IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (30th MARCH - 5th APRIL 1920)
This week's stories include the two one-legged soldiers in trouble with the police, the alcoholic that fell off the wagon in Brynn Street, a "riotous scene" in Peckers Hill Road, a new church for Sutton Manor and women are allowed to join the St Helens Conservative Club.
It seems odd that someone could die from a wrenched knee but miner John Lea from Nutgrove Road did. Although in reality it was septic poisoning (or sepsis as it is called today) that led to the man's death on the 30th. Last December the 31-year-old had ruptured ligaments in his knee while working at Sutton Heath Colliery and he ended up having three operations in St Helens Hospital. Blood poisoning set in and with no antibiotics to treat him, John Lea's condition worsened and he died.
The St Helens Conservative Club in Hall Street had never allowed women to join. However this policy became untenable once many women had been granted the vote. So this week an extraordinary general meeting was held in which it was decided that membership of the club would be made available to the wives of male members and to members of the Women's Unionist Association. Three rooms were being set aside for the sole use of females. They would have to pay a five-shilling annual subscription fee if they were the wife of a member or 7/6 if not. Men had to pay ten shillings per year.
Edward Mooney appeared in court on the 31st charged with attempting suicide, which until 1961 was against the law. The labourer from Victoria Street (near Victoria Park) had been found by a policeman in what was described as a slightly asphyxiated condition at half-past midnight. Mooney had put his wife and children out into the street and then turned on the gas in the house. He admitted having had a few drinks on the way home from work and was remanded in custody for six days to sober him up.
For forty years before the war the people of St Helens paid one of the lowest levels of rates on their homes in the country. However the unprecedented levels of inflation during the war years changed all that. On the 31st the Town Council's Finance Committee met and set the rates for the financial year 1920 - 21 at 17 shillings in the pound. That was an increase of three shillings on last year and exactly double what it had been just three years earlier.
Lacking the playground equipment that we are used to today, boys had a habit of hanging off the rear of lorries and trams – sometimes even when they were in motion. The inquest on Edward Archibald from Merton Bank Road was held on the 31st and heard that the seven-year-old had been swinging off the back of a stationary lorry in Park Road. Suddenly Edward ran out in front of a taxi that was taking a party of men from the Aintree races back to Haydock. The driver was given no opportunity to brake and the boy was killed on the spot.
The inquest was also held on Albert Gleave from Barton Street (which used to be near Boundary Road). The 35-year-old had died after being buried under a fall of coal at Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr (pictured above). On the following day John Fitzpatrick died in Haydock Cottage Hospital after being badly injured in a roof fall at Wood Pit three weeks earlier. The 37-year-old from Eastwell Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield had fractured his spine and a leg.
April 2nd was Good Friday and Rainford Choral Society performed a concert in the Village Hall to what was described by the St Helens Reporter as a "large and highly appreciative audience". The remarkable James Eden was the conductor, who the Reporter said had held the choir together "splendidly".
Eden had been left blind by a mining accident but that didn't stop him from leading a full life. Last year he had become a councillor in Rainford, a position he would hold for over twenty years. In 1930 James Eden would be made a county magistrate and seven years later he was awarded the MBE.
On Easter Sunday the first services of a new church in Sutton Manor took place. The population of the district had grown considerably over the past few years with the expansion of Sutton Manor and Clock Face collieries. The Church of England Mission initially used the premises of the Clock Face Colliery School in Lindsay Street (later renamed St. Aidan's). There were three services held, with Canon Baines, the Vicar of St Helens, preaching in the afternoon.
Collections were made for an equipment fund for which £100 was needed, including £30 for an organ. When the Sutton Manor Miners' Institute opened in 1922 in Jubits Lane, the mission took over a large room. During the week the room was used for dancing or brass band practice but on Sundays it became a church. It would not be until 1953 that a dedicated C. of E. church would be opened in Gartons Lane.
