150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16 - 22 OCTOBER 1873)
This week's many stories include the Bold youth imprisoned for stealing bread, a violent assault on St Helens Junction's stationmaster, Lowe House's lending library, a goods train derails near St Helens Station, the improved sanitary system to reduce disease, the high rate of infant mortality in St Helens and the abominable act by a Rainford policeman.
We begin with a strike at Sutton Heath Colliery that had been triggered by a dispute over the weighing of coal. The men were paid for the amount of coal that they dug. But there were points of contention between the mine bosses and the miners as to when boxes of coal could be considered full.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 16th a boy called Robert Campbell – who was described as a ragged youth – was charged with stealing bread. The loaf had been taken from the home of Eliza Holley of Mill Road in Bold who gave evidence of seeing Robert coming out of her house while she was in her garden. Mrs Holley said she asked the lad what he wanted and he replied that he'd been seeking bread. Robert then walked away and later Mrs Holley missed the loaf from her kitchen and so had the boy arrested.
The poor could not afford solicitors to argue their case in court and the St Helens Newspaper's report of the case was brief. And so we don't know the reason behind the theft – or even whether the magistrates bothered to ask the lad. We can only presume it was a desperate need for food. But there was little consideration for a ragged lad in court despite their poor circumstances and Robert was sentenced to a fortnight in prison.
The Master of Whiston Workhouse had a very responsible job with several hundred paupers under his care. But he had been earning just £60 per year, although he and his wife lived in the institution rent-free. On the 16th at a meeting of the Prescot Guardians who oversaw the workhouse, it was proposed that the master's salary be raised to £100. But £40 was considered too large an increase and the members decided on a £20 rise instead.
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 16th and decided that all new houses that were built in the borough must be provided with covered ashpits and removable ashtubs, "according to the pail system, and to the satisfaction of the Corporation". The pail was a portable bucket that was situated in an outhouse or shed and positioned under a toilet seat. The contents of the bucket (called night soil) were emptied by the local authority and sold off at auction for composting into fertiliser.
It was a step away from the flush toilet but a step up from unsanitary closets and middens that were then standard in St Helens. The middens were the dumps containing human waste, which were converted into uncovered ashpits by being mixed with ashes to reduce the pong and keep pests away. But being uncovered the ashpits drained into the sewers and so the new standardised closet system should, in time, reduce the prevalence of disease.
It took until the early 1870s before comprehensive statistics were collated in St Helens on mortality rates and causes of death. These were then presented in tabular form to the council's Health Committee at their monthly meeting. This week the committee could see that 74 deaths had occurred in the borough over the previous four weeks. Of these 47 had been children under five with 31 of them aged under twelve months. And the last month had been a relatively good one for diseases. No one had died from measles and there had been few deaths from what was generically called fever.
The St Helens Medical Officer of Health also reported to the committee that he had been inspecting farms and dairies in the borough. Dr Robert McNicoll said he was concerned that the poor quality of their milk might be a contributing factor to the high rates of infant mortality. This is what he said:
"Having observed that the mortality of children is great in proportion to the population, and that many die from sheer debility and wasting, I have thought that one cause might be the quality of the milk sold in the town. Acting upon this thought I tested seven samples a fortnight ago, and found them all, with one exception, adulterated with water. Of these six, the best sample contained about 15 per cent. of water, and the worst about 30 per cent. Whether this water was added by the cowkeeper or by the retailer, I cannot say.
"I conclude this part of my report by the obvious remark that if children, especially those who are brought up by the use of the bottle, are fed upon poor milk, they are in danger of dying early from debility or disease; and if they survive that period are not likely to prove strong in after life." Dr McNicoll added that he had since re-examined the dairies and farms supplying adulterated milk and they had all improved. However, the medical officer had many more such places to inspect.
It was a rare week when there was no train crash of some sort to report. This week's accident occurred around 3am on the morning of the 18th. A goods train bound for Blackburn and laden with cotton and cheese had half-a-dozen wagons derailed at the Raven Street bridge near St Helens Station. That was after a bale of cotton had fallen from a wagon and got trapped underneath the axle of another. Debris was scattered over the main line and a siding and traffic was brought to a stop for some time.
