IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (26th APRIL - 2nd MAY 1921)
This week's stories include the many prosecutions in St Helens arising out of the coal strike, the pitiful plight of hungry schoolchildren, a St Helens boy's claim for compensation for an injured finger and the Parr miner who impersonated a man in Ireland in order to obtain strike pay.
We begin on the 26th when Harry Briant of Creswell Street (off Eccleston Street) in St Helens claimed compensation from the British Insulated Cable Works at Prescot after injuring a finger at work. It had not been until the passing of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1907 that someone hurt in the workplace was guaranteed compensation. The Act so infuriated Michael Hughes of Sherdley Hall that in protest he renounced his roles with numerous St Helens sporting clubs – including the presidency of Saints. The idea of being forced to pay one of his workers cash for an injury that might have been the man's own fault was anathema to Hughes.
Harry Briant told the judge in St Helens County Court that he was employed as a fitter at the Prescot wire works. Last August the 17-year-old had been sharpening a chisel when a machine strap broke and the first finger of his left hand was bent and cut. Dr Wild, the works surgeon, treated the finger and told Harry to go into work on the following Monday as normal but he failed to do so. Instead Harry saw Dr Robinson Officer of Cowley Hill Lane and in February underwent surgery at the Royal in Liverpool and had two bent joints removed.
It was common for those injured to return to work early and undertake light duties. Upon being asked by the judge why he had not attempted to do any light work, Harry insisted that brushing up was all he would have been capable of doing. The works medic Dr Wild told the court that the injury was not sufficient for the lad to cease his duties altogether. However he said the boy always refused to work and said his mother had told him that he must not return until his finger was better.
The Cable Works had paid compensation until November 9th and the judge ruled that Harry had been partially incapacitated until the end of February. And so he gave judgment for further compensation to be paid by the firm during this four-month period. However the judge told Harry that he had to pay his own court costs, as he should have attempted to undertake light work.
The coal strike dominated the news this week with the fact that it had already lasted a month taking some by surprise. A cartoon in the Liverpool Echo showed a signing of the "coal trade peace" in the year of 1950 – suggesting it would take thirty years for the warring sides to come to an agreement. The leading personalities in the dispute were depicted in the cartoon as aged figures carrying walking sticks, with Lloyd George shown with a very long white beard. However coal strikes rarely lasted more than a month or two because of the suffering inflicted on families.
On the 29th the Runcorn Weekly News wrote that relief was being provided for some children in the St Helens area: "In many districts advantage is being taken by local education authorities of their powers under the Education (Provision of Meals) Acts to meet the distress among school children, of whose pitiful plight, owing to the coal strike, reports continue to be received from various quarters."
The first places to benefit would be Rainhill, Huyton, Whiston and Bold, although the government had only earmarked £500 nationally for such a meals fund. This was now practically exhausted and so the Lancashire Education Committee agreed to supplement the fund with its own resources. That led to the chairman of the County Finance Committee, Alderman Wade Deacon (of which the well-known Widnes school would be named), commenting that they had no resources.
The Weekly News also described a string of prosecutions in St Helens as a result of the coal strike. Two young men had been fined 20 shillings each for stealing coal from the Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road. All collieries had their own waste heaps containing bits of coal amongst all the discarded soil and other unwanted material inadvertently brought to the surface during mining. Some collieries refused to allow any access to their waste heaps, as they could be dangerous places. Indeed two miners died in separate incidents this week in Nuneaton and Middlesbrough while searching slag heaps for coal.
However Ashtons Green (pictured above) was allowing desperate people to come and scavenge amongst their refuse between the daylight hours of 9 to 5 so their staff could keep an eye on them. On one afternoon at 5 o’clock when access to the waste heap had closed, thirty men raided some of the colliery waggons that were loaded with coal ready to be despatched. A police officer was usually on guard at such places but could only collar one or two thieves at a time and so groups of men would often take their chance. Also at the same hearing, three men were fined 20 shillings each for stealing coal in a midnight raid at the Havannah Colliery in Parr that was known to locals as "The Vanny".
