150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (13th - 19th JUNE 1872)
This week's stories include the Pocket Nook stabbing case, the Sutton calf that was a freak of nature, the day in Bridge Street when Moses tried to part Abel's head, the smoke nuisance in St Helens, two curious train fare dodger cases and Pilkington's annual treat for their boy workers.
A lusus naturae or freak of nature occurs every now and then and this week it happened to a calf belonging to a Sutton farmer called Garton. The head, shoulders and forelegs were born normal but it had two distinct bodies, each with its own tail and hind legs. In total the animal had five legs at its rear. A lucrative career as a carnival exhibit would, perhaps, have been in store but when Farmer Garton found it, the calf was already deceased.
"THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD!" was the charming headline to an advert for 'Clark's World-Famed Blood Mixture' in the St Helens Newspaper on the 15th. Having impure blood was believed to be the cause of many health troubles – and so Clark's concoction was seen as the solution. Bottles could be bought from John Cotton's chemist's shop in Market Street in St Helens for 2s 3d each. The ad said:
"For CLEANSING and CLEARING the BLOOD from ALL IMPURITIES, whether arising from youthful indiscretion or any other cause, cannot be too highly recommended. It: • Cures old sores • Cures ulcerated sores in the neck • Cures ulcerated sore legs • Cures blackheads, or pimples on the face • Cures scurvy sores • Cures cancerous ulcers • Cures blood and skin diseases • Cures glandular swellings • Clears the blood from all impure matter, from whatever cause arising.
"As this mixture is pleasant to the taste, and warranted free from mercury – which all pills and most medicines sold for the above diseases contain – the Proprietor solicits sufferers to give it a trial to test its value."
The Newspaper also published this damning editorial on the smoke nuisance in the town: "For some time great complaints have been made in St. Helens and the neighbourhood, of the smoke and vapours which are continually being poured out of the chimneys of our glass, iron, chemical, and copper works; and although the latter have had to bear the brunt of all the blame for nearly all the damage that is done to growing crops, and all the unpleasantness that is experienced by the inhabitants, still there can be little doubt that much of the annoyance, and no little of the injury, may fairly be attributed to the other works, and notably to our glass works.
"Our chemical works are said to be under inspection, and we are expected to believe that little or no damage or nuisance is caused by them; but yet Tontine street, Bridge street and the whole centre of the town, is at times enveloped in so dense and disagreeable a fog that many persons are constrained to believe that virtually there is no restraining inspection connected with some of our chemical works.
"Our copper processes admittedly defy control. We are told, however, that our copper smelters are very anxious to prevent the escape of these deleterious vapours, but that hitherto science has been completely beaten in every attempt. All we can say is that science ought to be ashamed of itself, and should be compelled to haul down its flag of high pretence, if, with all the appliances at its command, it cannot devise some method of carrying on a profitable business without devastating the surrounding country."
The annual tea party and sports of the 70 children connected to Portico Sunday School took place on the 17th. The Newspaper wrote: "The weather was beautiful, and enabled the little ones to make the very most of their day's pleasuring."
If you were committed to Rainhill Asylum and had any money or property, you were expected to contribute to your keep. On the 17th the clerk to the Prescot Guardians applied to the Petty Sessions in St Helens for the chargeability of a "lunatic" called William Ackers to be transferred to the authorities in Wigan. That was because the deranged man, as he was called, owned property in Hindley and the Wigan Union would be able to claim back cash for his treatment from him and then pay it to Rainhill.
Also in the Petty Sessions on that day was Dominick Holland who was charged with stabbing James Leonard at Pocket Nook. The latter lodged in the house of Anne Lally in Vernon Street. Evidence was given that Holland had gone to the front and rear of the house and, finding both doors locked, had kicked them heavily and shouted for someone to come out and fight him. The 40-year-old had called several times previously and created a scene, which is why the doors were shut and bolted.