In court this week George Cowley from Rainford pleaded not guilty to a charge of playing pitch and toss. PC Neary gave evidence of spotting the young man playing the illegal gambling game with other men and said he'd hidden behind a hedge to listen to their conversation. The officer said he distinctly heard Cowley say he'd bet sixpence on the "heading" of the coins being tossed. PC Neary said the man was in the act of picking up his winnings when he sprang out from the hedge and nabbed him.
Cowley's solicitor was Thomas Swift who said what had happened to his client had been an "abominable act". That was because George Cowley did not have his name and address taken down by PC Neary and a summons subsequently issued to him to appear in court. That was the usual procedure in such a case. Instead the miner was placed in handcuffs and taken to St Helens where he was locked up until brought before the Bench. That, the solicitor complained, deprived his client of being able to organise his defence.
The magistrates did not deny that what the constable had done was perfectly legal. But they considered it a "harsh proceeding to apprehend the man out in the country, when he was well known, and could have easily have been found for summoning." PC Neary explained that he had put Cowley in handcuffs because he expected resistance from him but denied having threatened to knock the man's brains out. It was pointed out that George Cowley had been imprisoned for committing a similar offence three years before. However, the magistrates felt that in the circumstances they would only impose a fine of one shilling and costs for the present offence.
There were two library services available in St Helens during the early 1870s. A free lending library containing over 3,000 volumes was offered inside the former Town Hall in New Market Place. However, its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week. The old hall had recently suffered another fire and the book lending service had probably been suspended.
That would explain why the alternate "circulating library" provided by Lowe House Church was now being advertised in the St Helens Newspaper. Their book-borrowing facility had been available since 1855 but the advert promoting their 1,700 volumes was the first that I have seen. But Lowe House's lending library in a large room in the church tower was not provided free, although it only cost a penny a week to take out a book.
The Newspaper also stated how delegates representing St Helens miners had told a conference that they were seeking a pay rise of 25%. And so more industrial trouble could be on the way.
On the 22nd two railway workers appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with violently assaulting the stationmaster at St Helens Junction. James Bush gave evidence of returning home from the Golden Cross Inn after having had a drink with a foreman. The stationmaster said he heard engine driver Robert Wilson and blacksmith Thomas Rigby causing a disturbance outside the station and he ordered them both to leave. Wilson seemed to obey him but the 30-year-old Rigby knocked the stationmaster down and beat him furiously while he lay on the ground.
The 26-year-old engine driver then returned and assisted Rigby in delivering what was described as a "heavy kick near the left temple, and a shower of blows on the head and face with some hard substance, which rendered him insensible". The landlord of the Wheatsheaf Inn discovered James Bush lying on the road and had him taken to his home where a doctor on the following day found his head to be a mass of bruises. Rigby's defence was that the stationmaster had struck the first blow and kicked him in the ribs, which he denied. Both men were committed for trial at Kirkdale Assizes, where they were found guilty and each sentenced to three months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a drowning in the canal, the indifferent interest in supporting St Helens Hospital, the Park Road squabble that led to a dust up in court and the Water Street brothel keeper that turned to poaching in Bold.
We begin with a strike at Sutton Heath Colliery that had been triggered by a dispute over the weighing of coal. The men were paid for the amount of coal that they dug. But there were points of contention between the mine bosses and the miners as to when boxes of coal could be considered full.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 16th a boy called Robert Campbell – who was described as a ragged youth – was charged with stealing bread. The loaf had been taken from the home of Eliza Holley of Mill Road in Bold who gave evidence of seeing Robert coming out of her house while she was in her garden. Mrs Holley said she asked the lad what he wanted and he replied that he'd been seeking bread. Robert then walked away and later Mrs Holley missed the loaf from her kitchen and so had the boy arrested.
