150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 4 - 10 MARCH 1874
This week's many stories include the first annual meeting of St Helens Hospital, there's praise for the three little orphan nurses, anger over the cost of the foundation stone laying for the new Town Hall, the workhouse portress receives a pay rise, St Helens miners are set to have their wages cut and a debate concludes that smoking is not bad for your health.
We begin with the most recent meeting of the Prescot Guardians, which heard that at the last count they had 367 inmates in Whiston Workhouse of which 121 were children. They would have had more residents but nine deaths had occurred during the past fortnight. As the workhouse had a large number of elderly paupers and a hospital attached some deaths would be expected. But nine was – as the St Helens Newspaper described – a "heavy mortality".
During the 19th century female occupations of one sort or another always had to have a suffix attached to make clear that the person was a woman. And so a female bringing a case in court was known as the prosecutrix rather than prosecutor and the female porter in the workhouse was known as the portress.
At the Guardians' meeting it was proposed that their live-in portress should receive a pay rise of £5 a year. Just how much Mrs Kingston already received was not stated in the report but it would have been very little – although she did receive free accommodation and food. Her duties included seeing to all the female tramps that entered the workhouse, most of whom only stayed for one night. These had greatly increased in number recently.
Mrs Kingston was married to the porter who was responsible for male admissions. It was pointed out at the meeting that if she received the £5 increase, she would have the same salary as her husband. And that would never do! Demands for women to receive pay equal to men for doing the same or equivalent work were a very long way away. And so a compromise suggestion was accepted. That was that the £5 increase be split, with the portress receiving an extra £3 and the porter £2.
A few of the inmates were skilled individuals who ended up getting paid jobs in the workhouse. The Master's clerk had been one who'd entered the house as a pauper and had been asked to undertake some admin work. He had greatly impressed everyone with the quality of his work and as a result the Guardians agreed to increase the unnamed man's pay from 5 shillings to 8 shillings a week.
And they also decided to look into the cost of buying a weighing machine for the workhouse stores. Most provisions were not pre-packed but came in bags or sacks and they wanted to be able to check the weight of deliveries from tradesmen to ensure they weren't being cheated.
There were plenty of thefts in St Helens but not all that many burglaries, presumably because strangers entering premises within close-knit communities drew attention to themselves. Dark winter nights were a good time for breaking and entering and the Liverpool Weekly Courier wrote on the 7th: "The burglars who infested St. Helens during the winter appear to have recommenced operations."
There had actually only been two break-ins, both of commercial premises, the most serious being of Swires of Haydock Street. The clog iron and nail maker owned by William Swire of George Street had a safe opened and £25 taken. His son of the same name founded the plumbing and decorating firm of W. Swire and Sons, with shops during the 20th century in Duke Street, George Street, Bickerstaffe Street and Church Road in Rainford.
Last month street contractor Michael Moran was prosecuted in the St Helens Petty Sessions for leaving an uncovered sewer in Worsley Brow in Sutton without any lights. His novel defence was that it had been a full moon and so he didn't see the need for any extra illumination, although the police disagreed and said the open sewer was a danger to road users. Moran was treated leniently with it being his first offence and only fined 1 shilling and costs.
However, he returned to court this week charged with committing exactly the same offence in Worsley Brow. This time Moran said that he had left a fire burning as a warning light but it must have burned itself out and added that he was having difficulty finding a reliable night watchman. He was fined ten shillings.
James Boardman worked on his family's Dairy Farm in Ormskirk Road in Rainford. The 29-year-old had got himself into financial trouble and this week hung himself from a beam in a stable belonging to his brother at Parr Flat.
The first annual meeting of St Helens Cottage Hospital took place this week and its financial statement revealed a deficit in their accounts. However, that was largely because £677 had been spent on one-off furnishings and fittings. During its first year of operation in Peasley Cross, the hospital had expended a total of £1,304, with its income amounting to £842.
