150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (22nd - 28th JUNE 1870)
This week's stories include Rainford Church's spoof steam and lightning machine, a cricket match takes place in Dentons Green in aid of striking glassmakers, the Ashton surplice riots are brought to an end, another accident takes place at Farnworth and the Hardshaw Street doctor that failed to licence his horse and carriage.
Most strikes in the 19th century did not last very long. Extreme poverty would force men back to work and many employers simply played a waiting game. However the Pilkington glass strike was an exception. The "turn-out" had begun on April 18th after the company announced it was slashing wages by around 20% because of foreign competition. The union tapped into public support not only in St Helens but also in other Lancashire towns and was able to raise cash to support the families of those on strike.
On the 25th a fundraising cricket match was held, as described by the St Helens Newspaper: "A cricket match in aid of the glassmakers at present on strike took place in the cricket field, Denton's-lane, on Saturday. The match was between the St. Helens and Widnes districts, and some good play was shown during the day. The band was in attendance, and played a good selection of music at intervals during the day. There was a numerous company present during the day, and in the evening the number was much augumented [sic].
"After the cricketers had “knocked of”, dancing was commenced in the field, to the music of the glassmakers' band, and dancing was kept up with much spirit till the shades of evening closed in. Quoits were also provided, and a good many of the sterner sex abused themselves at this game during the day. There is every reason to believe that the proceeds will be something handsome."
Also on the 25th the 'Misses Phillips Seminary for Young Ladies' was advertising in the Manchester Times that they were reopening their establishment on July 30th. Their private school was situated in Alpine House in what is now Church Road in Rainford and today the property is described as a business centre (pictured above). However for much of the 20th century the old house adjacent to the Golden Lion was the home and surgery of Dr Francis Prosser and then his son, Dr Oswald Prosser.
One hundred and fifty years ago the building served as a small school run by sisters Hannah and Caroline Phillips and situated in what was then called Chapel Lane. Their advert said: "Terms moderate. Prospectuses forwarded on application. References to the parents of the pupils."
During May and June there had been demonstrations and rioting in Ashton-in-Makerfield as a result of the vicar of St Thomas choosing to wear a white surplice instead of the traditional black gown. More trouble was expected on Sunday 26th but the Rev. Page Oldham decided to take the advice of the Bishop of Manchester and abandon the use of the surplice in the pulpit.
The vicar insisted that the surplice was the vestment authorised by the Reformed Church and he was at a loss to understand how it had come to be regarded as the badge of a party or mark of a Ritualistic tendency. However Rev. Oldham said he was prepared to put aside private taste and opinion for the sake of peace.
During the 19th century the promotion of events was more likely to be in the form of handbills or posters rather than adverts in newspapers. Whether churches regularly distributed bills to advertise their Sunday services I cannot say. However Rainford Church's service on the 26th certainly was! This is how the bizarre handbill read:
"GRAND AND STUPENDOUS SACRED MORNING PERFORMANCES. On and after next Sunday, until further notice, will be performed weekly in the RAINFORD CHURCH by the Royal Patent Steam and Lightning Accelerator Machine. The whole of the Morning Service including Sermons and Hymns. By means of this latest and astounding mechanical invention, the entire service is guaranteed not to exceed 74 minutes and 59¾ seconds. The music will be of the most dismal and horrible description, and includes a choice selection of pandemonium melodies. Carriages and in most cases, dinners may be ordered for 11:45 a.m."
The St Helens Newspaper explained that there had been much recent criticism of the form and duration of the service in the old church (shown above) and attendances had dropped off. So some joker had decided to spoof the services but at the same time convey the message that they were machine-like, too short and featured dodgy music. One letter-writer in the Newspaper wrote:
"Sir, I'm no scholar but will yolse give me a word or two about the Rainford Services. If there was another Church within a mile of Rainford I am sure I should go to it for the Services at Rainford seem so cold and dull that I cant get any good from them and the singin I cant abear. Oh! that Ministers had more energy and not be so frightened of themselves. Why Sir – there are houses of churchmen in Rainford as had not had a Minister in them for years and what are Ministers paid for – I am Sir, yours respectfully, A CHURCH GOER."