The poor could not afford solicitors to argue their case in court and the St Helens Newspaper's report of the case was brief. And so we don't know the reason behind the theft – or even whether the magistrates bothered to ask the lad. We can only presume it was a desperate need for food. But there was little consideration for a ragged lad in court despite their poor circumstances and Robert was sentenced to a fortnight in prison.
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 16th and decided that all new houses that were built in the borough must be provided with covered ashpits and removable ashtubs, "according to the pail system, and to the satisfaction of the Corporation". The pail was a portable bucket that was situated in an outhouse or shed and positioned under a toilet seat. The contents of the bucket (called night soil) were emptied by the local authority and sold off at auction for composting into fertiliser.
It was a step away from the flush toilet but a step up from unsanitary closets and middens that were then standard in St Helens. The middens were the dumps containing human waste, which were converted into uncovered ashpits by being mixed with ashes to reduce the pong and keep pests away. But being uncovered the ashpits drained into the sewers and so the new standardised closet system should, in time, reduce the prevalence of disease.
It took until the early 1870s before comprehensive statistics were collated in St Helens on mortality rates and causes of death. These were then presented in tabular form to the council's Health Committee at their monthly meeting. This week the committee could see that 74 deaths had occurred in the borough over the previous four weeks. Of these 47 had been children under five with 31 of them aged under twelve months. And the last month had been a relatively good one for diseases. No one had died from measles and there had been few deaths from what was generically called fever.
The St Helens Medical Officer of Health also reported to the committee that he had been inspecting farms and dairies in the borough. Dr Robert McNicoll said he was concerned that the poor quality of their milk might be a contributing factor to the high rates of infant mortality. This is what he said:
"Having observed that the mortality of children is great in proportion to the population, and that many die from sheer debility and wasting, I have thought that one cause might be the quality of the milk sold in the town. Acting upon this thought I tested seven samples a fortnight ago, and found them all, with one exception, adulterated with water. Of these six, the best sample contained about 15 per cent. of water, and the worst about 30 per cent. Whether this water was added by the cowkeeper or by the retailer, I cannot say.
"I conclude this part of my report by the obvious remark that if children, especially those who are brought up by the use of the bottle, are fed upon poor milk, they are in danger of dying early from debility or disease; and if they survive that period are not likely to prove strong in after life." Dr McNicoll added that he had since re-examined the dairies and farms supplying adulterated milk and they had all improved. However, the medical officer had many more such places to inspect.
It was a rare week when there was no train crash of some sort to report. This week's accident occurred around 3am on the morning of the 18th. A goods train bound for Blackburn and laden with cotton and cheese had half-a-dozen wagons derailed at the Raven Street bridge near St Helens Station. That was after a bale of cotton had fallen from a wagon and got trapped underneath the axle of another. Debris was scattered over the main line and a siding and traffic was brought to a stop for some time.
In court this week George Cowley from Rainford pleaded not guilty to a charge of playing pitch and toss. PC Neary gave evidence of spotting the young man playing the illegal gambling game with other men and said he'd hidden behind a hedge to listen to their conversation. The officer said he distinctly heard Cowley say he'd bet sixpence on the "heading" of the coins being tossed. PC Neary said the man was in the act of picking up his winnings when he sprang out from the hedge and nabbed him.
Cowley's solicitor was Thomas Swift who said what had happened to his client had been an "abominable act". That was because George Cowley did not have his name and address taken down by PC Neary and a summons subsequently issued to him to appear in court. That was the usual procedure in such a case. Instead the miner was placed in handcuffs and taken to St Helens where he was locked up until brought before the Bench. That, the solicitor complained, deprived his client of being able to organise his defence.
The magistrates did not deny that what the constable had done was perfectly legal. But they considered it a "harsh proceeding to apprehend the man out in the country, when he was well known, and could have easily have been found for summoning." PC Neary explained that he had put Cowley in handcuffs because he expected resistance from him but denied having threatened to knock the man's brains out. It was pointed out that George Cowley had been imprisoned for committing a similar offence three years before. However, the magistrates felt that in the circumstances they would only impose a fine of one shilling and costs for the present offence.
