IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (22nd - 28th NOVEMBER 1921)
This week's stories include the woman in a child neglect case labelled a dirty, filthy, useless person, a grisly discovery is made in Eccleston, the famous comic Robb Wilton performs at the Hippodrome and the one-footed ex-miner who the Sutton Heath Colliery Company was taking to the House of Lords.
With it taking around a month to sail from Australia to England, sporting teams from "down under" tended to undertake long tours once they arrived here. So the Australian rugby league team were presently on a four-month-long visit and on the 23rd played Saints at Knowsley Road. The Aussie team was then called "the colonials", although I don't think they'd appreciate that nickname today! The match being played on a working day did not help the attendance figures and Saints were beaten 8 - 16.
There was another appearance in St Helens this week of a performer who would go on to national stardom in the thirties and forties. During the last 12 months comedians Will Hay and Tommy Handley had appeared at the Hippodrome in Corporation Street and this week it was the turn of Robb Wilton (pictured above). The Everton-born character actor with a dry comic wit has been described as portraying the human face of bureaucracy in his dozen or so film roles. Wilton also became renowned for his wireless monologues that he honed on the music hall circuit. 'The Day War Broke Out' is a particular favourite of mine.
Others on the bill were Arthur Ferris ("In character studies in song form"); Pinkert ("Gymnastic marvel"); Bobbie and Beatie ("Their comedy railway scenes keep the audience in one continual ripple of laughter"); Bert Lindon and Will Moon ("In a chocolate and white vocal entertainment"); La Junoe ("Musical entertainer"); Arthur Ferris ("Comedy character stories in song form") and May Lock ("Comedienne and dancer").
At St Helens Council's Highways Committee meeting on the 23rd it was decided that, wherever practical, trees would be planted at the side of all new roads that were built and in places where improvements were taking place – such as in Clock Face Road. This is the first time I’ve read of any such tree-planting initiative by the council, outside of places like parks – and so it might well have been the first. We might call that going green – although the Reporter dubbed the idea "rusticating St. Helens".
The way people injured at work were treated by their bosses does seem pretty poor today. Firms grudgingly paid compensation to their workers, usually as a weekly payment for only a limited time. And if they could weasel out of coughing up, then they certainly would! On the 23rd Peter Hannon from Potter's Place in Prescot appeared in St Helens County Court to seek a review of a decision concerning his compensation award.
In 1912 Hannon had been working down Sutton Heath Colliery when a fall of roof occurred underground and one of his feet was crushed and required amputation. He was paid weekly compensation in the form of half of his usual wage and although certified to undertake light duties at the mine in 1915, he turned it down due to the distance in travelling from Prescot to Sutton Heath.
In September 1918, the compensation for losing one of his feet was reduced to just 12s 6d a week. However, last May, Hannon started work at the Prescot Wire Works which was near to his home and he was briefly earning £3 9s 9d per week as a labourer – although the work allowed him to sit down. When the colliery company heard of the ex-miner's employment and the large amount he was being paid, they summoned Hannon to St Helens Police Court accusing him of obtaining the 12s 6d a week from them by fraud.
Although the magistrates dismissed the case, the colliery company was presently appealing the verdict to the House of Lords. In June a County Court judge in St Helens had agreed to a request from the firm to temporarily stop paying the compensation pending the appeal. However, the economic crisis had worsened since then and firms were laying off workers or putting them on part-time hours.
The Prescot Wire Works had been forced to let Peter Hannon go in August and now he had no income at all. So in St Helens County Court in East Street this week he appealed against the decision to suspend his compensation from Sutton Heath Colliery and at a later hearing, Judge Dowdall ruled that the payments should resume.
The "white slaves of St Helens" used to be a reference to those employed in the town's chemical works, most of which by 1921 had left the town. In the Reporter on the 25th there was a letter condemning the plight of the "white slaves of education". Were these the teachers, perhaps? No, the correspondent – calling him/herself "A Parent" – was taking up the cudgels on behalf of children having to do homework!
In the Liverpool Echo on the 25th there was a large advert for Crane & Sons of 2 Church Street in St Helens – who also had branches in Liverpool and Wrexham. They had been selling pianos for over 70 years but were now branching out in the gramophone business: "Just a small deposit of 10/- secures immediate possession of the most remarkable bargain in highest-grade British Gramophones, which will be sent to you on approval packed free and Carriage Paid; the balance is payable by easy Monthly instalments to suit your convenience."
What Cranes did not say in their ad was what the machine actually cost. The illustration of the record player showed an ugly-looking contraption but it would, of course, have been hi-tech in its day. I think I would have bought my gramophone from Mary Peters of Hall Street in St Helens who gave away six free records with her machines!
