150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (27th APRIL - 3rd MAY 1870)
This week's stories include the freaks of nature at the St Helens Fair, the Rainford miner's family in complete destitution, the May Day horse and cart parade, the Rainhill drunk who thought Yorkshire was another country and the fearfully cold man in a police cell who'd found a fork and spoon on an Eccleston road.
We begin on the 28th in St Helens Police Court when James Twist was charged with neglecting to maintain his wife Alice and their five children. James Fowler, the St Helens Relieving Officer, told the court that two days earlier Alice Twist had applied to him for cash claiming she hadn't had a penny from her husband in two weeks.
Upon visiting her home (which appeared to be at Victoria Cottages in Rainford) he found the family in "complete destitution" and immediately gave her four shillings and took out a warrant against the husband. Mrs Twist told the Bench that her husband had been drinking "terribly" for several months and brought home so little money that she had to do something to bring him to his senses.
The miner said at the last reckoning (pay day) he had only received 8s 6d which he spent with a few friends. However he said his wife had no business going to the relieving officer as she could have got all the money she wanted in the house. That was a common statement made in court by embarrassed men brought to book for not looking after their family.
However James Twist agreed to pay 10s 6d to the relieving officer within a week and promised to behave better in future. The 36-year-old was also remanded to appear again in court so the magistrates could check that he'd complied with their order.
A discharged soldier called Robert Wilson made his second appearance in court after having been remanded in custody three days earlier. He was charged with being in "possession of a plated spoon and fork, for which he could not satisfactorily account". The problem for the police was that they could not find out who owned the cutlery and so they sought another remand while further enquiries were made.
Wilson told the Bench that while travelling from Liverpool to St Helens he'd found a paper containing the fork and spoon lying on the road at Eccleston. Thinking someone had lost them, Wilson said he had walked the rest of his journey carrying them openly in his hand so that the owner might claim them.
Upon arriving in St Helens he decided to sell the fork and spoon in the market place, which led to his arrest. Wilson told the Bench that he prayed for his discharge from the court, as his police cell was "fearfully cold". However the police's request for another remand was granted.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 30th that a commodious new police station had just been completed in Fall Lane in Prescot, which would also serve as a courtroom for petty sessions. Fall Lane was situated near modern-day Derby Street.
The Newspaper also described the briskness of business at the St Helens Spring Fair, which had been in town for three days earlier this week. No venue was stated but such events normally took place on what was called the fairground in Salisbury Street. The paper wrote of the many attractions that were visited by a "dense throng of carnivalists with apparently plethoric pockets".
They wrote that the boxing booth "where the manly art of self-defence is ridiculously caricatured" was again on the fairground with the rostrum "graced as of old by the gentlemen who show the same family likeness to each other that is to be found amongst bull dogs." Large crowds had watched the fights between the fairground boxers and local amateurs and "how they relished the pummelling they witnessed!" The Newspaper added: "Some of the locals were so punched and pounded that they carried away black eyes and swollen faces as mementoes of the fair."
The "freaks of nature" on exhibition included a man with three legs, and a bison with six legs, "both genuine cases, of considerable interest to a physiologist." Two children were also sadly exhibited. An eight-year-old grotesquely fat girl was on show with a boy several years older, who was "so diminutive that she might have nursed him as a doll." Other attractions included a waxworks, a peepshow and a circus and the Newspaper said the wooden horses were "kept in almost continuous motion".
An "enterprising fellow" had created a ring of bicycles but the machines were very new and fairgoers appeared reluctant to try them out. Or as the Newspaper put it: "It is probable the bicycular education of the majority of the visitors had been very much neglected." In conclusion the Newspaper wrote: "There is no doubt a large amount of money is squandered at these fairs."
The first offertory was held at Prescot Church (pictured above) on the 1st and realised the sum of £4 18s 7d. The introduction of a cash collection in the service had been highly controversial and some churchgoers refused to give anything on principle.
It was a long established custom for May Day to be celebrated in St Helens by a display of horses and carts. This year the 1st fell on a Sunday and so the parade took place on the following day. The Newspaper wrote: "Very many of the animals were of a magnificent breed, and could not be exceeded in grace, strength, or spirit, in any other nation." Big firms like Pilkingtons, Greenalls, Daglish's and Varley's were represented in the procession, as well as smaller concerns, like farmers and builders.