On the 5th Martin Kennedy of Watery Lane in Sutton was charged in St Helens Police Court with disorderly conduct having participated in what the Reporter called a "riotous scene" and "savage attack" on the police. Acting Sgt. Adams told the Bench that on the previous Saturday night a crowd of young Irishmen were creating a disturbance in Peckers Hill Road by shouting, swearing and fighting each other.
They threatened the police and one man was arrested. However as he was being taken down Junction Lane the men mobbed the officers. A cry of "Sinn Fein!" went up and the officer was set upon and attacked with stones and bricks and his uniform was torn. Martin Kennedy was subsequently arrested but it was with great difficulty that he was locked up at the station. Kennedy pleaded guilty and was fined 20 shillings.
Two one-legged ex-soldiers also made appearances in court. John Jordan had assaulted PC Tinsley with his crutch while rendering first aid to a man who had fallen and cut his head near the post office in Church Street. Jordan swore at the officer and said: "You ______. You ought to be in Ireland. I have fought and bled for you."
Even after his crutch was taken off him, Jordan continued to fight using his fists and used the "most shocking language". Jordan made certain allegations against the police – presumably of brutality – but the Bench pointed out that he had recently been arrested in Parr and made similar allegations, all of which turned out to be false. He was fined a total of £4.
The incident had taken place late on a Saturday night, which was a risky time for the police to escort prisoners to their station at the Town Hall. They would often have to pass a gauntlet of drunks with friends of the accused encouraging them to intervene. This had happened when the police had taken John Jordan to Victoria Square. His pal William Wright had tried to incite a crowd to mob them and was said to have been using the "most terrible language". He was another one-legged ex-soldier and was fined £1 for his behaviour.
James Fairhurst appeared in court only hours after being arrested for committing a breach of the peace and assaulting a policeman. PC Stubbins had been to the man's lodgings in Brynn Street on four occasions during the previous night in order to quieten him down. He was clearly what we would call an alcoholic who had been teetotal for six years but had gone back on the beer.
Fairhurst's landlady told the court that during the night her lodger had been "very wild in drink, but was a good, quiet man when sober. When he had beer he always threatened to strangle someone." The Chairman of the Bench suggested that Fairhurst should turn over a new leaf, which he agreed to do. He was fined £1 and ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour.
The Oxford Picturedrome was in Duke Street and would later be known as the Plaza and Cindy's nightclub (shown above as The Plaza). As well as silent films, events were sometimes shown and on the 5th the cinema began three days of screenings of the Grand National. The race had taken place ten days earlier at Aintree in front of King George V. There was no commentary, of course, just subtitles and the heavy rain probably did not do a lot for the picture quality.
Topping the bill at the Hippodrome from the 5th were Emerson & Gilbert, who described themselves as "The Dago and his Black Friend".
Whist drives were incredibly popular in St Helens with almost 200 held in the Town Hall last year. On the 5th the annual Sutton whist drive and dance in aid of the choir of All Saints Church was revived after being in abeyance during the war. The Reporter said the event was conducted with "great enthusiasm". The dancing room had been "tastefully decorated" and an "animated scene presented itself, everybody fervently enjoying themselves".
Next week's stories will include the death of the hero of the Town Hall fire, plans for a big expansion of the electricity network in St Helens, the Irish woman who wanted a revolution at Fingerpost and the man found sleeping in the Post Office in Church Street at midnight.
It seems odd that someone could die from a wrenched knee but miner John Lea from Nutgrove Road did. Although in reality it was septic poisoning (or sepsis as it is called today) that led to the man's death on the 30th. Last December the 31-year-old had ruptured ligaments in his knee while working at Sutton Heath Colliery and he ended up having three operations in St Helens Hospital. Blood poisoning set in and with no antibiotics to treat him, John Lea's condition worsened and he died.