Eventually, James Leonard went into the yard and found Holland with his wife. He asked him what he wanted and not getting a satisfactory answer, decided to knock the man down with his fist – as you would! As Holland fell, he stabbed Leonard with a knife, inflicting three wounds on his thigh and knee and the wounded man was heard to shout "murder" before lapsing into unconsciousness. Several men brought Leonard into the house and attempted to staunch the blood, which was reported as "running very fast".
When it was his turn to give evidence, Dominick Holland claimed that earlier in the day after leaving his work, he'd had a row with one of Leonard's friends who lived at the house. And so after having some drink, he had decided to visit the property to continue the argument. He claimed that both Holland and another man called Flynn had "bounced on him like a pair of lions" and then said that was all he had to say.
Holland was not represented in court by any advocate – no doubt because he could not afford one – which did not help his case. A good solicitor might have been able to argue a case for self-defence but an inarticulate defendant had little chance on his own. The magistrates committed the man to take his trial at the next Kirkdale quarter sessions where longer sentences could be imposed. Those hearings were always short – but rarely sweet for the defendants and, in July, Dominick Holland was sent to prison for 12 months with hard labour. And hard labour in 1872 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day.
In the 1870s you could effectively be sent to prison for not paying your train fare. Although convicted fare dodgers would invariably be fined, they'd often be given an alternative prison sentence that would be served if they couldn't find the cash. Samuel Liptrot was one such person who might have gone to gaol after being accused of not paying his train fare from Liverpool to St Helens Junction.
When he appeared in the Petty Sessions he was fined 20 shillings and costs, which were probably a further seven or eight shillings. His occupation was not stated in the report but the total amount might well have been the best part of a fortnight's wages. Samuel claimed he'd bought a ticket but had lost it after getting a bit drunk – but such excuses were rarely believed.
Concern over a possible custodial sentence might well have been the reason why, on the following day, Thomas Murphy "kept up a crying accompaniment", when he appeared in court charged with committing a similar offence. That was how the St Helens Newspaper described the 17-year-old miner's behaviour in the Sessions after he'd been caught at Rainford Junction without a train ticket.
The youth foolishly did a runner and ran for nearly a mile before he was overtaken by two athletic porters and returned to the station. Thomas had been travelling from Wigan and claimed that he had been to Bolton to look for work and had spent his return train money. He was also fined 20 shillings and costs, although no alternative prison term was given. The magistrates liked to see repentance and his crying in court would have done him no harm.
Last week Mary Malone had appeared in court where she was described as an "idle woman" and sent to prison for a month. This week it was the turn of Mary Pilkington to be so labelled and given the same gaol term. The woman had come to St Helens from Bury in 1870 and the Newspaper wrote that since then she had been an "infinity of trouble" to the police. On this occasion she was accused of being drunk and making a disturbance which Mary completely denied but for which she was not believed.
According to the 1871 census, there were at that time 55 men within the Prescot registration district (which included St Helens) whose first name was Moses. There were also nineteen persons called Abel. On the 19th two men bearing such Biblically inspired names came face to face in St Helens Petty Sessions. They were a young hairdresser called Moses Bell and a Bridge Street publican called Abel Bennington. It was not their first meeting – as Moses had often been in Abel's pub where he was accused of being troublesome after having too much to drink.
Earlier in the week the publican had chucked the hairdresser out of his house but, when his back was turned, claimed Moses had got his revenge by striking him on the head with some kind of weapon. The defendant admitted committing the violent assault but claimed he had only used his fists. A witness supported Moses's version and also claimed his friend had been thrown out of the pub for no reason. The Chairman of the Bench decided to give Moses Bell the benefit of the doubt over the use of the weapon and fined him 30 shillings for the assault or, if in default, he had to spend a month in prison.
Pilkington's employed 350 boys and on the 19th the firm gave them their annual treat, although as usual it doesn't appear to have cost the firm very much. The event began at 3pm on the local cricket ground when the lads began competing for book prizes by playing what was described as "a series of out-door sports". These included a dog race in which the boys ran on all fours; a horse race (in which, presumably, one lad rode on another) and wheelbarrow and three-legged races. Then the boys marched in procession to the schoolroom attached to Pilkington's Eccleston works where they sat down to tea and received prizes.