The mare of Charles White of Delf Farm in Gores Lane, Crank, was described as a "model of beauty". James Willney was the miller at the College Street Corn Mill and his black stallion was described as "a splendid specimen of the Equine species". A smaller display took place in Prescot. "Excellent teams, gaily dressed" was the St Helens Newspaper's verdict.
Also on the 2nd a new market square was opened in Earlestown, which was described as being in Newton-in-Mackerfield. It was planned to hold a Market Day in the square on every Saturday.
The Petty Sessions were also held in St Helens on that day. Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Luke Mullen after he failed to turn up in court to face a charge of "tossing" in Garden Street in Eccleston. Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that Mullen's custom was to treat court notices "contemptuously". The Irishman had made well over 30 appearances in front of the magistrates and in the 1871 census he is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse. "Tossing", of course, refers to the playing of the game pitch and toss.
On the 3rd another letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from the Pilkington strike committee (its works shown above in the 1870s). The glassblowers had "turned out" because the company was planning to reduce their wages by at least 20% as a result of foreign competition. Like the letter printed last week, it argued their case in a reasonable, intelligent manner. It also described their working conditions and suggested that the glassworkers had been badly underpaid prior to the proposed wage cut:
"Our employment is very exhausting. The work is hard, and the heat is great. To be equal to our task we must be nourished. At present the rule is we are physically disabled for work at a time of life when other tradesmen are in the zenith of their strength. We are glad to be the workmen of Messrs. Pilkington and regret, exceedingly regret, being compelled to adopt this course." The committee also appealed for public donations to support their strike.
In Prescot Petty Sessions on the 3rd William Parr from Rainhill faced three charges of drunkenness. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, although the St Helens Newspaper said he did not appear to have been sober in court. P.C. Cook stated that Parr had a habit of taking refuge by a dog kennel at Broach Villa on Warrington Road in Rainhill, "where no policeman dare touch him".
He was familiar with a big dog there and would lie down in the open yard when the police were chasing him. The officer said: "It is his custom, when he got drunk, to place himself under the protection of the dog." This did not please the dog's owner who told the court that on the evening of Easter Sunday, when people were coming out of church, William Parr had staggered onto his premises in a state of intoxication. William Johnson added that the man had previously worked for him and so his dog knew Parr well.
The Prescot Reporter's account of the hearing described how Parr had complained to the Bench of police persecution: "They had chased him some time ago to that degree that he had to fly out of this country into Yorkshire! Prescot was the town in which he was bred and born, and he had brought up a family of ten children here, and he wanted to live amongst them, but the police would not let him. He hoped their worships would not allow this, for he had always conducted himself rightly, and never injured anybody.
"The Chairman (looking at the charge book that had been handed up to him). Then it is a mistake that you were fined a few months ago for assault? – Defendant made no answer but scratched his head. The Chairman (continuing): And there are eight other charges recorded against you; but it will, no doubt, be a mistake altogether. You will be fined 5s. and costs in each of the three cases, altogether amounting to 31s. 6d." That was a lot of money and well worth flying to Yorkshire to avoid paying, even though he would be in another country!
Next week's stories will include the Parr woman who was violently assaulted by her husband, the woman who was removed from the court dock howling terribly, a succession of accidents take place at Farnworth and why St Helens folk had got worked up about gas.
We begin on the 28th in St Helens Police Court when James Twist was charged with neglecting to maintain his wife Alice and their five children. James Fowler, the St Helens Relieving Officer, told the court that two days earlier Alice Twist had applied to him for cash claiming she hadn't had a penny from her husband in two weeks.
Upon visiting her home (which appeared to be at Victoria Cottages in Rainford) he found the family in "complete destitution" and immediately gave her four shillings and took out a warrant against the husband. Mrs Twist told the Bench that her husband had been drinking "terribly" for several months and brought home so little money that she had to do something to bring him to his senses.
The miner said at the last reckoning (pay day) he had only received 8s 6d which he spent with a few friends. However he said his wife had no business going to the relieving officer as she could have got all the money she wanted in the house. That was a common statement made in court by embarrassed men brought to book for not looking after their family.