On the 28th an inquest was held in St Helens on the body of an unknown man who had been found lying in a field at Eccleston with his throat cut from ear to ear. A young farm labourer had made the grisly discovery amongst some bushes and by the man's side had been an open razor. The individual was aged about fifty and appeared to have been suffering from cancer but the police had been unable to discover who the man was. Superintendent Garvey told the hearing that as many as fifty people had been to inspect the body to try and identify him but so far none had been able to. That suggests there were many people who had gone missing in the St Helens / Liverpool district for one reason or another.
Also on the 28th a bad case of child neglect was heard in St Helens Police Court. Many families lived in poverty with multiple persons sleeping in beds – but they still managed to keep their house clean and looked after their kids as best they could. But others didn't, as in this case that the Liverpool Echo described in detail:
"At St. Helens, to-day, Mary Devlin and Thomas Twist, of 32, Havelock-street [off Eccleston Street] were sent to prison for twenty-eight days without the option for child neglect. The evidence showed that the neglect and filth was of a very revolting description. Mr. Garner, prosecuting for the National Society [NSPCC], said the woman was a single woman, aged twenty-four. The man was married, and had been living apart from his wife. The woman had three illegitimate children by him, and he understood that he had three other illegitimate children by another woman, and he was paying 3s a week for the maintenance of one. The man was a gasworker and earned £3 6d a week.
"Mrs. Mary Houghton, Twist's married daughter, who lived in the same house, said that the woman, although she received £2 15s a week, would not keep the place clean or use the money to advantage. Whenever the little child cried she poured water down its throat. Dr. Donnelan gave evidence as to the state of the bed and bedroom. Inspector Lycett [of the NSPCC] spoke as to the stench in the bedroom, where the man and woman and children used one bed only. The woman was a dirty, filthy, useless person and was too lazy to keep herself clean. The man had allowed her good money, but she went about the house in such a state as not to be decent or presentable.
"Twist said his wife left him eighteen years ago. He wished to be married and thought that that would cure a good deal of the trouble. He had tried to find his wife but could not hear anything of her, and so he had put the banns up to be married on December 14 to this woman, and he hoped the bench would allow him to make a fresh start. The bench decided that instead of this the couple must go to gaol for a month each."
And finally there were two other Echo articles that caught my eye this week. The first concerned a titled gentleman who brought an action against a newspaper after they'd published his obituary. Not only was he still alive – but he didn't like what they'd written about him, so he sued for libel! Of course, newspapers can say whatever they like about deceased people – but they need to make sure they are really dead first!
The Echo also published this item about toys for Christmas and the collapse of the German currency – note the reference to accessories for dolls "living in respectable society”(!): "A visit to the stores in Liverpool where grottoes and bazaars have been prepared for the children brings to notice two very self-evident facts: 1) That toys were never so plentiful, so varied, or so attractive. 2) That prices have dropped almost sensationally since last Christmastide. The very sickly condition of the rate of exchange is responsible for the lower prices.
"British-made toys, which consist chiefly of wooden playthings and imitation fur animals, show comparatively little reduction, but French and German toys – especially German – are but a half or a third of their price last year. The ingenuity of some of the French “joujoux” and of the German toys is really admirable, and the Viennese manufacturers are not far behind. Do the French understand the child mind better than the English do? It would almost seem so for their toys meet every desire of the boy or girl.
"The soldier sets are up-to-date to the latest army council instruction; and the dolls – who caters for the doll so well as the Frenchman? Beautifully-made French dolls, with real lashes shading deep blue eyes that close, and freely jointed, are ticketed at 16s 6d this year. Last Christmas they were 30s each. There are dolls' trousseaux, dolls' millinery, and jewellery sets, dolls' travelling trunks, completely fitted, and everything else required by dolls living in respectable society. The prices are all well down on last year.
"While writing of dolls, it should be said that a Liverpool gentleman has invented one that walks when led by the hand. It stands 27in. high, and is selling at most of the stores at 25s. Scooters are not in much demand this year, but motor-cars and dolls' perambulators are popular. The motors are costly, but one that fetched 16 guineas last year goes for £9 19s 6d this year. A Parisian firm leads the way with clockwork toys. The latest “creation” is a motor-lorry which stops to tip its contents every few yards.
"A Viennese firm hit upon an idea that took childhood by storm. It made zoological sets in plaster, showing outdoor rockwork dens stocked with really fine representations of wild animals in natural poses. The exploitation of this idea was in its infancy before the war, when the price of a single set was 30s. To-day they can be bought for 10s 6d. German manufacturers are making a great show of tea sets, now selling at 5s 6d – before the war at 8s 11d. Household sets, comprising baking boards, jelly moulds, and a score of other kitchen utensils beautifully made to delight every girl's heart are now labelled 21s. The pre-war price was 37s 6d. The largest set obtainable cost 63s before the war, and is now 37s 6d.
"Such prices will probably never occur again. They are due, as has been said, to the exchange collapse on the Continent. German and Austrian agents are now refusing to accept payment in marks or kronen, unless the amount payable is multiplied four hundred times. Otherwise it must be sterling."
