Wednesday, March 24, 2004

100 years ago: The newsboy, mused the newspaper, was a merry fellow, quick to see a joke, ready in repartee, "hard as nails" physically with a good, generous heart, and if a trifle rough, always ready to do a mate a good turn. His training sharpened him beyond his years, and no one knew better than he did the value of money, but what became of newsboys when they grew up? Some joined the army, others blossomed into fully-fledged newsagents with shops of their own, and few as a rule learned a trade. Those with commercial leanings gradually developed little businesses, dealing and trading, and the majority did remarkably well.

50 years ago: York City Council hoped to keep down the rates by recycling methane given off by sewage at Naburn. By making alterations to the sewage works, the Council hoped to speed up disposal and obtain valuable revenue from the selling methane from the treated matter. Initially two of the ten large digestion tanks at the works would be covered and equipped with heating apparatus and mechanical stirrers. The gas given off would then be piped to a special holder, and the dried sludge that remained would be sold as fertiliser.

10 years ago: As the crime rate in the county rose, 35 police cars sat rotting in a guarded compound at Hessay, with another ten stored at a site in the north of the county. Leasing conditions negotiated by North Yorkshire County Council, had left the police unable to pay to keep the cars on the road. The cars were leased on a contract with mileage restricted to 120,000 miles, with costly penalties if that figure was exceeded. Police had to start taking their cars off the road last July to avoid the penalties, but the leasing firm did not want the vehicles back until May. The police had paid for new vehicles to replace those lying idle, and would continue to buy cars outright rather than leasing them.

Updated: 08:40 Wednesday, March 24, 2004