However James Twist agreed to pay 10s 6d to the relieving officer within a week and promised to behave better in future. The 36-year-old was also remanded to appear again in court so the magistrates could check that he'd complied with their order.
A discharged soldier called Robert Wilson made his second appearance in court after having been remanded in custody three days earlier. He was charged with being in "possession of a plated spoon and fork, for which he could not satisfactorily account". The problem for the police was that they could not find out who owned the cutlery and so they sought another remand while further enquiries were made.
Wilson told the Bench that while travelling from Liverpool to St Helens he'd found a paper containing the fork and spoon lying on the road at Eccleston. Thinking someone had lost them, Wilson said he had walked the rest of his journey carrying them openly in his hand so that the owner might claim them.
Upon arriving in St Helens he decided to sell the fork and spoon in the market place, which led to his arrest. Wilson told the Bench that he prayed for his discharge from the court, as his police cell was "fearfully cold". However the police's request for another remand was granted.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 30th that a commodious new police station had just been completed in Fall Lane in Prescot, which would also serve as a courtroom for petty sessions. Fall Lane was situated near modern-day Derby Street.
The Newspaper also described the briskness of business at the St Helens Spring Fair, which had been in town for three days earlier this week. No venue was stated but such events normally took place on what was called the fairground in Salisbury Street. The paper wrote of the many attractions that were visited by a "dense throng of carnivalists with apparently plethoric pockets".
They wrote that the boxing booth "where the manly art of self-defence is ridiculously caricatured" was again on the fairground with the rostrum "graced as of old by the gentlemen who show the same family likeness to each other that is to be found amongst bull dogs." Large crowds had watched the fights between the fairground boxers and local amateurs and "how they relished the pummelling they witnessed!" The Newspaper added: "Some of the locals were so punched and pounded that they carried away black eyes and swollen faces as mementoes of the fair."
The "freaks of nature" on exhibition included a man with three legs, and a bison with six legs, "both genuine cases, of considerable interest to a physiologist." Two children were also sadly exhibited. An eight-year-old grotesquely fat girl was on show with a boy several years older, who was "so diminutive that she might have nursed him as a doll." Other attractions included a waxworks, a peepshow and a circus and the Newspaper said the wooden horses were "kept in almost continuous motion".
An "enterprising fellow" had created a ring of bicycles but the machines were very new and fairgoers appeared reluctant to try them out. Or as the Newspaper put it: "It is probable the bicycular education of the majority of the visitors had been very much neglected." In conclusion the Newspaper wrote: "There is no doubt a large amount of money is squandered at these fairs."
It was a long established custom for May Day to be celebrated in St Helens by a display of horses and carts. This year the 1st fell on a Sunday and so the parade took place on the following day. The Newspaper wrote: "Very many of the animals were of a magnificent breed, and could not be exceeded in grace, strength, or spirit, in any other nation." Big firms like Pilkingtons, Greenalls, Daglish's and Varley's were represented in the procession, as well as smaller concerns, like farmers and builders.
The mare of Charles White of Delf Farm in Gores Lane, Crank, was described as a "model of beauty". James Willney was the miller at the College Street Corn Mill and his black stallion was described as "a splendid specimen of the Equine species". A smaller display took place in Prescot. "Excellent teams, gaily dressed" was the St Helens Newspaper's verdict.
Also on the 2nd a new market square was opened in Earlestown, which was described as being in Newton-in-Mackerfield. It was planned to hold a Market Day in the square on every Saturday.
The Petty Sessions were also held in St Helens on that day. Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Luke Mullen after he failed to turn up in court to face a charge of "tossing" in Garden Street in Eccleston. Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that Mullen's custom was to treat court notices "contemptuously". The Irishman had made well over 30 appearances in front of the magistrates and in the 1871 census he is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse. "Tossing", of course, refers to the playing of the game pitch and toss.
"Our employment is very exhausting. The work is hard, and the heat is great. To be equal to our task we must be nourished. At present the rule is we are physically disabled for work at a time of life when other tradesmen are in the zenith of their strength. We are glad to be the workmen of Messrs. Pilkington and regret, exceedingly regret, being compelled to adopt this course." The committee also appealed for public donations to support their strike.
