Saturday, May 21, 2005

100 years ago

Henry Rawling, a labourer of Beedham's Court, Skeldergate, was brought before Dr Tempest Anderson and Mr George Potter-Kirby at the York Police Court, charged with creating a disturbance in a refreshment house in Skeldergate. The proprietor, George Grindle, said that on Saturday night he was in the upper part of his house when he heard a disturbance in the shop. He went down and found the defendant disputing with the waitress about a plate of bread and meat. Mr Grindle took the food away and ordered the waitress to give the defendant his money back. He then advised the defendant to leave the shop. Rawling then struck at him. Witnesses seized him and put him outside the shop and a policeman took him into custody. In the struggle a gallon jar of pickled onions and two plates were damaged. The defendant was bound over in the sum of £5 to keep the peace for six months.

50 years ago

Dr Salk and other medical experts gave a cautious "go-ahead" signal for continuing the anti-polio inoculation programme during the summer peak epidemic season. They expressed reservations on the question of actually beginning the Salk course of three injections during that time. The experts, forming the Public Health Service's Scientific Advisory Committee, met after a new suspension had been announced in the distribution of the vaccine discovered by Dr Salk. Since the vaccination programme started the previous month, 18 inoculated persons had developed polio, and 5,000,000 people, mostly school children, had been inoculated. The Idaho State Health Department announced that it had indefinitely postponed its mass vaccination programme and would not accept any Salk vaccine for the time being.

25 years ago

Phone boxes that could call for help were to be given a trial run in York. Six continental-style kiosks capable of warning that they were being vandalised were expected in the autumn. This was announced in York as Post Office telephones launched a new image to match its planned £1,500m a year investment programme. "The new payphones can report their own faults and have the facility to send a signal along the line to the operator if they are being hit by vandals," said John Whiteley, York area telephone manager. "They have displays to show what coins have gone in and meter the call, so the user knows what is left. At the end, if any money remains, they are given a refund."

Updated: 15:57 Friday, May 20, 2005