Another letter was composed in a similar light, referring to the handbill as a "clever placard" that had "for days being the delight and the talk of the Rainford people". However two other correspondents supported the church and criticised the author of the notice, calling it a "horrid hand-bill" and a "nasty placard".
It appears that if you owned a horse and carriage, you had to be licensed for both. If you employed someone to drive the horse and rig, a further licence was needed. At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 27th, Dr Thomas Griffiths from Hardshaw Street was summoned for keeping a horse, carriage and male servant, without having taken out licences.
The tax required was 10s 6d for the horse and 15 shillings each for the carriage and male servant. The maximum penalty in each case was £20 but the Bench imposed a fine of £5 for each charge, making a total of £15 – which was a huge amount. The magistrates must have thought it quite excessive too, as they recommended that the Inland Revenue (who collected the taxes) reduce the maximum to £10.
The big issue of the day in St Helens was a Gas Bill that was going through Parliament. If passed the law would allow the St Helens Gas Company to borrow more cash and expand their operations into places like Haydock and Ashton. St Helens Town Council was very much against the Bill. They were considering taking over the gas firm but could only afford to do so if the undertaking continued in its present form. There was also a feeling that the company's charges for gas to consumers in St Helens were far too high.
The outspoken St Helens Newspaper had long been critical of the Gas Company and in an editorial on the 28th felt their directors were dragging out proceedings in London for their own benefit:
"The expense to which the ratepayers are being put in following the Gas Company through all this costly labyrinth of red tapism is really something enormous. It may be all very well for the directors of the Gas Company, with their wives and friends, to be enjoying a bonus in the shape of a summer excursion at the Company's expense, with cab, railway, and steamboat expenses, and excellent quarters at the “Craven Hotel” in London. We can, therefore, well understand that so long as the fine weather continues that the camp followers will naturally wish for the continuance of a war which affords them an opportunity of enjoying themselves at the public expense."
The St Helens Newspaper also wrote this: "The Daily Telegraph, under the heading of “Scoundrels in Railway Trains,” has lately devoted part of its columns to the subject of annoyances experienced by women in railway carriages.
"Indignant husbands recount fearful stories of the insults offered to their wives. Women who have been insulted pour forth their griefs to the Telegraph, and seek consolation and advice. Other women write to complain that they have never been insulted simply because they are modest. Men write to say that they never insulted anybody, but that women insult them."
On the 28th St Helens County Court again considered the question of whether a gamekeeper could shoot a trespassing dog and what compensation should be offered. The case had been before the court several times before and concerned a dog owned by John Robinson that had been killed by a gamekeeper employed by Sir Robert Gerard. The court had already established that a dog could be shot under certain circumstances but the £9 10 shillings compensation that the plaintiff demanded was deemed excessive and only £2 was awarded.
And finally there was another accident at the new railway cutting at Farnworth on the 28th in which a 10-year-old boy was killed. The lad called Devenport was taking dinner to his father who was employed on the site. However he went too close to the bank of the cutting and a large piece of earth fell upon the boy, crushing him to death.
Next week's stories will include the amateur pedestrian who exposed his person in North Road, a miner is fatally injured at St Helens Station, the potato engine obstruction nuisance in Bridge Street & Hall Street and the race ground at the Dog and Rabbit in Parr.
Most strikes in the 19th century did not last very long. Extreme poverty would force men back to work and many employers simply played a waiting game. However the Pilkington glass strike was an exception. The "turn-out" had begun on April 18th after the company announced it was slashing wages by around 20% because of foreign competition. The union tapped into public support not only in St Helens but also in other Lancashire towns and was able to raise cash to support the families of those on strike.
On the 25th a fundraising cricket match was held, as described by the St Helens Newspaper: "A cricket match in aid of the glassmakers at present on strike took place in the cricket field, Denton's-lane, on Saturday. The match was between the St. Helens and Widnes districts, and some good play was shown during the day. The band was in attendance, and played a good selection of music at intervals during the day. There was a numerous company present during the day, and in the evening the number was much augumented [sic].