Next week's stories will include the bucket of water solution to a chemical works fire, a Westfield Street brothel is raided by the police, the St Helens thunderstorm of exceptional severity and the young maniacal butcher in a straightjacket.
A lusus naturae or freak of nature occurs every now and then and this week it happened to a calf belonging to a Sutton farmer called Garton. The head, shoulders and forelegs were born normal but it had two distinct bodies, each with its own tail and hind legs. In total the animal had five legs at its rear. A lucrative career as a carnival exhibit would, perhaps, have been in store but when Farmer Garton found it, the calf was already deceased.
"THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD!" was the charming headline to an advert for 'Clark's World-Famed Blood Mixture' in the St Helens Newspaper on the 15th. Having impure blood was believed to be the cause of many health troubles – and so Clark's concoction was seen as the solution. Bottles could be bought from John Cotton's chemist's shop in Market Street in St Helens for 2s 3d each. The ad said:
"For CLEANSING and CLEARING the BLOOD from ALL IMPURITIES, whether arising from youthful indiscretion or any other cause, cannot be too highly recommended. It: • Cures old sores • Cures ulcerated sores in the neck • Cures ulcerated sore legs • Cures blackheads, or pimples on the face • Cures scurvy sores • Cures cancerous ulcers • Cures blood and skin diseases • Cures glandular swellings • Clears the blood from all impure matter, from whatever cause arising.
"As this mixture is pleasant to the taste, and warranted free from mercury – which all pills and most medicines sold for the above diseases contain – the Proprietor solicits sufferers to give it a trial to test its value."
"Our chemical works are said to be under inspection, and we are expected to believe that little or no damage or nuisance is caused by them; but yet Tontine street, Bridge street and the whole centre of the town, is at times enveloped in so dense and disagreeable a fog that many persons are constrained to believe that virtually there is no restraining inspection connected with some of our chemical works.
"Our copper processes admittedly defy control. We are told, however, that our copper smelters are very anxious to prevent the escape of these deleterious vapours, but that hitherto science has been completely beaten in every attempt. All we can say is that science ought to be ashamed of itself, and should be compelled to haul down its flag of high pretence, if, with all the appliances at its command, it cannot devise some method of carrying on a profitable business without devastating the surrounding country."
The annual tea party and sports of the 70 children connected to Portico Sunday School took place on the 17th. The Newspaper wrote: "The weather was beautiful, and enabled the little ones to make the very most of their day's pleasuring."
If you were committed to Rainhill Asylum and had any money or property, you were expected to contribute to your keep. On the 17th the clerk to the Prescot Guardians applied to the Petty Sessions in St Helens for the chargeability of a "lunatic" called William Ackers to be transferred to the authorities in Wigan. That was because the deranged man, as he was called, owned property in Hindley and the Wigan Union would be able to claim back cash for his treatment from him and then pay it to Rainhill.
Also in the Petty Sessions on that day was Dominick Holland who was charged with stabbing James Leonard at Pocket Nook. The latter lodged in the house of Anne Lally in Vernon Street. Evidence was given that Holland had gone to the front and rear of the house and, finding both doors locked, had kicked them heavily and shouted for someone to come out and fight him. The 40-year-old had called several times previously and created a scene, which is why the doors were shut and bolted.
Eventually, James Leonard went into the yard and found Holland with his wife. He asked him what he wanted and not getting a satisfactory answer, decided to knock the man down with his fist – as you would! As Holland fell, he stabbed Leonard with a knife, inflicting three wounds on his thigh and knee and the wounded man was heard to shout "murder" before lapsing into unconsciousness. Several men brought Leonard into the house and attempted to staunch the blood, which was reported as "running very fast".
When it was his turn to give evidence, Dominick Holland claimed that earlier in the day after leaving his work, he'd had a row with one of Leonard's friends who lived at the house. And so after having some drink, he had decided to visit the property to continue the argument. He claimed that both Holland and another man called Flynn had "bounced on him like a pair of lions" and then said that was all he had to say.