The stealing of wood that could be burnt instead of coal would also increase during strikes. This week James Harrington of Lower Parr Street was convicted of stealing timber from a chemical works in St Helens. He pleaded guilty but strenuously denied that he had previously been convicted for stealing as alleged by the police. The chairman of the Bench said they had intended to fine him 40 shillings but in view of what he had said they would reduce it to 20 shillings. However Harrington was warned that his claim of not having previously been convicted would be investigated.
There was a small amount of strike pay that the miners' union made available to those men who were entitled through the paying of insurance. Parr miner John Flemming was not entitled to any strike pay but he pretended to be his former lodger Michael Harrington who was. He had returned to Ireland and so Flemming impersonated Harrington and received a payment of 20 shillings. However on the following week upon claiming a further 15 shillings of strike pay, the man was recognised by the president of the local branch. Flemming was prosecuted for fraud and in the St Helens Police Court given a harsh sentence of 28 days with hard labour.
As well as taking coal legally or illegal from colliery waste heaps, the mineral could also be acquired from disused shallow pits or where old mines outcropped near the surface. On the 29th the inquest was held on James Colleran from Derbyshire Hill Road. The 25-year-old had become ill while working in an old surface mine near to his home in Parr. Medical evidence was given that James had a gastric ulcer that burst while he was digging for coal.
Every week there seems to be a different Beecham's advert in the papers. On the 30th the Yorkshire rag called the Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express published this ad:
"FIT AT FIFTY – You won't be too old at forty if you look after yourself right. Make a point of avoiding those disorders of stomach and bowels which do so much to undermine one's strength and energy and you will be at your best at forty and thoroughly fit at fifty. An occasional dose of Beecham's Pills is generally all that is needed in order to keep well. This medicine is an excellent remedy for indigestion and constipation and similar fruitful causes of debility and premature old age. Prepared only by THOMAS BEECHAM, St. Helens, Lanc. Sold everywhere in boxes, labelled 1s-3d and 3s-0d."
And finally my now customary non-St Helens item in the Liverpool Echo that caught my eye. This week it was this article that bore the headline "Woman As Man's Equal – Lively Female Debate About An Old Subject":
"At the National Conference of Labour Women, at Manchester, to-day, a demand was made by resolution that women in the Civil Service and Post Office should have equal pay with men for equal work. An animated discussion took place on the motion that women placed on the Labour party national executive should be elected solely as representatives of women. The resolution was carried by a considerable majority, amid cheers. Mrs. Sykes (Bradford), supporting the motion, referred to to the “Miserable Labour women” who were elected under the present system. The adjective “miserable” she said amidst laughter, only applied to quantity and not quality (cheers).
"“I heard,” she continued, “a man in the House of Commons say women are equal to details but not to matters requiring sound judgment (“Oh, oh!”). I suppose a man relies on that idea when he asks a woman to marry him. He probably thinks she has no soundness of judgment, and so may accept him (laughter and cheers). Then, there's the talk about women having no previous experience. Does a woman refrain from bringing a child into the world because she has had no previous experience? (laughter).”"
And also on a similar theme in The Stage newspaper, a man called Vernon demanded action against criticism of women who worked in the theatre, saying: "Is it not high time that the male members of the theatrical profession give battle in defence of their sister artists? The time has arrived for the world of the theatre to call “halt!” and to adopt measures that will, once and for all, prevent the tribe from publishing these lying statements." Quoted as an example was a section of a new book that claimed that chorus girls had no education and few morals. The author referred to them as "trivial little baggage", adding "fundamentally she is as ignorant as a Red Indian".
Next week's stories will include the well-meaning Sutton lottery that led to large fines, the industrial scale operation to illegally dig coal out of surface mines and the shows at the Theatre Royal and Hippodrome.
We begin on the 26th when Harry Briant of Creswell Street (off Eccleston Street) in St Helens claimed compensation from the British Insulated Cable Works at Prescot after injuring a finger at work. It had not been until the passing of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1907 that someone hurt in the workplace was guaranteed compensation. The Act so infuriated Michael Hughes of Sherdley Hall that in protest he renounced his roles with numerous St Helens sporting clubs – including the presidency of Saints. The idea of being forced to pay one of his workers cash for an injury that might have been the man's own fault was anathema to Hughes.
