Friday, January 13, 2006

100 years ago

At the Eastern Ainsty Petty Sessions, Thomas Stockdale and Thomas Watson were charged on remand with stealing four fowls from a fowl house at Dringhouses, the property of Thomas Mitchell, value 35s. Edmund Fawbert, of Dringhouses said that at about 4 o'clock on the day in question he had counted Mr Mitchell's Buff Orpington fowls, and found there were nine. The following day there were only five. Two days later Sergeant Henderson showed him some feathers, which were similar to those of the missing hens. The Sergeant said he found blood and feathers and several footprints in the hen-run. He traced the footprints practically to Stockdale's house. Stockdale's boots corresponded with the footprints about the hen-roost. On the hearthrug were a number of feathers, and in the oven was a fowl (produced), cooking. He went to Watson's house and in the pantry discovered a fowl warm in a tin. Watson's wife said she bought it from a man named Harry Lowe. The Sergeant had taken three impressions of Stockdale's footprints, and produced the wax blocks in Court. The men were sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour.

50 years ago

The appointment of Dr Michael Ramsey as Archbishop of York in succession to Dr Garbett had come as a "shock and a disappointment" to many who had watched Dr Ramsey's career closely, said "Commentary" in the Church of England Newspaper. "It is to his disadvantage as he mounts his new throne that he does so as the candidate of a group and, what is more, a group that is known for its intolerance and for its suspicion of comprehensiveness. Dr Ramsey has yet to prove himself. It is for him now to demonstrate to those who were disappointed, that they have underestimated him."

25 years ago

Hopes were aired that the "regimented" style of the waiting area in York District Hospital A&E department could be made more friendly. Steps could also be taken to try to prevent graffiti spreading on the hospital walls, according to members of York Community Health Council. Mrs Gwen Balf, chairman of the watchdog body's acute geriatric special interest group, told a meeting that members visited the emergency department on a day when there were few patients. "They found the waiting area was so tidy and so regimented, with all the seats in rows." They felt the seats could be arranged in "a more friendly lay-out," which would improve the atmosphere for patients and visitors alike. On the group's suggestion that further steps might be taken to prevent walls, particularly in lifts, being defaced by graffiti, Mr Holroyd, York Health District Administrator, said: "We very much regret this defacement."

Updated: 16:11 Thursday, January 12, 2006