IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 29 JAN - 4 FEB 1924
This week's many stories include the Parr woman who threatened to put a bread knife through her neighbour's gizzard, the lad that jumped on the back of Haydock trams, the ice-cream hawker without a permit, the Sunday mischief at Hardshaw Brook, the boy that slept in a midden, the improvements to Boundary Road baths and why a motorist's wrinkled wick had left him without a rear light in Prescot Road.
We begin with yet another court appearance by the Italian ice-cream sellers. The three main such families of the 20th century in St Helens were the Fredericks, the Randolphs and the Vincents. All three families anglicised their surnames (and Christian names) after arriving in the town under the names of Frederici, Randolfi and Vernazza. Court appearances for breaching minor rules were regular events mainly through the language barrier.
But last year there had been a new ice-cream kid in town! In April 1923 Giovanni Manfredi was summoned to St Helens Police Court for selling without a street-hawking permit and there was the usual language difficulty. An interpreter needed to be brought to court to explain that he did not have the money to pay for a licence and Manfredi was fined 7s 6d. This week Giovanni Manfredi appeared in court as John Manfredi from Gaskell Street charged with hawking ice-cream without a permit in Baker Street (off Ashcroft Street) in Parr.
After the court case in 1923 Giovanni or John had taken out a licence lasting three months but did not renew it when it expired. This time he had his wife with him to interpret, although she only spoke what was described as broken English. Mrs Manfredi explained that her husband only went out three times a week with his horse-drawn vehicle to sell ice-cream and they did not think they needed a licence for that.
Manfredi's punishment was harsher than last year and he received a 20-shilling fine or 14 days in prison if unable to pay. The St Helens Reporter did not seem impressed with winter sales of ice-cream, headlining their short article "Ice-Cream In January", although the policeman said he had seen three persons buy some off Mr Manfredi.
On the 30th the council's Water Committee accepted a tender from builder Charles Middlehurst of Windle Street to undertake alterations to Boundary Road baths, including the installation of a filtration plant. There was currently a water shortage in St Helens and the baths used 8½ million gallons per year. That would be reduced to a million gallons once the filtration plant had been erected. And as well as being a saving in water, the investment would also save about two tons of coal per week.
An unusual charity show was held on the 31st in the Town Hall in aid of the local society for the blind. I don't imagine that many sight-impaired people attended, however, as much of the event was a wordless play called "The Haunted House". There was also living statuary, which the Reporter wrote: "The figures, all clothed in white drapings under the lighting effects, had the appearance of chiselled marble and were beautiful in the extreme."
Also on that day six boys appeared in the St Helens Juvenile Police Court charged with causing £25 worth of damage at the works of the United Alkali Company at Hardshaw Brook. It was another example of lads getting up to mischief on a Sunday when there was very little for them to do. They had released railway wagons, broken pipes and manholes and committed other damage. The Chairman of the Bench gave the lads a telling off and ordered their parents to pay a fine of 9 shillings each.
Another popular pastime for boys was to jump on the back of tramcars and kick down the lifeguard. That was not a person but the wooden slatted gate under the front and rear of the tram, which acted as a safety device collecting obstacles in the vehicle's way. Leaping on a tram was a dangerous practice but as the lads involved would jump off and run away, it was rare for them to be caught. But Joseph Swift was nabbed and he was fined in court, with a tramways inspector saying such behaviour was a daily occurrence on the Haydock route and damage was regularly caused.
Also in court this week was Joseph Neary of Merton Bank Road who pleaded guilty to the charge of loitering for the purpose of betting. He had been collared in College Street taking betting slips and cash and was fined £5.
A century ago electric lamps on the front and rear of vehicles were still in their experimental phase and many owners still used acetylene gas or paraffin lamps. These needed to be lit and often would go out if there was a lot of wind or even if the car hit a pothole. William Randall had been driving along Prescot Road in St Helens when stopped by the police for not having a red rear light.
