Way we were

100 years ago

In a quiet and unostentatious manner, the York branch of the National association for the Prevention of Consumption and other forms of Tuberculosis was conducting the campaign against the White Plague, as Tuberculosis was grimly called. By the distribution of leaflets, lectures on prevention of the disease and on the rules of health, and also by the collection and distribution of statistics and other information, much had been done to educate and stimulate public opinion on the subject. In the words of the Medical Officer of Health for York, their work could be said to have inaugurated a new era in the prevention and treatment of consumption in the city. How many people would realise the fact that over one hundred lives were lost every twelve months from the disease in York alone, and probably half as many again through other forms of tuberculosis.

50 years ago

Booklovers would welcome the decision of the local library authority to increase the number of tickets available to each borrower. The three tickets previously available, one for general reading and two restricted to works of non-fiction, were fewer than those supplied in most public libraries in Britain. York borrowers had only half as many tickets, for example, as borrowers in Leeds. The York authorities were providing for another general ticket to be issued to each person, bringing the total number of tickets to four, more in line with general practice. The increased tickets would, it was hoped, help to solve the existing problem of congestion in the building. The fiction section was the busiest service, and it was hoped that allowing borrowers to take out two works of fiction at a time, the traffic in the exchange of books would be reduced.

25 years ago

The Transport Minister, Mr Norman Fowler, urged British Rail to look for changes that did least harm to customers. This followed reports that British Rail was planning to cut commuter services. British Rail wanted to close some London termini and other stations early at evenings and weekends. Mr Fowler said: "We would all want them to look hard for ways to win more traffic, and not simply to trim services." The Government had put up the external finance limit to British Railways from £750 million to £790 million and the following year it would be £920 million. Grants paid mainly by the taxpayer would be running at £2 million a day. The Minister added: "My belief is that there is a good future for the railways. But it is not in the hands of the Government alone to create the future of the railways."

Updated: 15:32 Monday, November 28, 2005