Out of the latter figure individual donations had accounted for £466; workplace collections had brought in £170 and £101 came from church collections. The 37 patients treated during the year had been asked to pay 1 shilling a day and that income had totalled £84.
The meeting also decided that an inscribed tablet would be placed in the hospital's vestibule to commemorate Andrew Kurtz's recent generous gift of the whole house containing the hospital and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds. There were only nine beds currently in the hospital but they hoped to be able to add to these very shortly in the light of Kurtz's donation.
There was a discussion at the meeting about the three little orphan girls who acted as trainee nurses. Two are pictured above with the hospital matron and the original building. When they had arrived at the hospital from Whiston Workhouse a year ago they were just 8 or 9 years old – but they had quickly made a very good impression. Quoting what was said at the meeting, the St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The little orphan children are of great service. They are very useful in the house, and also as messengers for the hospital. The committee hear with pleasure of the kindness and sympathy they receive wherever they go, and it is hoped the training they are receiving will prove very valuable in future years."
The highly experienced Matron, Martha Walker, was very keen on cleanliness and the Newspaper commented: "The committee hope that the hospital may ever retain its character for cleanliness and comfort, and that it may be a model, in these respects, to those who are brought within its walls."
The St Helens Wesleyan Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society held a debate this week. The subject was whether smoking was "injurious to health and comfort". Andrew Garner of Thatto Heath was the far-sighted man arguing against smoking and the St Helens Newspaper said a "very warm discussion" on the subject had taken place. When the question was put to the vote, the meeting decided that smoking did not cause any harm to imbibers' health.
The owners of coalmines were quick to reduce miners' wages once the market price of coal dropped – but slow to increase payments when the rate rose. And the bosses acted together when making such decisions, making it more difficult for unions to play one mine owner off against another. The West Lancashire Coal Association represented the colliery proprietors in the St Helens, Leigh and Wigan districts and they held a meeting in Liverpool on the 9th where they adopted this resolution:
"That in consequence of the recent reductions in the price of coal, and of the depression of the trade, the wages of the colliers in the West Lancashire district be reduced 15 per cent., and that a fortnight's notice of this reduction be given from Tuesday, the 10th instant, at all collieries." Miners working in appalling, dangerous conditions did not, of course, appreciate having their wages cut and so trouble was looming.
A big topic at this week's St Helens Town Council meeting was the cost involved in the laying of the foundation stone for the new Town Hall. The event had taken place some months ago and the council heard it had cost £35 to erect a stand for the town's top folk to watch the proceedings; £24 to carpet and decorate the stand, as well as the Council Chamber; printing costs came to £23 and the silver trowel used to lay the stone and given to the Mayor as a souvenir was priced at £17.
The cost of the stone itself and the evening ball that was held to celebrate the occasion were not included in the total, which came to £115 – that's over £15,000 in today's money. That came as a shock to some council members with Cllr Bishop saying he would never have voted for the stone-laying ceremony if he'd known that ratepayers would have to foot such a bill. And Joseph Greenough called it "disgraceful". When it came to a vote over paying the money, seven members voted against but they were defeated.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Pilkington boys strike, Parr miners call for arbitration in their pay dispute, the dog stealing that took place in the market and the heavy fines for two absconding apprentices.
We begin with the most recent meeting of the Prescot Guardians, which heard that at the last count they had 367 inmates in Whiston Workhouse of which 121 were children. They would have had more residents but nine deaths had occurred during the past fortnight. As the workhouse had a large number of elderly paupers and a hospital attached some deaths would be expected. But nine was – as the St Helens Newspaper described – a "heavy mortality".
During the 19th century female occupations of one sort or another always had to have a suffix attached to make clear that the person was a woman. And so a female bringing a case in court was known as the prosecutrix rather than prosecutor and the female porter in the workhouse was known as the portress.
At the Guardians' meeting it was proposed that their live-in portress should receive a pay rise of £5 a year. Just how much Mrs Kingston already received was not stated in the report but it would have been very little – although she did receive free accommodation and food. Her duties included seeing to all the female tramps that entered the workhouse, most of whom only stayed for one night. These had greatly increased in number recently.
