150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (10th - 16th OCTOBER 1872)
This week's stories include the dead baby discovered dumped in St Anne's churchyard, the gas explosion at Sutton Heath Colliery, the revamped St Helens Junction rifle range, the reopening of the refurbished Theatre Royal and the strike at the newly opened railway Sheeting Sheds in Sutton.
We begin on the 11th when Charles Montague was charged with endeavouring to obtain money under false pretences. The defendant said he preferred to be known as Captain Montague and the St Helens Newspaper described him as a strongly built, middle-aged man, "with some evidence of a respectability which misfortune had almost obliterated." Upon arriving in St Helens, Montague had said he was a former officer in the French army and of the Paris Commune but had soon got drunk, as the Newspaper described:
"Having the ill luck to take a few glasses of Irish whiskey, before he was familiar with the levelling tendencies of that beverage, the sturdy Communist became so demonstrative and disagreeably conspicuous that a policeman illustrated to him the “liberty and equality” of our own constitution by providing him with a night's lodging at the police station."
When giving evidence, the captain said that he had been to Pilkington's glassworks and a "tall gentleman with a big beard" had given him a shilling. Well, William Pilkington, the aforementioned big, bushy-bearded man just happened to be on the Bench trying the case and admitted having seen the Frenchman but denied giving him any cash. A provision dealer from Liverpool Road in St Helens called John Thompson gave evidence that Montague had come to him claiming to be a priest from Strasburg on a charitable mission. After listening to the captain's rambling defence statement, William Pilkington declared him to be a mendicant and vagrant and sent him to prison for a fortnight.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 12th: "Throughout the whole of Lancashire the loss in the potato crop, from disease and flood, has this year been most disastrous." Growers in the SW division of Lancashire had fared the worst.
For many years the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction made and repaired tarpaulin sheets for railway wagons and street carts. The works had originally been based at Birmingham but earlier this year it had relocated to Sutton. Some of their workers had transferred as well and as an inducement to move to St Helens, claimed they'd been promised a three-shilling increase in their wages to 25s per week.
The rise had never materialised and so this week they went on strike. In response the London & North Western Railway brought in men from Liverpool as replacement labour. That went down badly with the strikers and the Wigan Observer wrote: "Much excitement prevails in the neighbourhood". On the 12th a scuffle took place at the railway station between the opposing groups of strikers and workers – but a police presence prevented their squabble from getting out of hand.
Then two days later, George Smith, the foreman of the Liverpool sheetmakers, summoned striker William Mottram to St Helens Petty Sessions charging him with threatening his life. The court heard how the strike hands had frequently hooted and insulted their substitutes as they passed to and from work. Groups of people making hooting sounds seems a strange thing to do today – but it used to be a common means of expressing disapproval of others. Mottram admitted being part of the crowd but denied making any threats. However, the Bench ordered him to be bound over for three months.
Also in court was David McDonald who was charged with attempting to obtain money under false pretences. St Helens Police had heard from their colleagues in Glasgow that McDonald had been going round the country looking for charity by making false claims. A local clergyman called Rev. Miller had paid for the young man to stay in a temperance hotel for the night but told the court he did not want to press charges.
In his defence McDonald claimed that he endured poor health through a "nervous affection of the heart" – but was disbelieved by the Bench. Its Chairman said he could not discharge the defendant, as Rev. Miller would like, because McDonald had spent two years undertaking "this kind of work". Normally, the man would have been liable to three months in prison but because of Rev. Miller's appeal, he was only sentenced to 14 days in Kirkdale gaol.
The first incarnation of the St Helens Theatre Royal had been a wooden structure at the bottom of Bridge Street. Since 1862 the theatre had been situated at the corner of Milk Street and Waterloo Street, in the premises we know as the Citadel (pictured above). Charles Du Val was its new owner but had found the premises to be in a bad way. The St Helens Newspaper this week described its condition as: "Dirty, neglected, and utterly unfit for respectable audiences".
And so the theatre had been closed for some months while extensive renovations took place but it was scheduled to reopen on the 16th. The Newspaper said there had been a compete transformation and audiences of the theatre under the previous management would have difficulty in recognising it now. An advert in the paper said the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House, St. Helens' (as it was styled) would shortly open with "new and costly scenery & decorations" and "prove to be one of the handsomest theatres in the provinces".