"After the cricketers had “knocked of”, dancing was commenced in the field, to the music of the glassmakers' band, and dancing was kept up with much spirit till the shades of evening closed in. Quoits were also provided, and a good many of the sterner sex abused themselves at this game during the day. There is every reason to believe that the proceeds will be something handsome."
One hundred and fifty years ago the building served as a small school run by sisters Hannah and Caroline Phillips and situated in what was then called Chapel Lane. Their advert said: "Terms moderate. Prospectuses forwarded on application. References to the parents of the pupils."
During May and June there had been demonstrations and rioting in Ashton-in-Makerfield as a result of the vicar of St Thomas choosing to wear a white surplice instead of the traditional black gown. More trouble was expected on Sunday 26th but the Rev. Page Oldham decided to take the advice of the Bishop of Manchester and abandon the use of the surplice in the pulpit.
The vicar insisted that the surplice was the vestment authorised by the Reformed Church and he was at a loss to understand how it had come to be regarded as the badge of a party or mark of a Ritualistic tendency. However Rev. Oldham said he was prepared to put aside private taste and opinion for the sake of peace.
During the 19th century the promotion of events was more likely to be in the form of handbills or posters rather than adverts in newspapers. Whether churches regularly distributed bills to advertise their Sunday services I cannot say. However Rainford Church's service on the 26th certainly was! This is how the bizarre handbill read:
"GRAND AND STUPENDOUS SACRED MORNING PERFORMANCES. On and after next Sunday, until further notice, will be performed weekly in the RAINFORD CHURCH by the Royal Patent Steam and Lightning Accelerator Machine. The whole of the Morning Service including Sermons and Hymns. By means of this latest and astounding mechanical invention, the entire service is guaranteed not to exceed 74 minutes and 59¾ seconds. The music will be of the most dismal and horrible description, and includes a choice selection of pandemonium melodies. Carriages and in most cases, dinners may be ordered for 11:45 a.m."
"Sir, I'm no scholar but will yolse give me a word or two about the Rainford Services. If there was another Church within a mile of Rainford I am sure I should go to it for the Services at Rainford seem so cold and dull that I cant get any good from them and the singin I cant abear. Oh! that Ministers had more energy and not be so frightened of themselves. Why Sir – there are houses of churchmen in Rainford as had not had a Minister in them for years and what are Ministers paid for – I am Sir, yours respectfully, A CHURCH GOER."
Another letter was composed in a similar light, referring to the handbill as a "clever placard" that had "for days being the delight and the talk of the Rainford people". However two other correspondents supported the church and criticised the author of the notice, calling it a "horrid hand-bill" and a "nasty placard".
It appears that if you owned a horse and carriage, you had to be licensed for both. If you employed someone to drive the horse and rig, a further licence was needed. At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 27th, Dr Thomas Griffiths from Hardshaw Street was summoned for keeping a horse, carriage and male servant, without having taken out licences.
The tax required was 10s 6d for the horse and 15 shillings each for the carriage and male servant. The maximum penalty in each case was £20 but the Bench imposed a fine of £5 for each charge, making a total of £15 – which was a huge amount. The magistrates must have thought it quite excessive too, as they recommended that the Inland Revenue (who collected the taxes) reduce the maximum to £10.
The big issue of the day in St Helens was a Gas Bill that was going through Parliament. If passed the law would allow the St Helens Gas Company to borrow more cash and expand their operations into places like Haydock and Ashton. St Helens Town Council was very much against the Bill. They were considering taking over the gas firm but could only afford to do so if the undertaking continued in its present form. There was also a feeling that the company's charges for gas to consumers in St Helens were far too high.