The St Helens Conservative Club in Hall Street had never allowed women to join. However this policy became untenable once many women had been granted the vote. So this week an extraordinary general meeting was held in which it was decided that membership of the club would be made available to the wives of male members and to members of the Women's Unionist Association. Three rooms were being set aside for the sole use of females. They would have to pay a five-shilling annual subscription fee if they were the wife of a member or 7/6 if not. Men had to pay ten shillings per year.
Edward Mooney appeared in court on the 31st charged with attempting suicide, which until 1961 was against the law. The labourer from Victoria Street (near Victoria Park) had been found by a policeman in what was described as a slightly asphyxiated condition at half-past midnight. Mooney had put his wife and children out into the street and then turned on the gas in the house. He admitted having had a few drinks on the way home from work and was remanded in custody for six days to sober him up.
For forty years before the war the people of St Helens paid one of the lowest levels of rates on their homes in the country. However the unprecedented levels of inflation during the war years changed all that. On the 31st the Town Council's Finance Committee met and set the rates for the financial year 1920 - 21 at 17 shillings in the pound. That was an increase of three shillings on last year and exactly double what it had been just three years earlier.
Lacking the playground equipment that we are used to today, boys had a habit of hanging off the rear of lorries and trams – sometimes even when they were in motion. The inquest on Edward Archibald from Merton Bank Road was held on the 31st and heard that the seven-year-old had been swinging off the back of a stationary lorry in Park Road. Suddenly Edward ran out in front of a taxi that was taking a party of men from the Aintree races back to Haydock. The driver was given no opportunity to brake and the boy was killed on the spot.
April 2nd was Good Friday and Rainford Choral Society performed a concert in the Village Hall to what was described by the St Helens Reporter as a "large and highly appreciative audience". The remarkable James Eden was the conductor, who the Reporter said had held the choir together "splendidly".
Eden had been left blind by a mining accident but that didn't stop him from leading a full life. Last year he had become a councillor in Rainford, a position he would hold for over twenty years. In 1930 James Eden would be made a county magistrate and seven years later he was awarded the MBE.
Clock Face Colliery School in Lindsay Street in St Helens after it had become St Aidans - the school closed in 2002
The Clock Face Colliery School after it had become St Aidans
St Aidans School, Lindsay Street
Collections were made for an equipment fund for which £100 was needed, including £30 for an organ. When the Sutton Manor Miners' Institute opened in 1922 in Jubits Lane, the mission took over a large room. During the week the room was used for dancing or brass band practice but on Sundays it became a church. It would not be until 1953 that a dedicated C. of E. church would be opened in Gartons Lane.
On the 5th Martin Kennedy of Watery Lane in Sutton was charged in St Helens Police Court with disorderly conduct having participated in what the Reporter called a "riotous scene" and "savage attack" on the police. Acting Sgt. Adams told the Bench that on the previous Saturday night a crowd of young Irishmen were creating a disturbance in Peckers Hill Road by shouting, swearing and fighting each other.
They threatened the police and one man was arrested. However as he was being taken down Junction Lane the men mobbed the officers. A cry of "Sinn Fein!" went up and the officer was set upon and attacked with stones and bricks and his uniform was torn. Martin Kennedy was subsequently arrested but it was with great difficulty that he was locked up at the station. Kennedy pleaded guilty and was fined 20 shillings.
Two one-legged ex-soldiers also made appearances in court. John Jordan had assaulted PC Tinsley with his crutch while rendering first aid to a man who had fallen and cut his head near the post office in Church Street. Jordan swore at the officer and said: "You ______. You ought to be in Ireland. I have fought and bled for you."
Even after his crutch was taken off him, Jordan continued to fight using his fists and used the "most shocking language". Jordan made certain allegations against the police – presumably of brutality – but the Bench pointed out that he had recently been arrested in Parr and made similar allegations, all of which turned out to be false. He was fined a total of £4.