In court he did not blame wind or holes in the road but instead said his light had gone out because of his wrinkled wick. Randall said the paraffin could not pass through the crinkled wick and fuel the light on his vehicle – but that excuse did not impress the Bench. They said he had been in court six months before on a similar charge and he'd had all that time since to get his wick changed. Randall was fined 10 shillings.
The severe housing shortage in St Helens led to quite a few families sharing the same house, which led to the inevitable rows. On February 1st Elizabeth Chapman summoned Lily Smith to St Helens Police Court for making threats against her. Both parties shared the same property in Gaskell Street in Parr. Mrs Chapman claimed that on the previous Monday night Lily Smith had used "horribly foul language" to her.
Among the threats that were alleged to have been made was that she would meet Mrs Chapman's children when they came home from school and knock their heads in. "I have a good bread knife for the job," she added. Mrs Chapman insisted that it was not the first time that the woman had threatened her.
With squabbles such as these it was common for the defendant to try and turn the tables and accuse the other side of being the guilty party. And so Lily Smith claimed it was Mrs Chapman who had been using foul language and not her. All she had done, she said, was complain about Mrs Chapman making a noise by walking up and down the stairs, which had woken up her husband. Lily Smith also accused Mrs Chapman of making insinuations against her character.
However, PC Shepherd had been on duty outside the house in Gaskell Street and had heard Lily Smith using what he called "very filthy language". The constable added that he had heard her shout: "I will run a ________ bread knife through your gizzard." That was the Reporter's censorship, of course, and in continuing they wrote: "In further evidence, the suggestion was made by witness [PC Shepherd] that defendant was a blackguard".
To that accusation from the constable, Lily Smith said: "I am not, and I am here to defend myself." And then turning to face the magistrates, she said: "He will get a good hiding from me". Yes, threatening a policeman in court is obviously a very good way of proving you're not a blackguard! Unimpressed, the Bench bound Lily Smith over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 2nd an unnamed 10-year-old boy appeared before the St Helens Juvenile Court. The lad had inadvertently chosen the door of a police constable to go begging. But instead of asking for money, he'd told PC Silke he wanted a pair of old boots for his father and claimed his mother had sent him. The boy was carrying a parcel and the constable found it contained a mackintosh, two pairs of stockings and a pair of braces.
After being taken to the police station at the Town Hall, the lad admitted having begged the articles from houses. In court Supt. Dunn said the lad was completely out of control of his parents. He had been seen in his bare feet on Prescot Road at 11:30 at night and he sometimes slept in middens, the dumps containing human waste. The boy was on probation from last year after stealing some oranges and the magistrates agreed to the police's request for him to be remanded for a week to the Whiston Institution, formerly known as the workhouse.
Upon his return to court, what was described as a "pathetic and appealing letter" from his mother was read out in which she stated that her son had been in a street accident that had affected his mind. As a result the magistrates decided to give the lad another chance – but warned him that the next time he was in court he would be sent to an industrial school.
On the 4th the Theatre Royal began performances of the "Grand Panto" 'Jack and Jill'. Nursery rhymes were then common themes for pantomimes but clearly much more limited in scope than a novel or a play. The audience interest for 'Jack and Jill', I would have thought, would have required a tad more drama than a couple of characters repeatedly going up and down a hill to fetch of pale of water!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unemployed man's attempted suicide, the scheme to encourage people to buy their homes rather than rent, Uncle Ben's limerick contest and the policeman supposedly suffering in the Boilermakers Arms.
We begin with yet another court appearance by the Italian ice-cream sellers. The three main such families of the 20th century in St Helens were the Fredericks, the Randolphs and the Vincents. All three families anglicised their surnames (and Christian names) after arriving in the town under the names of Frederici, Randolfi and Vernazza. Court appearances for breaching minor rules were regular events mainly through the language barrier.
But last year there had been a new ice-cream kid in town! In April 1923 Giovanni Manfredi was summoned to St Helens Police Court for selling without a street-hawking permit and there was the usual language difficulty. An interpreter needed to be brought to court to explain that he did not have the money to pay for a licence and Manfredi was fined 7s 6d. This week Giovanni Manfredi appeared in court as John Manfredi from Gaskell Street charged with hawking ice-cream without a permit in Baker Street (off Ashcroft Street) in Parr.