In Prescot Petty Sessions on the 3rd William Parr from Rainhill faced three charges of drunkenness. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, although the St Helens Newspaper said he did not appear to have been sober in court. P.C. Cook stated that Parr had a habit of taking refuge by a dog kennel at Broach Villa on Warrington Road in Rainhill, "where no policeman dare touch him".
He was familiar with a big dog there and would lie down in the open yard when the police were chasing him. The officer said: "It is his custom, when he got drunk, to place himself under the protection of the dog." This did not please the dog's owner who told the court that on the evening of Easter Sunday, when people were coming out of church, William Parr had staggered onto his premises in a state of intoxication. William Johnson added that the man had previously worked for him and so his dog knew Parr well.
The Prescot Reporter's account of the hearing described how Parr had complained to the Bench of police persecution: "They had chased him some time ago to that degree that he had to fly out of this country into Yorkshire! Prescot was the town in which he was bred and born, and he had brought up a family of ten children here, and he wanted to live amongst them, but the police would not let him. He hoped their worships would not allow this, for he had always conducted himself rightly, and never injured anybody.
"The Chairman (looking at the charge book that had been handed up to him). Then it is a mistake that you were fined a few months ago for assault? – Defendant made no answer but scratched his head. The Chairman (continuing): And there are eight other charges recorded against you; but it will, no doubt, be a mistake altogether. You will be fined 5s. and costs in each of the three cases, altogether amounting to 31s. 6d." That was a lot of money and well worth flying to Yorkshire to avoid paying, even though he would be in another country!
Next week's stories will include the Parr woman who was violently assaulted by her husband, the woman who was removed from the court dock howling terribly, a succession of accidents take place at Farnworth and why St Helens folk had got worked up about gas.
This week's stories include the freaks of nature at the St Helens Fair, the Rainford miner's family in complete destitution, the May Day horse and cart parade, the Rainhill drunk who thought Yorkshire was another country and the fearfully cold man in a police cell who'd found a fork and spoon on an Eccleston road.
We begin on the 28th in St Helens Police Court when James Twist was charged with neglecting to maintain his wife Alice and their five children.
James Fowler, the St Helens Relieving Officer, told the court that two days earlier Alice Twist had applied to him for cash claiming she hadn't had a penny from her husband in two weeks.
Upon visiting her home (which appeared to be at Victoria Cottages in Rainford) he found the family in "complete destitution" and immediately gave her four shillings and took out a warrant against the husband.
Mrs Twist told the Bench that her husband had been drinking "terribly" for several months and brought home so little money that she had to do something to bring him to his senses.
The miner said at the last reckoning (pay day) he had only received 8s 6d which he spent with a few friends.
However he said his wife had no business going to the relieving officer as she could have got all the money she wanted in the house.
That was a common statement made in court by embarrassed men brought to book for not looking after their family.
However James Twist agreed to pay 10s 6d to the relieving officer within a week and promised to behave better in future.
The 36-year-old was also remanded to appear again in court so the magistrates could check that he'd complied with their order.
A discharged soldier called Robert Wilson made his second appearance in court after having been remanded in custody three days earlier.
He was charged with being in "possession of a plated spoon and fork, for which he could not satisfactorily account".
The problem for the police was that they could not find out who owned the cutlery and so they sought another remand while further enquiries were made.
Wilson told the Bench that while travelling from Liverpool to St Helens he'd found a paper containing the fork and spoon lying on the road at Eccleston.
Thinking someone had lost them, Wilson said he had walked the rest of his journey carrying them openly in his hand so that the owner might claim them.
Upon arriving in St Helens he decided to sell the fork and spoon in the market place, which led to his arrest.
Wilson told the Bench that he prayed for his discharge from the court, as his police cell was "fearfully cold". However the police's request for another remand was granted.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 30th that a commodious new police station had just been completed in Fall Lane in Prescot, which would also serve as a courtroom for petty sessions.
Fall Lane was situated near modern-day Derby Street.
The Newspaper also described the briskness of business at the St Helens Spring Fair, which had been in town for three days earlier this week.
No venue was stated but such events normally took place on what was called the fairground in Salisbury Street.