The incident had taken place late on a Saturday night, which was a risky time for the police to escort prisoners to their station at the Town Hall. They would often have to pass a gauntlet of drunks with friends of the accused encouraging them to intervene. This had happened when the police had taken John Jordan to Victoria Square. His pal William Wright had tried to incite a crowd to mob them and was said to have been using the "most terrible language". He was another one-legged ex-soldier and was fined £1 for his behaviour.
James Fairhurst appeared in court only hours after being arrested for committing a breach of the peace and assaulting a policeman. PC Stubbins had been to the man's lodgings in Brynn Street on four occasions during the previous night in order to quieten him down. He was clearly what we would call an alcoholic who had been teetotal for six years but had gone back on the beer.
Fairhurst's landlady told the court that during the night her lodger had been "very wild in drink, but was a good, quiet man when sober. When he had beer he always threatened to strangle someone." The Chairman of the Bench suggested that Fairhurst should turn over a new leaf, which he agreed to do. He was fined £1 and ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour.
Topping the bill at the Hippodrome from the 5th were Emerson & Gilbert, who described themselves as "The Dago and his Black Friend".
Whist drives were incredibly popular in St Helens with almost 200 held in the Town Hall last year. On the 5th the annual Sutton whist drive and dance in aid of the choir of All Saints Church was revived after being in abeyance during the war. The Reporter said the event was conducted with "great enthusiasm". The dancing room had been "tastefully decorated" and an "animated scene presented itself, everybody fervently enjoying themselves".
Next week's stories will include the death of the hero of the Town Hall fire, plans for a big expansion of the electricity network in St Helens, the Irish woman who wanted a revolution at Fingerpost and the man found sleeping in the Post Office in Church Street at midnight.
This week's stories include the two one-legged soldiers in trouble with the police, the alcoholic that fell off the wagon in Brynn Street, a "riotous scene" in Peckers Hill Road, a new church for Sutton Manor and women are allowed to join the St Helens Conservative Club.
It seems odd that someone could die from a wrenched knee but miner John Lea from Nutgrove Road did.
Although in reality it was septic poisoning (or sepsis as it is called today) that led to the man's death on the 30th.
Last December the 31-year-old had ruptured ligaments in his knee while working at Sutton Heath Colliery and he ended up having three operations in St Helens Hospital.
Blood poisoning set in and with no antibiotics to treat him, John Lea's condition worsened and he died.
The St Helens Conservative Club in Hall Street had never allowed women to join. However this policy became untenable once many women had been granted the vote.
So this week an extraordinary general meeting was held in which it was decided that membership of the club would be made available to the wives of male members and to members of the Women's Unionist Association.
Three rooms were being set aside for the sole use of females. They would have to pay a five-shilling annual subscription fee if they were the wife of a member or 7/6 if not. Men had to pay ten shillings per year.
Edward Mooney appeared in court on the 31st charged with attempting suicide, which until 1961 was against the law.
The labourer from Victoria Street (near Victoria Park) had been found by a policeman in what was described as a slightly asphyxiated condition at half-past midnight.
Mooney had put his wife and children out into the street and then turned on the gas in the house.
He admitted having had a few drinks on the way home from work and was remanded in custody for six days to sober him up.
For forty years before the war the people of St Helens paid one of the lowest levels of rates on their homes in the country.
However the unprecedented levels of inflation during the war years changed all that.
On the 31st the Town Council's Finance Committee met and set the rates for the financial year 1920 - 21 at 17 shillings in the pound.
That was an increase of three shillings on last year and exactly double what it had been just three years earlier.
Lacking the playground equipment that we are used to today, boys had a habit of hanging off the rear of lorries and trams – sometimes even when they were in motion.
The inquest on Edward Archibald from Merton Bank Road was held on the 31st and heard that the seven-year-old had been swinging off the back of a stationary lorry in Park Road.
Suddenly Edward ran out in front of a taxi that was taking a party of men from the Aintree races back to Haydock.
The driver was given no opportunity to brake and the boy was killed on the spot.
The inquest was also held on Albert Gleave from Barton Street (which used to be near Boundary Road).
