Monday, March 27, 2006

100 years ago

Dr E M Smith, Medical Officer of Health, presented the following report to the Health Committee of the York Corporation: "I beg to report that on March 5th I found it necessary to recommend the closure of English Martyr's Infant School, Blossom Street, until the 26th March, in order to prevent the spread of measles. For a week or two I tried the system of the exclusion of individual scholars, but there was a sudden increase in the number of cases between February 27th and March 1st and the percentage attendance rapidly dropped to 55, and school closure became essential in order to suppress the outbreak. I have recommended the thorough disinfection and cleansing of the above school during the period of closure." Leaflets on measles were being distributed throughout the entire districts involved.

50 years ago

The introduction of tape recordings of three examples of Yorkshire dialect had been a most successful venture for the Castle Museum in York. In the first six months after the button-operated recording was introduced into the tithe barn interior, it was played 17,800 times and was heard by about 236,000 people, in audiences varying from 5 to 25 at a time. These facts and figures were given by Mr R Patterson, Curator of the Museum, in an article that he had contributed to a booklet giving details of the 1956 transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society. The Society had a total membership of 475, including many famous personalities. Wilfred Pickles was a life member.

25 years ago

Students at York University were not heavy drinkers, a survey showed. Questionnaires returned by 1,264 undergraduates in a research project by Mr Bob Scrase, of Wentworth College, indicated that collectively they spent about £7,500 a week on drink. The average student visited 3.6 pubs or bars a week and spent £2.67 on alcohol. Just under half the students drank beer or lager. Average beer consumption by students was 5.18 pints a week compared with a national average of 5.28. Non-alcoholic drinks were preferred by one student in six. More than two-thirds had no alcohol in their rooms and three-quarters did not drink at lunchtime. One student in 11 visited no pub or bar at all in a week. While almost half of first-year students admitted they drank more since going to university, four out of five second-year and third-year students said they drank the same amount as, or less than they did the previous year. The survey concluded: "The myth of students as heavy drinkers was realised by only a small minority." It summed up the situation as "moderation by the many and extremism by the few."

Updated: 08:50 Monday, March 27, 2006