150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (13th - 19th DECEMBER 1871)
This week's stories include more criticism of the drinking culture in Rainford, the smallpox epidemic at Haydock, the indecent assault in Bold and the terrible trauma endured by elephants while being transported at sea.
We begin on the 13th at the Warrington County Sessions where another severe punishment was handed out for stealing wearing apparel. Olive Berry was sent to prison for two months for pinching a pair of boots worth 5s 6d from Joseph Gibbons at Haydock on October 21st. I had written about Olive from Florida Road in Haydock early in November when the 26-year-old had been convicted of stealing from St Helens market. Then she was sent to prison for a month – hence the delay in bringing her to book for the boot theft.
Nemo – the pseudonym of the Rainford resident critical of the drinking and gambling that took place in the not so sleepy village – had another fiery letter published in the Liverpool Mercury on the 14th. Previous missives had attacked the "disgusting exhibitions" and "rural pandemonium" that boozing and betting left in their wake. A fortnight earlier I wrote how Alfred Lee of the Junction Hotel in Rainford had been cleared of permitting fighting to have taken place in his pub, just weeks after being fined for serving out of hours. That led to Mr Nemo writing this further letter:
"Gentlemen, – The following remarkable judicial decision was given the other day by Colonel Gamble and Major Pilkington, at the St. Helen's petty sessions, when A. R. Lee, of the Junction Hotel, Rainford, was charged with permitting disorderly conduct at his house. The chairman, after consulting with his colleague for some minutes, said that they had had some difficulty in deciding the case, and if Mr. Lee escaped a penalty it was owing to the fact that it might prove fatal to his license, he having already been convicted this year. They did not take the evidence of his witnesses, nor did they think he had been so anxious to prevent the row as he might have been.
"The saving of the glasses from being broken seemed of more importance to the defendant than the bench had a right to expect from one capable of well conducting his house. The case was dismissed. Might I ask the chairman if the loss of a license or the welfare of a large parish is of the most importance? When I read this decision, the remarks made by Mr. Mathieson at the licensing meeting the other day are most vividly brought to my mind, and I feel confident that many of your readers will concur with me that the sooner we have paid magistrates to deal with licenses the fewer will be the chances of a miscarriage of justice. NEMO."
On the 15th at a Warrington Board of Guardians meeting, the Nuisance Inspector for Haydock revealed that there were presently three smallpox cases in the township. One of the patients had been to the funeral of a man who had died from smallpox at St Helens and the inspector thought he'd contracted the disease from the body. As I understand it, modern-day epidemiologists say it was not possible to get smallpox from dead bodies – but it was possible to contract the disease from infected clothing that the deceased might be wearing. And, of course, people did like to pay their respects to open coffins in the past…which I find rather creepy!
That report I've taken from the Warrington Examiner, who on the same page devoted just seven lines to a story of how a young blacksmith from Sale had frozen to death near Wilmslow. "He was found behind a hedge on the road between that place and Styal, cold and rigid", they wrote.
The new St Helens to Huyton line finally opened for freight trains on the 18th after some delays. However, it would not be for a couple of weeks that passenger trains would be able to use the new line. Currently passengers travelling from St Helens to Liverpool had to change at St Helens Junction and those living in Prescot needed to commute to Huyton station.
On the 18th James Ryan appeared before St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of indecently assaulting Margaret McDermott. Both were employed on John Johnson's 70-acre farm in Travers Entry in Bold and after listening to the evidence the magistrates committed Ryan for trial at the next Liverpool Assizes. That took place in mid-January 1872 when the 31-year-old was found guilty of:
"Having, at Bold, on the 14th December, 1871, unlawfully assaulted one Margaret McDermott, with intent to ravish her." Ryan was sentenced to nine months in prison. I wouldn't say getting such a conviction was rare – but it was certainly far from common and would have been dependent on strong witness corroboration of Margaret's statement to the police and other factors.
Patrick Lawler also appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of stealing two beer glasses and a cup from the Lion (or Lyon) Vaults in Higher Parr Street. The 26-year-old was also committed to the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale where he was sent to prison for 18 months. It was a strange Victorian value in which stealing glasses and a cup meant you spent twice as long inside gaol than for attempting rape. But as I've so often said, stealing property was taken very seriously then and Patrick Lawler had a couple of prior convictions. In 1868 he had served 3 months for stealing clothing and later handed a 12-month sentence for taking a coat from St Helens market.