The paper wrote of the many attractions that were visited by a "dense throng of carnivalists with apparently plethoric pockets".
They wrote that the boxing booth "where the manly art of self-defence is ridiculously caricatured" was again on the fairground with the rostrum "graced as of old by the gentlemen who show the same family likeness to each other that is to be found amongst bull dogs."
Large crowds had watched the fights between the fairground boxers and local amateurs and "how they relished the pummelling they witnessed!"
The Newspaper added: "Some of the locals were so punched and pounded that they carried away black eyes and swollen faces as mementoes of the fair."
The "freaks of nature" on exhibition included a man with three legs, and a bison with six legs, "both genuine cases, of considerable interest to a physiologist."
Two children were also sadly exhibited. An eight-year-old grotesquely fat girl was on show with a boy several years older, who was "so diminutive that she might have nursed him as a doll."
Other attractions included a waxworks, a peepshow and a circus and the Newspaper said the wooden horses were "kept in almost continuous motion".
An "enterprising fellow" had created a ring of bicycles but the machines were very new and fairgoers appeared reluctant to try them out.
Or as the Newspaper put it: "It is probable the bicycular education of the majority of the visitors had been very much neglected."
In conclusion the Newspaper wrote: "There is no doubt a large amount of money is squandered at these fairs."
The first offertory was held at Prescot Church (pictured above) on the 1st and realised the sum of £4 18s 7d.
The introduction of a cash collection in the service had been highly controversial and some churchgoers refused to give anything on principle.
It was a long established custom for May Day to be celebrated in St Helens by a display of horses and carts.
This year the 1st fell on a Sunday and so the parade took place on the following day.
The Newspaper wrote: "Very many of the animals were of a magnificent breed, and could not be exceeded in grace, strength, or spirit, in any other nation."
Big firms like Pilkingtons, Greenalls, Daglish's and Varley's were represented in the procession, as well as smaller concerns, like farmers and builders.
The mare of Charles White of Delf Farm in Gores Lane, Crank, was described as a "model of beauty".
James Willney was the miller at the College Street Corn Mill and his black stallion was described as "a splendid specimen of the Equine species".
A smaller display took place in Prescot. "Excellent teams, gaily dressed" was the St Helens Newspaper's verdict.
Also on the 2nd a new market square was opened in Earlestown, which was described as being in Newton-in-Mackerfield.
It was planned to hold a weekly Market Day in the square on every Saturday.
The Petty Sessions were also held in St Helens on that day.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Luke Mullen after he failed to turn up in court to face a charge of "tossing" in Garden Street in Eccleston.
Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that Mullen's custom was to treat court notices "contemptuously".
The Irishman had made well over 30 appearances in front of the magistrates and in the 1871 census he is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse.
"Tossing", of course, refers to the playing of the game pitch and toss.
On the 3rd another letter was published in the St Helens Newspaper from the Pilkington strike committee (its works shown above in the 1870s).
The glassblowers had "turned out" because the company was planning to reduce their wages by at least 20% as a result of foreign competition.
Like the letter printed last week, it argued their case in a reasonable, intelligent manner.
It also described their working conditions and suggested that the glassworkers had been badly underpaid prior to the proposed wage cut:
"Our employment is very exhausting. The work is hard, and the heat is great. To be equal to our task we must be nourished. At present the rule is we are physically disabled for work at a time of life when other tradesmen are in the zenith of their strength.
"We are glad to be the workmen of Messrs. Pilkington and regret, exceedingly regret, being compelled to adopt this course." The committee also appealed for public donations to support their strike.
In Prescot Petty Sessions on the 3rd, William Parr from Rainhill faced three charges of drunkenness.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges, although the St Helens Newspaper said he did not appear to have been sober in court.
P.C. Cook stated that Parr had a habit of taking refuge by a dog kennel at Broach Villa on Warrington Road in Rainhill, "where no policeman dare touch him".
He was familiar with a big dog there and would lie down in the open yard when the police were chasing him.
The officer said: "It is his custom, when he got drunk, to place himself under the protection of the dog."
This did not please the dog's owner who told the court that on the evening of Easter Sunday, when people were coming out of church, William Parr had staggered onto his premises in a state of intoxication.