After the court case in 1923 Giovanni or John had taken out a licence lasting three months but did not renew it when it expired. This time he had his wife with him to interpret, although she only spoke what was described as broken English. Mrs Manfredi explained that her husband only went out three times a week with his horse-drawn vehicle to sell ice-cream and they did not think they needed a licence for that.
Manfredi's punishment was harsher than last year and he received a 20-shilling fine or 14 days in prison if unable to pay. The St Helens Reporter did not seem impressed with winter sales of ice-cream, headlining their short article "Ice-Cream In January", although the policeman said he had seen three persons buy some off Mr Manfredi.
On the 30th the council's Water Committee accepted a tender from builder Charles Middlehurst of Windle Street to undertake alterations to Boundary Road baths, including the installation of a filtration plant. There was currently a water shortage in St Helens and the baths used 8½ million gallons per year. That would be reduced to a million gallons once the filtration plant had been erected. And as well as being a saving in water, the investment would also save about two tons of coal per week.
An unusual charity show was held on the 31st in the Town Hall in aid of the local society for the blind. I don't imagine that many sight-impaired people attended, however, as much of the event was a wordless play called "The Haunted House". There was also living statuary, which the Reporter wrote: "The figures, all clothed in white drapings under the lighting effects, had the appearance of chiselled marble and were beautiful in the extreme."
Also on that day six boys appeared in the St Helens Juvenile Police Court charged with causing £25 worth of damage at the works of the United Alkali Company at Hardshaw Brook. It was another example of lads getting up to mischief on a Sunday when there was very little for them to do. They had released railway wagons, broken pipes and manholes and committed other damage. The Chairman of the Bench gave the lads a telling off and ordered their parents to pay a fine of 9 shillings each.
Also in court this week was Joseph Neary of Merton Bank Road who pleaded guilty to the charge of loitering for the purpose of betting. He had been collared in College Street taking betting slips and cash and was fined £5.
A century ago electric lamps on the front and rear of vehicles were still in their experimental phase and many owners still used acetylene gas or paraffin lamps. These needed to be lit and often would go out if there was a lot of wind or even if the car hit a pothole. William Randall had been driving along Prescot Road in St Helens when stopped by the police for not having a red rear light.
In court he did not blame wind or holes in the road but instead said his light had gone out because of his wrinkled wick. Randall said the paraffin could not pass through the crinkled wick and fuel the light on his vehicle – but that excuse did not impress the Bench. They said he had been in court six months before on a similar charge and he'd had all that time since to get his wick changed. Randall was fined 10 shillings.
The severe housing shortage in St Helens led to quite a few families sharing the same house, which led to the inevitable rows. On February 1st Elizabeth Chapman summoned Lily Smith to St Helens Police Court for making threats against her. Both parties shared the same property in Gaskell Street in Parr. Mrs Chapman claimed that on the previous Monday night Lily Smith had used "horribly foul language" to her.
Among the threats that were alleged to have been made was that she would meet Mrs Chapman's children when they came home from school and knock their heads in. "I have a good bread knife for the job," she added. Mrs Chapman insisted that it was not the first time that the woman had threatened her.
With squabbles such as these it was common for the defendant to try and turn the tables and accuse the other side of being the guilty party. And so Lily Smith claimed it was Mrs Chapman who had been using foul language and not her. All she had done, she said, was complain about Mrs Chapman making a noise by walking up and down the stairs, which had woken up her husband. Lily Smith also accused Mrs Chapman of making insinuations against her character.
However, PC Shepherd had been on duty outside the house in Gaskell Street and had heard Lily Smith using what he called "very filthy language". The constable added that he had heard her shout: "I will run a ________ bread knife through your gizzard." That was the Reporter's censorship, of course, and in continuing they wrote: "In further evidence, the suggestion was made by witness [PC Shepherd] that defendant was a blackguard".