There was also a notice in the Newspaper inviting builders to submit tenders for the erection of the new Town Hall and police buildings in what was then called Cotham Street.
In December 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described the problems that the local rifle volunteers were experiencing on their rifle range at St Helens Junction. The members of the 47th LRV had not been able to use their range since the summer of that year because of stray bullets from "awkward shooters". Those bullets had been missing their rifle butt and had led to complaints of creating "danger to life and property".
The butt was then described by the Newspaper as already being a "mass of earth" of "vast proportions" but needed to be elevated further at huge cost, which the battalion could not afford. This week the Newspaper was able to report that the cash had now been found and the rifle range had been greatly improved. So, hopefully, stray bullets from awkward shooters would no longer prove a danger to others.
During the evening of the 15th, the dead body of a baby was found in a corner of the burial ground at St Anne's church in Sutton. The child's remains were wrapped in wadding and placed in a small box, which had been deposited in such a way that it was partially concealed by the graveyard wall.
The police took possession of the body and Dr Lyon conducted a post mortem from which he concluded the infant had been prematurely stillborn. Under those circumstances, it was not required that an inquest be held. It was reported that the police had no clues as to the parentage of the baby – and, no doubt, never would, due to the secrecy surrounding such sad disposals that were then all too common.
On the morning of the 16th, Joseph Rigby from Duke Street was severely burned by a gas explosion at Sutton Heath Colliery. As the young man descended the pit carrying a lit candle, he saw the word "Fire" had been scrawled on his spade. Joseph interpreted that as a warning of danger but thinking that the dangerous gas was not in his immediate vicinity, continued walking to his workplace until an explosion stopped him in his tracks. The St Helens Newspaper pointed out that on the previous day, naked lights had been used in the pit "with perfect impunity".
Also on the 16th, at a meeting of the St Helens Library Committee, it was decided to re-open the public library, which had been closed since the burning down of the Town Hall in New Market Place. The "Free Lending Library" contained over 3,000 volumes and would be available again in the badly damaged old premises until the new Town Hall could be built. However, the library's opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week and those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably as confirmation of their identity.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the pub landlord's attack on the Rainford Junction stationmaster, the Bold prosecution for quitting a farm job without giving notice and the man accused of being the most unmitigated scamp and blackguard in Sutton.
We begin on the 11th when Charles Montague was charged with endeavouring to obtain money under false pretences. The defendant said he preferred to be known as Captain Montague and the St Helens Newspaper described him as a strongly built, middle-aged man, "with some evidence of a respectability which misfortune had almost obliterated." Upon arriving in St Helens, Montague had said he was a former officer in the French army and of the Paris Commune but had soon got drunk, as the Newspaper described:
"Having the ill luck to take a few glasses of Irish whiskey, before he was familiar with the levelling tendencies of that beverage, the sturdy Communist became so demonstrative and disagreeably conspicuous that a policeman illustrated to him the “liberty and equality” of our own constitution by providing him with a night's lodging at the police station."
When giving evidence, the captain said that he had been to Pilkington's glassworks and a "tall gentleman with a big beard" had given him a shilling. Well, William Pilkington, the aforementioned big, bushy-bearded man just happened to be on the Bench trying the case and admitted having seen the Frenchman but denied giving him any cash. A provision dealer from Liverpool Road in St Helens called John Thompson gave evidence that Montague had come to him claiming to be a priest from Strasburg on a charitable mission. After listening to the captain's rambling defence statement, William Pilkington declared him to be a mendicant and vagrant and sent him to prison for a fortnight.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 12th: "Throughout the whole of Lancashire the loss in the potato crop, from disease and flood, has this year been most disastrous." Growers in the SW division of Lancashire had fared the worst.
For many years the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction made and repaired tarpaulin sheets for railway wagons and street carts. The works had originally been based at Birmingham but earlier this year it had relocated to Sutton. Some of their workers had transferred as well and as an inducement to move to St Helens, claimed they'd been promised a three-shilling increase in their wages to 25s per week.
The rise had never materialised and so this week they went on strike. In response the London & North Western Railway brought in men from Liverpool as replacement labour. That went down badly with the strikers and the Wigan Observer wrote: "Much excitement prevails in the neighbourhood". On the 12th a scuffle took place at the railway station between the opposing groups of strikers and workers – but a police presence prevented their squabble from getting out of hand.