The 35-year-old had died after being buried under a fall of coal at Ashtons Green Colliery in Parr (pictured above).
On the following day John Fitzpatrick died in Haydock Cottage Hospital after being badly injured in a roof fall at Wood Pit three weeks earlier.
The 37-year-old from Eastwell Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield had fractured his spine and a leg.
April 2nd was Good Friday and Rainford Choral Society performed a concert in the Village Hall to what was described by the St Helens Reporter as a "large and highly appreciative audience".
The remarkable James Eden was the conductor, who the Reporter said had held the choir together "splendidly".
Eden (pictured above) had been left blind by a mining accident but that didn't stop him from leading a full life.
Last year he had become a councillor in Rainford, a position he would hold for over twenty years.
In 1930 James Eden would be made a county magistrate and seven years later he was awarded the MBE.
On Easter Sunday the first services of a new church in Sutton Manor took place.
The population of the district had grown considerably over the past few years with the expansion of Sutton Manor and Clock Face collieries.
The Church of England Mission initially used the premises of the Clock Face Colliery School in Lindsay Street (later renamed St. Aidan's).
There were three services held, with Canon Baines, the Vicar of St Helens, preaching in the afternoon.
Collections were made for an equipment fund for which £100 was needed, including £30 for an organ.
When the Sutton Manor Miners' Institute opened in 1922 in Jubits Lane, the mission took over a large room.
During the week the room was used for dancing or brass band practice but on Sundays it became a church.
It would not be until 1953 that a dedicated C. of E. church would be opened in Gartons Lane.
On the 5th Martin Kennedy of Watery Lane in Sutton was charged in St Helens Police Court with disorderly conduct having participated in what the Reporter called a "riotous scene" and "savage attack" on the police.
Acting Sgt. Adams told the Bench that on the previous Saturday night a crowd of young Irishmen were creating a disturbance in Peckers Hill Road by shouting, swearing and fighting each other.
They threatened the police and one man was arrested. However as he was being taken down Junction Lane the men mobbed the officers.
A cry of "Sinn Fein!" went up and the officer was set upon and attacked with stones and bricks and his uniform was torn.
Martin Kennedy was subsequently arrested but it was with great difficulty that he was locked up at the station. Kennedy pleaded guilty and was fined 20 shillings.
Two one-legged ex-soldiers also made appearances in court.
John Jordan had assaulted PC Tinsley with his crutch while rendering first aid to a man who had fallen and cut his head near the post office in Church Street.
Jordan swore at the officer and said: "You ______. You ought to be in Ireland. I have fought and bled for you."
Even after his crutch was taken off him, Jordan continued to fight using his fists and used the "most shocking language".
Jordan made certain allegations against the police – presumably of brutality.
However the Bench pointed out that he had recently been arrested in Parr and made similar allegations, all of which turned out to be false. Jordan was fined a total of £4.
The incident had taken place late on a Saturday night, which was a risky time for the police to escort prisoners to their station at the Town Hall.
They would often have to pass a gauntlet of drunks with friends of the accused encouraging them to intervene.
This had happened when the police had taken John Jordan to Victoria Square.
His pal William Wright had tried to incite a crowd to mob them and was said to have been using the "most terrible language".
He was another one-legged ex-soldier and was fined £1 for his behaviour.
James Fairhurst appeared in court only hours after being arrested for committing a breach of the peace and assaulting a policeman.
PC Stubbins had been to the man's lodgings in Brynn Street on four occasions during the previous night in order to quieten him down.
He was clearly what we would call an alcoholic who had been teetotal for six years but had gone back on the beer.
Fairhurst's landlady told the court that during the night her lodger had been "very wild in drink, but was a good, quiet man when sober.
When he had beer he always threatened to strangle someone." The Chairman of the Bench suggested that Fairhurst should turn over a new leaf, which he agreed to do.
He was fined £1 and ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour.
The Oxford Picturedrome was in Duke Street and would later be known as the Plaza and Cindy's nightclub (shown above as The Plaza).