To that accusation from the constable, Lily Smith said: "I am not, and I am here to defend myself." And then turning to face the magistrates, she said: "He will get a good hiding from me". Yes, threatening a policeman in court is obviously a very good way of proving you're not a blackguard! Unimpressed, the Bench bound Lily Smith over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 2nd an unnamed 10-year-old boy appeared before the St Helens Juvenile Court. The lad had inadvertently chosen the door of a police constable to go begging. But instead of asking for money, he'd told PC Silke he wanted a pair of old boots for his father and claimed his mother had sent him. The boy was carrying a parcel and the constable found it contained a mackintosh, two pairs of stockings and a pair of braces.
After being taken to the police station at the Town Hall, the lad admitted having begged the articles from houses. In court Supt. Dunn said the lad was completely out of control of his parents. He had been seen in his bare feet on Prescot Road at 11:30 at night and he sometimes slept in middens, the dumps containing human waste. The boy was on probation from last year after stealing some oranges and the magistrates agreed to the police's request for him to be remanded for a week to the Whiston Institution, formerly known as the workhouse.
Upon his return to court, what was described as a "pathetic and appealing letter" from his mother was read out in which she stated that her son had been in a street accident that had affected his mind. As a result the magistrates decided to give the lad another chance – but warned him that the next time he was in court he would be sent to an industrial school.
On the 4th the Theatre Royal began performances of the "Grand Panto" 'Jack and Jill'. Nursery rhymes were then common themes for pantomimes but clearly much more limited in scope than a novel or a play. The audience interest for 'Jack and Jill', I would have thought, would have required a tad more drama than a couple of characters repeatedly going up and down a hill to fetch of pale of water!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unemployed man's attempted suicide, the scheme to encourage people to buy their homes rather than rent, Uncle Ben's limerick contest and the policeman supposedly suffering in the Boilermakers Arms.
This week's many stories include the Parr woman who threatened to put a bread knife through her neighbour's gizzard, the lad that jumped on the back of Haydock trams, the Sunday mischief at Hardshaw Brook, the improvements to Boundary Road baths, the boy that slept in a midden and why a motorist's wrinkled wick had left him without a rear light in Prescot Road.
We begin with yet another court appearance by the Italian ice-cream sellers. The three main such families of the 20th century in St Helens were the Fredericks, the Randolphs and the Vincents.
All three families anglicised their surnames (and Christian names) after arriving in the town under the names of Frederici, Randolfi and Vernazza.
Court appearances for breaching minor rules were regular events mainly through the language barrier.
But last year there had been a new ice-cream kid in town! In April 1923 Giovanni Manfredi was summoned to St Helens Police Court for selling without a street-hawking permit and there was the usual language difficulty.
An interpreter needed to be brought to court to explain that he did not have the money to pay for a licence and Manfredi was fined 7s 6d.
This week Giovanni Manfredi appeared in court as John Manfredi from Gaskell Street charged with hawking ice-cream without a permit in Baker Street (off Ashcroft Street) in Parr.
After the court case in 1923 Giovanni or John had taken out a licence lasting three months but did not renew it when it expired.
This time he had his wife with him to interpret, although she only spoke what was described as broken English.
Mrs Manfredi explained that her husband only went out three times a week with his horse-drawn vehicle to sell ice-cream and they did not think they needed a licence for that.
Manfredi's punishment was harsher than last year and he received a 20-shilling fine or 14 days in prison if unable to pay.
The St Helens Reporter did not seem impressed with winter sales of ice-cream, headlining their short article "Ice-Cream In January", although the policeman said he had seen three persons buy some off Mr Manfredi.
On the 30th the council's Water Committee accepted a tender from builder Charles Middlehurst of Windle Street to undertake alterations to Boundary Road baths, including the installation of a filtration plant.
There was currently a water shortage in St Helens and the baths used 8½ million gallons per year.
That would be reduced to a million gallons once the filtration plant had been erected. And as well as being a saving in water, the investment would also save about two tons of coal per week.
An unusual charity show was held on the 31st in the Town Hall in aid of the local society for the blind.