William Johnson added that the man had previously worked for him and so his dog knew Parr well.
The Prescot Reporter's account of the hearing described how Parr had complained to the Bench of police persecution:
"They had chased him some time ago to that degree that he had to fly out of this country into Yorkshire! Prescot was the town in which he was bred and born, and he had brought up a family of ten children here, and he wanted to live amongst them, but the police would not let him. He hoped their worships would not allow this, for he had always conducted himself rightly, and never injured anybody.
"The Chairman (looking at the charge book that had been handed up to him). Then it is a mistake that you were fined a few months ago for assault? – Defendant made no answer but scratched his head. The Chairman (continuing): And there are eight other charges recorded against you; but it will, no doubt, be a mistake altogether. You will be fined 5s. and costs in each of the three cases, altogether amounting to 31s. 6d."
That was a lot of money and well worth flying to Yorkshire to avoid paying, even though he would be in another country!
Next week's stories will include the Parr woman who was violently assaulted by her husband, the woman who was removed from the court dock howling terribly, a succession of accidents take place at Farnworth and why St Helens folk had got worked up about gas.
We begin on the 28th in St Helens Police Court when James Twist was charged with neglecting to maintain his wife Alice and their five children.
James Fowler, the St Helens Relieving Officer, told the court that two days earlier Alice Twist had applied to him for cash claiming she hadn't had a penny from her husband in two weeks.
Upon visiting her home (which appeared to be at Victoria Cottages in Rainford) he found the family in "complete destitution" and immediately gave her four shillings and took out a warrant against the husband.
Mrs Twist told the Bench that her husband had been drinking "terribly" for several months and brought home so little money that she had to do something to bring him to his senses.
The miner said at the last reckoning (pay day) he had only received 8s 6d which he spent with a few friends.
However he said his wife had no business going to the relieving officer as she could have got all the money she wanted in the house.
That was a common statement made in court by embarrassed men brought to book for not looking after their family.
However James Twist agreed to pay 10s 6d to the relieving officer within a week and promised to behave better in future.
The 36-year-old was also remanded to appear again in court so the magistrates could check that he'd complied with their order.
A discharged soldier called Robert Wilson made his second appearance in court after having been remanded in custody three days earlier.
He was charged with being in "possession of a plated spoon and fork, for which he could not satisfactorily account".
The problem for the police was that they could not find out who owned the cutlery and so they sought another remand while further enquiries were made.
Wilson told the Bench that while travelling from Liverpool to St Helens he'd found a paper containing the fork and spoon lying on the road at Eccleston.
Thinking someone had lost them, Wilson said he had walked the rest of his journey carrying them openly in his hand so that the owner might claim them.
Upon arriving in St Helens he decided to sell the fork and spoon in the market place, which led to his arrest.
Wilson told the Bench that he prayed for his discharge from the court, as his police cell was "fearfully cold". However the police's request for another remand was granted.
The St Helens Newspaper reported on the 30th that a commodious new police station had just been completed in Fall Lane in Prescot, which would also serve as a courtroom for petty sessions.
Fall Lane was situated near modern-day Derby Street.
The Newspaper also described the briskness of business at the St Helens Spring Fair, which had been in town for three days earlier this week.
No venue was stated but such events normally took place on what was called the fairground in Salisbury Street.
The paper wrote of the many attractions that were visited by a "dense throng of carnivalists with apparently plethoric pockets".
They wrote that the boxing booth "where the manly art of self-defence is ridiculously caricatured" was again on the fairground with the rostrum "graced as of old by the gentlemen who show the same family likeness to each other that is to be found amongst bull dogs."
Large crowds had watched the fights between the fairground boxers and local amateurs and "how they relished the pummelling they witnessed!"
The Newspaper added: "Some of the locals were so punched and pounded that they carried away black eyes and swollen faces as mementoes of the fair."
The "freaks of nature" on exhibition included a man with three legs, and a bison with six legs, "both genuine cases, of considerable interest to a physiologist."
Two children were also sadly exhibited. An eight-year-old grotesquely fat girl was on show with a boy several years older, who was "so diminutive that she might have nursed him as a doll."
Other attractions included a waxworks, a peepshow and a circus and the Newspaper said the wooden horses were "kept in almost continuous motion".
