IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (22nd - 28th AUGUST 1922)
This week's many stories include the gay young sparks of Church Street, the Co-op bakery in Eccleston Street is destroyed by fire, the greatest wonder in Europe comes to St Helens to cure the sick, the chestnut mare in Ward Street that was nothing but a bag of bones, the strange excuse for driving a fast charabanc and the wild animal illusionist called The Great Carmo performs at the Hippodrome.
We begin in St Helens County Court on the 22nd when a charabanc driver called Herbert Walker from Birkenhead was prosecuted for driving his vehicle to the danger of the public. A constable stated that the defendant had been driving his charabanc on Warrington Road in Bold Heath at a speed of up to 18 or 20 miles an hour. The driver was accused of almost running into the back of another vehicle when crossing the end of Wilmere Lane. The officer told the Bench that he had previously warned the man for speeding at Rainhill and Walker had curiously replied "You have to drive these things fast to keep them straight". He was fined £4.
The worst fire for several years struck St Helens during the evening of the 22nd when the bakery of the Co-op in Eccleston Street went up in flames. The St Helens Reporter wrote: "The big blaze attracted thousands of sightseers from all parts of the town, and many young men volunteered their services." A brisk wind had fanned the flames and it took the fireman all night to get the fire under control. There was now concern over the possibility of a bread shortage in St Helens.
A large advert in the Echo on the 23rd stated that a "brilliant specialist" from London called Mr Ison was coming to St Helens for a few days. The man claimed to be able to treat a long list of complaints, including "deadly catarrh, deafness, nerve racking head noises, buzzing ear noises, rheumatism, neuralgia, neuritis, lumbago and all nerve and muscle troubles". And Mr Ison claimed all these complaints would be "banished and cured" by his "powerful and wonderful treatment", adding, "No appliances of any kind need to be worn!! No operations are required! No quack patent medicines, herbs, or drugs given."
"The greatest wonder in Europe – the Expert of London" would be available at the Assembly Rooms in George Street in St Helens from the 24th selling what sounds like false hope to sufferers. "Do not consider your case hopeless" and "His fee is nothing worth mentioning" are a couple more quotes that leap out from the advert.
On the 25th Harold Lawrenson (17) of Grafton Street, Dorothy Matthews (17) and Lily Matthews (16), both of Manor Street, appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obstructing the footpath in Church Street. In describing the hearing, the Reporter wrote: "Some amusing sidelights on the “night life” of Church-street, and the opportunities it affords the gay young “sparks” of the town of extending their circle of acquaintances, were given." Two police officers gave evidence of seeing the trio standing with a fourth person outside Dr Jackson's surgery in Church Street. As the footpath was narrow at that point, the group was accused of blocking the way and forcing some pedestrians to walk into the road.
The two girls claimed that some fellows had pushed them into Heywood's shop window and it was also said that one of the lads had grabbed hold of the legs of two other girls as they were passing. The Chairman of the Bench wanted to know if the foursome were related or otherwise known to each other – and seemed surprised to be told that the boys and girls had only met that night. That was after the two lads had stopped the two sisters in the street to talk to them, which was probably not the proper etiquette when the Chairman was a boy! However, the Bench decided to discharge the threesome upon payment of court costs.
Also in court was Alfred Dyke from Hindley who was charged with cruelty to a horse. Although costing a fraction of the price of a motor car, horses were not cheap and some owners seemed to think they wouldn't get full value from their animal until it dropped dead from a very old age. So horses could be worked in an appalling condition and Inspector Hallam of the RSPCA told the court that's Dyke's nag had been "nothing but a bag of bones". The inspector had seen the chestnut mare in Ward Street, off North Road, where weekly horse sales took place.
According to Inspector Hallam, the poor animal had been "staggering about the street and was very weak". But when the inspector questioned Dyke about his horse, he replied: "Do you think anybody would buy it". No, not if they were in their right mind, might well have been the answer he received! A vet confirmed that the horse was very emaciated and could hardly walk and it was put down. Mr Dyke was not, sadly, put down as well but was instead fined 10 shillings and told to pay the vet's fee.