I don't imagine that many sight-impaired people attended, however, as much of the event was a wordless play called "The Haunted House". There was also living statuary, which the Reporter wrote:
"The figures, all clothed in white drapings under the lighting effects, had the appearance of chiselled marble and were beautiful in the extreme."
Also on that day six boys appeared in the St Helens Juvenile Police Court charged with causing £25 worth of damage at the works of the United Alkali Company at Hardshaw Brook.
It was another example of lads getting up to mischief on a Sunday when there was very little for them to do.
They had released railway wagons, broken pipes and manholes and committed other damage.
The Chairman of the Bench gave the lads a telling off and ordered their parents to pay a fine of 9 shillings each.
Another popular pastime for boys was to jump on the back of tramcars and kick down the lifeguard.
That was not a person but the wooden slatted gate under the front and rear of the tram, which acted as a safety device collecting obstacles in the vehicle's way.
Leaping on a tram was a dangerous practice but as the lads involved would jump off and run away, it was rare for them to be caught.
But Joseph Swift was nabbed and he was fined in court, with a tramways inspector saying such behaviour was a daily occurrence on the Haydock route and damage was regularly caused.
Also in court this week was Joseph Neary of Merton Bank Road who pleaded guilty to the charge of loitering for the purpose of betting.
He had been collared in College Street taking betting slips and cash and was fined £5.
A century ago electric lamps on the front and rear of vehicles were still in their experimental phase and many owners still used acetylene gas or paraffin lamps.
These needed to be lit and often would go out if there was a lot of wind or even if the car hit a pothole.
William Randall had been driving along Prescot Road in St Helens when stopped by the police for not having a red rear light.
In court he did not blame wind or holes in the road but instead said his light had gone out because of his wrinkled wick.
Randall said the paraffin could not pass through the crinkled wick and fuel the light on his vehicle – but that excuse did not impress the Bench.
They said he had been in court six months before on a similar charge and he'd had all that time since to get his wick changed. Randall was fined 10 shillings.
The severe housing shortage in St Helens led to quite a few families sharing the same house, which led to the inevitable rows.
On February 1st Elizabeth Chapman summoned Lily Smith to St Helens Police Court for making threats against her. Both parties shared the same property in Gaskell Street in Parr.
Mrs Chapman claimed that on the previous Monday night Lily Smith had used "horribly foul language" to her.
Among the threats that were alleged to have been made was that she would meet Mrs Chapman's children when they came home from school and knock their heads in. "I have a good bread knife for the job," she added.
Mrs Chapman insisted that it was not the first time that the woman had threatened her.
With squabbles such as these it was common for the defendant to try and turn the tables and accuse the other side of being the guilty party.
And so Lily Smith claimed it was Mrs Chapman who had been using foul language and not her.
All she had done, she said, was complain about Mrs Chapman making a noise by walking up and down the stairs, which had woken up her husband. Lily Smith also accused Mrs Chapman of making insinuations against her character.
However, PC Shepherd had been on duty outside the house in Gaskell Street and had heard Lily Smith using what he called "very filthy language".
The constable added that he had heard her shout: "I will run a ___¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬_____ bread knife through your gizzard."
That was the Reporter's censorship, of course, and in continuing they wrote: "In further evidence, the suggestion was made by witness [PC Shepherd] that defendant was a blackguard".
To that accusation from the constable, Lily Smith said: "I am not, and I am here to defend myself." And then turning to face the magistrates, she said: "He will get a good hiding from me".
Yes, threatening a policeman in court is obviously a very good way of proving you're not a blackguard!
Unimpressed, the Bench bound Lily Smith over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 2nd an unnamed 10-year-old boy appeared before the St Helens Juvenile Court.
The lad had inadvertently chosen the door of a police constable to go begging. But instead of asking for money, he'd told PC Silke he wanted a pair of old boots for his father and claimed his mother had sent him.
The boy was carrying a parcel and the constable found it contained a mackintosh, two pairs of stockings and a pair of braces.
After being taken to the police station at the Town Hall, the lad admitted having begged the articles from houses.