Holland was not represented in court by any advocate – no doubt because he could not afford one – which did not help his case. A good solicitor might have been able to argue a case for self-defence but an inarticulate defendant had little chance on his own. The magistrates committed the man to take his trial at the next Kirkdale quarter sessions where longer sentences could be imposed. Those hearings were always short – but rarely sweet for the defendants and, in July, Dominick Holland was sent to prison for 12 months with hard labour. And hard labour in 1872 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day.
In the 1870s you could effectively be sent to prison for not paying your train fare. Although convicted fare dodgers would invariably be fined, they'd often be given an alternative prison sentence that would be served if they couldn't find the cash. Samuel Liptrot was one such person who might have gone to gaol after being accused of not paying his train fare from Liverpool to St Helens Junction.
When he appeared in the Petty Sessions he was fined 20 shillings and costs, which were probably a further seven or eight shillings. His occupation was not stated in the report but the total amount might well have been the best part of a fortnight's wages. Samuel claimed he'd bought a ticket but had lost it after getting a bit drunk – but such excuses were rarely believed.
Concern over a possible custodial sentence might well have been the reason why, on the following day, Thomas Murphy "kept up a crying accompaniment", when he appeared in court charged with committing a similar offence. That was how the St Helens Newspaper described the 17-year-old miner's behaviour in the Sessions after he'd been caught at Rainford Junction without a train ticket.
The youth foolishly did a runner and ran for nearly a mile before he was overtaken by two athletic porters and returned to the station. Thomas had been travelling from Wigan and claimed that he had been to Bolton to look for work and had spent his return train money. He was also fined 20 shillings and costs, although no alternative prison term was given. The magistrates liked to see repentance and his crying in court would have done him no harm.
Last week Mary Malone had appeared in court where she was described as an "idle woman" and sent to prison for a month. This week it was the turn of Mary Pilkington to be so labelled and given the same gaol term. The woman had come to St Helens from Bury in 1870 and the Newspaper wrote that since then she had been an "infinity of trouble" to the police. On this occasion she was accused of being drunk and making a disturbance which Mary completely denied but for which she was not believed.
According to the 1871 census, there were at that time 55 men within the Prescot registration district (which included St Helens) whose first name was Moses. There were also nineteen persons called Abel. On the 19th two men bearing such Biblically inspired names came face to face in St Helens Petty Sessions. They were a young hairdresser called Moses Bell and a Bridge Street publican called Abel Bennington. It was not their first meeting – as Moses had often been in Abel's pub where he was accused of being troublesome after having too much to drink.
Earlier in the week the publican had chucked the hairdresser out of his house but, when his back was turned, claimed Moses had got his revenge by striking him on the head with some kind of weapon. The defendant admitted committing the violent assault but claimed he had only used his fists. A witness supported Moses's version and also claimed his friend had been thrown out of the pub for no reason. The Chairman of the Bench decided to give Moses Bell the benefit of the doubt over the use of the weapon and fined him 30 shillings for the assault or, if in default, he had to spend a month in prison.
Pilkington's employed 350 boys and on the 19th the firm gave them their annual treat, although as usual it doesn't appear to have cost the firm very much. The event began at 3pm on the local cricket ground when the lads began competing for book prizes by playing what was described as "a series of out-door sports". These included a dog race in which the boys ran on all fours; a horse race (in which, presumably, one lad rode on another) and wheelbarrow and three-legged races. Then the boys marched in procession to the schoolroom attached to Pilkington's Eccleston works where they sat down to tea and received prizes.
Next week's stories will include the bucket of water solution to a chemical works fire, a Westfield Street brothel is raided by the police, the St Helens thunderstorm of exceptional severity and the young maniacal butcher in a straightjacket.
This week's stories include the Pocket Nook stabbing case, the Sutton calf that was a freak of nature, the day in Bridge Street when Moses tried to part Abel's head, the smoke nuisance in St Helens, two curious train fare dodger cases and Pilkington's annual treat for their boy workers.
A lusus naturae or freak of nature occurs every now and then and this week it happened to a calf belonging to a Sutton farmer called Garton.