The Reporter on the 25th carried an advert for the Peel Café in Dentons Green Lane. They claimed to be the "sole makers of the perfect cakes. The only shop where you may obtain Prima Donna Cake". The cafe was open until 9 pm each evening for ices and refreshments.
Although it's often said that Christmas comes earlier in the shops every year, that's a bit of a myth, I think. In the Reporter this week there was an advert from the Universal Bazaar of Church Street, which said: "17 Weeks To Christmas. Santa Claus Headquarters Now Open". And we are still in August! The Universal Bazaar was situated next door to the old fire-ravaged Parish Church and their advert featured an illustration of a rather scary-looking Father Christmas with his arms outstretched.
The Reporter now had a policy of not naming children that appeared in court facing criminal charges. However, they were happy to state the defendant's full address and sometimes their parents' names – and so identification would not have been too difficult. So I don't know the name of the "precocious" 14-year-old girl that the paper said had appeared in court on the 25th – but I can tell you that she lived at 8 Back St Thomas' Street in St Helens and had four siblings.
The youngster was accused of housebreaking and stealing £16 worth of clothing from a Mr Henshall of Chamberlain Street. He had securely locked his house being going on holiday with his family to Blackpool. While Henshall was at the seaside, the girl had entered his house, spent the night sleeping in his bed, ate some food in his house and pinched some of his family's clothes. I don't know if she thought she was Goldilocks but a pawnshop did not figure in that tale – but it does in ours, as the girl pledged some of Mr Henshall's wife's clothes with "uncle".
The magistrates were far more lenient with child offenders than just a few years ago and they put the girl on probation for two years with the father saying he would take responsibility for her. What probably irked Henshall more than anything was that the police had rung him at Blackpool to ask him to return home to check what property had been stolen, adding to his expense and interrupting his break.
Also in court was Joseph Winstanley from Gaskell Street in Parr who was charged with loitering for the purpose of betting. PC Parr told the court that he had been on what we would call a stake-out and had seen Winstanley receive eight betting slips from eight different men over a three-hour period. The man offered no defence and was fined £5.
Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of an armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in. Gun possession was now taken much more seriously, which led to John Pickett of Parr Mount Street in St Helens appearing in court.
Just whether his weapon had originally been a wartime souvenir was not stated in the Reporter's account, as he claimed he'd bought the revolver from a man in a Park Street club a couple of years before. Wigan police had tipped off their St Helens colleagues that a man was trying to sell a six-chambered revolver in Ashton-in-Makerfield on behalf of John Pickett. The latter claimed that he did not know he was supposed to have a firearms certificate for his revolver and was fined 40 shillings.
The Reporter also described how St Anne's RC Church of Sutton had held their second annual amateur athletics sports in their Monastery Grounds. Proceeds went towards their School Repair Fund, although attendance was only described as moderate.
On the 26th the Viaduct Institute Athletic Club of Earlestown held their Grand Athletic Sports on their Earle Street grounds. All proceeds went to the Newton Cottage Hospital fund. That day was also Offerings Day for the proposed St Helens War Memorial in Victoria Square with the people of the town encouraged to dig deep in order to pay for the monument. The organisers' target was £1,500 with a notice published in the Reporter from the Mayor of St Helens, Richard Ellison, beseeching townsfolk to: "Let the honour of the town be upheld and our fallen heroes commemorated."
This was the advert in the Liverpool Echo for this week's attractions at the St Helens Hippodrome: "6:50 - TWICE NIGHTLY - 8.50 THE GREAT CARMO, The World's Colossus of Mystery, Introducing his latest bewildering jungle mysteries, with a gigantic living zoo of magnificent wild animals, including Elephant, Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Monkeys, Birds, &c., and First-Class Variety Company. Box Office Open 10 to 10. Tel. No. 109 St. Helens, Lancs." Harry Cameron was The Great Carmo and with his troupe of mainly female assistants (pictured above), combined wild animal shows with illusion to create what was called "The Biggest and Most Sensational Magical Show on Earth".