And finally, I expect that when Lord Derby and Jimmy Chipperfield brought their elephants and other animals from Africa to Knowsley fifty years ago, the beasts were properly sedated and cared for on their voyage – at least I hope so. But it was clearly a different story 150 years ago when being transported at sea was a terrifying experience for animals. This is revealed in this Liverpool Mercury article that was reprinted this week from a newspaper called the 'Calcutta Englishman':
"ELEPHANTS AT SEA. – A few facts about the elephants now going to Chittagong in the Scotia, under the command of Captain W. B. Mathews, may be interesting to our readers. The hoisting up into the air and lowering down into the hold of a ship of such huge animals is not only an unusual sight to most men, but also a strange experience to most elephants. They were lashed with strong ropes, slung as far as practicable in slings, hoisted up with cranes with threefold tackles, and lowered into the steamer's hold like bales of cotton.
"When in the hold, they were placed in pens built of strong teak-timber baulks, bolted to the ship's side to prevent them from breaking loose. The fear the animals suffered was the only pain they underwent, and by watching the eyes of the poor beasts their terror was very manifest; tears trickled down their mild countenances, and they roared with dread, more especially when being lowered into the hold, the bottom of which was sanded for them to stand upon. We are told that one timid female elephant actually fainted, and was “brought to” with a fan and many gallons of water.
"At sea, it appears that the elephants got into a curious habit of occasionally – evidently with a preconcerted signal – setting to work rocking the ship from side to side, by giving themselves simultaneously a swaying motion as they stood athwart ship, the vessel rolling heavily, as if in a seaway. This they would do for a spell of an hour or more, and then desist for several hours, until the strange freak took them again. At Chittagong we hear that they were hoisted out of the hold, and swam on shore, 35 being thus safely landed without any accident whatever.
"Our informant says that when they were released from the slings it was a supreme moment for the mahout [elephant keeper], who was always on the elephant's neck from the time of its touching the water to letting go. As the word was given to “let go” each of the elephants, either from the lightness of his heart at being freed from his floating prison or from his own weight, we are not sure which, plunged down deep into the water, the mahout on his neck.
"The anxiety on the face of the mahout, just one second before the plunge, was a study; so, too, was it when elephant and man rose to the surface again, the former blowing water from his trunk and the latter from his nose. Forty-four more elephants go down by the same steamer to Chittagong."
Next week's stories will include the seasonal kissing in a St Helens beerhouse that led to an assault, the Christmas raffle in Golborne that nearly caused a riot and the expensive trip over tea urns at Rainford Junction station.
We begin on the 13th at the Warrington County Sessions where another severe punishment was handed out for stealing wearing apparel. Olive Berry was sent to prison for two months for pinching a pair of boots worth 5s 6d from Joseph Gibbons at Haydock on October 21st. I had written about Olive from Florida Road in Haydock early in November when the 26-year-old had been convicted of stealing from St Helens market. Then she was sent to prison for a month – hence the delay in bringing her to book for the boot theft.
"Gentlemen, – The following remarkable judicial decision was given the other day by Colonel Gamble and Major Pilkington, at the St. Helen's petty sessions, when A. R. Lee, of the Junction Hotel, Rainford, was charged with permitting disorderly conduct at his house. The chairman, after consulting with his colleague for some minutes, said that they had had some difficulty in deciding the case, and if Mr. Lee escaped a penalty it was owing to the fact that it might prove fatal to his license, he having already been convicted this year. They did not take the evidence of his witnesses, nor did they think he had been so anxious to prevent the row as he might have been.
"The saving of the glasses from being broken seemed of more importance to the defendant than the bench had a right to expect from one capable of well conducting his house. The case was dismissed. Might I ask the chairman if the loss of a license or the welfare of a large parish is of the most importance? When I read this decision, the remarks made by Mr. Mathieson at the licensing meeting the other day are most vividly brought to my mind, and I feel confident that many of your readers will concur with me that the sooner we have paid magistrates to deal with licenses the fewer will be the chances of a miscarriage of justice. NEMO."
On the 15th at a Warrington Board of Guardians meeting, the Nuisance Inspector for Haydock revealed that there were presently three smallpox cases in the township. One of the patients had been to the funeral of a man who had died from smallpox at St Helens and the inspector thought he'd contracted the disease from the body. As I understand it, modern-day epidemiologists say it was not possible to get smallpox from dead bodies – but it was possible to contract the disease from infected clothing that the deceased might be wearing. And, of course, people did like to pay their respects to open coffins in the past…which I find rather creepy!