Next week's stories will include the Stanhope Street divorce case, the bookie heavily fined for running a church lottery, the stealing by finding of a gold medallion and the little Indian girls on a world tour who visited St Helens.
With it taking around a month to sail from Australia to England, sporting teams from "down under" tended to undertake long tours once they arrived here. So the Australian rugby league team were presently on a four-month-long visit and on the 23rd played Saints at Knowsley Road. The Aussie team was then called "the colonials", although I don't think they'd appreciate that nickname today! The match being played on a working day did not help the attendance figures and Saints were beaten 8 - 16.
Others on the bill were Arthur Ferris ("In character studies in song form"); Pinkert ("Gymnastic marvel"); Bobbie and Beatie ("Their comedy railway scenes keep the audience in one continual ripple of laughter"); Bert Lindon and Will Moon ("In a chocolate and white vocal entertainment"); La Junoe ("Musical entertainer"); Arthur Ferris ("Comedy character stories in song form") and May Lock ("Comedienne and dancer").
At St Helens Council's Highways Committee meeting on the 23rd it was decided that, wherever practical, trees would be planted at the side of all new roads that were built and in places where improvements were taking place – such as in Clock Face Road. This is the first time I’ve read of any such tree-planting initiative by the council, outside of places like parks – and so it might well have been the first. We might call that going green – although the Reporter dubbed the idea "rusticating St. Helens".
The way people injured at work were treated by their bosses does seem pretty poor today. Firms grudgingly paid compensation to their workers, usually as a weekly payment for only a limited time. And if they could weasel out of coughing up, then they certainly would! On the 23rd Peter Hannon from Potter's Place in Prescot appeared in St Helens County Court to seek a review of a decision concerning his compensation award.
In 1912 Hannon had been working down Sutton Heath Colliery when a fall of roof occurred underground and one of his feet was crushed and required amputation. He was paid weekly compensation in the form of half of his usual wage and although certified to undertake light duties at the mine in 1915, he turned it down due to the distance in travelling from Prescot to Sutton Heath.
In September 1918, the compensation for losing one of his feet was reduced to just 12s 6d a week. However, last May, Hannon started work at the Prescot Wire Works which was near to his home and he was briefly earning £3 9s 9d per week as a labourer – although the work allowed him to sit down. When the colliery company heard of the ex-miner's employment and the large amount he was being paid, they summoned Hannon to St Helens Police Court accusing him of obtaining the 12s 6d a week from them by fraud.
Although the magistrates dismissed the case, the colliery company was presently appealing the verdict to the House of Lords. In June a County Court judge in St Helens had agreed to a request from the firm to temporarily stop paying the compensation pending the appeal. However, the economic crisis had worsened since then and firms were laying off workers or putting them on part-time hours.
The Prescot Wire Works had been forced to let Peter Hannon go in August and now he had no income at all. So in St Helens County Court in East Street this week he appealed against the decision to suspend his compensation from Sutton Heath Colliery and at a later hearing, Judge Dowdall ruled that the payments should resume.
The "white slaves of St Helens" used to be a reference to those employed in the town's chemical works, most of which by 1921 had left the town. In the Reporter on the 25th there was a letter condemning the plight of the "white slaves of education". Were these the teachers, perhaps? No, the correspondent – calling him/herself "A Parent" – was taking up the cudgels on behalf of children having to do homework!
In the Liverpool Echo on the 25th there was a large advert for Crane & Sons of 2 Church Street in St Helens – who also had branches in Liverpool and Wrexham. They had been selling pianos for over 70 years but were now branching out in the gramophone business: "Just a small deposit of 10/- secures immediate possession of the most remarkable bargain in highest-grade British Gramophones, which will be sent to you on approval packed free and Carriage Paid; the balance is payable by easy Monthly instalments to suit your convenience."
What Cranes did not say in their ad was what the machine actually cost. The illustration of the record player showed an ugly-looking contraption but it would, of course, have been hi-tech in its day. I think I would have bought my gramophone from Mary Peters of Hall Street in St Helens who gave away six free records with her machines!
On the 28th an inquest was held in St Helens on the body of an unknown man who had been found lying in a field at Eccleston with his throat cut from ear to ear. A young farm labourer had made the grisly discovery amongst some bushes and by the man's side had been an open razor. The individual was aged about fifty and appeared to have been suffering from cancer but the police had been unable to discover who the man was. Superintendent Garvey told the hearing that as many as fifty people had been to inspect the body to try and identify him but so far none had been able to. That suggests there were many people who had gone missing in the St Helens / Liverpool district for one reason or another.