In court Supt. Dunn said the lad was completely out of control of his parents. He had been seen in his bare feet on Prescot Road at 11:30 at night and he sometimes slept in middens, the dumps containing human waste.
The boy was on probation from last year after stealing some oranges and the magistrates agreed to the police's request for him to be remanded for a week to the Whiston Institution, formerly known as the workhouse.
Upon his return to court, what was described as a "pathetic and appealing letter" from his mother was read out in which she stated that her son had been in a street accident that had affected his mind.
As a result the magistrates decided to give the lad another chance – but warned him that the next time he was in court he would be sent to an industrial school.
On the 4th the Theatre Royal began performances of the "Grand Panto" 'Jack and Jill'.
Nursery rhymes were then common themes for pantomimes but clearly much more limited in scope than a novel or a play.
The audience interest for 'Jack and Jill', I would have thought, would have required a tad more drama than a couple of characters repeatedly going up and down a hill to fetch of pale of water!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unemployed man's attempted suicide, the scheme to encourage people to buy their homes rather than rent, Uncle Ben's limerick contest and the policeman supposedly suffering in the Boilermakers Arms.
We begin with yet another court appearance by the Italian ice-cream sellers. The three main such families of the 20th century in St Helens were the Fredericks, the Randolphs and the Vincents.
All three families anglicised their surnames (and Christian names) after arriving in the town under the names of Frederici, Randolfi and Vernazza.
Court appearances for breaching minor rules were regular events mainly through the language barrier.
But last year there had been a new ice-cream kid in town! In April 1923 Giovanni Manfredi was summoned to St Helens Police Court for selling without a street-hawking permit and there was the usual language difficulty.
An interpreter needed to be brought to court to explain that he did not have the money to pay for a licence and Manfredi was fined 7s 6d.
This week Giovanni Manfredi appeared in court as John Manfredi from Gaskell Street charged with hawking ice-cream without a permit in Baker Street (off Ashcroft Street) in Parr.
After the court case in 1923 Giovanni or John had taken out a licence lasting three months but did not renew it when it expired.
This time he had his wife with him to interpret, although she only spoke what was described as broken English.
Mrs Manfredi explained that her husband only went out three times a week with his horse-drawn vehicle to sell ice-cream and they did not think they needed a licence for that.
Manfredi's punishment was harsher than last year and he received a 20-shilling fine or 14 days in prison if unable to pay.
The St Helens Reporter did not seem impressed with winter sales of ice-cream, headlining their short article "Ice-Cream In January", although the policeman said he had seen three persons buy some off Mr Manfredi.
On the 30th the council's Water Committee accepted a tender from builder Charles Middlehurst of Windle Street to undertake alterations to Boundary Road baths, including the installation of a filtration plant.
There was currently a water shortage in St Helens and the baths used 8½ million gallons per year.
That would be reduced to a million gallons once the filtration plant had been erected. And as well as being a saving in water, the investment would also save about two tons of coal per week.
An unusual charity show was held on the 31st in the Town Hall in aid of the local society for the blind.
I don't imagine that many sight-impaired people attended, however, as much of the event was a wordless play called "The Haunted House". There was also living statuary, which the Reporter wrote:
"The figures, all clothed in white drapings under the lighting effects, had the appearance of chiselled marble and were beautiful in the extreme."
Also on that day six boys appeared in the St Helens Juvenile Police Court charged with causing £25 worth of damage at the works of the United Alkali Company at Hardshaw Brook.
It was another example of lads getting up to mischief on a Sunday when there was very little for them to do.
They had released railway wagons, broken pipes and manholes and committed other damage.
The Chairman of the Bench gave the lads a telling off and ordered their parents to pay a fine of 9 shillings each.
That was not a person but the wooden slatted gate under the front and rear of the tram, which acted as a safety device collecting obstacles in the vehicle's way.
Leaping on a tram was a dangerous practice but as the lads involved would jump off and run away, it was rare for them to be caught.
But Joseph Swift was nabbed and he was fined in court, with a tramways inspector saying such behaviour was a daily occurrence on the Haydock route and damage was regularly caused.