The head, shoulders and forelegs were born normal but it had two distinct bodies, each with its own tail and hind legs. In total the animal had five legs at its rear.
A lucrative career as a carnival exhibit would, perhaps, have been in store but when Farmer Garton found it, the calf was already deceased.
"THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD!" was the charming headline to an advert for 'Clark's World-Famed Blood Mixture' in the St Helens Newspaper on the 15th.
Having impure blood was believed to be the cause of many health troubles – and so Clark's concoction was seen as the solution.
Bottles could be bought from John Cotton's chemist's shop in Market Street in St Helens for 2s 3d each. The ad said:
"For CLEANSING and CLEARING the BLOOD from ALL IMPURITIES, whether arising from youthful indiscretion or any other cause, cannot be too highly recommended. It:
• Cures old sores
• Cures ulcerated sores in the neck
• Cures ulcerated sore legs
• Cures blackheads, or pimples on the face
• Cures scurvy sores
• Cures cancerous ulcers
• Cures blood and skin diseases
• Cures glandular swellings
• Clears the blood from all impure matter, from whatever cause arising.
"As this mixture is pleasant to the taste, and warranted free from mercury – which all pills and most medicines sold for the above diseases contain – the Proprietor solicits sufferers to give it a trial to test its value."
The Newspaper also published this damning editorial on the smoke nuisance in the town:
"For some time great complaints have been made in St. Helens and the neighbourhood, of the smoke and vapours which are continually being poured out of the chimneys of our glass, iron, chemical, and copper works; and although the latter have had to bear the brunt of all the blame for nearly all the damage that is done to growing crops, and all the unpleasantness that is experienced by the inhabitants, still there can be little doubt that much of the annoyance, and no little of the injury, may fairly be attributed to the other works, and notably to our glass works.
"Our chemical works are said to be under inspection, and we are expected to believe that little or no damage or nuisance is caused by them; but yet Tontine street, Bridge street and the whole centre of the town, is at times enveloped in so dense and disagreeable a fog that many persons are constrained to believe that virtually there is no restraining inspection connected with some of our chemical works.
"Our copper processes admittedly defy control. We are told, however, that our copper smelters are very anxious to prevent the escape of these deleterious vapours, but that hitherto science has been completely beaten in every attempt.
"All we can say is that science ought to be ashamed of itself, and should be compelled to haul down its flag of high pretence, if, with all the appliances at its command, it cannot devise some method of carrying on a profitable business without devastating the surrounding country."
The annual tea party and sports of the 70 children connected to Portico Sunday School took place on the 17th.
The Newspaper wrote: "The weather was beautiful, and enabled the little ones to make the very most of their day's pleasuring."
If you were committed to Rainhill Asylum and had any money or property, you were expected to contribute to your keep.
On the 17th the clerk to the Prescot Guardians applied to the Petty Sessions in St Helens for the chargeability of a "lunatic" called William Ackers to be transferred to the authorities in Wigan.
That was because the deranged man, as he was called, owned property in Hindley and the Wigan Union would be able to claim back cash for his treatment from him and then pay it to Rainhill.
Also in the Petty Sessions on that day was Dominick Holland who was charged with stabbing James Leonard at Pocket Nook.
The latter lodged in the house of Anne Lally in Vernon Street. Evidence was given that Holland had gone to the front and rear of the house and, finding both doors locked, had kicked them heavily and shouted for someone to come out and fight him.
The 40-year-old had called several times previously and created a scene, which is why the doors were shut and bolted.
Eventually, James Leonard went into the yard and found Holland with his wife.
He asked him what he wanted and not getting a satisfactory answer, decided to knock the man down with his fist – as you would!
As Holland fell, he stabbed Leonard with a knife, inflicting three wounds on his thigh and knee and the wounded man was heard to shout "murder" before lapsing into unconsciousness.
Several men brought Leonard into the house and attempted to staunch the blood, which was reported as "running very fast".
When it was his turn to give evidence, Dominick Holland claimed that earlier in the day after leaving his work, he'd had a row with one of Leonard's friends who lived at the house.