Also on the 28th a bad case of child neglect was heard in St Helens Police Court. Many families lived in poverty with multiple persons sleeping in beds – but they still managed to keep their house clean and looked after their kids as best they could. But others didn't, as in this case that the Liverpool Echo described in detail:
"At St. Helens, to-day, Mary Devlin and Thomas Twist, of 32, Havelock-street [off Eccleston Street] were sent to prison for twenty-eight days without the option for child neglect. The evidence showed that the neglect and filth was of a very revolting description. Mr. Garner, prosecuting for the National Society [NSPCC], said the woman was a single woman, aged twenty-four. The man was married, and had been living apart from his wife. The woman had three illegitimate children by him, and he understood that he had three other illegitimate children by another woman, and he was paying 3s a week for the maintenance of one. The man was a gasworker and earned £3 6d a week.
"Mrs. Mary Houghton, Twist's married daughter, who lived in the same house, said that the woman, although she received £2 15s a week, would not keep the place clean or use the money to advantage. Whenever the little child cried she poured water down its throat. Dr. Donnelan gave evidence as to the state of the bed and bedroom. Inspector Lycett [of the NSPCC] spoke as to the stench in the bedroom, where the man and woman and children used one bed only. The woman was a dirty, filthy, useless person and was too lazy to keep herself clean. The man had allowed her good money, but she went about the house in such a state as not to be decent or presentable.
"Twist said his wife left him eighteen years ago. He wished to be married and thought that that would cure a good deal of the trouble. He had tried to find his wife but could not hear anything of her, and so he had put the banns up to be married on December 14 to this woman, and he hoped the bench would allow him to make a fresh start. The bench decided that instead of this the couple must go to gaol for a month each."
And finally there were two other Echo articles that caught my eye this week. The first concerned a titled gentleman who brought an action against a newspaper after they'd published his obituary. Not only was he still alive – but he didn't like what they'd written about him, so he sued for libel! Of course, newspapers can say whatever they like about deceased people – but they need to make sure they are really dead first!
The Echo also published this item about toys for Christmas and the collapse of the German currency – note the reference to accessories for dolls "living in respectable society”(!): "A visit to the stores in Liverpool where grottoes and bazaars have been prepared for the children brings to notice two very self-evident facts: 1) That toys were never so plentiful, so varied, or so attractive. 2) That prices have dropped almost sensationally since last Christmastide. The very sickly condition of the rate of exchange is responsible for the lower prices.
"British-made toys, which consist chiefly of wooden playthings and imitation fur animals, show comparatively little reduction, but French and German toys – especially German – are but a half or a third of their price last year. The ingenuity of some of the French “joujoux” and of the German toys is really admirable, and the Viennese manufacturers are not far behind. Do the French understand the child mind better than the English do? It would almost seem so for their toys meet every desire of the boy or girl.
"The soldier sets are up-to-date to the latest army council instruction; and the dolls – who caters for the doll so well as the Frenchman? Beautifully-made French dolls, with real lashes shading deep blue eyes that close, and freely jointed, are ticketed at 16s 6d this year. Last Christmas they were 30s each. There are dolls' trousseaux, dolls' millinery, and jewellery sets, dolls' travelling trunks, completely fitted, and everything else required by dolls living in respectable society. The prices are all well down on last year.
"While writing of dolls, it should be said that a Liverpool gentleman has invented one that walks when led by the hand. It stands 27in. high, and is selling at most of the stores at 25s. Scooters are not in much demand this year, but motor-cars and dolls' perambulators are popular. The motors are costly, but one that fetched 16 guineas last year goes for £9 19s 6d this year. A Parisian firm leads the way with clockwork toys. The latest “creation” is a motor-lorry which stops to tip its contents every few yards.
"A Viennese firm hit upon an idea that took childhood by storm. It made zoological sets in plaster, showing outdoor rockwork dens stocked with really fine representations of wild animals in natural poses. The exploitation of this idea was in its infancy before the war, when the price of a single set was 30s. To-day they can be bought for 10s 6d. German manufacturers are making a great show of tea sets, now selling at 5s 6d – before the war at 8s 11d. Household sets, comprising baking boards, jelly moulds, and a score of other kitchen utensils beautifully made to delight every girl's heart are now labelled 21s. The pre-war price was 37s 6d. The largest set obtainable cost 63s before the war, and is now 37s 6d.
"Such prices will probably never occur again. They are due, as has been said, to the exchange collapse on the Continent. German and Austrian agents are now refusing to accept payment in marks or kronen, unless the amount payable is multiplied four hundred times. Otherwise it must be sterling."
Next week's stories will include the Stanhope Street divorce case, the bookie heavily fined for running a church lottery, the stealing by finding of a gold medallion and the little Indian girls on a world tour who visited St Helens.
This week's stories include the woman in a child neglect case labelled a dirty, filthy, useless person, a grisly discovery is made in Eccleston, the famous comic Robb Wilton performs at the Hippodrome and the one-footed ex-miner who the Sutton Heath Colliery Company was taking to the House of Lords.