The outspoken St Helens Newspaper had long been critical of the Gas Company and in an editorial on the 28th felt their directors were dragging out proceedings in London for their own benefit:
"The expense to which the ratepayers are being put in following the Gas Company through all this costly labyrinth of red tapism is really something enormous. It may be all very well for the directors of the Gas Company, with their wives and friends, to be enjoying a bonus in the shape of a summer excursion at the Company's expense, with cab, railway, and steamboat expenses, and excellent quarters at the “Craven Hotel” in London. We can, therefore, well understand that so long as the fine weather continues that the camp followers will naturally wish for the continuance of a war which affords them an opportunity of enjoying themselves at the public expense."
The St Helens Newspaper also wrote this: "The Daily Telegraph, under the heading of “Scoundrels in Railway Trains,” has lately devoted part of its columns to the subject of annoyances experienced by women in railway carriages.
"Indignant husbands recount fearful stories of the insults offered to their wives. Women who have been insulted pour forth their griefs to the Telegraph, and seek consolation and advice. Other women write to complain that they have never been insulted simply because they are modest. Men write to say that they never insulted anybody, but that women insult them."
On the 28th St Helens County Court again considered the question of whether a gamekeeper could shoot a trespassing dog and what compensation should be offered. The case had been before the court several times before and concerned a dog owned by John Robinson that had been killed by a gamekeeper employed by Sir Robert Gerard. The court had already established that a dog could be shot under certain circumstances but the £9 10 shillings compensation that the plaintiff demanded was deemed excessive and only £2 was awarded.
And finally there was another accident at the new railway cutting at Farnworth on the 28th in which a 10-year-old boy was killed. The lad called Devenport was taking dinner to his father who was employed on the site. However he went too close to the bank of the cutting and a large piece of earth fell upon the boy, crushing him to death.
Next week's stories will include the amateur pedestrian who exposed his person in North Road, a miner is fatally injured at St Helens Station, the potato engine obstruction nuisance in Bridge Street & Hall Street and the race ground at the Dog and Rabbit in Parr.
This week's stories include Rainford Church's spoof steam and lightning machine, a cricket match takes place in Dentons Green in aid of striking glassmakers, the Ashton surplice riots are brought to an end, another accident takes place at Farnworth and the Hardshaw Street doctor that failed to licence his horse and carriage.
Most strikes in the 19th century did not last very long. Extreme poverty would force men back to work and many employers simply played a waiting game. However the Pilkington glass strike was an exception.
The "turn-out" had begun on April 18th after the company announced it was slashing wages by around 20% because of foreign competition.
The union tapped into public support not only in St Helens but also in other Lancashire towns and was able to raise cash to support the families of those on strike.
On the 25th a fundraising cricket match was held, as described by the St Helens Newspaper:
"A cricket match in aid of the glassmakers at present on strike took place in the cricket field, Denton's-lane, on Saturday. The match was between the St. Helens and Widnes districts, and some good play was shown during the day.
"The band was in attendance, and played a good selection of music at intervals during the day. There was a numerous company present during the day, and in the evening the number was much augumented [sic].
"After the cricketers had “knocked of”, dancing was commenced in the field, to the music of the glassmakers' band, and dancing was kept up with much spirit till the shades of evening closed in.
"Quoits were also provided, and a good many of the sterner sex abused themselves at this game during the day. There is every reason to believe that the proceeds will be something handsome."
Also on the 25th the 'Misses Phillips Seminary for Young Ladies' was advertising in the Manchester Times that they were reopening their establishment on July 30th.
The Phillips private school was situated in Alpine House in what is now Church Road in Rainford and today the property is described as a business centre (pictured above).
However for much of the 20th century the old house adjacent to the Golden Lion was the home and surgery of Dr Francis Prosser and then his son, Dr Oswald Prosser.
One hundred and fifty years ago the building served as a small school run by sisters Hannah and Caroline Phillips and situated in what was then called Chapel Lane.
Their advert said: "Terms moderate. Prospectuses forwarded on application. References to the parents of the pupils."
During May and June there had been demonstrations and rioting in Ashton-in-Makerfield as a result of the vicar of St Thomas choosing to wear a white surplice instead of the traditional black gown.
More trouble was expected on Sunday 26th but the Rev. Page Oldham decided to take the advice of the Bishop of Manchester and abandon the use of the surplice in the pulpit.