Next week's stories will include the man who tied himself up before committing suicide, the motorcycle accident in Greenfield Road, more on the proposed main road between Liverpool and Manchester and the Nine Little Tiddleywinks perform in St Helens.
We begin in St Helens County Court on the 22nd when a charabanc driver called Herbert Walker from Birkenhead was prosecuted for driving his vehicle to the danger of the public. A constable stated that the defendant had been driving his charabanc on Warrington Road in Bold Heath at a speed of up to 18 or 20 miles an hour. The driver was accused of almost running into the back of another vehicle when crossing the end of Wilmere Lane. The officer told the Bench that he had previously warned the man for speeding at Rainhill and Walker had curiously replied "You have to drive these things fast to keep them straight". He was fined £4.
The worst fire for several years struck St Helens during the evening of the 22nd when the bakery of the Co-op in Eccleston Street went up in flames. The St Helens Reporter wrote: "The big blaze attracted thousands of sightseers from all parts of the town, and many young men volunteered their services." A brisk wind had fanned the flames and it took the fireman all night to get the fire under control. There was now concern over the possibility of a bread shortage in St Helens.
A large advert in the Echo on the 23rd stated that a "brilliant specialist" from London called Mr Ison was coming to St Helens for a few days. The man claimed to be able to treat a long list of complaints, including "deadly catarrh, deafness, nerve racking head noises, buzzing ear noises, rheumatism, neuralgia, neuritis, lumbago and all nerve and muscle troubles". And Mr Ison claimed all these complaints would be "banished and cured" by his "powerful and wonderful treatment", adding, "No appliances of any kind need to be worn!! No operations are required! No quack patent medicines, herbs, or drugs given."
"The greatest wonder in Europe – the Expert of London" would be available at the Assembly Rooms in George Street in St Helens from the 24th selling what sounds like false hope to sufferers. "Do not consider your case hopeless" and "His fee is nothing worth mentioning" are a couple more quotes that leap out from the advert.
The two girls claimed that some fellows had pushed them into Heywood's shop window and it was also said that one of the lads had grabbed hold of the legs of two other girls as they were passing. The Chairman of the Bench wanted to know if the foursome were related or otherwise known to each other – and seemed surprised to be told that the boys and girls had only met that night. That was after the two lads had stopped the two sisters in the street to talk to them, which was probably not the proper etiquette when the Chairman was a boy! However, the Bench decided to discharge the threesome upon payment of court costs.
Also in court was Alfred Dyke from Hindley who was charged with cruelty to a horse. Although costing a fraction of the price of a motor car, horses were not cheap and some owners seemed to think they wouldn't get full value from their animal until it dropped dead from a very old age. So horses could be worked in an appalling condition and Inspector Hallam of the RSPCA told the court that's Dyke's nag had been "nothing but a bag of bones". The inspector had seen the chestnut mare in Ward Street, off North Road, where weekly horse sales took place.
According to Inspector Hallam, the poor animal had been "staggering about the street and was very weak". But when the inspector questioned Dyke about his horse, he replied: "Do you think anybody would buy it". No, not if they were in their right mind, might well have been the answer he received! A vet confirmed that the horse was very emaciated and could hardly walk and it was put down. Mr Dyke was not, sadly, put down as well but was instead fined 10 shillings and told to pay the vet's fee.
The Reporter on the 25th carried an advert for the Peel Café in Dentons Green Lane. They claimed to be the "sole makers of the perfect cakes. The only shop where you may obtain Prima Donna Cake". The cafe was open until 9 pm each evening for ices and refreshments.