With it taking around a month to sail from Australia to England, sporting teams from "down under" tended to undertake long tours once they arrived here.
So the Australian rugby league team were presently on a four-month-long visit and on the 23rd played Saints at Knowsley Road.
The Aussie team was then called "the colonials", although I don't think they'd appreciate that nickname today!
The match being played on a working day did not help the attendance figures and Saints were beaten 8 - 16.
There was another appearance in St Helens this week of a performer who would go on to national stardom in the thirties and forties.
During the last 12 months comedians Will Hay and Tommy Handley had appeared at the Hippodrome in Corporation Street and this week it was the turn of Robb Wilton (pictured above).
The Everton-born character actor with a dry comic wit has been described as portraying the human face of bureaucracy in his dozen or so film roles.
Wilton also became renowned for his wireless monologues that he honed on the music hall circuit. 'The Day War Broke Out' is a particular favourite of mine.
Others on the bill were Arthur Ferris ("In character studies in song form"); Pinkert ("Gymnastic marvel"); Bobbie and Beatie ("Their comedy railway scenes keep the audience in one continual ripple of laughter"); Bert Lindon and Will Moon ("In a chocolate and white vocal entertainment"); La Junoe ("Musical entertainer"); Arthur Ferris ("Comedy character stories in song form") and May Lock ("Comedienne and dancer").
At St Helens Council's Highways Committee meeting on the 23rd it was decided that, wherever practical, trees would be planted at the side of all new roads that were built and in places where improvements were taking place – such as in Clock Face Road.
This is the first time I’ve read of any such tree-planting initiative by the council, outside of places like parks – and so it might well have been the first.
We might call that going green – although the Reporter dubbed the idea "rusticating St. Helens".
The way people injured at work were treated by their bosses does seem pretty poor today.
Firms grudgingly paid compensation to their workers, usually as a weekly payment for only a limited time. And if they could weasel out of coughing up, then they certainly would!
On the 23rd Peter Hannon from Potter's Place in Prescot appeared in St Helens County Court to seek a review of a decision concerning his compensation award.
In 1912 Hannon had been working down Sutton Heath Colliery when a fall of roof occurred underground and one of his feet was crushed and required amputation.
He was paid weekly compensation in the form of half of his usual wage and although certified to undertake light duties at the mine in 1915, he turned it down due to the distance in travelling from Prescot to Sutton Heath.
In September 1918, the compensation for losing one of his feet was reduced to just 12s 6d a week.
However, last May, Hannon started work at the Prescot Wire Works which was near to his home and he was briefly earning £3 9s 9d per week as a labourer – although the work allowed him to sit down.
When the colliery company heard of the ex-miner's employment and the large amount he was being paid, they summoned Hannon to St Helens Police Court accusing him of obtaining the 12s 6d a week from them by fraud.
Although the magistrates dismissed the case, the colliery company was presently appealing the verdict to the House of Lords.
In June a County Court judge in St Helens had agreed to a request from the firm to temporarily stop paying the compensation pending the appeal.
However, the economic crisis had worsened since then and firms were laying off workers or putting them on part-time hours.
The Prescot Wire Works had been forced to let Peter Hannon go in August and now he had no income at all.
So in St Helens County Court this week he appealed against the decision to suspend his compensation from Sutton Heath Colliery and Judge Dowdall later ruled that the payments should resume.
The "white slaves of St Helens" used to be a reference to those employed in the town's chemical works, most of which by 1921 had left the town.
In the Reporter on the 25th there was a letter condemning the plight of the "white slaves of education". Were these the teachers, perhaps?
No, the correspondent – calling him/herself "A Parent" – was taking up the cudgels on behalf of children having to do homework!
In the Liverpool Echo on the 25th there was a large advert for Crane & Sons of 2 Church Street in St Helens – who also had branches in Liverpool and Wrexham.
They had been selling pianos for over 70 years but were now branching out in the gramophone business:
"Just a small deposit of 10/- secures immediate possession of the most remarkable bargain in highest-grade British Gramophones, which will be sent to you on approval packed free and Carriage Paid; the balance is payable by easy Monthly instalments to suit your convenience."
What Cranes didn't say in their ad was what the machine actually cost.
The illustration of the record player showed an ugly-looking contraption but it would, of course, have been hi-tech in its day.
I think I would have bought my gramophone from Mary Peters of Hall Street in St Helens who gave away six free records with her machines!
On the 28th an inquest was held in St Helens on the body of an unknown man who had been found lying in a field at Eccleston with his throat cut from ear to ear.
A young farm labourer had made the grisly discovery amongst some bushes and by the man's side had been an open razor.
The individual was aged about fifty and appeared to have been suffering from cancer but the police had been unable to discover who the man was.
Superintendent Garvey told the hearing that as many as fifty people had been to inspect the body to try and identify him but so far none had been able to.
That suggests there were many people who had gone missing in the St Helens / Liverpool district for one reason or another.