Harry Briant told the judge in St Helens County Court that he was employed as a fitter at the Prescot wire works. Last August the 17-year-old had been sharpening a chisel when a machine strap broke and the first finger of his left hand was bent and cut. Dr Wild, the works surgeon, treated the finger and told Harry to go into work on the following Monday as normal but he failed to do so. Instead Harry saw Dr Robinson Officer of Cowley Hill Lane and in February underwent surgery at the Royal in Liverpool and had two bent joints removed.
It was common for those injured to return to work early and undertake light duties. Upon being asked by the judge why he had not attempted to do any light work, Harry insisted that brushing up was all he would have been capable of doing. The works medic Dr Wild told the court that the injury was not sufficient for the lad to cease his duties altogether. However he said the boy always refused to work and said his mother had told him that he must not return until his finger was better.
The Cable Works had paid compensation until November 9th and the judge ruled that Harry had been partially incapacitated until the end of February. And so he gave judgment for further compensation to be paid by the firm during this four-month period. However the judge told Harry that he had to pay his own court costs, as he should have attempted to undertake light work.
On the 29th the Runcorn Weekly News wrote that relief was being provided for some children in the St Helens area: "In many districts advantage is being taken by local education authorities of their powers under the Education (Provision of Meals) Acts to meet the distress among school children, of whose pitiful plight, owing to the coal strike, reports continue to be received from various quarters."
The first places to benefit would be Rainhill, Huyton, Whiston and Bold, although the government had only earmarked £500 nationally for such a meals fund. This was now practically exhausted and so the Lancashire Education Committee agreed to supplement the fund with its own resources. That led to the chairman of the County Finance Committee, Alderman Wade Deacon (of which the well-known Widnes school would be named), commenting that they had no resources.
The Weekly News also described a string of prosecutions in St Helens as a result of the coal strike. Two young men had been fined 20 shillings each for stealing coal from the Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road. All collieries had their own waste heaps containing bits of coal amongst all the discarded soil and other unwanted material inadvertently brought to the surface during mining. Some collieries refused to allow any access to their waste heaps, as they could be dangerous places. Indeed two miners died in separate incidents this week in Nuneaton and Middlesbrough while searching slag heaps for coal.
The stealing of wood that could be burnt instead of coal would also increase during strikes. This week James Harrington of Lower Parr Street was convicted of stealing timber from a chemical works in St Helens. He pleaded guilty but strenuously denied that he had previously been convicted for stealing as alleged by the police. The chairman of the Bench said they had intended to fine him 40 shillings but in view of what he had said they would reduce it to 20 shillings. However Harrington was warned that his claim of not having previously been convicted would be investigated.
There was a small amount of strike pay that the miners' union made available to those men who were entitled through the paying of insurance. Parr miner John Flemming was not entitled to any strike pay but he pretended to be his former lodger Michael Harrington who was. He had returned to Ireland and so Flemming impersonated Harrington and received a payment of 20 shillings. However on the following week upon claiming a further 15 shillings of strike pay, the man was recognised by the president of the local branch. Flemming was prosecuted for fraud and in the St Helens Police Court given a harsh sentence of 28 days with hard labour.
As well as taking coal legally or illegal from colliery waste heaps, the mineral could also be acquired from disused shallow pits or where old mines outcropped near the surface. On the 29th the inquest was held on James Colleran from Derbyshire Hill Road. The 25-year-old had become ill while working in an old surface mine near to his home in Parr. Medical evidence was given that James had a gastric ulcer that burst while he was digging for coal.
Every week there seems to be a different Beecham's advert in the papers. On the 30th the Yorkshire rag called the Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express published this ad:
"FIT AT FIFTY – You won't be too old at forty if you look after yourself right. Make a point of avoiding those disorders of stomach and bowels which do so much to undermine one's strength and energy and you will be at your best at forty and thoroughly fit at fifty. An occasional dose of Beecham's Pills is generally all that is needed in order to keep well. This medicine is an excellent remedy for indigestion and constipation and similar fruitful causes of debility and premature old age. Prepared only by THOMAS BEECHAM, St. Helens, Lanc. Sold everywhere in boxes, labelled 1s-3d and 3s-0d."