There were two library services available in St Helens during the early 1870s. A free lending library containing over 3,000 volumes was offered inside the former Town Hall in New Market Place. However, its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week. The old hall had recently suffered another fire and the book lending service had probably been suspended.
That would explain why the alternate "circulating library" provided by Lowe House Church was now being advertised in the St Helens Newspaper. Their book-borrowing facility had been available since 1855 but the advert promoting their 1,700 volumes was the first that I have seen. But Lowe House's lending library in a large room in the church tower was not provided free, although it only cost a penny a week to take out a book.
The Newspaper also stated how delegates representing St Helens miners had told a conference that they were seeking a pay rise of 25%. And so more industrial trouble could be on the way.
On the 22nd two railway workers appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with violently assaulting the stationmaster at St Helens Junction. James Bush gave evidence of returning home from the Golden Cross Inn after having had a drink with a foreman. The stationmaster said he heard engine driver Robert Wilson and blacksmith Thomas Rigby causing a disturbance outside the station and he ordered them both to leave. Wilson seemed to obey him but the 30-year-old Rigby knocked the stationmaster down and beat him furiously while he lay on the ground.
The 26-year-old engine driver then returned and assisted Rigby in delivering what was described as a "heavy kick near the left temple, and a shower of blows on the head and face with some hard substance, which rendered him insensible". The landlord of the Wheatsheaf Inn discovered James Bush lying on the road and had him taken to his home where a doctor on the following day found his head to be a mass of bruises. Rigby's defence was that the stationmaster had struck the first blow and kicked him in the ribs, which he denied. Both men were committed for trial at Kirkdale Assizes, where they were found guilty and each sentenced to three months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a drowning in the canal, the indifferent interest in supporting St Helens Hospital, the Park Road squabble that led to a dust up in court and the Water Street brothel keeper that turned to poaching in Bold.
This week's many stories include the Bold youth imprisoned for stealing bread, a violent assault on St Helens Junction's stationmaster, Lowe House's lending library, a goods train derails near St Helens Station, the improved sanitary system to reduce disease, the high rate of infant mortality in St Helens and the abominable act by a Rainford policeman.
We begin with a strike at Sutton Heath Colliery that had been triggered by a dispute over the weighing of coal.
The men were paid for the amount of coal that they dug. But there were points of contention between the mine bosses and the miners as to when boxes of coal could be considered full.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 16th a boy called Robert Campbell – who was described as a ragged youth – was charged with stealing bread.
The loaf had been taken from the home of Eliza Holley of Mill Road in Bold who gave evidence of seeing Robert coming out of her house while she was in her garden.
Mrs Holley said she asked the lad what he wanted and he replied that he'd been seeking bread.
Robert then walked away and later Mrs Holley missed the loaf from her kitchen and so had the boy arrested.
The poor could not afford solicitors to argue their case in court and the St Helens Newspaper's report of the case was brief.
And so we don't know the reason behind the theft – or even whether the magistrates bothered to ask the lad.
We can only presume it was a desperate need for food. But there was little consideration for a ragged lad in court despite their poor circumstances and Robert was sentenced to a fortnight in prison.
The Master of Whiston Workhouse had a very responsible job with several hundred paupers under his care.
But he had been earning just £60 per year, although he and his wife lived in the institution rent-free.
On the 16th at a meeting of the Prescot Guardians who oversaw the workhouse, it was proposed that the master's salary be raised to £100.
But £40 was considered too large an increase and the members decided on a £20 rise instead.
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 16th and decided that all new houses that were built in the borough must be provided with covered ashpits and removable ashtubs, "according to the pail system, and to the satisfaction of the Corporation".
The pail was a portable bucket that was situated in an outhouse or shed and positioned under a toilet seat.
The contents of the bucket (called night soil) were emptied by the local authority and sold off at auction for composting into fertiliser.
It was a step away from the flush toilet but a step up from unsanitary closets and middens that were then standard in St Helens.
The middens were the dumps containing human waste, which were converted into uncovered ashpits by being mixed with ashes to reduce the pong and keep pests away.
But being uncovered the ashpits drained into the sewers and so the new standardised closet system should, in time, reduce the prevalence of disease.