That report I've taken from the Warrington Examiner, who on the same page devoted just seven lines to a story of how a young blacksmith from Sale had frozen to death near Wilmslow. "He was found behind a hedge on the road between that place and Styal, cold and rigid", they wrote.
The new St Helens to Huyton line finally opened for freight trains on the 18th after some delays. However, it would not be for a couple of weeks that passenger trains would be able to use the new line. Currently passengers travelling from St Helens to Liverpool had to change at St Helens Junction and those living in Prescot needed to commute to Huyton station.
On the 18th James Ryan appeared before St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of indecently assaulting Margaret McDermott. Both were employed on John Johnson's 70-acre farm in Travers Entry in Bold and after listening to the evidence the magistrates committed Ryan for trial at the next Liverpool Assizes. That took place in mid-January 1872 when the 31-year-old was found guilty of:
"Having, at Bold, on the 14th December, 1871, unlawfully assaulted one Margaret McDermott, with intent to ravish her." Ryan was sentenced to nine months in prison. I wouldn't say getting such a conviction was rare – but it was certainly far from common and would have been dependent on strong witness corroboration of Margaret's statement to the police and other factors.
Patrick Lawler also appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of stealing two beer glasses and a cup from the Lion (or Lyon) Vaults in Higher Parr Street. The 26-year-old was also committed to the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale where he was sent to prison for 18 months. It was a strange Victorian value in which stealing glasses and a cup meant you spent twice as long inside gaol than for attempting rape. But as I've so often said, stealing property was taken very seriously then and Patrick Lawler had a couple of prior convictions. In 1868 he had served 3 months for stealing clothing and later handed a 12-month sentence for taking a coat from St Helens market.
And finally, I expect that when Lord Derby and Jimmy Chipperfield brought their elephants and other animals from Africa to Knowsley fifty years ago, the beasts were properly sedated and cared for on their voyage – at least I hope so. But it was clearly a different story 150 years ago when being transported at sea was a terrifying experience for animals. This is revealed in this Liverpool Mercury article that was reprinted this week from a newspaper called the 'Calcutta Englishman':
"ELEPHANTS AT SEA. – A few facts about the elephants now going to Chittagong in the Scotia, under the command of Captain W. B. Mathews, may be interesting to our readers. The hoisting up into the air and lowering down into the hold of a ship of such huge animals is not only an unusual sight to most men, but also a strange experience to most elephants. They were lashed with strong ropes, slung as far as practicable in slings, hoisted up with cranes with threefold tackles, and lowered into the steamer's hold like bales of cotton.
"When in the hold, they were placed in pens built of strong teak-timber baulks, bolted to the ship's side to prevent them from breaking loose. The fear the animals suffered was the only pain they underwent, and by watching the eyes of the poor beasts their terror was very manifest; tears trickled down their mild countenances, and they roared with dread, more especially when being lowered into the hold, the bottom of which was sanded for them to stand upon. We are told that one timid female elephant actually fainted, and was “brought to” with a fan and many gallons of water.
"At sea, it appears that the elephants got into a curious habit of occasionally – evidently with a preconcerted signal – setting to work rocking the ship from side to side, by giving themselves simultaneously a swaying motion as they stood athwart ship, the vessel rolling heavily, as if in a seaway. This they would do for a spell of an hour or more, and then desist for several hours, until the strange freak took them again. At Chittagong we hear that they were hoisted out of the hold, and swam on shore, 35 being thus safely landed without any accident whatever.
"Our informant says that when they were released from the slings it was a supreme moment for the mahout [elephant keeper], who was always on the elephant's neck from the time of its touching the water to letting go. As the word was given to “let go” each of the elephants, either from the lightness of his heart at being freed from his floating prison or from his own weight, we are not sure which, plunged down deep into the water, the mahout on his neck.
"The anxiety on the face of the mahout, just one second before the plunge, was a study; so, too, was it when elephant and man rose to the surface again, the former blowing water from his trunk and the latter from his nose. Forty-four more elephants go down by the same steamer to Chittagong."
Next week's stories will include the seasonal kissing in a St Helens beerhouse that led to an assault, the Christmas raffle in Golborne that nearly caused a riot and the expensive trip over tea urns at Rainford Junction station.
This week's stories include more criticism of the drinking culture in Rainford, the smallpox epidemic at Haydock, the indecent assault in Bold and the terrible trauma endured by elephants while being transported at sea.
We begin on the 13th at the Warrington County Sessions where another severe punishment was handed out for stealing wearing apparel.