Then two days later, George Smith, the foreman of the Liverpool sheetmakers, summoned striker William Mottram to St Helens Petty Sessions charging him with threatening his life. The court heard how the strike hands had frequently hooted and insulted their substitutes as they passed to and from work. Groups of people making hooting sounds seems a strange thing to do today – but it used to be a common means of expressing disapproval of others. Mottram admitted being part of the crowd but denied making any threats. However, the Bench ordered him to be bound over for three months.
Also in court was David McDonald who was charged with attempting to obtain money under false pretences. St Helens Police had heard from their colleagues in Glasgow that McDonald had been going round the country looking for charity by making false claims. A local clergyman called Rev. Miller had paid for the young man to stay in a temperance hotel for the night but told the court he did not want to press charges.
In his defence McDonald claimed that he endured poor health through a "nervous affection of the heart" – but was disbelieved by the Bench. Its Chairman said he could not discharge the defendant, as Rev. Miller would like, because McDonald had spent two years undertaking "this kind of work". Normally, the man would have been liable to three months in prison but because of Rev. Miller's appeal, he was only sentenced to 14 days in Kirkdale gaol.
And so the theatre had been closed for some months while extensive renovations took place but it was scheduled to reopen on the 16th. The Newspaper said there had been a compete transformation and audiences of the theatre under the previous management would have difficulty in recognising it now. An advert in the paper said the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House, St. Helens' (as it was styled) would shortly open with "new and costly scenery & decorations" and "prove to be one of the handsomest theatres in the provinces".
There was also a notice in the Newspaper inviting builders to submit tenders for the erection of the new Town Hall and police buildings in what was then called Cotham Street.
In December 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described the problems that the local rifle volunteers were experiencing on their rifle range at St Helens Junction. The members of the 47th LRV had not been able to use their range since the summer of that year because of stray bullets from "awkward shooters". Those bullets had been missing their rifle butt and had led to complaints of creating "danger to life and property".
The butt was then described by the Newspaper as already being a "mass of earth" of "vast proportions" but needed to be elevated further at huge cost, which the battalion could not afford. This week the Newspaper was able to report that the cash had now been found and the rifle range had been greatly improved. So, hopefully, stray bullets from awkward shooters would no longer prove a danger to others.
During the evening of the 15th, the dead body of a baby was found in a corner of the burial ground at St Anne's church in Sutton. The child's remains were wrapped in wadding and placed in a small box, which had been deposited in such a way that it was partially concealed by the graveyard wall.
The police took possession of the body and Dr Lyon conducted a post mortem from which he concluded the infant had been prematurely stillborn. Under those circumstances, it was not required that an inquest be held. It was reported that the police had no clues as to the parentage of the baby – and, no doubt, never would, due to the secrecy surrounding such sad disposals that were then all too common.
On the morning of the 16th, Joseph Rigby from Duke Street was severely burned by a gas explosion at Sutton Heath Colliery. As the young man descended the pit carrying a lit candle, he saw the word "Fire" had been scrawled on his spade. Joseph interpreted that as a warning of danger but thinking that the dangerous gas was not in his immediate vicinity, continued walking to his workplace until an explosion stopped him in his tracks. The St Helens Newspaper pointed out that on the previous day, naked lights had been used in the pit "with perfect impunity".
Also on the 16th, at a meeting of the St Helens Library Committee, it was decided to re-open the public library, which had been closed since the burning down of the Town Hall in New Market Place. The "Free Lending Library" contained over 3,000 volumes and would be available again in the badly damaged old premises until the new Town Hall could be built. However, the library's opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week and those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably as confirmation of their identity.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the pub landlord's attack on the Rainford Junction stationmaster, the Bold prosecution for quitting a farm job without giving notice and the man accused of being the most unmitigated scamp and blackguard in Sutton.
This week's stories include the dead baby discovered dumped in St Anne's churchyard, the gas explosion at Sutton Heath Colliery, the revamped St Helens Junction rifle range, the reopening of the refurbished Theatre Royal and the strike at the newly opened railway Sheeting Sheds in Sutton.