An "enterprising fellow" had created a ring of bicycles but the machines were very new and fairgoers appeared reluctant to try them out.
Or as the Newspaper put it: "It is probable the bicycular education of the majority of the visitors had been very much neglected."
In conclusion the Newspaper wrote: "There is no doubt a large amount of money is squandered at these fairs."
The introduction of a cash collection in the service had been highly controversial and some churchgoers refused to give anything on principle.
It was a long established custom for May Day to be celebrated in St Helens by a display of horses and carts.
This year the 1st fell on a Sunday and so the parade took place on the following day.
The Newspaper wrote: "Very many of the animals were of a magnificent breed, and could not be exceeded in grace, strength, or spirit, in any other nation."
Big firms like Pilkingtons, Greenalls, Daglish's and Varley's were represented in the procession, as well as smaller concerns, like farmers and builders.
The mare of Charles White of Delf Farm in Gores Lane, Crank, was described as a "model of beauty".
James Willney was the miller at the College Street Corn Mill and his black stallion was described as "a splendid specimen of the Equine species".
A smaller display took place in Prescot. "Excellent teams, gaily dressed" was the St Helens Newspaper's verdict.
Also on the 2nd a new market square was opened in Earlestown, which was described as being in Newton-in-Mackerfield.
It was planned to hold a weekly Market Day in the square on every Saturday.
The Petty Sessions were also held in St Helens on that day.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Luke Mullen after he failed to turn up in court to face a charge of "tossing" in Garden Street in Eccleston.
Superintendent Ludlam told the Bench that Mullen's custom was to treat court notices "contemptuously".
The Irishman had made well over 30 appearances in front of the magistrates and in the 1871 census he is listed as an inmate of Whiston Workhouse.
"Tossing", of course, refers to the playing of the game pitch and toss.
The glassblowers had "turned out" because the company was planning to reduce their wages by at least 20% as a result of foreign competition.
Like the letter printed last week, it argued their case in a reasonable, intelligent manner.
It also described their working conditions and suggested that the glassworkers had been badly underpaid prior to the proposed wage cut:
"Our employment is very exhausting. The work is hard, and the heat is great. To be equal to our task we must be nourished. At present the rule is we are physically disabled for work at a time of life when other tradesmen are in the zenith of their strength.
"We are glad to be the workmen of Messrs. Pilkington and regret, exceedingly regret, being compelled to adopt this course." The committee also appealed for public donations to support their strike.
In Prescot Petty Sessions on the 3rd, William Parr from Rainhill faced three charges of drunkenness.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges, although the St Helens Newspaper said he did not appear to have been sober in court.
P.C. Cook stated that Parr had a habit of taking refuge by a dog kennel at Broach Villa on Warrington Road in Rainhill, "where no policeman dare touch him".
He was familiar with a big dog there and would lie down in the open yard when the police were chasing him.
The officer said: "It is his custom, when he got drunk, to place himself under the protection of the dog."
This did not please the dog's owner who told the court that on the evening of Easter Sunday, when people were coming out of church, William Parr had staggered onto his premises in a state of intoxication.
William Johnson added that the man had previously worked for him and so his dog knew Parr well.
The Prescot Reporter's account of the hearing described how Parr had complained to the Bench of police persecution:
"They had chased him some time ago to that degree that he had to fly out of this country into Yorkshire! Prescot was the town in which he was bred and born, and he had brought up a family of ten children here, and he wanted to live amongst them, but the police would not let him. He hoped their worships would not allow this, for he had always conducted himself rightly, and never injured anybody.
"The Chairman (looking at the charge book that had been handed up to him). Then it is a mistake that you were fined a few months ago for assault? – Defendant made no answer but scratched his head. The Chairman (continuing): And there are eight other charges recorded against you; but it will, no doubt, be a mistake altogether. You will be fined 5s. and costs in each of the three cases, altogether amounting to 31s. 6d."
That was a lot of money and well worth flying to Yorkshire to avoid paying, even though he would be in another country!
Next week's stories will include the Parr woman who was violently assaulted by her husband, the woman who was removed from the court dock howling terribly, a succession of accidents take place at Farnworth and why St Helens folk had got worked up about gas.