The vicar insisted that the surplice was the vestment authorised by the Reformed Church and he was at a loss to understand how it had come to be regarded as the badge of a party or mark of a Ritualistic tendency.
However Rev. Oldham said he was prepared to put aside private taste and opinion for the sake of peace.
During the 19th century the promotion of events was more likely to be in the form of handbills or posters rather than adverts in newspapers.
Whether churches regularly distributed bills to advertise their Sunday services I cannot say.
However Rainford Church's service on the 26th certainly was! This is how the bizarre handbill read:
"GRAND AND STUPENDOUS SACRED MORNING PERFORMANCES. On and after next Sunday, until further notice, will be performed weekly in the RAINFORD CHURCH by the Royal Patent Steam and Lightning Accelerator Machine. The whole of the Morning Service including Sermons and Hymns.
"By means of this latest and astounding mechanical invention, the entire service is guaranteed not to exceed 74 minutes and 59¾ seconds. The music will be of the most dismal and horrible description, and includes a choice selection of pandemonium melodies. Carriages and in most cases, dinners may be ordered for 11:45 a.m."
The St Helens Newspaper explained that there had been much recent criticism of the form and duration of the service in the old church (shown above) and attendances had dropped off.
So some joker had decided to spoof the services but at the same time convey the message that they were machine-like, too short and featured dodgy music. One letter-writer in the Newspaper wrote:
"Sir, I'm no scholar but will yolse give me a word or two about the Rainford Services. If there was another Church within a mile of Rainford I am sure I should go to it for the Services at Rainford seem so cold and dull that I cant get any good from them and the singin I cant abear.
"Oh! that Ministers had more energy and not be so frightened of themselves. Why Sir – there are houses of churchmen in Rainford as had not had a Minister in them for years and what are Ministers paid for – I am Sir, yours respectfully, A CHURCH GOER."
Another letter was composed in a similar light, referring to the handbill as a "clever placard" that had "for days being the delight and the talk of the Rainford people".
However two other correspondents supported the church and criticised the author of the notice, calling it a "horrid hand-bill" and a "nasty placard".
It appears that if you owned a horse and carriage, you had to be licensed for both. If you employed someone to drive the horse and rig, a further licence was needed.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 27th, Dr Thomas Griffiths from Hardshaw Street was summoned for keeping a horse, carriage and male servant, without having taken out licences.
The tax required was 10s 6d for the horse and 15 shillings each for the carriage and male servant.
The maximum penalty in each case was £20 but the Bench imposed a fine of £5 for each charge, making a total of £15 – which was a huge amount.
The magistrates must have thought it quite excessive too, as they recommended that the Inland Revenue (who collected the taxes) reduce the maximum to £10.
The big issue of the day in St Helens was a Gas Bill that was going through Parliament.
If passed the law would allow the St Helens Gas Company to borrow more cash and expand their operations into places like Haydock and Ashton.
St Helens Town Council was very much against the Bill. They were considering taking over the gas firm but could only afford to do so if the undertaking continued in its present form.
There was also a feeling that the company's charges for gas to consumers in St Helens were far too high.
The outspoken St Helens Newspaper had long been critical of the Gas Company and in an editorial on the 28th felt their directors were dragging out proceedings in London for their own benefit:
"The expense to which the ratepayers are being put in following the Gas Company through all this costly labyrinth of red tapism is really something enormous. It may be all very well for the directors of the Gas Company, with their wives and friends, to be enjoying a bonus in the shape of a summer excursion at the Company's expense, with cab, railway, and steamboat expenses, and excellent quarters at the “Craven Hotel” in London.
"We can, therefore, well understand that so long as the fine weather continues that the camp followers will naturally wish for the continuance of a war which affords them an opportunity of enjoying themselves at the public expense."
The St Helens Newspaper also wrote this: "The Daily Telegraph, under the heading of “Scoundrels in Railway Trains,” has lately devoted part of its columns to the subject of annoyances experienced by women in railway carriages.
"Indignant husbands recount fearful stories of the insults offered to their wives. Women who have been insulted pour forth their griefs to the Telegraph, and seek consolation and advice.
