Tuesday, May 30, 2006

  • 100 years ago
    Of all the Royal Commissions, which had recently been appointed, perhaps the most important was that which was to inquire into and report on questions relating to the health and safety of miners, and the administration of the Miners' Act. The Commission had been asked to state their opinion on the desirability of making compulsory the watering of the roads in dry and dusty mines; the merits of various types of safety lamps; the steps that should be taken for further prevention, if possible, of accidents, more particularly those which followed from the firing of explosives and the falls of roof; the methods of ventilation in mines; and matters affecting discipline. More important was the consideration of preventative measures to guard against the importation and spread of the disease known as ankylostomiasis, and inquiry into the provisions that should be made to facilitate the work of rescue in the event of explosion or accident of any kind.
  • 50 years ago
    The fact was that Northern menfolk were far more considerate about the little things that women told us went to make up a happy married life than their opposite number in other parts of the British Isles. Proof? What could afford more down to earth evidence than that tedious chore cleaning the family's shoes? Helping with the washing-up had its merits, but to illustrate that fine brand of domestic consideration for which Northern husbands were so justly noted, give us the daily battle with the box containing the shoe-cleaning equipment. The particular colour of polish you wanted always seemed to be running out. The job was nearly always done in a hurry, and however carefully you laid your piece of newspaper chunks of polish still seemed to get scattered around. So when it was revealed in a recent survey that in Leeds it was father who cleaned the family's shoes, while in Bristol, Birmingham and Glasgow the job was usually done by the wives and daughters, one could only declare that Northern women just didn't know how lucky they were.
  • 25 years ago
    A jet chess piece was one of the first finds unearthed at the Castlegate archaeological dig in York. The piece, probably a bishop, dated from the Middle Ages and was decorated with lines and dots. A hole through the piece indicated that it was later used as a pendant. The earliest chess pieces in Britain dated back to Viking times, said Mr Chris Clarke, finds administrator with York Archaeological Trust. A Viking set in ivory, found on the Isle of Lewis, was in the British Museum.