24 October 1903

A WATERLOO PUBLICAN’S CLAIM AGAINST A DAISY NOOK FARMER
At the Ashton County Court on Thursday, before his Honour Judge Reginald BROWN, K.C., William H ANDREW, licensee of the Dog and Partridge Inn, Waterloo, claimed £12 from James CHADDERTON, farmer, Daisy Nook. Mr G HEATHCOTE, solicitor, Dukinfield, appeared for the plaintiff, and defendant appeared for himself. Mr HEATHCOTE said the plaintiff was ill and could not appear, but his wife was present to speak as to the facts.

The Defendant: My lawyer is not here, so I want the case adjourning. — His Honour: How much do you admit? Nothing. — Do you want to be defended? Yes, by Mr POWNALL. — It had to be adjourned at the last court because you were not very well? I was in the court-room. — It was stated that you were outside? I was both outside and inside, waiting all day. — (Laughter.) — I saw a solicitor, and he told me to get it adjourned.

Mr HEATHCOTE said he did not object to an adjournment, but it was rather hard lines on the witnesses. — His Honour: You’ve caused the witnesses to appear twice already? Yes, I shall get them to come 50 times if I can. — (Laughter.) — Mr HEATHCOTE: The defendant is going about using threats. He has used a threat towards a lady in court. It is simply putting off the agony if we adjourn. — Defendant: I have never used threats.

His Honour: Will you deposit £1 in court in consideration of the adjournment? I can fetch one in a few minutes. — Mr HEATHCOTE said the defendant had been going about flashing his money, and had £100 in his pockets. — Defendant became somewhat exited, and began calling the witnesses foul names. He was warned to desist, and a constable was stationed by his side. His Honour agreed to an adjournment of 15 minutes, and CHADDERTON left the court to fetch the amount from the bank. He returned saying the bank was closed.

Mrs ANDREW, wife of the plaintiff, said the defendant had been in the habit of attending the Dog and Partridge for some months. At the beginning of March this year he owed £12 for drink, and a bill was given to him. He had paid £6. Witness had lent him two sovereigns, and he had had the difference in refreshments

The slate produced was kept specially for CHADDERTON. He had been in the habit of coming in and out of the house five or six times a day. She lent him 7s 6d to get his watch out of pawn, and 6s to pay to a man who had killed a cow for him. She also lent him £1 to settle a matter in which an allegation of assault had been made.

Defendant objected to the slate system of recording the amounts, and said it was not good enough for him. — His Honour said that providing the defendant paid £2 into court within 48 hours he would give him an opportunity of appearing with his solicitor at the next court. Failing the deposit he gave judgment for plaintiff for £9 15s.

WATERLOO AND BARDSLEY
No Light on Vehicle. — At the Ashton County Police Court, on Wednesday, J N COLLINGE was summoned for having no name on his vehicle at Waterloo on the 13th September. — He pleaded not guilty, and said he had his name on the beam of the lurry. — An officer deposed to seeing the lurry going along Oldham-road, and the lurry had no name on, or it was not legible. — He was fined 5s for costs.

A Familiar Face. — A familiar face appeared at the Ashton County Police Court on Wednesday, when Alfred DARKE was charged with committing a breach of the peace at Waterloo on the 3rd of October. He pleaded not guilty. — An officer stated that at 10.15 on the night of October 3rd defendant was making use of bad language in front of his house. Witness sent him in, and said he would be reported. He was a very quiet man when sober. — Defendant expressed the opinion that it was a pity they could not leave a man alone, and seemed quite inured to the process of being bound over through which he passed.

EXCITING INCIDENT AT ASHTON PARK PARADE STATION
Councillor Reyner and Mr Joseph Hurst Avert and Accident
At the Park Parade Station, Ashton, on Tuesday afternoon, and exciting incident occurred. Whilst Councillor F REYNER and MR Joseph HURST (one of the Liberal candidates for the Portland Place Ward at the November elections), were waiting the arrival of the train to Manchester, much alarm was created by seeing two women crossing over the line just as a train from Stalybridge was emerging from the bridge adjoining the station.

The engine had got up to within 40 or 50 yards of them when the passengers called out to them to go back. They paid no heed to this, and came with all speed to the platform. One of the women reached the side all right, but the second one by some means caught her dress and fell back. Councillor REYNER and Mr HURST realised the danger in which the woman was placed, and running to her assistance they seized her by the shoulder and dragged her to the platform.

She only just escaped from the engine by a yard or two, and the passengers on the platform did not fail to appreciate the gallant part which Councillor REYNER and Mr HURST had played in what might have ended in calamity.

Surely this will act as a warning to those who are accustomed to using the line instead of the subway. The officials of the station are constantly giving warning of the danger which passengers place themselves in, and it is indeed lamentable that after all this repeated caution, there are to be found people who are prepared to act in such a foolish manner by putting their lives in peril. The former step-up on the south side had been removed, and it was almost a criminal act on the part of some unwise official.