Although it's often said that Christmas comes earlier in the shops every year, that's a bit of a myth, I think. In the Reporter this week there was an advert from the Universal Bazaar of Church Street, which said: "17 Weeks To Christmas. Santa Claus Headquarters Now Open". And we are still in August! The Universal Bazaar was situated next door to the old fire-ravaged Parish Church and their advert featured an illustration of a rather scary-looking Father Christmas with his arms outstretched.
The Reporter now had a policy of not naming children that appeared in court facing criminal charges. However, they were happy to state the defendant's full address and sometimes their parents' names – and so identification would not have been too difficult. So I don't know the name of the "precocious" 14-year-old girl that the paper said had appeared in court on the 25th – but I can tell you that she lived at 8 Back St Thomas' Street in St Helens and had four siblings.
The youngster was accused of housebreaking and stealing £16 worth of clothing from a Mr Henshall of Chamberlain Street. He had securely locked his house being going on holiday with his family to Blackpool. While Henshall was at the seaside, the girl had entered his house, spent the night sleeping in his bed, ate some food in his house and pinched some of his family's clothes. I don't know if she thought she was Goldilocks but a pawnshop did not figure in that tale – but it does in ours, as the girl pledged some of Mr Henshall's wife's clothes with "uncle".
The magistrates were far more lenient with child offenders than just a few years ago and they put the girl on probation for two years with the father saying he would take responsibility for her. What probably irked Henshall more than anything was that the police had rung him at Blackpool to ask him to return home to check what property had been stolen, adding to his expense and interrupting his break.
Also in court was Joseph Winstanley from Gaskell Street in Parr who was charged with loitering for the purpose of betting. PC Parr told the court that he had been on what we would call a stake-out and had seen Winstanley receive eight betting slips from eight different men over a three-hour period. The man offered no defence and was fined £5.
Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of an armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in. Gun possession was now taken much more seriously, which led to John Pickett of Parr Mount Street in St Helens appearing in court.
Just whether his weapon had originally been a wartime souvenir was not stated in the Reporter's account, as he claimed he'd bought the revolver from a man in a Park Street club a couple of years before. Wigan police had tipped off their St Helens colleagues that a man was trying to sell a six-chambered revolver in Ashton-in-Makerfield on behalf of John Pickett. The latter claimed that he did not know he was supposed to have a firearms certificate for his revolver and was fined 40 shillings.
The Reporter also described how St Anne's RC Church of Sutton had held their second annual amateur athletics sports in their Monastery Grounds. Proceeds went towards their School Repair Fund, although attendance was only described as moderate.
On the 26th the Viaduct Institute Athletic Club of Earlestown held their Grand Athletic Sports on their Earle Street grounds. All proceeds went to the Newton Cottage Hospital fund. That day was also Offerings Day for the proposed St Helens War Memorial in Victoria Square with the people of the town encouraged to dig deep in order to pay for the monument. The organisers' target was £1,500 with a notice published in the Reporter from the Mayor of St Helens, Richard Ellison, beseeching townsfolk to: "Let the honour of the town be upheld and our fallen heroes commemorated."
Next week's stories will include the man who tied himself up before committing suicide, the motorcycle accident in Greenfield Road, more on the proposed main road between Liverpool and Manchester and the Nine Little Tiddleywinks perform in St Helens.
This week's many stories include the gay young sparks of Church Street, the Co-op bakery in Eccleston Street is destroyed by fire, the greatest wonder in Europe comes to St Helens to cure the sick, the chestnut mare in Ward Street that was nothing but a bag of bones, the strange excuse for driving a fast charabanc and the wild animal illusionist called The Great Carmo performs at the Hippodrome.
We begin in St Helens County Court on the 22nd when a charabanc driver called Herbert Walker from Birkenhead was prosecuted for driving his vehicle to the danger of the public.
A constable stated that the defendant had been driving his charabanc on Warrington Road in Bold Heath at a speed of up to 18 or 20 miles an hour.