And so after having some drink, he had decided to visit the property to continue the argument.
He claimed that both Holland and another man called Flynn had "bounced on him like a pair of lions" and then said that was all he had to say.
Holland was not represented in court by any advocate – no doubt because he could not afford one – which did not help his case.
A good solicitor might have been able to argue a case for self-defence but an inarticulate defendant had little chance on his own.
The magistrates committed the man to take his trial at the next Kirkdale quarter sessions where longer sentences could be imposed.
Those hearings were always short – but rarely sweet for the defendants and, in July, Dominick Holland was sent to prison for 12 months with hard labour.
And hard labour in 1872 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day.
In the 1870s you could effectively be sent to prison for not paying your train fare.
Although convicted fare dodgers would invariably be fined, they'd often be given an alternative prison sentence that would be served if they couldn't find the cash.
Samuel Liptrot was one such person who might have gone to gaol after being accused of not paying his train fare from Liverpool to St Helens Junction.
When he appeared in the Petty Sessions he was fined 20 shillings and costs, which were probably a further seven or eight shillings.
His occupation was not stated in the report but the total amount might well have been the best part of a fortnight's wages.
Samuel claimed he'd bought a ticket but had lost it after getting a bit drunk – but such excuses were rarely believed.
Concern over a possible custodial sentence might well have been the reason why, on the following day, Thomas Murphy "kept up a crying accompaniment", when he appeared in court charged with committing a similar offence.
That was how the St Helens Newspaper described the 17-year-old miner's behaviour in the Sessions after he'd been caught at Rainford Junction without a train ticket.
The youth foolishly did a runner and ran for nearly a mile before he was overtaken by two athletic porters and returned to the station.
Thomas had been travelling from Wigan and claimed that he had been to Bolton to look for work and had spent his return train money.
He was also fined 20 shillings and costs, although no alternative prison term was given.
The magistrates liked to see repentance and his crying in court would have done him no harm.
Last week Mary Malone had appeared in court where she was described as an "idle woman" and sent to prison for a month.
This week it was the turn of Mary Pilkington to be so labelled and given the same gaol term.
The woman had come to St Helens from Bury in 1870 and the Newspaper wrote that since then she had been an "infinity of trouble" to the police.
On this occasion she was accused of being drunk and making a disturbance which Mary completely denied but for which she was not believed.
According to the 1871 census, there were at that time 55 men within the Prescot registration district (which included St Helens) whose first name was Moses. There were also nineteen persons called Abel.
On the 19th two men bearing such Biblically inspired names came face to face in St Helens Petty Sessions.
They were a young hairdresser called Moses Bell and a Bridge Street publican called Abel Bennington.
It was not their first meeting – as Moses had often been in Abel's pub where he was accused of being troublesome after having too much to drink.
Earlier in the week the publican had chucked the hairdresser out of his house but, when his back was turned, claimed Moses had got his revenge by striking him on the head with some kind of weapon.
The defendant admitted committing the violent assault but claimed he had only used his fists.
A witness supported Moses's version and also claimed his friend had been thrown out of the pub for no reason.
The Chairman of the Bench decided to give Moses Bell the benefit of the doubt over the use of the weapon and fined him 30 shillings for the assault or, if in default, he had to spend a month in prison.
Pilkington's employed 350 boys and on the 19th the firm gave them their annual treat, although as usual it doesn't appear to have cost the firm very much.
The event began at 3pm on the local cricket ground when the lads began competing for book prizes by playing what was described as "a series of out-door sports".
These included a dog race in which the boys ran on all fours; a horse race (in which, presumably, one lad rode on another) and wheelbarrow and three-legged races.
Then the boys marched in procession to the schoolroom attached to Pilkington's Eccleston works where they sat down to tea and received prizes.
Next week's stories will include the bucket of water solution to a chemical works fire, a Westfield Street brothel is raided by the police, the St Helens thunderstorm of exceptional severity and the young maniacal butcher in a straightjacket.
A lusus naturae or freak of nature occurs every now and then and this week it happened to a calf belonging to a Sutton farmer called Garton.