As well as silent films, events were sometimes shown and on the 5th the cinema began three days of screenings of the Grand National.
The race had taken place ten days earlier at Aintree in front of King George V.
There was no commentary, of course, just subtitles and the heavy rain probably did not do a lot for the picture quality.
Topping the bill at the Hippodrome from the 5th were Emerson & Gilbert, who described themselves as "The Dago and his Black Friend".
Whist drives were incredibly popular in St Helens with almost 200 held in the Town Hall last year.
On the 5th the annual Sutton whist drive and dance in aid of the choir of All Saints Church was revived after being in abeyance during the war.
The Reporter said the event was conducted with "great enthusiasm".
The dancing room had been "tastefully decorated" and an "animated scene presented itself, everybody fervently enjoying themselves".
Next week's stories will include the death of the hero of the Town Hall fire, plans for a big expansion of the electricity network in St Helens, the Irish woman who wanted a revolution at Fingerpost and the man found sleeping in the Post Office in Church Street at midnight.
It seems odd that someone could die from a wrenched knee but miner John Lea from Nutgrove Road did.
Although in reality it was septic poisoning (or sepsis as it is called today) that led to the man's death on the 30th.
Last December the 31-year-old had ruptured ligaments in his knee while working at Sutton Heath Colliery and he ended up having three operations in St Helens Hospital.
Blood poisoning set in and with no antibiotics to treat him, John Lea's condition worsened and he died.
The St Helens Conservative Club in Hall Street had never allowed women to join. However this policy became untenable once many women had been granted the vote.
So this week an extraordinary general meeting was held in which it was decided that membership of the club would be made available to the wives of male members and to members of the Women's Unionist Association.
Three rooms were being set aside for the sole use of females. They would have to pay a five-shilling annual subscription fee if they were the wife of a member or 7/6 if not. Men had to pay ten shillings per year.
Edward Mooney appeared in court on the 31st charged with attempting suicide, which until 1961 was against the law.
The labourer from Victoria Street (near Victoria Park) had been found by a policeman in what was described as a slightly asphyxiated condition at half-past midnight.
Mooney had put his wife and children out into the street and then turned on the gas in the house.
He admitted having had a few drinks on the way home from work and was remanded in custody for six days to sober him up.
For forty years before the war the people of St Helens paid one of the lowest levels of rates on their homes in the country.
However the unprecedented levels of inflation during the war years changed all that.
On the 31st the Town Council's Finance Committee met and set the rates for the financial year 1920 - 21 at 17 shillings in the pound.
That was an increase of three shillings on last year and exactly double what it had been just three years earlier.
Lacking the playground equipment that we are used to today, boys had a habit of hanging off the rear of lorries and trams – sometimes even when they were in motion.
The inquest on Edward Archibald from Merton Bank Road was held on the 31st and heard that the seven-year-old had been swinging off the back of a stationary lorry in Park Road.
Suddenly Edward ran out in front of a taxi that was taking a party of men from the Aintree races back to Haydock.
The driver was given no opportunity to brake and the boy was killed on the spot.
The inquest was also held on Albert Gleave from Barton Street (which used to be near Boundary Road).
On the following day John Fitzpatrick died in Haydock Cottage Hospital after being badly injured in a roof fall at Wood Pit three weeks earlier.
The 37-year-old from Eastwell Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield had fractured his spine and a leg.
April 2nd was Good Friday and Rainford Choral Society performed a concert in the Village Hall to what was described by the St Helens Reporter as a "large and highly appreciative audience".
The remarkable James Eden was the conductor, who the Reporter said had held the choir together "splendidly".
Last year he had become a councillor in Rainford, a position he would hold for over twenty years.
In 1930 James Eden would be made a county magistrate and seven years later he was awarded the MBE.
St Aidans School, Lindsay Street
The population of the district had grown considerably over the past few years with the expansion of Sutton Manor and Clock Face collieries.