Also on the 28th a bad case of child neglect was heard in St Helens Police Court.
Many families lived in poverty with multiple persons sleeping in beds – but they still managed to keep their house clean and looked after their kids as best they could.
But others didn't, as in this case that the Liverpool Echo described in detail:
"At St. Helens, to-day, Mary Devlin and Thomas Twist, of 32, Havelock-street [off Eccleston Street] were sent to prison for twenty-eight days without the option for child neglect.
"The evidence showed that the neglect and filth was of a very revolting description. Mr. Garner, prosecuting for the National Society [NSPCC], said the woman was a single woman, aged twenty-four.
"The man was married, and had been living apart from his wife. The woman had three illegitimate children by him, and he understood that he had three other illegitimate children by another woman, and he was paying 3s a week for the maintenance of one.
"The man was a gasworker and earned £3 6d a week.
"Mrs. Mary Houghton, Twist's married daughter, who lived in the same house, said that the woman, although she received £2 15s a week, would not keep the place clean or use the money to advantage.
"Whenever the little child cried she poured water down its throat.
"Dr. Donnelan gave evidence as to the state of the bed and bedroom.
"Inspector Lycett [of the NSPCC] spoke as to the stench in the bedroom, where the man and woman and children used one bed only.
"The woman was a dirty, filthy, useless person and was too lazy to keep herself clean.
"The man had allowed her good money, but she went about the house in such a state as not to be decent or presentable.
"Twist said his wife left him eighteen years ago. He wished to be married and thought that that would cure a good deal of the trouble.
"He had tried to find his wife but could not hear anything of her, and so he had put the banns up to be married on December 14 to this woman, and he hoped the bench would allow him to make a fresh start.
"The bench decided that instead of this the couple must go to gaol for a month each."
And finally there were two other Echo articles that caught my eye this week. The first concerned a titled gentleman who brought an action against a newspaper after they'd published his obituary.
Not only was he still alive – but he didn't like what they'd written about him, so he sued for libel!
Of course, newspapers can say whatever they like about deceased people – but they need to make sure they are really dead first!
The Echo also published this item about toys for Christmas and the collapse of the German currency – note the reference to accessories for dolls "living in respectable society"(!):
"A visit to the stores in Liverpool where grottoes and bazaars have been prepared for the children brings to notice two very self-evident facts:
1) That toys were never so plentiful, so varied, or so attractive.
2) That prices have dropped almost sensationally since last Christmastide.
"The very sickly condition of the rate of exchange is responsible for the lower prices.
"British-made toys, which consist chiefly of wooden playthings and imitation fur animals, show comparatively little reduction, but French and German toys – especially German – are but a half or a third of their price last year.
"The ingenuity of some of the French “joujoux” and of the German toys is really admirable, and the Viennese manufacturers are not far behind.
"Do the French understand the child mind better than the English do? It would almost seem so for their toys meet every desire of the boy or girl.
"The soldier sets are up-to-date to the latest army council instruction; and the dolls – who caters for the doll so well as the Frenchman?
"Beautifully-made French dolls, with real lashes shading deep blue eyes that close, and freely jointed, are ticketed at 16s 6d this year. Last Christmas they were 30s each.
"There are dolls' trousseaux, dolls' millinery, and jewellery sets, dolls' travelling trunks, completely fitted, and everything else required by dolls living in respectable society. The prices are all well down on last year.
"While writing of dolls, it should be said that a Liverpool gentleman has invented one that walks when led by the hand. It stands 27in. high, and is selling at most of the stores at 25s.
"Scooters are not in much demand this year, but motor-cars and dolls' perambulators are popular. The motors are costly, but one that fetched 16 guineas last year goes for £9 19s 6d this year.
"A Parisian firm leads the way with clockwork toys. The latest “creation” is a motor-lorry which stops to tip its contents every few yards.
"A Viennese firm hit upon an idea that took childhood by storm. It made zoological sets in plaster, showing outdoor rockwork dens stocked with really fine representations of wild animals in natural poses.
"The exploitation of this idea was in its infancy before the war, when the price of a single set was 30s. To-day they can be bought for 10s 6d.
"German manufacturers are making a great show of tea sets, now selling at 5s 6d – before the war at 8s 11d.
"Household sets, comprising baking boards, jelly moulds, and a score of other kitchen utensils beautifully made to delight every girl's heart are now labelled 21s.
"The pre-war price was 37s 6d. The largest set obtainable cost 63s before the war, and is now 37s 6d. Such prices will probably never occur again.
"They are due, as has been said, to the exchange collapse on the Continent. German and Austrian agents are now refusing to accept payment in marks or kronen, unless the amount payable is multiplied 400 times. Otherwise it must be sterling."
Next week's stories will include the Stanhope Street divorce case, the bookie heavily fined for running a church lottery, the stealing by finding of a gold medallion and the little Indian girls on a world tour who visited St Helens.