The driver was accused of almost running into the back of another vehicle when crossing the end of Wilmere Lane.
The officer told the Bench that he had previously warned the man for speeding at Rainhill and Walker had curiously replied "You have to drive these things fast to keep them straight". He was fined £4.
The worst fire for several years struck St Helens during the evening of the 22nd when the bakery of the Co-op in Eccleston Street went up in flames. The St Helens Reporter wrote:
"The big blaze attracted thousands of sightseers from all parts of the town, and many young men volunteered their services."
A brisk wind had fanned the flames and it took the fireman all night to get the fire under control. There was now concern over the possibility of a bread shortage in St Helens.
A large advert in the Echo on the 23rd stated that a "brilliant specialist" from London called Mr Ison was coming to St Helens for a few days.
The man claimed to be able to treat a long list of complaints, including "deadly catarrh, deafness, nerve racking head noises, buzzing ear noises, rheumatism, neuralgia, neuritis, lumbago and all nerve and muscle troubles".
And Mr Ison claimed all these complaints would be "banished and cured" by his "powerful and wonderful treatment", adding, "No appliances of any kind need to be worn!! No operations are required! No quack patent medicines, herbs, or drugs given."
"The greatest wonder in Europe – the Expert of London" would be available at the Assembly Rooms in George Street in St Helens from the 24th selling what sounds like false hope to sufferers.
"Do not consider your case hopeless" and "His fee is nothing worth mentioning" are a couple more quotes that leap out from the advert.
On the 25th Harold Lawrenson (17) of Grafton Street, Dorothy Matthews (17) and Lily Matthews (16), both of Manor Street, appeared in St Helens Police Court charged with obstructing the footpath in Church Street. In describing the hearing, the Reporter wrote:
"Some amusing sidelights on the “night life” of Church-street, and the opportunities it affords the gay young “sparks” of the town of extending their circle of acquaintances, were given."
Two police officers gave evidence of seeing the trio standing with a fourth person outside Dr Jackson's surgery in Church Street.
As the footpath was narrow at that point, the group was accused of blocking the way and forcing some pedestrians to walk into the road.
The two girls claimed that some fellows had pushed them into Heywood's shop window and it was also said that one of the lads had grabbed hold of the legs of two other girls as they were passing.
The Chairman of the Bench wanted to know if the foursome were related or otherwise known to each other – and seemed surprised to be told that the boys and girls had only met that night.
That was after the two lads had stopped the two sisters in the street to talk to them, which was probably not the proper etiquette when the Chairman was a boy!
However, the Bench decided to discharge the threesome upon payment of court costs.
Also in court was Alfred Dyke from Hindley who was charged with cruelty to a horse.
Although costing a fraction of the price of a motor car, horses were not cheap and some owners seemed to think they wouldn't get full value from their animal until it dropped dead from a very old age.
So horses could be worked in an appalling condition and Inspector Hallam of the RSPCA told the court that's Dyke's nag had been "nothing but a bag of bones".
The inspector had seen the chestnut mare in Ward Street, off North Road, where weekly horse sales took place.
According to Inspector Hallam, the poor animal had been "staggering about the street and was very weak".
But when the inspector questioned Dyke about his horse, he replied: "Do you think anybody would buy it".
No, not if they were in their right mind, might well have been the answer he received!
A vet confirmed that the horse was very emaciated and could hardly walk and it was put down.
Mr Dyke was not, sadly, put down as well but was instead fined 10 shillings and told to pay the vet's fee.
The Reporter on the 25th carried an advert for the Peel Café in Dentons Green Lane. They claimed to be the "sole makers of the perfect cakes. The only shop where you may obtain Prima Donna Cake".
The cafe was open until 9 pm each evening for ices and refreshments.
Although it's often said that Christmas comes earlier in the shops every year, that's a bit of a myth, I think.