AN OLD CUSTOMER
The officials of the court are sometimes afforded a slight relaxation from the ordinary hum-drum routine they are accustomed to by complainants and defendants, who by their eccentricities have provoked even the magistrates to occasional laughter. One of these, who often visits the court to obtain what he thinks justice, is Alfred KINGDOM, and on Wednesday, when he stepped into the box with a determined air, a pathetically resigned look stole over the magistrates’ faces. It was his usual story.

The Clerk, to whom KINGDOM must be a veritable nightmare, lent a patient ear to his plaint about how he wanted justice, and would have it, and explained the case to the magistrates as far as he was able, for the applicant persisted in interrupting him, and declaring that he was telling lies. The case was to the effect that his boy a while since was assaulted and kicked by a man. KINGDOM accordingly brought him up in court, and obtained damages, which were paid into court until the boy should come of age.

As this does not satisfy KINGDOM he persists in coming almost every week and making a complaint, and working himself up to such a pitch of excitement that the magistrates invariably leave the court before he has finished. His excitement was now directed against the clerk, and he with the terrible threat “that he would go over to Dukinfield, and tell the people there what he knew about him.”

BURNING FATALITY AT HOOLEY HILL
Reading in Bed with a Lighted Candle
The sad circumstances of the death of Isabella DORRINGTON, aged 50 years, single woman, residing at 20 Howard-street, Hooley Hill, were reported to the Ashton police on Saturday. According to the statement of Elizabeth DARDIS, widow of Robert DARDIS, furrier, with whom she lodged, the deceased woman returned home about nine o’clock on Monday night, September 28th, in her usual good health, but apparently the worse for drink.

She afterwards went for a pint of beer, which she drank, and retired to bed about 11 o’clock, taking a lighted candle with her. Mrs DARDIS went to the bottom of the stairs, and saw smoke issuing from the bedroom occupied by the deceased. She ran upstairs, and found her lying on the bedroom floor face downwards, her bodice on fire.

She called in a neighbour named Mrs PRITT, and a policeman, who applied linseed oil and limewater to the burns, which were very severe about the chest, hand, and mouth. Dr HOWE was sent for, and prescribed medical treatment, and the following day ordered her removal to the Workhouse Hospital, which was done. She there told a nurse that her clothing caught fire from a candle whilst reading in bed. Death took place at 2.30 pm on Saturday.

The inquest was held at the Union Workhouse by Mr Ernest BIRCH, deputy district coroner.

Elizabeth DARDIS was called. She had known deceased, who lodged with her, since she was 12 years of age. She was a furrier’s puller, and was aged about 50, and had always had moderate health. She was in the habit of taking a drink. Witness remembered her coming home on the 28th of September, about half past nine at night, when she was under the influence of drink.

After a while she went out and returned with some beer. She shared it with witness and another woman, and went to bed about 11 o’clock, taking the remainder of the beer and a lighted candle. About a quarter of an hour after deceased had gone up witness followed, and when half-way up she saw smoke issuing from the room. She then opened the door and found that the room was in darkness and full of smoke. She opened the window and called for a light.

Deceased was lying face downwards on the floor. A portion of her clothing which she had pulled off was on fire. She had not been in bed. She had been in the habit of reading in bed. When questioned deceased said she did not know how it had happened. Witness then called in Mrs PRITT, who went for the police, who administered linseed oil on the chest, face and hands, where she had been injured. She sent for Dr HOWE, who ordered her to the hospital.

Elizabeth PRITT, of 23 King-street, Hooley Hill, a furrier, said that she had known deceased for about 20 years. She got the worse for drink occasionally. At nine o’clock that night witness saw her. She was drunk. Witness only stayed a few minutes and next saw about a quarter past eleven, when she was called to her. On going upstairs she found deceased on the floor. She was burned on the back and neck. They carried her downstairs.

Margaret KERSHAW, a nurse at the Union Workhouse, said deceased was admitted to that institution on the 29th of September suffering from severe burns about the chest, neck, and hand. She stated that she had been reading in bed with the candle. Witness dressed the wounds, which were seen by Dr HUGHES the following morning about half-past nine, after she had been attended to, and appeared much better, but a little after her face began to swell. She continued better until about a week since when she changed for the worse and gradually sank and died on Saturday.

The verdict was to the effect that deceased came to her death by accident.

At the end of the inquest one of the jurors broached the question as to why patients should be brought to the Workhouse Hospital instead of to the Infirmary, and why there was not a resident doctor at the Workhouse? The Coroner presumed that it depended on the nature of the injuries sustained. The last witness (Mrs KERSHAW) said that if it was thought necessary a doctor was immediately telephones for. The Coroner: I should have thought, in a large institution like this, there would be a resident doctor.