We begin on the 11th when Charles Montague was charged with endeavouring to obtain money under false pretences.
The defendant said he preferred to be known as Captain Montague and the St Helens Newspaper described him as a strongly built, middle-aged man, "with some evidence of a respectability which misfortune had almost obliterated."
Upon arriving in St Helens, Montague had said he was a former officer in the French army and of the Paris Commune but had soon got drunk, as the Newspaper described:
"Having the ill luck to take a few glasses of Irish whiskey, before he was familiar with the levelling tendencies of that beverage, the sturdy Communist became so demonstrative and disagreeably conspicuous that a policeman illustrated to him the “liberty and equality” of our own constitution by providing him with a night's lodging at the police station."
When giving evidence, the captain said that he had been to Pilkington's glassworks and a "tall gentleman with a big beard" had given him a shilling.
Well, William Pilkington, the aforementioned big, bushy-bearded man just happened to be on the Bench trying the case and admitted having seen the Frenchman but denied giving him any cash.
A provision dealer from Liverpool Road in St Helens called John Thompson gave evidence that Montague had come to him claiming to be a priest from Strasburg on a charitable mission.
After listening to the captain's rambling defence statement, William Pilkington declared him to be a mendicant and vagrant and sent him to prison for a fortnight.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 12th: "Throughout the whole of Lancashire the loss in the potato crop, from disease and flood, has this year been most disastrous."
Growers in the SW division of Lancashire had fared the worst.
For many years the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction made and repaired tarpaulin sheets for railway wagons and street carts.
The works had originally been based at Birmingham but earlier this year it had relocated to Sutton.
Some of their workers had transferred as well and as an inducement to move to St Helens, claimed they'd been promised a three-shilling increase in their wages to 25s per week.
The rise had never materialised and so this week they went on strike. In response the London & North Western Railway brought in men from Liverpool as replacement labour.
That went down badly with the strikers and the Wigan Observer wrote: "Much excitement prevails in the neighbourhood".
On the 12th a scuffle took place at the railway station between the opposing groups of strikers and workers – but a police presence prevented their squabble from getting out of hand.
Then two days later, George Smith, the foreman of the Liverpool sheetmakers, summoned striker William Mottram to St Helens Petty Sessions charging him with threatening his life.
The court heard how the strike hands had frequently hooted and insulted their substitutes as they passed to and from work.
Groups of people making hooting sounds seems a strange thing to do today – but it used to be a common means of expressing disapproval of others.
Mottram admitted being part of the crowd but denied making any threats. However, the Bench ordered him to be bound over for three months.
Also in court was David McDonald who was charged with attempting to obtain money under false pretences.
St Helens Police had heard from their colleagues in Glasgow that McDonald had been going round the country looking for charity by making false claims.
A local clergyman called Rev. Miller had paid for the young man to stay in a temperance hotel for the night but told the court he did not want to press charges.
In his defence McDonald claimed that he endured poor health through a "nervous affection of the heart" – but was disbelieved by the Bench.
Its Chairman said he could not discharge the defendant, as Rev. Miller would like, because McDonald had spent two years undertaking "this kind of work".
Normally, the man would have been liable to three months in prison but because of Rev. Miller's appeal, he was only sentenced to 14 days in Kirkdale gaol.
The first incarnation of the St Helens Theatre Royal had been a wooden structure at the bottom of Bridge Street.
Since 1862 the theatre had been situated at the corner of Milk Street and Waterloo Street, in the premises we know as the Citadel (pictured above).
Charles Du Val was its new owner but had found the premises to be in a bad way. The St Helens Newspaper this week described its condition as: "Dirty, neglected, and utterly unfit for respectable audiences".
And so the theatre had been closed for some months while extensive renovations took place but it was scheduled to reopen on the 16th.
The Newspaper said there had been a compete transformation and audiences of the theatre under the previous management would have difficulty in recognising it now.
An advert in the paper said the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House, St. Helens' (as it was styled) would shortly open with "new and costly scenery & decorations" and "prove to be one of the handsomest theatres in the provinces".
There was also a notice in the Newspaper inviting builders to submit tenders for the erection of the new Town Hall and police buildings in what was then called Cotham Street.
In December 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described the problems that the local rifle volunteers were experiencing on their rifle range at St Helens Junction.
