The Manchester Guardian dated Saturday June 17th 1837
The Manchester Guardian founded in 1821 became the The Guardian in August 1959. This issue is about 20 inches by 27 inches and contains 4 pages of 8 columns of almost unbroken text. How on earth Sir Percy Thustgently, or whoever bought it, could read it by candlelight or oil-lamp, I don't know. It is hard enough using those wonderful new energy-saving electric light bulbs. Don't bother looking for the New Orleans story on this page - it is devoted to adverts, as was the case with most newspapers at the time.
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On page 2 we find the main story. Googling '"Ben Sherrod" 1837' shows several sites that give detailed accounts of the disaster. It seems that the steamship was racing another when the fire started, and it actually happened on May 7th but due to the lack of telephones, air travel, e-mail and the like, wasn't reported in England until over a month later.
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Aren't you glad I don't collect medical publications?
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Presumably they used the word 'cancer' to mean something different to what we know it as - or they lied in their advertising.
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The 1830's and 1840's were the great age of Railway building in Britain. The Manchester and Leeds Railway opened for business in 1839 and was incorporated into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847.
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Railway accidents were commonplace but it seems that you didn't even have to get on-board to risk life and limb.
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Those were the days when you could break a lad's jaw and only have to pay £2 for the privilege.
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For the connoisseurs of such things - the Tax Stamp from page 3. From 1712 to 1855 every newspaper had to display a Tax Stamp.
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