Mrs Kingston was married to the porter who was responsible for male admissions. It was pointed out at the meeting that if she received the £5 increase, she would have the same salary as her husband. And that would never do! Demands for women to receive pay equal to men for doing the same or equivalent work were a very long way away. And so a compromise suggestion was accepted. That was that the £5 increase be split, with the portress receiving an extra £3 and the porter £2.
A few of the inmates were skilled individuals who ended up getting paid jobs in the workhouse. The Master's clerk had been one who'd entered the house as a pauper and had been asked to undertake some admin work. He had greatly impressed everyone with the quality of his work and as a result the Guardians agreed to increase the unnamed man's pay from 5 shillings to 8 shillings a week.
And they also decided to look into the cost of buying a weighing machine for the workhouse stores. Most provisions were not pre-packed but came in bags or sacks and they wanted to be able to check the weight of deliveries from tradesmen to ensure they weren't being cheated.
There were plenty of thefts in St Helens but not all that many burglaries, presumably because strangers entering premises within close-knit communities drew attention to themselves. Dark winter nights were a good time for breaking and entering and the Liverpool Weekly Courier wrote on the 7th: "The burglars who infested St. Helens during the winter appear to have recommenced operations."
There had actually only been two break-ins, both of commercial premises, the most serious being of Swires of Haydock Street. The clog iron and nail maker owned by William Swire of George Street had a safe opened and £25 taken. His son of the same name founded the plumbing and decorating firm of W. Swire and Sons, with shops during the 20th century in Duke Street, George Street, Bickerstaffe Street and Church Road in Rainford.
Last month street contractor Michael Moran was prosecuted in the St Helens Petty Sessions for leaving an uncovered sewer in Worsley Brow in Sutton without any lights. His novel defence was that it had been a full moon and so he didn't see the need for any extra illumination, although the police disagreed and said the open sewer was a danger to road users. Moran was treated leniently with it being his first offence and only fined 1 shilling and costs.
However, he returned to court this week charged with committing exactly the same offence in Worsley Brow. This time Moran said that he had left a fire burning as a warning light but it must have burned itself out and added that he was having difficulty finding a reliable night watchman. He was fined ten shillings.
James Boardman worked on his family's Dairy Farm in Ormskirk Road in Rainford. The 29-year-old had got himself into financial trouble and this week hung himself from a beam in a stable belonging to his brother at Parr Flat.
The first annual meeting of St Helens Cottage Hospital took place this week and its financial statement revealed a deficit in their accounts. However, that was largely because £677 had been spent on one-off furnishings and fittings. During its first year of operation in Peasley Cross, the hospital had expended a total of £1,304, with its income amounting to £842.
Out of the latter figure individual donations had accounted for £466; workplace collections had brought in £170 and £101 came from church collections. The 37 patients treated during the year had been asked to pay 1 shilling a day and that income had totalled £84.
The meeting also decided that an inscribed tablet would be placed in the hospital's vestibule to commemorate Andrew Kurtz's recent generous gift of the whole house containing the hospital and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds. There were only nine beds currently in the hospital but they hoped to be able to add to these very shortly in the light of Kurtz's donation.
"The little orphan children are of great service. They are very useful in the house, and also as messengers for the hospital. The committee hear with pleasure of the kindness and sympathy they receive wherever they go, and it is hoped the training they are receiving will prove very valuable in future years."
The highly experienced Matron, Martha Walker, was very keen on cleanliness and the Newspaper commented: "The committee hope that the hospital may ever retain its character for cleanliness and comfort, and that it may be a model, in these respects, to those who are brought within its walls."
The St Helens Wesleyan Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society held a debate this week. The subject was whether smoking was "injurious to health and comfort". Andrew Garner of Thatto Heath was the far-sighted man arguing against smoking and the St Helens Newspaper said a "very warm discussion" on the subject had taken place. When the question was put to the vote, the meeting decided that smoking did not cause any harm to imbibers' health.