With it taking around a month to sail from Australia to England, sporting teams from "down under" tended to undertake long tours once they arrived here.
So the Australian rugby league team were presently on a four-month-long visit and on the 23rd played Saints at Knowsley Road.
The Aussie team was then called "the colonials", although I don't think they'd appreciate that nickname today!
The match being played on a working day did not help the attendance figures and Saints were beaten 8 - 16.
There was another appearance in St Helens this week of a performer who would go on to national stardom in the thirties and forties.
The Everton-born character actor with a dry comic wit has been described as portraying the human face of bureaucracy in his dozen or so film roles.
Wilton also became renowned for his wireless monologues that he honed on the music hall circuit. 'The Day War Broke Out' is a particular favourite of mine.
Others on the bill were Arthur Ferris ("In character studies in song form"); Pinkert ("Gymnastic marvel"); Bobbie and Beatie ("Their comedy railway scenes keep the audience in one continual ripple of laughter"); Bert Lindon and Will Moon ("In a chocolate and white vocal entertainment"); La Junoe ("Musical entertainer"); Arthur Ferris ("Comedy character stories in song form") and May Lock ("Comedienne and dancer").
At St Helens Council's Highways Committee meeting on the 23rd it was decided that, wherever practical, trees would be planted at the side of all new roads that were built and in places where improvements were taking place – such as in Clock Face Road.
This is the first time I’ve read of any such tree-planting initiative by the council, outside of places like parks – and so it might well have been the first.
We might call that going green – although the Reporter dubbed the idea "rusticating St. Helens".
The way people injured at work were treated by their bosses does seem pretty poor today.
Firms grudgingly paid compensation to their workers, usually as a weekly payment for only a limited time. And if they could weasel out of coughing up, then they certainly would!
On the 23rd Peter Hannon from Potter's Place in Prescot appeared in St Helens County Court to seek a review of a decision concerning his compensation award.
In 1912 Hannon had been working down Sutton Heath Colliery when a fall of roof occurred underground and one of his feet was crushed and required amputation.
He was paid weekly compensation in the form of half of his usual wage and although certified to undertake light duties at the mine in 1915, he turned it down due to the distance in travelling from Prescot to Sutton Heath.
In September 1918, the compensation for losing one of his feet was reduced to just 12s 6d a week.
However, last May, Hannon started work at the Prescot Wire Works which was near to his home and he was briefly earning £3 9s 9d per week as a labourer – although the work allowed him to sit down.
When the colliery company heard of the ex-miner's employment and the large amount he was being paid, they summoned Hannon to St Helens Police Court accusing him of obtaining the 12s 6d a week from them by fraud.
Although the magistrates dismissed the case, the colliery company was presently appealing the verdict to the House of Lords.
In June a County Court judge in St Helens had agreed to a request from the firm to temporarily stop paying the compensation pending the appeal.
However, the economic crisis had worsened since then and firms were laying off workers or putting them on part-time hours.
The Prescot Wire Works had been forced to let Peter Hannon go in August and now he had no income at all.
So in St Helens County Court this week he appealed against the decision to suspend his compensation from Sutton Heath Colliery and Judge Dowdall later ruled that the payments should resume.
The "white slaves of St Helens" used to be a reference to those employed in the town's chemical works, most of which by 1921 had left the town.
In the Reporter on the 25th there was a letter condemning the plight of the "white slaves of education". Were these the teachers, perhaps?
No, the correspondent – calling him/herself "A Parent" – was taking up the cudgels on behalf of children having to do homework!
In the Liverpool Echo on the 25th there was a large advert for Crane & Sons of 2 Church Street in St Helens – who also had branches in Liverpool and Wrexham.
They had been selling pianos for over 70 years but were now branching out in the gramophone business:
"Just a small deposit of 10/- secures immediate possession of the most remarkable bargain in highest-grade British Gramophones, which will be sent to you on approval packed free and Carriage Paid; the balance is payable by easy Monthly instalments to suit your convenience."
What Cranes didn't say in their ad was what the machine actually cost.
The illustration of the record player showed an ugly-looking contraption but it would, of course, have been hi-tech in its day.
I think I would have bought my gramophone from Mary Peters of Hall Street in St Helens who gave away six free records with her machines!
On the 28th an inquest was held in St Helens on the body of an unknown man who had been found lying in a field at Eccleston with his throat cut from ear to ear.
A young farm labourer had made the grisly discovery amongst some bushes and by the man's side had been an open razor.
The individual was aged about fifty and appeared to have been suffering from cancer but the police had been unable to discover who the man was.
Superintendent Garvey told the hearing that as many as fifty people had been to inspect the body to try and identify him but so far none had been able to.
That suggests there were many people who had gone missing in the St Helens / Liverpool district for one reason or another.