And finally my now customary non-St Helens item in the Liverpool Echo that caught my eye. This week it was this article that bore the headline "Woman As Man's Equal – Lively Female Debate About An Old Subject":
"At the National Conference of Labour Women, at Manchester, to-day, a demand was made by resolution that women in the Civil Service and Post Office should have equal pay with men for equal work. An animated discussion took place on the motion that women placed on the Labour party national executive should be elected solely as representatives of women. The resolution was carried by a considerable majority, amid cheers. Mrs. Sykes (Bradford), supporting the motion, referred to to the “Miserable Labour women” who were elected under the present system. The adjective “miserable” she said amidst laughter, only applied to quantity and not quality (cheers).
"“I heard,” she continued, “a man in the House of Commons say women are equal to details but not to matters requiring sound judgment (“Oh, oh!”). I suppose a man relies on that idea when he asks a woman to marry him. He probably thinks she has no soundness of judgment, and so may accept him (laughter and cheers). Then, there's the talk about women having no previous experience. Does a woman refrain from bringing a child into the world because she has had no previous experience? (laughter).”"
And also on a similar theme in The Stage newspaper, a man called Vernon demanded action against criticism of women who worked in the theatre, saying: "Is it not high time that the male members of the theatrical profession give battle in defence of their sister artists? The time has arrived for the world of the theatre to call “halt!” and to adopt measures that will, once and for all, prevent the tribe from publishing these lying statements." Quoted as an example was a section of a new book that claimed that chorus girls had no education and few morals. The author referred to them as "trivial little baggage", adding "fundamentally she is as ignorant as a Red Indian".
Next week's stories will include the well-meaning Sutton lottery that led to large fines, the industrial scale operation to illegally dig coal out of surface mines and the shows at the Theatre Royal and Hippodrome.
This week's stories include the many prosecutions in St Helens arising out of the coal strike, the pitiful plight of hungry schoolchildren, a St Helens boy's claim for compensation for an injured finger and the Parr miner who impersonated a man in Ireland in order to obtain strike pay.
We begin on the 26th when Harry Briant of Creswell Street (off Eccleston Street) in St Helens claimed compensation from the British Insulated Cable Works at Prescot after injuring a finger at work.
It had not been until the passing of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1907 that someone hurt in the workplace was guaranteed compensation.
The Act so infuriated Michael Hughes of Sherdley Hall that in protest he renounced his roles with numerous St Helens sporting clubs – including the presidency of Saints.
The idea of being forced to pay one of his workers cash for an injury that might have been the man's own fault was anathema to Hughes.
Harry Briant told the judge in St Helens County Court that he was employed as a fitter at the Prescot wire works.
Last August the 17-year-old had been sharpening a chisel when a machine strap broke and the first finger of his left hand was bent and cut.
Dr Wild, the works surgeon, treated the finger and told Harry to go into work on the following Monday as normal but he failed to do so.
Instead Harry saw Dr Robinson Officer of Cowley Hill Lane and in February underwent surgery at the Royal in Liverpool and had two bent joints removed.
It was common for those injured to return to work early and undertake light duties.
Upon being asked by the judge why he had not attempted to do any light work, Harry insisted that brushing up was all he would have been capable of doing.
The works medic Dr Wild told the court that the injury was not sufficient for the lad to cease his duties altogether.
However he said the boy always refused to work and said his mother had told him that he must not return until his finger was better.
The Cable Works had paid compensation until November 9th and the judge ruled that Harry had been partially incapacitated until the end of February.
And so he gave judgment for further compensation to be paid by the firm during this four-month period.
However the judge told Harry that he had to pay his own court costs, as he should have attempted to undertake light work.
The coal strike dominated the news this week with the fact that it had already lasted a month taking some by surprise.
A cartoon in the Liverpool Echo showed a signing of the "coal trade peace" in the year of 1950 – suggesting it would take thirty years for the warring sides to come to an agreement.
The leading personalities in the dispute were depicted in the cartoon as aged figures carrying walking sticks, with Lloyd George shown with a very long white beard.
However coal strikes rarely lasted more than a month or two because of the suffering inflicted on families.
On the 29th the Runcorn Weekly News wrote that relief was being provided for some children in the St Helens area:
"In many districts advantage is being taken by local education authorities of their powers under the Education (Provision of Meals) Acts to meet the distress among school children, of whose pitiful plight, owing to the coal strike, reports continue to be received from various quarters."