The owners of coalmines were quick to reduce miners' wages once the market price of coal dropped – but slow to increase payments when the rate rose. And the bosses acted together when making such decisions, making it more difficult for unions to play one mine owner off against another. The West Lancashire Coal Association represented the colliery proprietors in the St Helens, Leigh and Wigan districts and they held a meeting in Liverpool on the 9th where they adopted this resolution:
"That in consequence of the recent reductions in the price of coal, and of the depression of the trade, the wages of the colliers in the West Lancashire district be reduced 15 per cent., and that a fortnight's notice of this reduction be given from Tuesday, the 10th instant, at all collieries." Miners working in appalling, dangerous conditions did not, of course, appreciate having their wages cut and so trouble was looming.
A big topic at this week's St Helens Town Council meeting was the cost involved in the laying of the foundation stone for the new Town Hall. The event had taken place some months ago and the council heard it had cost £35 to erect a stand for the town's top folk to watch the proceedings; £24 to carpet and decorate the stand, as well as the Council Chamber; printing costs came to £23 and the silver trowel used to lay the stone and given to the Mayor as a souvenir was priced at £17.
The cost of the stone itself and the evening ball that was held to celebrate the occasion were not included in the total, which came to £115 – that's over £15,000 in today's money. That came as a shock to some council members with Cllr Bishop saying he would never have voted for the stone-laying ceremony if he'd known that ratepayers would have to foot such a bill. And Joseph Greenough called it "disgraceful". When it came to a vote over paying the money, seven members voted against but they were defeated.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Pilkington boys strike, Parr miners call for arbitration in their pay dispute, the dog stealing that took place in the market and the heavy fines for two absconding apprentices.
This week's many stories include the first annual meeting of St Helens Hospital, there's praise for the three little orphan nurses, anger over the cost of the foundation stone laying for the new Town Hall, the workhouse portress receives a pay rise, St Helens miners are set to have their wages cut and a debate concludes that smoking is not bad for your health.
We begin with the most recent meeting of the Prescot Guardians, which heard that at the last count they had 367 inmates in Whiston Workhouse of which 121 were children.
They would have had more residents but nine deaths had occurred during the past fortnight.
As the workhouse had a large number of elderly paupers and a hospital attached some deaths would be expected. But nine was – as the St Helens Newspaper described – a "heavy mortality".
During the 19th century female occupations of one sort or another always had to have a suffix attached to make clear that the person was a woman.
And so a female bringing a case in court was known as the prosecutrix rather than prosecutor and the female porter in the workhouse was known as the portress.
At the Guardians' meeting it was proposed that their live-in portress should receive a pay rise of £5 a year.
Just how much Mrs Kingston already received was not stated in the report but it would have been very little – although she did receive free accommodation and food.
Her duties included seeing to all the female tramps that entered the workhouse, most of whom only stayed for one night. These had greatly increased in number recently.
Mrs Kingston was married to the porter who was responsible for male admissions. It was pointed out at the meeting that if she received the £5 increase, she would have the same salary as her husband. And that would never do!
Demands for women to receive pay equal to men for doing the same or equivalent work were a very long way away.
And so a compromise suggestion was accepted. That was that the £5 increase be split, with the portress receiving an extra £3 and the porter £2.
A few of the inmates were skilled individuals who ended up getting paid jobs in the workhouse.
The Master's clerk had been one who'd entered the house as a pauper and had been asked to undertake some admin work.
He had greatly impressed everyone with the quality of his work and as a result the Guardians agreed to increase the unnamed man's pay from 5 shillings to 8 shillings a week.
And they also decided to look into the cost of buying a weighing machine for the workhouse stores.
Most provisions were not pre-packed but came in bags or sacks and they wanted to be able to check the weight of deliveries from tradesmen to ensure they weren't being cheated.