In the Reporter this week there was an advert from the Universal Bazaar of Church Street, which said:
"17 Weeks To Christmas. Santa Claus Headquarters Now Open". And we are still in August!
The Universal Bazaar was situated next door to the old fire-ravaged Parish Church and their advert featured an illustration of a rather scary-looking Father Christmas with his arms outstretched.
The Reporter now had a policy of not naming children that appeared in court facing criminal charges.
However, they were happy to state the defendant's full address and sometimes their parents' names – and so identification would not have been too difficult.
So I don't know the name of the "precocious" 14-year-old girl that the paper said had appeared in court on the 25th – but I can tell you that she lived at 8 Back St Thomas' Street in St Helens and had four siblings.
The youngster was accused of housebreaking and stealing £16 worth of clothing from a Mr Henshall of Chamberlain Street.
He had securely locked his house being going on holiday with his family to Blackpool.
While Henshall was at the seaside, the girl had entered his house, spent the night sleeping in his bed, ate some food in his house and pinched some of his family's clothes.
I don't know if she thought she was Goldilocks but a pawnshop did not figure in that tale – but it does in ours, as the girl pledged some of Mr Henshall's wife's clothes with "uncle".
The magistrates were far more lenient with child offenders than just a few years ago and they put the girl on probation for two years with the father saying he would take responsibility for her.
What probably irked Henshall more than anything was that the police had rung him at Blackpool to ask him to return home to check what property had been stolen, adding to his expense and interrupting his break.
Also in court was Joseph Winstanley from Gaskell Street in Parr who was charged with loitering for the purpose of betting.
PC Parr told the court that he had been on what we would call a stake-out and had seen Winstanley receive eight betting slips from eight different men over a three-hour period. The man offered no defence and was fined £5.
Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of an armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in.
Gun possession was now taken much more seriously, which led to John Pickett of Parr Mount Street in St Helens appearing in court.
Just whether his weapon had originally been a wartime souvenir was not stated in the Reporter's account, as he claimed he'd bought the revolver from a man in a Park Street club a couple of years before.
Wigan police had tipped off their St Helens colleagues that a man was trying to sell a six-chambered revolver in Ashton-in-Makerfield on behalf of John Pickett.
The latter claimed that he did not know he was supposed to have a firearms certificate for his revolver and was fined 40 shillings.
The Reporter also described how St Anne's RC Church of Sutton had held their second annual amateur athletics sports in their Monastery Grounds.
Proceeds went towards their School Repair Fund, although attendance was only described as moderate.
On the 26th the Viaduct Institute Athletic Club of Earlestown held their Grand Athletic Sports on their Earle Street grounds. All proceeds went to the Newton Cottage Hospital fund.
That day was also Offerings Day for the proposed St Helens War Memorial in Victoria Square with the people of the town encouraged to dig deep in order to pay for the monument.
The organisers' target was £1,500 with a notice published in the Reporter from the Mayor of St Helens, Richard Ellison, beseeching townsfolk to: "Let the honour of the town be upheld and our fallen heroes commemorated."
This was the advert in the Liverpool Echo for this week's attractions at the St Helens Hippodrome:
"6:50 - TWICE NIGHTLY - 8.50 THE GREAT CARMO, The World's Colossus of Mystery, Introducing his latest bewildering jungle mysteries, with a gigantic living zoo of magnificent wild animals, including Elephant, Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Monkeys, Birds, &c., and First-Class Variety Company. Box Office Open 10 to 10. Tel. No. 109 St. Helens, Lancs."
Harry Cameron was The Great Carmo and with his troupe of mainly female assistants (pictured above), combined wild animal shows with illusion to create what was called "The Biggest and Most Sensational Magical Show on Earth".
Next week's stories will include the man who tied himself up before committing suicide, the motorcycle accident in Greenfield Road, more on the proposed main road between Liverpool and Manchester and the Nine Little Tiddleywinks perform in St Helens.