The first places to benefit would be Rainhill, Huyton, Whiston and Bold, although the government had only earmarked £500 nationally for such a meals fund.
This was now practically exhausted and so the Lancashire Education Committee agreed to supplement the fund with its own resources.
That led to the chairman of the County Finance Committee, Alderman Wade Deacon (of which the well-known Widnes school would be named), commenting that they had no resources.
The Weekly News also described a string of prosecutions in St Helens as a result of the coal strike.
Two young men had been fined 20 shillings each for stealing coal from the Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road.
All collieries had their own waste heaps containing bits of coal amongst all the discarded soil and other unwanted material inadvertently brought to the surface during mining.
Some collieries refused to allow any access to their waste heaps, as they could be dangerous places.
Indeed two miners died in separate incidents this week in Nuneaton and Middlesbrough while searching slag heaps for coal.
However Ashtons Green (pictured above) was allowing desperate people to come and scavenge amongst their refuse between the daylight hours of 9 to 5 so their staff could keep an eye on them.
On one afternoon at 5 o’clock when access to the waste heap had closed, thirty men raided some of the colliery waggons that were loaded with coal ready to be despatched.
A police officer was usually on guard at such places but could only collar one or two thieves at a time and so groups of men would often take their chance.
Also at the same hearing, three men were fined 20 shillings each for stealing coal in a midnight raid at the Havannah Colliery in Parr that was known to locals as "The Vanny".
The stealing of wood that could be burnt instead of coal would also increase during strikes.
This week James Harrington of Lower Parr Street was convicted of stealing timber from a chemical works in St Helens.
He pleaded guilty but strenuously denied that he had previously been convicted for stealing as alleged by the police.
The chairman of the Bench said they had intended to fine him 40 shillings but in view of what he had said they would reduce it to 20 shillings.
However Harrington was warned that his claim of not having previously been convicted would be investigated.
There was a small amount of strike pay that the miners' union made available to those men who were entitled through the paying of insurance.
Parr miner John Flemming was not entitled to any strike pay but he pretended to be his former lodger Michael Harrington who was.
He had returned to Ireland and so Flemming impersonated Harrington and received a payment of 20 shillings.
However on the following week upon claiming a further 15 shillings of strike pay, the man was recognised by the president of the local branch.
Flemming was prosecuted for fraud and in the St Helens Police Court given a harsh sentence of 28 days with hard labour.
As well as taking coal legally or illegal from colliery waste heaps, the mineral could also be acquired from disused shallow pits or where old mines outcropped near the surface.
On the 29th the inquest was held on James Colleran from Derbyshire Hill Road.
The 25-year-old had become ill while working in an old surface mine near to his home in Parr.
Medical evidence was given that James had a gastric ulcer that burst while he was digging for coal.
Every week there seems to be a different Beecham's advert in the papers. On the 30th the Yorkshire rag called the Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express published this:
"FIT AT FIFTY – You won't be too old at forty if you look after yourself right. Make a point of avoiding those disorders of stomach and bowels which do so much to undermine one's strength and energy and you will be at your best at forty and thoroughly fit at fifty.
"An occasional dose of Beecham's Pills is generally all that is needed in order to keep well. This medicine is an excellent remedy for indigestion and constipation and similar fruitful causes of debility and premature old age.
"Prepared only by THOMAS BEECHAM, St. Helens, Lanc. Sold everywhere in boxes, labelled 1s-3d and 3s-0d."
And finally my now customary non-St Helens item in the Liverpool Echo that caught my eye.
This week it was this article that bore the headline "Woman As Man's Equal – Lively Female Debate About An Old Subject":
"At the National Conference of Labour Women, at Manchester, to-day, a demand was made by resolution that women in the Civil Service and Post Office should have equal pay with men for equal work.
"An animated discussion took place on the motion that women placed on the Labour party national executive should be elected solely as representatives of women.
"The resolution was carried by a considerable majority, amid cheers.
"Mrs. Sykes (Bradford), supporting the motion, referred to to the “Miserable Labour women” who were elected under the present system.
"The adjective “miserable” she said amidst laughter, only applied to quantity and not quality (cheers).