Olive Berry was sent to prison for two months for pinching a pair of boots worth 5s 6d from Joseph Gibbons at Haydock on October 21st.
I had written about Olive from Florida Road in Haydock early in November when the 26-year-old had been convicted of stealing from St Helens market.
Then she was sent to prison for a month – hence the delay in bringing her to book for the boot theft.
Nemo – the pseudonym of the Rainford resident critical of the drinking and gambling that took place in the not so sleepy village – had another fiery letter published in the Liverpool Mercury on the 14th.
Previous missives had attacked the "disgusting exhibitions" and "rural pandemonium" that boozing and betting left in their wake.
A fortnight earlier I wrote how Alfred Lee of the Junction Hotel in Rainford had been cleared of permitting fighting to have taken place in his pub, just weeks after being fined for serving out of hours.
That led to Mr Nemo writing this further letter:
"Gentlemen, – The following remarkable judicial decision was given the other day by Colonel Gamble and Major Pilkington, at the St. Helen's petty sessions, when A. R. Lee, of the Junction Hotel, Rainford, was charged with permitting disorderly conduct at his house.
"The chairman, after consulting with his colleague for some minutes, said that they had had some difficulty in deciding the case, and if Mr. Lee escaped a penalty it was owing to the fact that it might prove fatal to his license, he having already been convicted this year.
"They did not take the evidence of his witnesses, nor did they think he had been so anxious to prevent the row as he might have been.
"The saving of the glasses from being broken seemed of more importance to the defendant than the bench had a right to expect from one capable of well conducting his house. The case was dismissed.
"Might I ask the chairman if the loss of a license or the welfare of a large parish is of the most importance?
"When I read this decision, the remarks made by Mr. Mathieson at the licensing meeting the other day are most vividly brought to my mind, and I feel confident that many of your readers will concur with me that the sooner we have paid magistrates to deal with licenses the fewer will be the chances of a miscarriage of justice. NEMO."
On the 15th at a Warrington Board of Guardians meeting, the Nuisance Inspector for Haydock revealed that there were presently three smallpox cases in the township.
One of the patients had been to the funeral of a man who had died from smallpox at St Helens and the inspector thought he'd contracted the disease from the body.
As I understand it, modern-day epidemiologists say it was not possible to get smallpox from dead bodies – but it was possible to contract the disease from infected clothing that the deceased might be wearing.
And, of course, people did like to pay their respects to open coffins in the past…which I find rather creepy!
That report I've taken from the Warrington Examiner, who on the same page devoted just seven lines to a story of how a young blacksmith from Sale had frozen to death near Wilmslow.
"He was found behind a hedge on the road between that place and Styal, cold and rigid", they wrote.
The new St Helens to Huyton line finally opened for freight trains on the 18th after some delays.
However, it would not be for a couple of weeks that passenger trains would be able to use the new line.
Currently passengers travelling from St Helens to Liverpool had to change at St Helens Junction and those living in Prescot needed to commute to Huyton station.
On the 18th James Ryan appeared before St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of indecently assaulting Margaret McDermott.
Both were employed on John Johnson's 70-acre farm in Travers Entry in Bold and after listening to the evidence the magistrates committed Ryan for trial at the next Liverpool Assizes.
That took place in mid-January 1872 when the 31-year-old was found guilty of:
"Having, at Bold, on the 14th December, 1871, unlawfully assaulted one Margaret McDermott, with intent to ravish her." Ryan was sentenced to nine months in prison.
I wouldn't say getting such a conviction was rare – but it was certainly far from common and would have been dependent on strong witness corroboration of Margaret's statement to the police and other factors.
Patrick Lawler also appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of stealing two beer glasses and a cup from the Lion (or Lyon) Vaults in Higher Parr Street.
The 26-year-old was also committed to the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale where he was sent to prison for 18 months.
It was a strange Victorian value in which stealing glasses and a cup meant you spent twice as long inside gaol than for attempting rape.
But as I've so often said, stealing property was taken very seriously then and Patrick Lawler had a couple of prior convictions.
In 1868 he had served 3 months for stealing clothing and later handed a 12-month sentence for taking a coat from St Helens market.
And finally, I expect that when Lord Derby and Jimmy Chipperfield brought their elephants and other animals from Africa to Knowsley fifty years ago, the beasts were properly sedated and cared for on their voyage – at least I hope so.
But it was clearly a different story 150 years ago when being transported at sea was a terrifying experience for animals.