The members of the 47th LRV had not been able to use their range since the summer of that year because of stray bullets from "awkward shooters".
Those bullets had been missing their rifle butt and had led to complaints of creating "danger to life and property".
The butt was then described by the Newspaper as already being a "mass of earth" of "vast proportions" but needed to be elevated further at huge cost, which the battalion could not afford.
This week the Newspaper was able to report that the cash had now been found and the rifle range had been greatly improved.
So, hopefully, stray bullets from awkward shooters would no longer prove a danger to others.
During the evening of the 15th, the dead body of a baby was found in a corner of the burial ground at St Anne's church in Sutton.
The child's remains were wrapped in wadding and placed in a small box, which had been deposited in such a way that it was partially concealed by the graveyard wall.
The police took possession of the body and Dr Lyon conducted a post mortem from which he concluded the infant had been prematurely stillborn.
Under those circumstances, it was not required that an inquest be held.
It was reported that the police had no clues as to the parentage of the baby – and, no doubt, never would, due to the secrecy surrounding such sad disposals that were then all too common.
On the morning of the 16th, Joseph Rigby from Duke Street was severely burned by a gas explosion at Sutton Heath Colliery.
As the young man descended the pit carrying a lit candle, he saw the word "Fire" had been scrawled on his spade.
Joseph interpreted that as a warning of danger but thinking that the dangerous gas was not in his immediate vicinity, continued walking to his workplace until an explosion stopped him in his tracks.
The St Helens Newspaper pointed out that on the previous day, naked lights had been used in the pit "with perfect impunity".
Also on the 16th, at a meeting of the St Helens Library Committee, it was decided to re-open the public library, which had been closed since the burning down of the Town Hall in New Market Place.
The "Free Lending Library" contained over 3,000 volumes and would be available again in the badly damaged old premises until the new Town Hall could be built.
However, the library's opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week and those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably as confirmation of their identity.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the pub landlord's attack on the Rainford Junction stationmaster, the Bold prosecution for quitting a farm job without giving notice and the man accused of being the most unmitigated scamp and blackguard in Sutton.
We begin on the 11th when Charles Montague was charged with endeavouring to obtain money under false pretences.
The defendant said he preferred to be known as Captain Montague and the St Helens Newspaper described him as a strongly built, middle-aged man, "with some evidence of a respectability which misfortune had almost obliterated."
Upon arriving in St Helens, Montague had said he was a former officer in the French army and of the Paris Commune but had soon got drunk, as the Newspaper described:
"Having the ill luck to take a few glasses of Irish whiskey, before he was familiar with the levelling tendencies of that beverage, the sturdy Communist became so demonstrative and disagreeably conspicuous that a policeman illustrated to him the “liberty and equality” of our own constitution by providing him with a night's lodging at the police station."
When giving evidence, the captain said that he had been to Pilkington's glassworks and a "tall gentleman with a big beard" had given him a shilling.
Well, William Pilkington, the aforementioned big, bushy-bearded man just happened to be on the Bench trying the case and admitted having seen the Frenchman but denied giving him any cash.
A provision dealer from Liverpool Road in St Helens called John Thompson gave evidence that Montague had come to him claiming to be a priest from Strasburg on a charitable mission.
After listening to the captain's rambling defence statement, William Pilkington declared him to be a mendicant and vagrant and sent him to prison for a fortnight.
The St Helens Newspaper wrote on the 12th: "Throughout the whole of Lancashire the loss in the potato crop, from disease and flood, has this year been most disastrous."
Growers in the SW division of Lancashire had fared the worst.
For many years the Sheeting Sheds at St Helens Junction made and repaired tarpaulin sheets for railway wagons and street carts.
The works had originally been based at Birmingham but earlier this year it had relocated to Sutton.
Some of their workers had transferred as well and as an inducement to move to St Helens, claimed they'd been promised a three-shilling increase in their wages to 25s per week.
The rise had never materialised and so this week they went on strike. In response the London & North Western Railway brought in men from Liverpool as replacement labour.
That went down badly with the strikers and the Wigan Observer wrote: "Much excitement prevails in the neighbourhood".
On the 12th a scuffle took place at the railway station between the opposing groups of strikers and workers – but a police presence prevented their squabble from getting out of hand.