DUKINFIELD BEERHOUSE KEEPER’S APPEAL
At Knutsford Quarter Sessions, on Tuesday, before Sir Horatio LLOYD, K.C., and Justices, Harry EVANS, licensee of the Talbot Inn beerhouse, Dukinfield, appealed against a conviction for permitting drunkenness on his licensed premises. Mr Colt WILLIAMS, instructed by Mr J A GARFORTH, solicitor, appeared for the appellant, and Mr Trevor LLOYD, instructed by Mr J G WESTBROOK, clerk to the justices, for the respondent magistrates.

The case for the respondents was that on the evening of August 15th an inspector and a sergeant of police went into the taproom of the appellant’s house, and found a drunken man, named BRUCE, drinking from a pint pot. According to the evidence of the police the licensee said to his wife, who was serving in the taproom, “You should not have served him. I cannot attend to the music and this room as well.”

Counsel pointed out that under the new Licensing Act a further onus was thrown upon the licensee, who was not obliged to prove that he took all possible steps to prevent drunkenness on his licensed premises. BRUCE was ordered out, and the landlord remarked, “It’s a long time since he was served,” and as the man staggered and tumbled from the room he said, “He has not been served here.”

The inspector drew the landlord’s attention to the man’s condition, and he said, “Yes, he has had enough.” A pint pot, which was found on the counter near where the man had been sitting, was claimed by another man in the room, but the police were confident that this was the drunken man’s pot. The man BRUCE was afterwards convicted of drunkenness

The appellant’s case was that the police had committed a mistake and that BRUCE was not under the influence of drink. The landlord denied the statement alleged to have been made by himself to the police, and a number of witnesses were called to prove that the man BRUCE was sober. The court upheld the conviction.

HURST
Breach of the Peace. — Before the Ashton county justices on Wednesday, Bridget YOUNG pleaded guilty to a charge of committing a breach of the peace at Hurst on the 1st of October. — She was bound over to keep the peace for three months.

Tossing. — At the Ashton County Police Court, on Wednesday, four youths named William HAMPSON, Albert MELLOR, William BROOMHEAD, and John MATLEY were charged with gaming at Hurst on the 2nd of October. — HAMPSON did not appear, but sent someone in his stead. — They were fined 5s for costs each.

Pigeons Smothered. — Superintendent HEWITT, of the Ashton County Police Division, has lost eighteen pigeons as a result of a fire which occurred in the hayloft over his stable. The birds were kept in a cote adjacent to the loft, and when the outbreak was discovered the premises were full of smoke. Upon an entrance being effected to the cote the birds were found smothered.

BREACHES OF THE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT
Prosecutions at Ashton
At the Ashton County Police Court, on Wednesday, Samuel THACKER, a farmer, of Greenhurst, was charged with selling to the prejudice of Superintendent HEWITT, on the 25th August, a pint of milk not of the quality and substance demanded. He pleaded guilty. Mr W H WILSON, solicitor to the Lancashire County Council, appeared to prosecute.

Mr WILSON, in stating the facts, said that defendant was a farmer at Greenhurst Farm, Hurst. On the 25th August Superintendent HEWITT purchased a pint of milk from him. He then intimated that he had brought it for the purpose of analysis. He then divided it into three parts, gave the farmer one, kept one part, and sent the other to the county analyst, who certified that it contained one in 25,000 parts of formaldehyde, a powerful antiseptic, the use of which was unusual, unnecessary, and harmful. Dr SERGEANT, the medical officer of health for Lancashire was present, and would be called. The antiseptic was so strong that though one part in 25,000 might appear trivial there had been prosecutions for one in 100,000.

Dr Edward SERGEANT was called. He bore out Mr WILSON’s statements, and said that the chemical rendered milk difficult of digestion, and to children especially harmful. The object of using it was to preserve the milk. He thought the present case was one of the worst they had ever had.

Defendant stated that he got the chemical from Rochdale under the impression that it was concentrated lime. He did not know he was doing anything wrong. Mr WILSON pointed out that defendant had his remedy, as he could recover any costs from the person he purchased it from by civil action. He was fined 20s and costs, including advocate’s and analyst’s fee.

HINTS TO LOVERS
Do not, immediately you fall in love with a girl, begin to pester her with attentions; girls want careful treatment, and are not, as a rule, fond of abrupt, imperious lovers. Do not allow yourself to become too familiar before you know her sufficiently well; be respectful and deferential, and always scrupulously polite.

Do not come into her presence when your appearance is untidy; it shows disrespect. Do not, should you meet her at the dance, be offended if she refuses to give you all the dances you may ask; remember she may wish to dance them with you just as much as you do with her, but dares not, for fear of remarks being made about it.

Do not haunt her footsteps like a shadow, until she tires at the sight of you; but when you do see her, make her interested in you and your conversation. Do not bore her with everlasting talk of yourself and your doings, but question her about herself, her thoughts and feelings.

Do not, when meeting her out with her mother, forget to pay proper attention to the latter as well as the former; mothers like courteous young men. Do not, if you see your love is not wished for, persist in offering it again and again. Withdraw like a gentleman; but should you see any chance of her changing her mind, proffer your suit at once.