The Church of England Mission initially used the premises of the Clock Face Colliery School in Lindsay Street (later renamed St. Aidan's).
There were three services held, with Canon Baines, the Vicar of St Helens, preaching in the afternoon.
Collections were made for an equipment fund for which £100 was needed, including £30 for an organ.
When the Sutton Manor Miners' Institute opened in 1922 in Jubits Lane, the mission took over a large room.
During the week the room was used for dancing or brass band practice but on Sundays it became a church.
It would not be until 1953 that a dedicated C. of E. church would be opened in Gartons Lane.
On the 5th Martin Kennedy of Watery Lane in Sutton was charged in St Helens Police Court with disorderly conduct having participated in what the Reporter called a "riotous scene" and "savage attack" on the police.
Acting Sgt. Adams told the Bench that on the previous Saturday night a crowd of young Irishmen were creating a disturbance in Peckers Hill Road by shouting, swearing and fighting each other.
They threatened the police and one man was arrested. However as he was being taken down Junction Lane the men mobbed the officers.
A cry of "Sinn Fein!" went up and the officer was set upon and attacked with stones and bricks and his uniform was torn.
Martin Kennedy was subsequently arrested but it was with great difficulty that he was locked up at the station. Kennedy pleaded guilty and was fined 20 shillings.
Two one-legged ex-soldiers also made appearances in court.
John Jordan had assaulted PC Tinsley with his crutch while rendering first aid to a man who had fallen and cut his head near the post office in Church Street.
Jordan swore at the officer and said: "You ______. You ought to be in Ireland. I have fought and bled for you."
Even after his crutch was taken off him, Jordan continued to fight using his fists and used the "most shocking language".
Jordan made certain allegations against the police – presumably of brutality.
However the Bench pointed out that he had recently been arrested in Parr and made similar allegations, all of which turned out to be false. Jordan was fined a total of £4.
The incident had taken place late on a Saturday night, which was a risky time for the police to escort prisoners to their station at the Town Hall.
They would often have to pass a gauntlet of drunks with friends of the accused encouraging them to intervene.
This had happened when the police had taken John Jordan to Victoria Square.
His pal William Wright had tried to incite a crowd to mob them and was said to have been using the "most terrible language".
He was another one-legged ex-soldier and was fined £1 for his behaviour.
James Fairhurst appeared in court only hours after being arrested for committing a breach of the peace and assaulting a policeman.
PC Stubbins had been to the man's lodgings in Brynn Street on four occasions during the previous night in order to quieten him down.
He was clearly what we would call an alcoholic who had been teetotal for six years but had gone back on the beer.
Fairhurst's landlady told the court that during the night her lodger had been "very wild in drink, but was a good, quiet man when sober.
When he had beer he always threatened to strangle someone." The Chairman of the Bench suggested that Fairhurst should turn over a new leaf, which he agreed to do.
He was fined £1 and ordered to find sureties for his good behaviour.
As well as silent films, events were sometimes shown and on the 5th the cinema began three days of screenings of the Grand National.
The race had taken place ten days earlier at Aintree in front of King George V.
There was no commentary, of course, just subtitles and the heavy rain probably did not do a lot for the picture quality.
Topping the bill at the Hippodrome from the 5th were Emerson & Gilbert, who described themselves as "The Dago and his Black Friend".
Whist drives were incredibly popular in St Helens with almost 200 held in the Town Hall last year.
On the 5th the annual Sutton whist drive and dance in aid of the choir of All Saints Church was revived after being in abeyance during the war.
The Reporter said the event was conducted with "great enthusiasm".
The dancing room had been "tastefully decorated" and an "animated scene presented itself, everybody fervently enjoying themselves".
Next week's stories will include the death of the hero of the Town Hall fire, plans for a big expansion of the electricity network in St Helens, the Irish woman who wanted a revolution at Fingerpost and the man found sleeping in the Post Office in Church Street at midnight.