Also in court this week was Joseph Neary of Merton Bank Road who pleaded guilty to the charge of loitering for the purpose of betting.
He had been collared in College Street taking betting slips and cash and was fined £5.
A century ago electric lamps on the front and rear of vehicles were still in their experimental phase and many owners still used acetylene gas or paraffin lamps.
These needed to be lit and often would go out if there was a lot of wind or even if the car hit a pothole.
William Randall had been driving along Prescot Road in St Helens when stopped by the police for not having a red rear light.
In court he did not blame wind or holes in the road but instead said his light had gone out because of his wrinkled wick.
Randall said the paraffin could not pass through the crinkled wick and fuel the light on his vehicle – but that excuse did not impress the Bench.
They said he had been in court six months before on a similar charge and he'd had all that time since to get his wick changed. Randall was fined 10 shillings.
The severe housing shortage in St Helens led to quite a few families sharing the same house, which led to the inevitable rows.
On February 1st Elizabeth Chapman summoned Lily Smith to St Helens Police Court for making threats against her. Both parties shared the same property in Gaskell Street in Parr.
Mrs Chapman claimed that on the previous Monday night Lily Smith had used "horribly foul language" to her.
Among the threats that were alleged to have been made was that she would meet Mrs Chapman's children when they came home from school and knock their heads in. "I have a good bread knife for the job," she added.
Mrs Chapman insisted that it was not the first time that the woman had threatened her.
With squabbles such as these it was common for the defendant to try and turn the tables and accuse the other side of being the guilty party.
And so Lily Smith claimed it was Mrs Chapman who had been using foul language and not her.
All she had done, she said, was complain about Mrs Chapman making a noise by walking up and down the stairs, which had woken up her husband. Lily Smith also accused Mrs Chapman of making insinuations against her character.
However, PC Shepherd had been on duty outside the house in Gaskell Street and had heard Lily Smith using what he called "very filthy language".
The constable added that he had heard her shout: "I will run a ___¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬_____ bread knife through your gizzard."
That was the Reporter's censorship, of course, and in continuing they wrote: "In further evidence, the suggestion was made by witness [PC Shepherd] that defendant was a blackguard".
To that accusation from the constable, Lily Smith said: "I am not, and I am here to defend myself." And then turning to face the magistrates, she said: "He will get a good hiding from me".
Yes, threatening a policeman in court is obviously a very good way of proving you're not a blackguard!
Unimpressed, the Bench bound Lily Smith over to keep the peace for six months.
On the 2nd an unnamed 10-year-old boy appeared before the St Helens Juvenile Court.
The lad had inadvertently chosen the door of a police constable to go begging. But instead of asking for money, he'd told PC Silke he wanted a pair of old boots for his father and claimed his mother had sent him.
The boy was carrying a parcel and the constable found it contained a mackintosh, two pairs of stockings and a pair of braces.
After being taken to the police station at the Town Hall, the lad admitted having begged the articles from houses.
In court Supt. Dunn said the lad was completely out of control of his parents. He had been seen in his bare feet on Prescot Road at 11:30 at night and he sometimes slept in middens, the dumps containing human waste.
The boy was on probation from last year after stealing some oranges and the magistrates agreed to the police's request for him to be remanded for a week to the Whiston Institution, formerly known as the workhouse.
Upon his return to court, what was described as a "pathetic and appealing letter" from his mother was read out in which she stated that her son had been in a street accident that had affected his mind.
As a result the magistrates decided to give the lad another chance – but warned him that the next time he was in court he would be sent to an industrial school.
On the 4th the Theatre Royal began performances of the "Grand Panto" 'Jack and Jill'.
Nursery rhymes were then common themes for pantomimes but clearly much more limited in scope than a novel or a play.
The audience interest for 'Jack and Jill', I would have thought, would have required a tad more drama than a couple of characters repeatedly going up and down a hill to fetch of pale of water!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unemployed man's attempted suicide, the scheme to encourage people to buy their homes rather than rent, Uncle Ben's limerick contest and the policeman supposedly suffering in the Boilermakers Arms.