It took until the early 1870s before comprehensive statistics were collated in St Helens on mortality rates and causes of death.
These were then presented in tabular form to the council's Health Committee at their monthly meeting.
This week the committee could see that 74 deaths had occurred in the borough over the previous four weeks. Of these 47 had been children under five with 31 of them aged under twelve months.
And the last month had been a relatively good one for diseases. No one had died from measles and there had been few deaths from what was generically called fever.
The St Helens Medical Officer of Health also reported to the committee that he had been inspecting farms and dairies in the borough.
Dr Robert McNicoll said he was concerned that the poor quality of their milk might be a contributing factor to the high rates of infant mortality. This is what he said:
"Having observed that the mortality of children is great in proportion to the population, and that many die from sheer debility and wasting, I have thought that one cause might be the quality of the milk sold in the town.
"Acting upon this thought I tested seven samples a fortnight ago, and found them all, with one exception, adulterated with water. Of these six, the best sample contained about 15 per cent. of water, and the worst about 30 per cent. Whether this water was added by the cowkeeper or by the retailer, I cannot say.
"I conclude this part of my report by the obvious remark that if children, especially those who are brought up by the use of the bottle, are fed upon poor milk, they are in danger of dying early from debility or disease; and if they survive that period are not likely to prove strong in after life."
Dr McNicoll added that he had since re-examined the dairies and farms supplying adulterated milk and they had all improved. However, the medical officer had many more such places to inspect.
It was a rare week when there was no train crash of some sort to report. This week's accident occurred around 3am on the morning of the 18th.
A goods train bound for Blackburn and laden with cotton and cheese had half-a-dozen wagons derailed at the Raven Street bridge near St Helens Station.
That was after a bale of cotton had fallen from a wagon and got trapped underneath the axle of another.
Debris was scattered over the main line and a siding and traffic was brought to a stop for some time.
In court this week George Cowley from Rainford pleaded not guilty to a charge of playing pitch and toss.
PC Neary gave evidence of spotting the young man playing the illegal gambling game with other men and said he'd hidden behind a hedge to listen to their conversation.
The officer said he distinctly heard Cowley say he'd bet sixpence on the "heading" of the coins being tossed.
PC Neary said the man was in the act of picking up his winnings when he sprang out from the hedge and nabbed him.
Cowley's solicitor was Thomas Swift who said what had happened to his client had been an "abominable act".
That was because George Cowley did not have his name and address taken down by PC Neary and a summons subsequently issued to him to appear in court. That was the usual procedure in such a case.
Instead the miner was placed in handcuffs and taken to St Helens where he was locked up until brought before the Bench. That, the solicitor complained, deprived his client of being able to organise his defence.
The magistrates did not deny that what the constable had done was perfectly legal. But they considered it a "harsh proceeding to apprehend the man out in the country, when he was well known, and could have easily have been found for summoning."
PC Neary explained that he had put Cowley in handcuffs because he expected resistance from him but denied having threatened to knock the man's brains out.
It was pointed out that George Cowley had been imprisoned for committing a similar offence three years before.
However, the magistrates felt that in the circumstances they would only impose a fine of one shilling and costs for the present offence.
There were two library services available in St Helens during the early 1870s. A free lending library containing over 3,000 volumes was offered inside the former Town Hall in New Market Place.
However, its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week.
The old hall had recently suffered another fire and the book lending service had probably been suspended.
That would explain why the alternate "circulating library" provided by Lowe House Church was now being advertised in the St Helens Newspaper.
Their book-borrowing facility had been available since 1855 but the advert promoting their 1,700 volumes was the first that I have seen.
But Lowe House's lending library in a large room in the church tower was not provided free, although it only cost a penny a week to take out a book.
The Newspaper also stated how delegates representing St Helens miners had told a conference that they were seeking a pay rise of 25%. And so more industrial trouble could be on the way.
On the 22nd two railway workers appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with violently assaulting the stationmaster at St Helens Junction.
James Bush gave evidence of returning home from the Golden Cross Inn after having had a drink with a foreman.