Then two days later, George Smith, the foreman of the Liverpool sheetmakers, summoned striker William Mottram to St Helens Petty Sessions charging him with threatening his life.
The court heard how the strike hands had frequently hooted and insulted their substitutes as they passed to and from work.
Groups of people making hooting sounds seems a strange thing to do today – but it used to be a common means of expressing disapproval of others.
Mottram admitted being part of the crowd but denied making any threats. However, the Bench ordered him to be bound over for three months.
Also in court was David McDonald who was charged with attempting to obtain money under false pretences.
St Helens Police had heard from their colleagues in Glasgow that McDonald had been going round the country looking for charity by making false claims.
A local clergyman called Rev. Miller had paid for the young man to stay in a temperance hotel for the night but told the court he did not want to press charges.
In his defence McDonald claimed that he endured poor health through a "nervous affection of the heart" – but was disbelieved by the Bench.
Its Chairman said he could not discharge the defendant, as Rev. Miller would like, because McDonald had spent two years undertaking "this kind of work".
Normally, the man would have been liable to three months in prison but because of Rev. Miller's appeal, he was only sentenced to 14 days in Kirkdale gaol.
The first incarnation of the St Helens Theatre Royal had been a wooden structure at the bottom of Bridge Street.
Charles Du Val was its new owner but had found the premises to be in a bad way. The St Helens Newspaper this week described its condition as: "Dirty, neglected, and utterly unfit for respectable audiences".
And so the theatre had been closed for some months while extensive renovations took place but it was scheduled to reopen on the 16th.
The Newspaper said there had been a compete transformation and audiences of the theatre under the previous management would have difficulty in recognising it now.
An advert in the paper said the 'New Theatre Royal and Opera House, St. Helens' (as it was styled) would shortly open with "new and costly scenery & decorations" and "prove to be one of the handsomest theatres in the provinces".
There was also a notice in the Newspaper inviting builders to submit tenders for the erection of the new Town Hall and police buildings in what was then called Cotham Street.
In December 1869 the St Helens Newspaper had described the problems that the local rifle volunteers were experiencing on their rifle range at St Helens Junction.
The members of the 47th LRV had not been able to use their range since the summer of that year because of stray bullets from "awkward shooters".
Those bullets had been missing their rifle butt and had led to complaints of creating "danger to life and property".
The butt was then described by the Newspaper as already being a "mass of earth" of "vast proportions" but needed to be elevated further at huge cost, which the battalion could not afford.
This week the Newspaper was able to report that the cash had now been found and the rifle range had been greatly improved.
So, hopefully, stray bullets from awkward shooters would no longer prove a danger to others.
During the evening of the 15th, the dead body of a baby was found in a corner of the burial ground at St Anne's church in Sutton.
The child's remains were wrapped in wadding and placed in a small box, which had been deposited in such a way that it was partially concealed by the graveyard wall.
The police took possession of the body and Dr Lyon conducted a post mortem from which he concluded the infant had been prematurely stillborn.
Under those circumstances, it was not required that an inquest be held.
It was reported that the police had no clues as to the parentage of the baby – and, no doubt, never would, due to the secrecy surrounding such sad disposals that were then all too common.
On the morning of the 16th, Joseph Rigby from Duke Street was severely burned by a gas explosion at Sutton Heath Colliery.
As the young man descended the pit carrying a lit candle, he saw the word "Fire" had been scrawled on his spade.
Joseph interpreted that as a warning of danger but thinking that the dangerous gas was not in his immediate vicinity, continued walking to his workplace until an explosion stopped him in his tracks.
The St Helens Newspaper pointed out that on the previous day, naked lights had been used in the pit "with perfect impunity".
Also on the 16th, at a meeting of the St Helens Library Committee, it was decided to re-open the public library, which had been closed since the burning down of the Town Hall in New Market Place.
The "Free Lending Library" contained over 3,000 volumes and would be available again in the badly damaged old premises until the new Town Hall could be built.
However, the library's opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week and those wishing to borrow books needed to bring in a "certificate from a respectable householder", presumably as confirmation of their identity.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the pub landlord's attack on the Rainford Junction stationmaster, the Bold prosecution for quitting a farm job without giving notice and the man accused of being the most unmitigated scamp and blackguard in Sutton.