"“I heard,” she continued, “a man in the House of Commons say women are equal to details but not to matters requiring sound judgment (“Oh, oh!”).
"“I suppose a man relies on that idea when he asks a woman to marry him. He probably thinks she has no soundness of judgment, and so may accept him (laughter and cheers).
"“Then, there's the talk about women having no previous experience. Does a woman refrain from bringing a child into the world because she has had no previous experience? (laughter).”"
And also on a similar theme in The Stage newspaper, a man called Vernon demanded action against criticism of women who worked in the theatre, saying:
"Is it not high time that the male members of the theatrical profession give battle in defence of their sister artists? The time has arrived for the world of the theatre to call “halt!” and to adopt measures that will, once and for all, prevent the tribe from publishing these lying statements."
Quoted as an example was a section of a new book that claimed that chorus girls had no education and few morals. The author referred to them as "trivial little baggage", adding "fundamentally she is as ignorant as a Red Indian".
Next week's stories will include the well-meaning Sutton lottery that led to large fines, the industrial scale operation to illegally dig coal out of surface mines and the shows at the Theatre Royal and Hippodrome.
We begin on the 26th when Harry Briant of Creswell Street (off Eccleston Street) in St Helens claimed compensation from the British Insulated Cable Works at Prescot after injuring a finger at work.
It had not been until the passing of the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1907 that someone hurt in the workplace was guaranteed compensation.
The Act so infuriated Michael Hughes of Sherdley Hall that in protest he renounced his roles with numerous St Helens sporting clubs – including the presidency of Saints.
The idea of being forced to pay one of his workers cash for an injury that might have been the man's own fault was anathema to Hughes.
Harry Briant told the judge in St Helens County Court that he was employed as a fitter at the Prescot wire works.
Last August the 17-year-old had been sharpening a chisel when a machine strap broke and the first finger of his left hand was bent and cut.
Dr Wild, the works surgeon, treated the finger and told Harry to go into work on the following Monday as normal but he failed to do so.
Instead Harry saw Dr Robinson Officer of Cowley Hill Lane and in February underwent surgery at the Royal in Liverpool and had two bent joints removed.
It was common for those injured to return to work early and undertake light duties.
Upon being asked by the judge why he had not attempted to do any light work, Harry insisted that brushing up was all he would have been capable of doing.
The works medic Dr Wild told the court that the injury was not sufficient for the lad to cease his duties altogether.
However he said the boy always refused to work and said his mother had told him that he must not return until his finger was better.
The Cable Works had paid compensation until November 9th and the judge ruled that Harry had been partially incapacitated until the end of February.
And so he gave judgment for further compensation to be paid by the firm during this four-month period.
However the judge told Harry that he had to pay his own court costs, as he should have attempted to undertake light work.
The coal strike dominated the news this week with the fact that it had already lasted a month taking some by surprise.
The leading personalities in the dispute were depicted in the cartoon as aged figures carrying walking sticks, with Lloyd George shown with a very long white beard.
However coal strikes rarely lasted more than a month or two because of the suffering inflicted on families.
On the 29th the Runcorn Weekly News wrote that relief was being provided for some children in the St Helens area:
"In many districts advantage is being taken by local education authorities of their powers under the Education (Provision of Meals) Acts to meet the distress among school children, of whose pitiful plight, owing to the coal strike, reports continue to be received from various quarters."
The first places to benefit would be Rainhill, Huyton, Whiston and Bold, although the government had only earmarked £500 nationally for such a meals fund.
This was now practically exhausted and so the Lancashire Education Committee agreed to supplement the fund with its own resources.
That led to the chairman of the County Finance Committee, Alderman Wade Deacon (of which the well-known Widnes school would be named), commenting that they had no resources.
The Weekly News also described a string of prosecutions in St Helens as a result of the coal strike.
Two young men had been fined 20 shillings each for stealing coal from the Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr between Fleet Lane and Derbyshire Hill Road.
All collieries had their own waste heaps containing bits of coal amongst all the discarded soil and other unwanted material inadvertently brought to the surface during mining.
Some collieries refused to allow any access to their waste heaps, as they could be dangerous places.
Indeed two miners died in separate incidents this week in Nuneaton and Middlesbrough while searching slag heaps for coal.