This is revealed in this Liverpool Mercury article that was reprinted this week from a newspaper called the 'Calcutta Englishman':
"ELEPHANTS AT SEA. – A few facts about the elephants now going to Chittagong in the Scotia, under the command of Captain W. B. Mathews, may be interesting to our readers.
"The hoisting up into the air and lowering down into the hold of a ship of such huge animals is not only an unusual sight to most men, but also a strange experience to most elephants.
"They were lashed with strong ropes, slung as far as practicable in slings, hoisted up with cranes with threefold tackles, and lowered into the steamer's hold like bales of cotton.
"When in the hold, they were placed in pens built of strong teak-timber baulks, bolted to the ship's side to prevent them from breaking loose.
"The fear the animals suffered was the only pain they underwent, and by watching the eyes of the poor beasts their terror was very manifest; tears trickled down their mild countenances, and they roared with dread, more especially when being lowered into the hold, the bottom of which was sanded for them to stand upon.
"We are told that one timid female elephant actually fainted, and was “brought to” with a fan and many gallons of water.
"At sea, it appears that the elephants got into a curious habit of occasionally – evidently with a preconcerted signal – setting to work rocking the ship from side to side, by giving themselves simultaneously a swaying motion as they stood athwart ship, the vessel rolling heavily, as if in a seaway.
"This they would do for a spell of an hour or more, and then desist for several hours, until the strange freak took them again.
"At Chittagong we hear that they were hoisted out of the hold, and swam on shore, 35 being thus safely landed without any accident whatever.
"Our informant says that when they were released from the slings it was a supreme moment for the mahout [elephant keeper], who was always on the elephant's neck from the time of its touching the water to letting go.
"As the word was given to “let go” each of the elephants, either from the lightness of his heart at being freed from his floating prison or from his own weight, we are not sure which, plunged down deep into the water, the mahout on his neck.
"The anxiety on the face of the mahout, just one second before the plunge, was a study; so, too, was it when elephant and man rose to the surface again, the former blowing water from his trunk and the latter from his nose.
"Forty-four more elephants go down by the same steamer to Chittagong."
Next week's stories will include the seasonal kissing in a St Helens beerhouse that led to an assault, the Christmas raffle in Golborne that nearly caused a riot and the expensive trip over tea urns at Rainford Junction station.
We begin on the 13th at the Warrington County Sessions where another severe punishment was handed out for stealing wearing apparel.
Olive Berry was sent to prison for two months for pinching a pair of boots worth 5s 6d from Joseph Gibbons at Haydock on October 21st.
I had written about Olive from Florida Road in Haydock early in November when the 26-year-old had been convicted of stealing from St Helens market.
Then she was sent to prison for a month – hence the delay in bringing her to book for the boot theft.
Nemo – the pseudonym of the Rainford resident critical of the drinking and gambling that took place in the not so sleepy village – had another fiery letter published in the Liverpool Mercury on the 14th.
Previous missives had attacked the "disgusting exhibitions" and "rural pandemonium" that boozing and betting left in their wake.
That led to Mr Nemo writing this further letter:
"Gentlemen, – The following remarkable judicial decision was given the other day by Colonel Gamble and Major Pilkington, at the St. Helen's petty sessions, when A. R. Lee, of the Junction Hotel, Rainford, was charged with permitting disorderly conduct at his house.
"The chairman, after consulting with his colleague for some minutes, said that they had had some difficulty in deciding the case, and if Mr. Lee escaped a penalty it was owing to the fact that it might prove fatal to his license, he having already been convicted this year.
"They did not take the evidence of his witnesses, nor did they think he had been so anxious to prevent the row as he might have been.
"The saving of the glasses from being broken seemed of more importance to the defendant than the bench had a right to expect from one capable of well conducting his house. The case was dismissed.
"Might I ask the chairman if the loss of a license or the welfare of a large parish is of the most importance?
"When I read this decision, the remarks made by Mr. Mathieson at the licensing meeting the other day are most vividly brought to my mind, and I feel confident that many of your readers will concur with me that the sooner we have paid magistrates to deal with licenses the fewer will be the chances of a miscarriage of justice. NEMO."
On the 15th at a Warrington Board of Guardians meeting, the Nuisance Inspector for Haydock revealed that there were presently three smallpox cases in the township.
One of the patients had been to the funeral of a man who had died from smallpox at St Helens and the inspector thought he'd contracted the disease from the body.
As I understand it, modern-day epidemiologists say it was not possible to get smallpox from dead bodies – but it was possible to contract the disease from infected clothing that the deceased might be wearing.