There were plenty of thefts in St Helens but not all that many burglaries, presumably because strangers entering premises within close-knit communities drew attention to themselves.
Dark winter nights were a good time for breaking and entering and the Liverpool Weekly Courier wrote on the 7th: "The burglars who infested St. Helens during the winter appear to have recommenced operations."
There had actually only been two break-ins, both of commercial premises, the most serious being of Swires of Haydock Street.
The clog iron and nail maker owned by William Swire of George Street had a safe opened and £25 taken.
His son of the same name founded the plumbing and decorating firm of W. Swire and Sons, with shops during the 20th century in Duke Street, George Street, Bickerstaffe Street and Church Road in Rainford.
Last month street contractor Michael Moran was prosecuted in the St Helens Petty Sessions for leaving an uncovered sewer in Worsley Brow in Sutton without any lights.
His novel defence was that it had been a full moon and so he didn't see the need for any extra illumination, although the police disagreed and said the open sewer was a danger to road users.
Moran was treated leniently with it being his first offence and only fined 1 shilling and costs. However, he returned to court this week charged with committing exactly the same offence in Worsley Brow.
This time Moran said that he had left a fire burning as a warning light but it must have burned itself out and added that he was having difficulty finding a reliable night watchman. He was fined ten shillings.
James Boardman worked on his family's Dairy Farm in Ormskirk Road in Rainford.
The 29-year-old had got himself into financial trouble and this week hung himself from a beam in a stable belonging to his brother at Parr Flat.
The first annual meeting of St Helens Cottage Hospital took place this week and its financial statement revealed a deficit in their accounts.
However, that was largely because £677 had been spent on one-off furnishings and fittings.
During its first year of operation in Peasley Cross, the hospital had expended a total of £1,304, with its income amounting to £842.
Out of the latter figure individual donations had accounted for £466; workplace collections had brought in £170 and £101 came from church collections.
The 37 patients treated during the year had been asked to pay 1 shilling a day and that income had totalled £84.
The meeting also decided that an inscribed tablet would be placed in the hospital's vestibule to commemorate Andrew Kurtz's recent generous gift of the whole house containing the hospital and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds.
There were only nine beds currently in the hospital but they hoped to be able to add to these very shortly in the light of Kurtz's donation.
There was a discussion at the meeting about the three little orphan girls who acted as trainee nurses. Two are pictured above with the hospital matron.
When they had arrived at the hospital from Whiston Workhouse a year ago they were just 8 or 9 years old – but they had quickly made a very good impression.
Quoting what was said at the meeting, the St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The little orphan children are of great service. They are very useful in the house, and also as messengers for the hospital.
"The committee hear with pleasure of the kindness and sympathy they receive wherever they go, and it is hoped the training they are receiving will prove very valuable in future years."
The highly experienced Matron, Martha Walker, was very keen on cleanliness and the Newspaper commented:
"The committee hope that the hospital may ever retain its character for cleanliness and comfort, and that it may be a model, in these respects, to those who are brought within its walls."
The St Helens Wesleyan Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society held a debate this week. The subject was whether smoking was "injurious to health and comfort".
Andrew Garner of Thatto Heath was the far-sighted man arguing against smoking and the St Helens Newspaper said a "very warm discussion" on the subject had taken place.
When the question was put to the vote, the meeting decided that smoking did not cause any harm to imbibers' health.
The owners of coalmines were quick to reduce miners' wages once the market price of coal dropped – but slow to increase payments when the rate rose.
And the bosses acted together when making such decisions, making it more difficult for unions to play one mine owner off against another.
The West Lancashire Coal Association represented the colliery proprietors in the St Helens, Leigh and Wigan districts and they held a meeting in Liverpool on the 9th where they adopted this resolution:
"That in consequence of the recent reductions in the price of coal, and of the depression of the trade, the wages of the colliers in the West Lancashire district be reduced 15 per cent., and that a fortnight's notice of this reduction be given from Tuesday, the 10th instant, at all collieries."