The stationmaster said he heard engine driver Robert Wilson and blacksmith Thomas Rigby causing a disturbance outside the station and he ordered them both to leave.
Wilson seemed to obey him but the 30-year-old Rigby knocked the stationmaster down and beat him furiously while he lay on the ground.
The 26-year-old engine driver then returned and assisted Rigby in delivering what was described as a "heavy kick near the left temple, and a shower of blows on the head and face with some hard substance, which rendered him insensible".
The landlord of the Wheatsheaf Inn discovered James Bush lying on the road and had him taken to his home where a doctor on the following day found his head to be a mass of bruises.
Rigby's defence was that the stationmaster had struck the first blow and kicked him in the ribs, which he denied.
Both men were committed for trial at Kirkdale Assizes, where they were found guilty and each sentenced to three months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a drowning in the canal, the indifferent interest in supporting St Helens Hospital, the Park Road squabble that led to a dust up in court and the Water Street brothel keeper that turned to poaching in Bold.
We begin with a strike at Sutton Heath Colliery that had been triggered by a dispute over the weighing of coal.
The men were paid for the amount of coal that they dug. But there were points of contention between the mine bosses and the miners as to when boxes of coal could be considered full.
In St Helens Petty Sessions on the 16th a boy called Robert Campbell – who was described as a ragged youth – was charged with stealing bread.
The loaf had been taken from the home of Eliza Holley of Mill Road in Bold who gave evidence of seeing Robert coming out of her house while she was in her garden.
Mrs Holley said she asked the lad what he wanted and he replied that he'd been seeking bread.
Robert then walked away and later Mrs Holley missed the loaf from her kitchen and so had the boy arrested.
The poor could not afford solicitors to argue their case in court and the St Helens Newspaper's report of the case was brief.
And so we don't know the reason behind the theft – or even whether the magistrates bothered to ask the lad.
We can only presume it was a desperate need for food. But there was little consideration for a ragged lad in court despite their poor circumstances and Robert was sentenced to a fortnight in prison.
But he had been earning just £60 per year, although he and his wife lived in the institution rent-free.
On the 16th at a meeting of the Prescot Guardians who oversaw the workhouse, it was proposed that the master's salary be raised to £100.
But £40 was considered too large an increase and the members decided on a £20 rise instead.
The St Helens Health Committee met on the 16th and decided that all new houses that were built in the borough must be provided with covered ashpits and removable ashtubs, "according to the pail system, and to the satisfaction of the Corporation".
The pail was a portable bucket that was situated in an outhouse or shed and positioned under a toilet seat.
The contents of the bucket (called night soil) were emptied by the local authority and sold off at auction for composting into fertiliser.
It was a step away from the flush toilet but a step up from unsanitary closets and middens that were then standard in St Helens.
The middens were the dumps containing human waste, which were converted into uncovered ashpits by being mixed with ashes to reduce the pong and keep pests away.
But being uncovered the ashpits drained into the sewers and so the new standardised closet system should, in time, reduce the prevalence of disease.
It took until the early 1870s before comprehensive statistics were collated in St Helens on mortality rates and causes of death.
These were then presented in tabular form to the council's Health Committee at their monthly meeting.
This week the committee could see that 74 deaths had occurred in the borough over the previous four weeks. Of these 47 had been children under five with 31 of them aged under twelve months.
And the last month had been a relatively good one for diseases. No one had died from measles and there had been few deaths from what was generically called fever.
The St Helens Medical Officer of Health also reported to the committee that he had been inspecting farms and dairies in the borough.
Dr Robert McNicoll said he was concerned that the poor quality of their milk might be a contributing factor to the high rates of infant mortality. This is what he said:
"Having observed that the mortality of children is great in proportion to the population, and that many die from sheer debility and wasting, I have thought that one cause might be the quality of the milk sold in the town.
"Acting upon this thought I tested seven samples a fortnight ago, and found them all, with one exception, adulterated with water. Of these six, the best sample contained about 15 per cent. of water, and the worst about 30 per cent. Whether this water was added by the cowkeeper or by the retailer, I cannot say.