"Other women write to complain that they have never been insulted simply because they are modest. Men write to say that they never insulted anybody, but that women insult them."
On the 28th St Helens County Court again considered the question of whether a gamekeeper could shoot a trespassing dog and what compensation should be offered.
The case had been before the court several times before and concerned a dog owned by John Robinson that had been killed by a gamekeeper employed by Sir Robert Gerard.
The court had already established that a dog could be shot under certain circumstances but the £9 10 shillings compensation that the plaintiff demanded was deemed excessive and only £2 was awarded.
And finally there was another accident at the new railway cutting at Farnworth on the 28th in which a 10-year-old boy was killed.
The lad called Devenport was taking dinner to his father who was employed on the site.
However he went too close to the bank of the cutting and a large piece of earth fell upon the boy, crushing him to death.
Next week's stories will include the amateur pedestrian who exposed his person in North Road, a miner is fatally injured at St Helens Station, the potato engine obstruction nuisance in Bridge Street & Hall Street and the race ground at the Dog and Rabbit in Parr.
Most strikes in the 19th century did not last very long. Extreme poverty would force men back to work and many employers simply played a waiting game. However the Pilkington glass strike was an exception.
The "turn-out" had begun on April 18th after the company announced it was slashing wages by around 20% because of foreign competition.
The union tapped into public support not only in St Helens but also in other Lancashire towns and was able to raise cash to support the families of those on strike.
On the 25th a fundraising cricket match was held, as described by the St Helens Newspaper:
"A cricket match in aid of the glassmakers at present on strike took place in the cricket field, Denton's-lane, on Saturday. The match was between the St. Helens and Widnes districts, and some good play was shown during the day.
"The band was in attendance, and played a good selection of music at intervals during the day. There was a numerous company present during the day, and in the evening the number was much augumented [sic].
"After the cricketers had “knocked of”, dancing was commenced in the field, to the music of the glassmakers' band, and dancing was kept up with much spirit till the shades of evening closed in.
"Quoits were also provided, and a good many of the sterner sex abused themselves at this game during the day. There is every reason to believe that the proceeds will be something handsome."
Also on the 25th the 'Misses Phillips Seminary for Young Ladies' was advertising in the Manchester Times that they were reopening their establishment on July 30th.
However for much of the 20th century the old house adjacent to the Golden Lion was the home and surgery of Dr Francis Prosser and then his son, Dr Oswald Prosser.
One hundred and fifty years ago the building served as a small school run by sisters Hannah and Caroline Phillips and situated in what was then called Chapel Lane.
Their advert said: "Terms moderate. Prospectuses forwarded on application. References to the parents of the pupils."
During May and June there had been demonstrations and rioting in Ashton-in-Makerfield as a result of the vicar of St Thomas choosing to wear a white surplice instead of the traditional black gown.
More trouble was expected on Sunday 26th but the Rev. Page Oldham decided to take the advice of the Bishop of Manchester and abandon the use of the surplice in the pulpit.
The vicar insisted that the surplice was the vestment authorised by the Reformed Church and he was at a loss to understand how it had come to be regarded as the badge of a party or mark of a Ritualistic tendency.
However Rev. Oldham said he was prepared to put aside private taste and opinion for the sake of peace.
During the 19th century the promotion of events was more likely to be in the form of handbills or posters rather than adverts in newspapers.
Whether churches regularly distributed bills to advertise their Sunday services I cannot say.
However Rainford Church's service on the 26th certainly was! This is how the bizarre handbill read:
"GRAND AND STUPENDOUS SACRED MORNING PERFORMANCES. On and after next Sunday, until further notice, will be performed weekly in the RAINFORD CHURCH by the Royal Patent Steam and Lightning Accelerator Machine. The whole of the Morning Service including Sermons and Hymns.
"By means of this latest and astounding mechanical invention, the entire service is guaranteed not to exceed 74 minutes and 59¾ seconds. The music will be of the most dismal and horrible description, and includes a choice selection of pandemonium melodies. Carriages and in most cases, dinners may be ordered for 11:45 a.m."