And, of course, people did like to pay their respects to open coffins in the past…which I find rather creepy!
That report I've taken from the Warrington Examiner, who on the same page devoted just seven lines to a story of how a young blacksmith from Sale had frozen to death near Wilmslow.
"He was found behind a hedge on the road between that place and Styal, cold and rigid", they wrote.
The new St Helens to Huyton line finally opened for freight trains on the 18th after some delays.
However, it would not be for a couple of weeks that passenger trains would be able to use the new line.
Currently passengers travelling from St Helens to Liverpool had to change at St Helens Junction and those living in Prescot needed to commute to Huyton station.
On the 18th James Ryan appeared before St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of indecently assaulting Margaret McDermott.
Both were employed on John Johnson's 70-acre farm in Travers Entry in Bold and after listening to the evidence the magistrates committed Ryan for trial at the next Liverpool Assizes.
That took place in mid-January 1872 when the 31-year-old was found guilty of:
"Having, at Bold, on the 14th December, 1871, unlawfully assaulted one Margaret McDermott, with intent to ravish her." Ryan was sentenced to nine months in prison.
I wouldn't say getting such a conviction was rare – but it was certainly far from common and would have been dependent on strong witness corroboration of Margaret's statement to the police and other factors.
Patrick Lawler also appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions to face a charge of stealing two beer glasses and a cup from the Lion (or Lyon) Vaults in Higher Parr Street.
The 26-year-old was also committed to the Liverpool Assizes at Kirkdale where he was sent to prison for 18 months.
It was a strange Victorian value in which stealing glasses and a cup meant you spent twice as long inside gaol than for attempting rape.
But as I've so often said, stealing property was taken very seriously then and Patrick Lawler had a couple of prior convictions.
In 1868 he had served 3 months for stealing clothing and later handed a 12-month sentence for taking a coat from St Helens market.
And finally, I expect that when Lord Derby and Jimmy Chipperfield brought their elephants and other animals from Africa to Knowsley fifty years ago, the beasts were properly sedated and cared for on their voyage – at least I hope so.
But it was clearly a different story 150 years ago when being transported at sea was a terrifying experience for animals.
This is revealed in this Liverpool Mercury article that was reprinted this week from a newspaper called the 'Calcutta Englishman':
"ELEPHANTS AT SEA. – A few facts about the elephants now going to Chittagong in the Scotia, under the command of Captain W. B. Mathews, may be interesting to our readers.
"The hoisting up into the air and lowering down into the hold of a ship of such huge animals is not only an unusual sight to most men, but also a strange experience to most elephants.
"They were lashed with strong ropes, slung as far as practicable in slings, hoisted up with cranes with threefold tackles, and lowered into the steamer's hold like bales of cotton.
"When in the hold, they were placed in pens built of strong teak-timber baulks, bolted to the ship's side to prevent them from breaking loose.
"The fear the animals suffered was the only pain they underwent, and by watching the eyes of the poor beasts their terror was very manifest; tears trickled down their mild countenances, and they roared with dread, more especially when being lowered into the hold, the bottom of which was sanded for them to stand upon.
"We are told that one timid female elephant actually fainted, and was “brought to” with a fan and many gallons of water.
"At sea, it appears that the elephants got into a curious habit of occasionally – evidently with a preconcerted signal – setting to work rocking the ship from side to side, by giving themselves simultaneously a swaying motion as they stood athwart ship, the vessel rolling heavily, as if in a seaway.
"This they would do for a spell of an hour or more, and then desist for several hours, until the strange freak took them again.
"At Chittagong we hear that they were hoisted out of the hold, and swam on shore, 35 being thus safely landed without any accident whatever.
"Our informant says that when they were released from the slings it was a supreme moment for the mahout [elephant keeper], who was always on the elephant's neck from the time of its touching the water to letting go.
"As the word was given to “let go” each of the elephants, either from the lightness of his heart at being freed from his floating prison or from his own weight, we are not sure which, plunged down deep into the water, the mahout on his neck.
"The anxiety on the face of the mahout, just one second before the plunge, was a study; so, too, was it when elephant and man rose to the surface again, the former blowing water from his trunk and the latter from his nose.
"Forty-four more elephants go down by the same steamer to Chittagong."
Next week's stories will include the seasonal kissing in a St Helens beerhouse that led to an assault, the Christmas raffle in Golborne that nearly caused a riot and the expensive trip over tea urns at Rainford Junction station.