"I conclude this part of my report by the obvious remark that if children, especially those who are brought up by the use of the bottle, are fed upon poor milk, they are in danger of dying early from debility or disease; and if they survive that period are not likely to prove strong in after life."
Dr McNicoll added that he had since re-examined the dairies and farms supplying adulterated milk and they had all improved. However, the medical officer had many more such places to inspect.
It was a rare week when there was no train crash of some sort to report. This week's accident occurred around 3am on the morning of the 18th.
A goods train bound for Blackburn and laden with cotton and cheese had half-a-dozen wagons derailed at the Raven Street bridge near St Helens Station.
That was after a bale of cotton had fallen from a wagon and got trapped underneath the axle of another.
Debris was scattered over the main line and a siding and traffic was brought to a stop for some time.
In court this week George Cowley from Rainford pleaded not guilty to a charge of playing pitch and toss.
PC Neary gave evidence of spotting the young man playing the illegal gambling game with other men and said he'd hidden behind a hedge to listen to their conversation.
The officer said he distinctly heard Cowley say he'd bet sixpence on the "heading" of the coins being tossed.
PC Neary said the man was in the act of picking up his winnings when he sprang out from the hedge and nabbed him.
Cowley's solicitor was Thomas Swift who said what had happened to his client had been an "abominable act".
That was because George Cowley did not have his name and address taken down by PC Neary and a summons subsequently issued to him to appear in court. That was the usual procedure in such a case.
Instead the miner was placed in handcuffs and taken to St Helens where he was locked up until brought before the Bench. That, the solicitor complained, deprived his client of being able to organise his defence.
The magistrates did not deny that what the constable had done was perfectly legal. But they considered it a "harsh proceeding to apprehend the man out in the country, when he was well known, and could have easily have been found for summoning."
PC Neary explained that he had put Cowley in handcuffs because he expected resistance from him but denied having threatened to knock the man's brains out.
It was pointed out that George Cowley had been imprisoned for committing a similar offence three years before.
However, the magistrates felt that in the circumstances they would only impose a fine of one shilling and costs for the present offence.
There were two library services available in St Helens during the early 1870s. A free lending library containing over 3,000 volumes was offered inside the former Town Hall in New Market Place.
However, its opening hours were only 7 to 8pm on three evenings a week.
The old hall had recently suffered another fire and the book lending service had probably been suspended.
That would explain why the alternate "circulating library" provided by Lowe House Church was now being advertised in the St Helens Newspaper.
Their book-borrowing facility had been available since 1855 but the advert promoting their 1,700 volumes was the first that I have seen.
But Lowe House's lending library in a large room in the church tower was not provided free, although it only cost a penny a week to take out a book.
The Newspaper also stated how delegates representing St Helens miners had told a conference that they were seeking a pay rise of 25%. And so more industrial trouble could be on the way.
On the 22nd two railway workers appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with violently assaulting the stationmaster at St Helens Junction.
James Bush gave evidence of returning home from the Golden Cross Inn after having had a drink with a foreman.
The stationmaster said he heard engine driver Robert Wilson and blacksmith Thomas Rigby causing a disturbance outside the station and he ordered them both to leave.
Wilson seemed to obey him but the 30-year-old Rigby knocked the stationmaster down and beat him furiously while he lay on the ground.
The 26-year-old engine driver then returned and assisted Rigby in delivering what was described as a "heavy kick near the left temple, and a shower of blows on the head and face with some hard substance, which rendered him insensible".
The landlord of the Wheatsheaf Inn discovered James Bush lying on the road and had him taken to his home where a doctor on the following day found his head to be a mass of bruises.
Rigby's defence was that the stationmaster had struck the first blow and kicked him in the ribs, which he denied.
Both men were committed for trial at Kirkdale Assizes, where they were found guilty and each sentenced to three months in prison.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a drowning in the canal, the indifferent interest in supporting St Helens Hospital, the Park Road squabble that led to a dust up in court and the Water Street brothel keeper that turned to poaching in Bold.