The head, shoulders and forelegs were born normal but it had two distinct bodies, each with its own tail and hind legs. In total the animal had five legs at its rear.
A lucrative career as a carnival exhibit would, perhaps, have been in store but when Farmer Garton found it, the calf was already deceased.
"THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD! THE BLOOD!" was the charming headline to an advert for 'Clark's World-Famed Blood Mixture' in the St Helens Newspaper on the 15th.
Having impure blood was believed to be the cause of many health troubles – and so Clark's concoction was seen as the solution.
Bottles could be bought from John Cotton's chemist's shop in Market Street in St Helens for 2s 3d each. The ad said:
"For CLEANSING and CLEARING the BLOOD from ALL IMPURITIES, whether arising from youthful indiscretion or any other cause, cannot be too highly recommended. It:
• Cures old sores
• Cures ulcerated sores in the neck
• Cures ulcerated sore legs
• Cures blackheads, or pimples on the face
• Cures scurvy sores
• Cures cancerous ulcers
• Cures blood and skin diseases
• Cures glandular swellings
• Clears the blood from all impure matter, from whatever cause arising.
"As this mixture is pleasant to the taste, and warranted free from mercury – which all pills and most medicines sold for the above diseases contain – the Proprietor solicits sufferers to give it a trial to test its value."
"For some time great complaints have been made in St. Helens and the neighbourhood, of the smoke and vapours which are continually being poured out of the chimneys of our glass, iron, chemical, and copper works; and although the latter have had to bear the brunt of all the blame for nearly all the damage that is done to growing crops, and all the unpleasantness that is experienced by the inhabitants, still there can be little doubt that much of the annoyance, and no little of the injury, may fairly be attributed to the other works, and notably to our glass works.
"Our chemical works are said to be under inspection, and we are expected to believe that little or no damage or nuisance is caused by them; but yet Tontine street, Bridge street and the whole centre of the town, is at times enveloped in so dense and disagreeable a fog that many persons are constrained to believe that virtually there is no restraining inspection connected with some of our chemical works.
"Our copper processes admittedly defy control. We are told, however, that our copper smelters are very anxious to prevent the escape of these deleterious vapours, but that hitherto science has been completely beaten in every attempt.
"All we can say is that science ought to be ashamed of itself, and should be compelled to haul down its flag of high pretence, if, with all the appliances at its command, it cannot devise some method of carrying on a profitable business without devastating the surrounding country."
The annual tea party and sports of the 70 children connected to Portico Sunday School took place on the 17th.
The Newspaper wrote: "The weather was beautiful, and enabled the little ones to make the very most of their day's pleasuring."
If you were committed to Rainhill Asylum and had any money or property, you were expected to contribute to your keep.
On the 17th the clerk to the Prescot Guardians applied to the Petty Sessions in St Helens for the chargeability of a "lunatic" called William Ackers to be transferred to the authorities in Wigan.
That was because the deranged man, as he was called, owned property in Hindley and the Wigan Union would be able to claim back cash for his treatment from him and then pay it to Rainhill.
Also in the Petty Sessions on that day was Dominick Holland who was charged with stabbing James Leonard at Pocket Nook.
The latter lodged in the house of Anne Lally in Vernon Street. Evidence was given that Holland had gone to the front and rear of the house and, finding both doors locked, had kicked them heavily and shouted for someone to come out and fight him.
The 40-year-old had called several times previously and created a scene, which is why the doors were shut and bolted.
Eventually, James Leonard went into the yard and found Holland with his wife.
He asked him what he wanted and not getting a satisfactory answer, decided to knock the man down with his fist – as you would!
As Holland fell, he stabbed Leonard with a knife, inflicting three wounds on his thigh and knee and the wounded man was heard to shout "murder" before lapsing into unconsciousness.
Several men brought Leonard into the house and attempted to staunch the blood, which was reported as "running very fast".
When it was his turn to give evidence, Dominick Holland claimed that earlier in the day after leaving his work, he'd had a row with one of Leonard's friends who lived at the house.