On one afternoon at 5 o’clock when access to the waste heap had closed, thirty men raided some of the colliery waggons that were loaded with coal ready to be despatched.
A police officer was usually on guard at such places but could only collar one or two thieves at a time and so groups of men would often take their chance.
Also at the same hearing, three men were fined 20 shillings each for stealing coal in a midnight raid at the Havannah Colliery in Parr that was known to locals as "The Vanny".
The stealing of wood that could be burnt instead of coal would also increase during strikes.
This week James Harrington of Lower Parr Street was convicted of stealing timber from a chemical works in St Helens.
He pleaded guilty but strenuously denied that he had previously been convicted for stealing as alleged by the police.
The chairman of the Bench said they had intended to fine him 40 shillings but in view of what he had said they would reduce it to 20 shillings.
However Harrington was warned that his claim of not having previously been convicted would be investigated.
There was a small amount of strike pay that the miners' union made available to those men who were entitled through the paying of insurance.
Parr miner John Flemming was not entitled to any strike pay but he pretended to be his former lodger Michael Harrington who was.
He had returned to Ireland and so Flemming impersonated Harrington and received a payment of 20 shillings.
However on the following week upon claiming a further 15 shillings of strike pay, the man was recognised by the president of the local branch.
Flemming was prosecuted for fraud and in the St Helens Police Court given a harsh sentence of 28 days with hard labour.
As well as taking coal legally or illegal from colliery waste heaps, the mineral could also be acquired from disused shallow pits or where old mines outcropped near the surface.
On the 29th the inquest was held on James Colleran from Derbyshire Hill Road.
The 25-year-old had become ill while working in an old surface mine near to his home in Parr.
Medical evidence was given that James had a gastric ulcer that burst while he was digging for coal.
Every week there seems to be a different Beecham's advert in the papers. On the 30th the Yorkshire rag called the Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express published this:
"FIT AT FIFTY – You won't be too old at forty if you look after yourself right. Make a point of avoiding those disorders of stomach and bowels which do so much to undermine one's strength and energy and you will be at your best at forty and thoroughly fit at fifty.
"An occasional dose of Beecham's Pills is generally all that is needed in order to keep well. This medicine is an excellent remedy for indigestion and constipation and similar fruitful causes of debility and premature old age.
"Prepared only by THOMAS BEECHAM, St. Helens, Lanc. Sold everywhere in boxes, labelled 1s-3d and 3s-0d."
And finally my now customary non-St Helens item in the Liverpool Echo that caught my eye.
This week it was this article that bore the headline "Woman As Man's Equal – Lively Female Debate About An Old Subject":
"At the National Conference of Labour Women, at Manchester, to-day, a demand was made by resolution that women in the Civil Service and Post Office should have equal pay with men for equal work.
"An animated discussion took place on the motion that women placed on the Labour party national executive should be elected solely as representatives of women.
"The resolution was carried by a considerable majority, amid cheers.
"Mrs. Sykes (Bradford), supporting the motion, referred to to the “Miserable Labour women” who were elected under the present system.
"The adjective “miserable” she said amidst laughter, only applied to quantity and not quality (cheers).
"“I heard,” she continued, “a man in the House of Commons say women are equal to details but not to matters requiring sound judgment (“Oh, oh!”).
"“I suppose a man relies on that idea when he asks a woman to marry him. He probably thinks she has no soundness of judgment, and so may accept him (laughter and cheers).
"“Then, there's the talk about women having no previous experience. Does a woman refrain from bringing a child into the world because she has had no previous experience? (laughter).”"
And also on a similar theme in The Stage newspaper, a man called Vernon demanded action against criticism of women who worked in the theatre, saying:
"Is it not high time that the male members of the theatrical profession give battle in defence of their sister artists? The time has arrived for the world of the theatre to call “halt!” and to adopt measures that will, once and for all, prevent the tribe from publishing these lying statements."
Quoted as an example was a section of a new book that claimed that chorus girls had no education and few morals. The author referred to them as "trivial little baggage", adding "fundamentally she is as ignorant as a Red Indian".
Next week's stories will include the well-meaning Sutton lottery that led to large fines, the industrial scale operation to illegally dig coal out of surface mines and the shows at the Theatre Royal and Hippodrome.