Miners working in appalling, dangerous conditions did not, of course, appreciate having their wages cut and so trouble was looming.
A big topic at this week's St Helens Town Council meeting was the cost involved in the laying of the foundation stone for the new Town Hall.
The event had taken place some months ago and the council heard it had cost £35 to erect a stand for the town's top folk to watch the proceedings; £24 to carpet and decorate the stand, as well as the Council Chamber; printing costs came to £23 and the silver trowel used to lay the stone and given to the Mayor as a souvenir was priced at £17.
The cost of the stone itself and the evening ball that was held to celebrate the occasion were not included in the total, which came to £115 – that's over £15,000 in today's money.
That came as a shock to some council members with Cllr Bishop saying he would never have voted for the stone-laying ceremony if he'd known that ratepayers would have to foot such a bill.
And Joseph Greenough called it "disgraceful". When it came to a vote over paying the money, seven members voted against but they were defeated.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Pilkington boys strike, Parr miners call for arbitration in their pay dispute, the dog stealing that took place in the market and the heavy fines for two absconding apprentices.
We begin with the most recent meeting of the Prescot Guardians, which heard that at the last count they had 367 inmates in Whiston Workhouse of which 121 were children.
They would have had more residents but nine deaths had occurred during the past fortnight.
As the workhouse had a large number of elderly paupers and a hospital attached some deaths would be expected. But nine was – as the St Helens Newspaper described – a "heavy mortality".
During the 19th century female occupations of one sort or another always had to have a suffix attached to make clear that the person was a woman.
And so a female bringing a case in court was known as the prosecutrix rather than prosecutor and the female porter in the workhouse was known as the portress.
At the Guardians' meeting it was proposed that their live-in portress should receive a pay rise of £5 a year.
Just how much Mrs Kingston already received was not stated in the report but it would have been very little – although she did receive free accommodation and food.
Her duties included seeing to all the female tramps that entered the workhouse, most of whom only stayed for one night. These had greatly increased in number recently.
Mrs Kingston was married to the porter who was responsible for male admissions. It was pointed out at the meeting that if she received the £5 increase, she would have the same salary as her husband. And that would never do!
Demands for women to receive pay equal to men for doing the same or equivalent work were a very long way away.
And so a compromise suggestion was accepted. That was that the £5 increase be split, with the portress receiving an extra £3 and the porter £2.
A few of the inmates were skilled individuals who ended up getting paid jobs in the workhouse.
The Master's clerk had been one who'd entered the house as a pauper and had been asked to undertake some admin work.
He had greatly impressed everyone with the quality of his work and as a result the Guardians agreed to increase the unnamed man's pay from 5 shillings to 8 shillings a week.
And they also decided to look into the cost of buying a weighing machine for the workhouse stores.
Most provisions were not pre-packed but came in bags or sacks and they wanted to be able to check the weight of deliveries from tradesmen to ensure they weren't being cheated.
There were plenty of thefts in St Helens but not all that many burglaries, presumably because strangers entering premises within close-knit communities drew attention to themselves.
Dark winter nights were a good time for breaking and entering and the Liverpool Weekly Courier wrote on the 7th: "The burglars who infested St. Helens during the winter appear to have recommenced operations."
There had actually only been two break-ins, both of commercial premises, the most serious being of Swires of Haydock Street.
The clog iron and nail maker owned by William Swire of George Street had a safe opened and £25 taken.
His son of the same name founded the plumbing and decorating firm of W. Swire and Sons, with shops during the 20th century in Duke Street, George Street, Bickerstaffe Street and Church Road in Rainford.
Last month street contractor Michael Moran was prosecuted in the St Helens Petty Sessions for leaving an uncovered sewer in Worsley Brow in Sutton without any lights.
His novel defence was that it had been a full moon and so he didn't see the need for any extra illumination, although the police disagreed and said the open sewer was a danger to road users.