Also on the 28th a bad case of child neglect was heard in St Helens Police Court.
Many families lived in poverty with multiple persons sleeping in beds – but they still managed to keep their house clean and looked after their kids as best they could.
But others didn't, as in this case that the Liverpool Echo described in detail:
"At St. Helens, to-day, Mary Devlin and Thomas Twist, of 32, Havelock-street [off Eccleston Street] were sent to prison for twenty-eight days without the option for child neglect.
"The evidence showed that the neglect and filth was of a very revolting description. Mr. Garner, prosecuting for the National Society [NSPCC], said the woman was a single woman, aged twenty-four.
"The man was married, and had been living apart from his wife. The woman had three illegitimate children by him, and he understood that he had three other illegitimate children by another woman, and he was paying 3s a week for the maintenance of one.
"The man was a gasworker and earned £3 6d a week.
"Mrs. Mary Houghton, Twist's married daughter, who lived in the same house, said that the woman, although she received £2 15s a week, would not keep the place clean or use the money to advantage.
"Whenever the little child cried she poured water down its throat.
"Dr. Donnelan gave evidence as to the state of the bed and bedroom.
"Inspector Lycett [of the NSPCC] spoke as to the stench in the bedroom, where the man and woman and children used one bed only.
"The woman was a dirty, filthy, useless person and was too lazy to keep herself clean.
"The man had allowed her good money, but she went about the house in such a state as not to be decent or presentable.
"Twist said his wife left him eighteen years ago. He wished to be married and thought that that would cure a good deal of the trouble.
"He had tried to find his wife but could not hear anything of her, and so he had put the banns up to be married on December 14 to this woman, and he hoped the bench would allow him to make a fresh start.
"The bench decided that instead of this the couple must go to gaol for a month each."
And finally there were two other Echo articles that caught my eye this week. The first concerned a titled gentleman who brought an action against a newspaper after they'd published his obituary.
Not only was he still alive – but he didn't like what they'd written about him, so he sued for libel!
Of course, newspapers can say whatever they like about deceased people – but they need to make sure they are really dead first!
The Echo also published this item about toys for Christmas and the collapse of the German currency – note the reference to accessories for dolls "living in respectable society"(!):
"A visit to the stores in Liverpool where grottoes and bazaars have been prepared for the children brings to notice two very self-evident facts:
1) That toys were never so plentiful, so varied, or so attractive.
2) That prices have dropped almost sensationally since last Christmastide.
"The very sickly condition of the rate of exchange is responsible for the lower prices.
"British-made toys, which consist chiefly of wooden playthings and imitation fur animals, show comparatively little reduction, but French and German toys – especially German – are but a half or a third of their price last year.
"The ingenuity of some of the French “joujoux” and of the German toys is really admirable, and the Viennese manufacturers are not far behind.
"Do the French understand the child mind better than the English do? It would almost seem so for their toys meet every desire of the boy or girl.
"The soldier sets are up-to-date to the latest army council instruction; and the dolls – who caters for the doll so well as the Frenchman?
"Beautifully-made French dolls, with real lashes shading deep blue eyes that close, and freely jointed, are ticketed at 16s 6d this year. Last Christmas they were 30s each.
"There are dolls' trousseaux, dolls' millinery, and jewellery sets, dolls' travelling trunks, completely fitted, and everything else required by dolls living in respectable society. The prices are all well down on last year.
"While writing of dolls, it should be said that a Liverpool gentleman has invented one that walks when led by the hand. It stands 27in. high, and is selling at most of the stores at 25s.
"Scooters are not in much demand this year, but motor-cars and dolls' perambulators are popular. The motors are costly, but one that fetched 16 guineas last year goes for £9 19s 6d this year.
"A Parisian firm leads the way with clockwork toys. The latest “creation” is a motor-lorry which stops to tip its contents every few yards.
"A Viennese firm hit upon an idea that took childhood by storm. It made zoological sets in plaster, showing outdoor rockwork dens stocked with really fine representations of wild animals in natural poses.
"The exploitation of this idea was in its infancy before the war, when the price of a single set was 30s. To-day they can be bought for 10s 6d.
"German manufacturers are making a great show of tea sets, now selling at 5s 6d – before the war at 8s 11d.
"Household sets, comprising baking boards, jelly moulds, and a score of other kitchen utensils beautifully made to delight every girl's heart are now labelled 21s.
"The pre-war price was 37s 6d. The largest set obtainable cost 63s before the war, and is now 37s 6d. Such prices will probably never occur again.
"They are due, as has been said, to the exchange collapse on the Continent. German and Austrian agents are now refusing to accept payment in marks or kronen, unless the amount payable is multiplied 400 times. Otherwise it must be sterling."
Next week's stories will include the Stanhope Street divorce case, the bookie heavily fined for running a church lottery, the stealing by finding of a gold medallion and the little Indian girls on a world tour who visited St Helens.