And so after having some drink, he had decided to visit the property to continue the argument.
He claimed that both Holland and another man called Flynn had "bounced on him like a pair of lions" and then said that was all he had to say.
Holland was not represented in court by any advocate – no doubt because he could not afford one – which did not help his case.
A good solicitor might have been able to argue a case for self-defence but an inarticulate defendant had little chance on his own.
The magistrates committed the man to take his trial at the next Kirkdale quarter sessions where longer sentences could be imposed.
Those hearings were always short – but rarely sweet for the defendants and, in July, Dominick Holland was sent to prison for 12 months with hard labour.
And hard labour in 1872 was incredibly hard. Usually it meant pointlessly working on a treadmill in Kirkdale Gaol in Liverpool for at least six hours a day.
In the 1870s you could effectively be sent to prison for not paying your train fare.
Although convicted fare dodgers would invariably be fined, they'd often be given an alternative prison sentence that would be served if they couldn't find the cash.
Samuel Liptrot was one such person who might have gone to gaol after being accused of not paying his train fare from Liverpool to St Helens Junction.
When he appeared in the Petty Sessions he was fined 20 shillings and costs, which were probably a further seven or eight shillings.
His occupation was not stated in the report but the total amount might well have been the best part of a fortnight's wages.
Samuel claimed he'd bought a ticket but had lost it after getting a bit drunk – but such excuses were rarely believed.
Concern over a possible custodial sentence might well have been the reason why, on the following day, Thomas Murphy "kept up a crying accompaniment", when he appeared in court charged with committing a similar offence.
That was how the St Helens Newspaper described the 17-year-old miner's behaviour in the Sessions after he'd been caught at Rainford Junction without a train ticket.
The youth foolishly did a runner and ran for nearly a mile before he was overtaken by two athletic porters and returned to the station.
Thomas had been travelling from Wigan and claimed that he had been to Bolton to look for work and had spent his return train money.
He was also fined 20 shillings and costs, although no alternative prison term was given.
The magistrates liked to see repentance and his crying in court would have done him no harm.
Last week Mary Malone had appeared in court where she was described as an "idle woman" and sent to prison for a month.
This week it was the turn of Mary Pilkington to be so labelled and given the same gaol term.
The woman had come to St Helens from Bury in 1870 and the Newspaper wrote that since then she had been an "infinity of trouble" to the police.
On this occasion she was accused of being drunk and making a disturbance which Mary completely denied but for which she was not believed.
According to the 1871 census, there were at that time 55 men within the Prescot registration district (which included St Helens) whose first name was Moses. There were also nineteen persons called Abel.
On the 19th two men bearing such Biblically inspired names came face to face in St Helens Petty Sessions.
They were a young hairdresser called Moses Bell and a Bridge Street publican called Abel Bennington.
It was not their first meeting – as Moses had often been in Abel's pub where he was accused of being troublesome after having too much to drink.
Earlier in the week the publican had chucked the hairdresser out of his house but, when his back was turned, claimed Moses had got his revenge by striking him on the head with some kind of weapon.
The defendant admitted committing the violent assault but claimed he had only used his fists.
A witness supported Moses's version and also claimed his friend had been thrown out of the pub for no reason.
The Chairman of the Bench decided to give Moses Bell the benefit of the doubt over the use of the weapon and fined him 30 shillings for the assault or, if in default, he had to spend a month in prison.
Pilkington's employed 350 boys and on the 19th the firm gave them their annual treat, although as usual it doesn't appear to have cost the firm very much.
The event began at 3pm on the local cricket ground when the lads began competing for book prizes by playing what was described as "a series of out-door sports".
These included a dog race in which the boys ran on all fours; a horse race (in which, presumably, one lad rode on another) and wheelbarrow and three-legged races.
Then the boys marched in procession to the schoolroom attached to Pilkington's Eccleston works where they sat down to tea and received prizes.
Next week's stories will include the bucket of water solution to a chemical works fire, a Westfield Street brothel is raided by the police, the St Helens thunderstorm of exceptional severity and the young maniacal butcher in a straightjacket.