Moran was treated leniently with it being his first offence and only fined 1 shilling and costs. However, he returned to court this week charged with committing exactly the same offence in Worsley Brow.
This time Moran said that he had left a fire burning as a warning light but it must have burned itself out and added that he was having difficulty finding a reliable night watchman. He was fined ten shillings.
James Boardman worked on his family's Dairy Farm in Ormskirk Road in Rainford.
The 29-year-old had got himself into financial trouble and this week hung himself from a beam in a stable belonging to his brother at Parr Flat.
The first annual meeting of St Helens Cottage Hospital took place this week and its financial statement revealed a deficit in their accounts.
However, that was largely because £677 had been spent on one-off furnishings and fittings.
During its first year of operation in Peasley Cross, the hospital had expended a total of £1,304, with its income amounting to £842.
Out of the latter figure individual donations had accounted for £466; workplace collections had brought in £170 and £101 came from church collections.
The 37 patients treated during the year had been asked to pay 1 shilling a day and that income had totalled £84.
The meeting also decided that an inscribed tablet would be placed in the hospital's vestibule to commemorate Andrew Kurtz's recent generous gift of the whole house containing the hospital and 3½ acres of adjacent grounds.
There were only nine beds currently in the hospital but they hoped to be able to add to these very shortly in the light of Kurtz's donation.
When they had arrived at the hospital from Whiston Workhouse a year ago they were just 8 or 9 years old – but they had quickly made a very good impression.
Quoting what was said at the meeting, the St Helens Newspaper wrote:
"The little orphan children are of great service. They are very useful in the house, and also as messengers for the hospital.
"The committee hear with pleasure of the kindness and sympathy they receive wherever they go, and it is hoped the training they are receiving will prove very valuable in future years."
The highly experienced Matron, Martha Walker, was very keen on cleanliness and the Newspaper commented:
"The committee hope that the hospital may ever retain its character for cleanliness and comfort, and that it may be a model, in these respects, to those who are brought within its walls."
The St Helens Wesleyan Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society held a debate this week. The subject was whether smoking was "injurious to health and comfort".
Andrew Garner of Thatto Heath was the far-sighted man arguing against smoking and the St Helens Newspaper said a "very warm discussion" on the subject had taken place.
When the question was put to the vote, the meeting decided that smoking did not cause any harm to imbibers' health.
The owners of coalmines were quick to reduce miners' wages once the market price of coal dropped – but slow to increase payments when the rate rose.
And the bosses acted together when making such decisions, making it more difficult for unions to play one mine owner off against another.
The West Lancashire Coal Association represented the colliery proprietors in the St Helens, Leigh and Wigan districts and they held a meeting in Liverpool on the 9th where they adopted this resolution:
"That in consequence of the recent reductions in the price of coal, and of the depression of the trade, the wages of the colliers in the West Lancashire district be reduced 15 per cent., and that a fortnight's notice of this reduction be given from Tuesday, the 10th instant, at all collieries."
Miners working in appalling, dangerous conditions did not, of course, appreciate having their wages cut and so trouble was looming.
A big topic at this week's St Helens Town Council meeting was the cost involved in the laying of the foundation stone for the new Town Hall.
The event had taken place some months ago and the council heard it had cost £35 to erect a stand for the town's top folk to watch the proceedings; £24 to carpet and decorate the stand, as well as the Council Chamber; printing costs came to £23 and the silver trowel used to lay the stone and given to the Mayor as a souvenir was priced at £17.
The cost of the stone itself and the evening ball that was held to celebrate the occasion were not included in the total, which came to £115 – that's over £15,000 in today's money.
That came as a shock to some council members with Cllr Bishop saying he would never have voted for the stone-laying ceremony if he'd known that ratepayers would have to foot such a bill.
And Joseph Greenough called it "disgraceful". When it came to a vote over paying the money, seven members voted against but they were defeated.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Pilkington boys strike, Parr miners call for arbitration in their pay dispute, the dog stealing that took place in the market and the heavy fines for two absconding apprentices.