We begin in St Helens County Court on the 22nd when a charabanc driver called Herbert Walker from Birkenhead was prosecuted for driving his vehicle to the danger of the public.
A constable stated that the defendant had been driving his charabanc on Warrington Road in Bold Heath at a speed of up to 18 or 20 miles an hour.
The driver was accused of almost running into the back of another vehicle when crossing the end of Wilmere Lane.
The officer told the Bench that he had previously warned the man for speeding at Rainhill and Walker had curiously replied "You have to drive these things fast to keep them straight". He was fined £4.
The worst fire for several years struck St Helens during the evening of the 22nd when the bakery of the Co-op in Eccleston Street went up in flames. The St Helens Reporter wrote:
"The big blaze attracted thousands of sightseers from all parts of the town, and many young men volunteered their services."
A brisk wind had fanned the flames and it took the fireman all night to get the fire under control. There was now concern over the possibility of a bread shortage in St Helens.
A large advert in the Echo on the 23rd stated that a "brilliant specialist" from London called Mr Ison was coming to St Helens for a few days.
The man claimed to be able to treat a long list of complaints, including "deadly catarrh, deafness, nerve racking head noises, buzzing ear noises, rheumatism, neuralgia, neuritis, lumbago and all nerve and muscle troubles".
And Mr Ison claimed all these complaints would be "banished and cured" by his "powerful and wonderful treatment", adding, "No appliances of any kind need to be worn!! No operations are required! No quack patent medicines, herbs, or drugs given."
"The greatest wonder in Europe – the Expert of London" would be available at the Assembly Rooms in George Street in St Helens from the 24th selling what sounds like false hope to sufferers.
"Do not consider your case hopeless" and "His fee is nothing worth mentioning" are a couple more quotes that leap out from the advert.
"Some amusing sidelights on the “night life” of Church-street, and the opportunities it affords the gay young “sparks” of the town of extending their circle of acquaintances, were given."
Two police officers gave evidence of seeing the trio standing with a fourth person outside Dr Jackson's surgery in Church Street.
As the footpath was narrow at that point, the group was accused of blocking the way and forcing some pedestrians to walk into the road.
The two girls claimed that some fellows had pushed them into Heywood's shop window and it was also said that one of the lads had grabbed hold of the legs of two other girls as they were passing.
The Chairman of the Bench wanted to know if the foursome were related or otherwise known to each other – and seemed surprised to be told that the boys and girls had only met that night.
That was after the two lads had stopped the two sisters in the street to talk to them, which was probably not the proper etiquette when the Chairman was a boy!
However, the Bench decided to discharge the threesome upon payment of court costs.
Also in court was Alfred Dyke from Hindley who was charged with cruelty to a horse.
Although costing a fraction of the price of a motor car, horses were not cheap and some owners seemed to think they wouldn't get full value from their animal until it dropped dead from a very old age.
So horses could be worked in an appalling condition and Inspector Hallam of the RSPCA told the court that's Dyke's nag had been "nothing but a bag of bones".
The inspector had seen the chestnut mare in Ward Street, off North Road, where weekly horse sales took place.
According to Inspector Hallam, the poor animal had been "staggering about the street and was very weak".
But when the inspector questioned Dyke about his horse, he replied: "Do you think anybody would buy it".
No, not if they were in their right mind, might well have been the answer he received!
A vet confirmed that the horse was very emaciated and could hardly walk and it was put down.
Mr Dyke was not, sadly, put down as well but was instead fined 10 shillings and told to pay the vet's fee.
The Reporter on the 25th carried an advert for the Peel Café in Dentons Green Lane. They claimed to be the "sole makers of the perfect cakes. The only shop where you may obtain Prima Donna Cake".
The cafe was open until 9 pm each evening for ices and refreshments.
Although it's often said that Christmas comes earlier in the shops every year, that's a bit of a myth, I think.
