lodgings, as they promised to pay their rent when their wages came through.
Convincing conmen could smooth-talk landladies into believing she had an important lodger until the time came for them to decamp – often with money or property belonging to the landlady.
However it was a bad idea to claim to be a policeman, as Walter Plows learned to his cost.
The 25-year-old had written to Abigail Crossland of Peter Street to say he was joining the police force in St Helens and wanted lodgings with her.
Plows subsequently arrived and each day left the house at certain times claiming to be going on duty.
His explanation for not having a police uniform was a little odd, claiming that a shortage of the force's special buttons meant he had none to put on his tunic.
But Mrs Crossland was seemingly not suspicious until the time came for Plows to disappear – as such cons only had a limited life.
Fifteen shillings went with the man – money that belonged to Mrs Crossland's son – along with an unpaid bill for food and lodgings.
But claiming to have been a police officer was treated as a serious crime and in total Plows received nine months in prison on three counts.
Some criminals that had served with distinction in the war received a discount when they were sentenced.
However those with a bad war record appear to have been given a longer sentence and Walter Plows had not been good in the army.
As soon as his unit had been put on draft for foreign service, Plows had deserted and had faced three court martials. This also appears to have been taken into account in the sentencing.
And to conclude a few other stories that were in the Liverpool Echo this week that made me raise an eyebrow.
The first bore the headline: "The Girl Who Won't Get Up – Driven From Home By Daughter Who Smokes In Bed":
"A won't–work daughter, aged 20, was the subject of an application to-day at Tottenham. “She is now in bed,” said the mother.
“She spends most of the day there, and when I say anything to her she assaults me. She has driven her father from home. He and my sons are out of work.”
"The Magistrate. – Who feeds her? The Mother. – She shares in what we get from charity, and complains if she doesn't get enough or if it is not the food she wants.
"The Magistrate. – Does she leave her bed at all? The Mother. – In the afternoon, and than she goes out and returns home at four or five in the morning.
"The mother added that the girl smoked cigarettes in bed.
"The Magistrate. – Where does she get the money? The mother didn't know. A police-sergeant is to call."
The minimum cost of a tram journey in Liverpool had recently been raised to twopence, creating much anger in the letters column of the Echo with this missive published this week:
"A minimum charge of 2d is an outrage upon a long-suffering public. I have used the 1d stages pretty freely during the week in the past, but when it comes to [an] 100 per cent increase I object to pay, and have decided to make better use of shanks's pony for the future, and I am glad to know that many more have come to the same decision.
"I hope the public will continue to boycott the short but very dear stages, and by turning out a little earlier benefit in pocket and in health – K. MILLER."
And finally "Merseyside Favourable Place For Outrages!" was an Echo headline to another article.
It described how the Chief Secretary for Ireland had read to MPs in the House of Commons passages from a document captured from the Sinn Fein Republican Army – as they were called.
It was a frank assessment of the state of their members' preparedness for attacks on the mainland:
"Large-scale operations are of paramount importance. I fear, however, that the volunteers abroad, owing to their lack of training, cannot be relied on absolutely for operations on a large scale with certainty and success.
"Liverpool gives the greatest hope. Manchester is hopeless. London will do something on a small scale. There are possibilities in Newcastle-on-Tyne.
"The following operations can be carried on, but obviously they require a considerable amount of preparation:-
"Destruction of large ships by fire; destruction of buildings, blast-furnaces, coal-mines, aqueducts, telegraph and telephone systems; wrecking of trains and trams; destruction of farm property."
Next week's stories will include the man who stole £190 from a St Helens grocery boss, a sad Sutton suicide after a job loss, Saints decide to train for matches and the Haydock miner who died because of a loose shirt.