So some joker had decided to spoof the services but at the same time convey the message that they were machine-like, too short and featured dodgy music. One letter-writer in the Newspaper wrote:
"Sir, I'm no scholar but will yolse give me a word or two about the Rainford Services. If there was another Church within a mile of Rainford I am sure I should go to it for the Services at Rainford seem so cold and dull that I cant get any good from them and the singin I cant abear.
"Oh! that Ministers had more energy and not be so frightened of themselves. Why Sir – there are houses of churchmen in Rainford as had not had a Minister in them for years and what are Ministers paid for – I am Sir, yours respectfully, A CHURCH GOER."
Another letter was composed in a similar light, referring to the handbill as a "clever placard" that had "for days being the delight and the talk of the Rainford people".
However two other correspondents supported the church and criticised the author of the notice, calling it a "horrid hand-bill" and a "nasty placard".
It appears that if you owned a horse and carriage, you had to be licensed for both. If you employed someone to drive the horse and rig, a further licence was needed.
At the St Helens Petty Sessions on the 27th, Dr Thomas Griffiths from Hardshaw Street was summoned for keeping a horse, carriage and male servant, without having taken out licences.
The tax required was 10s 6d for the horse and 15 shillings each for the carriage and male servant.
The maximum penalty in each case was £20 but the Bench imposed a fine of £5 for each charge, making a total of £15 – which was a huge amount.
The magistrates must have thought it quite excessive too, as they recommended that the Inland Revenue (who collected the taxes) reduce the maximum to £10.
The big issue of the day in St Helens was a Gas Bill that was going through Parliament.
If passed the law would allow the St Helens Gas Company to borrow more cash and expand their operations into places like Haydock and Ashton.
St Helens Town Council was very much against the Bill. They were considering taking over the gas firm but could only afford to do so if the undertaking continued in its present form.
There was also a feeling that the company's charges for gas to consumers in St Helens were far too high.
The outspoken St Helens Newspaper had long been critical of the Gas Company and in an editorial on the 28th felt their directors were dragging out proceedings in London for their own benefit:
"The expense to which the ratepayers are being put in following the Gas Company through all this costly labyrinth of red tapism is really something enormous. It may be all very well for the directors of the Gas Company, with their wives and friends, to be enjoying a bonus in the shape of a summer excursion at the Company's expense, with cab, railway, and steamboat expenses, and excellent quarters at the “Craven Hotel” in London.
"We can, therefore, well understand that so long as the fine weather continues that the camp followers will naturally wish for the continuance of a war which affords them an opportunity of enjoying themselves at the public expense."
The St Helens Newspaper also wrote this: "The Daily Telegraph, under the heading of “Scoundrels in Railway Trains,” has lately devoted part of its columns to the subject of annoyances experienced by women in railway carriages.
"Indignant husbands recount fearful stories of the insults offered to their wives. Women who have been insulted pour forth their griefs to the Telegraph, and seek consolation and advice.
"Other women write to complain that they have never been insulted simply because they are modest. Men write to say that they never insulted anybody, but that women insult them."
On the 28th St Helens County Court again considered the question of whether a gamekeeper could shoot a trespassing dog and what compensation should be offered.
The case had been before the court several times before and concerned a dog owned by John Robinson that had been killed by a gamekeeper employed by Sir Robert Gerard.
The court had already established that a dog could be shot under certain circumstances but the £9 10 shillings compensation that the plaintiff demanded was deemed excessive and only £2 was awarded.
And finally there was another accident at the new railway cutting at Farnworth on the 28th in which a 10-year-old boy was killed.
The lad called Devenport was taking dinner to his father who was employed on the site.
However he went too close to the bank of the cutting and a large piece of earth fell upon the boy, crushing him to death.
Next week's stories will include the amateur pedestrian who exposed his person in North Road, a miner is fatally injured at St Helens Station, the potato engine obstruction nuisance in Bridge Street & Hall Street and the race ground at the Dog and Rabbit in Parr.