In the Reporter this week there was an advert from the Universal Bazaar of Church Street, which said:
"17 Weeks To Christmas. Santa Claus Headquarters Now Open". And we are still in August!
The Universal Bazaar was situated next door to the old fire-ravaged Parish Church and their advert featured an illustration of a rather scary-looking Father Christmas with his arms outstretched.
The Reporter now had a policy of not naming children that appeared in court facing criminal charges.
However, they were happy to state the defendant's full address and sometimes their parents' names – and so identification would not have been too difficult.
So I don't know the name of the "precocious" 14-year-old girl that the paper said had appeared in court on the 25th – but I can tell you that she lived at 8 Back St Thomas' Street in St Helens and had four siblings.
The youngster was accused of housebreaking and stealing £16 worth of clothing from a Mr Henshall of Chamberlain Street.
He had securely locked his house being going on holiday with his family to Blackpool.
While Henshall was at the seaside, the girl had entered his house, spent the night sleeping in his bed, ate some food in his house and pinched some of his family's clothes.
I don't know if she thought she was Goldilocks but a pawnshop did not figure in that tale – but it does in ours, as the girl pledged some of Mr Henshall's wife's clothes with "uncle".
The magistrates were far more lenient with child offenders than just a few years ago and they put the girl on probation for two years with the father saying he would take responsibility for her.
What probably irked Henshall more than anything was that the police had rung him at Blackpool to ask him to return home to check what property had been stolen, adding to his expense and interrupting his break.
Also in court was Joseph Winstanley from Gaskell Street in Parr who was charged with loitering for the purpose of betting.
PC Parr told the court that he had been on what we would call a stake-out and had seen Winstanley receive eight betting slips from eight different men over a three-hour period. The man offered no defence and was fined £5.
Many soldiers had brought guns back from France after their military service and the Government – in the light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and troubles in Ireland – was so concerned about the possibility of an armed rebellion in Britain that a new Firearms Act was brought in.
Gun possession was now taken much more seriously, which led to John Pickett of Parr Mount Street in St Helens appearing in court.
Just whether his weapon had originally been a wartime souvenir was not stated in the Reporter's account, as he claimed he'd bought the revolver from a man in a Park Street club a couple of years before.
Wigan police had tipped off their St Helens colleagues that a man was trying to sell a six-chambered revolver in Ashton-in-Makerfield on behalf of John Pickett.
The latter claimed that he did not know he was supposed to have a firearms certificate for his revolver and was fined 40 shillings.
The Reporter also described how St Anne's RC Church of Sutton had held their second annual amateur athletics sports in their Monastery Grounds.
Proceeds went towards their School Repair Fund, although attendance was only described as moderate.
On the 26th the Viaduct Institute Athletic Club of Earlestown held their Grand Athletic Sports on their Earle Street grounds. All proceeds went to the Newton Cottage Hospital fund.
That day was also Offerings Day for the proposed St Helens War Memorial in Victoria Square with the people of the town encouraged to dig deep in order to pay for the monument.
The organisers' target was £1,500 with a notice published in the Reporter from the Mayor of St Helens, Richard Ellison, beseeching townsfolk to: "Let the honour of the town be upheld and our fallen heroes commemorated."
"6:50 - TWICE NIGHTLY - 8.50 THE GREAT CARMO, The World's Colossus of Mystery, Introducing his latest bewildering jungle mysteries, with a gigantic living zoo of magnificent wild animals, including Elephant, Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Monkeys, Birds, &c., and First-Class Variety Company. Box Office Open 10 to 10. Tel. No. 109 St. Helens, Lancs."
Harry Cameron was The Great Carmo and with his troupe of mainly female assistants (pictured above), combined wild animal shows with illusion to create what was called "The Biggest and Most Sensational Magical Show on Earth".
Next week's stories will include the man who tied himself up before committing suicide, the motorcycle accident in Greenfield Road, more on the proposed main road between Liverpool and Manchester and the Nine Little Tiddleywinks perform in St Helens.