Random Cutting - New York Snow (1947)

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New York City had at least 7" of snow on the ground from December 26th 1947 until February 14th 1948. In the UK we'd had more than our fair share during January and February 1947, followed by widespread flooding in March.

King Opens the Empire Exhibition

Daily Sketch dated Thursday April 24^th 1924

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The British Empire Exhibition was opened by King George V on St George’s Day 1924. It stayed open until October then closed for the winter. It was re-opened in April 1925 and finally closed in October 1925, having played host to 27 million visitors. Most of the buildings used for the Exhibition were demolished but the Empire Pool became the Wembley Arena and the Empire Stadium became the iconic Wembley Stadium until it too was knocked down in 2002.

Trivia time –

The opening ceremony broadcast was the first time a ruling British monarch has been heard on the radio.

Jaffa oranges appeared for the first time in Britain at the Palestine pavilion.

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Mabel Jones, the wife of hotel owner Alfred Jones, had met Jean-Pierre Vaquier whilst on holiday in France. Vaquier later turned up at the hotel in Byfleet and stayed for six weeks apparently on business. On March 29^th Alfred Jones had his usual morning drink but died in agony shortly after. The drink was found to have been poisoned. Vaquier was identified as having bought strychnine from a local chemist and was arrested. He was put on trial for murder, convicted and hung on August 12th 1924. 

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Broadcasting by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company Ltd) had only begun 18 months earlier but already stars like John Henry (real name Norman Clapham) were getting audiences of a million. His on air ‘wife’ Blossom died in 1934 and although they were not married she was buried using his name. Shortly afterwards Norman committed suicide. You can hear him on Youtube 

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The article covers Henry Kendall Thaw’s life up to 1924 including the murder of Stanford White. It’s well worth having a look at the material online about the murder so I won’t pre-empt it here. After 1924 he seemed to have lived a quite life in Virginia and Florida and died of a heart attack in 1947.

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HMS Birkenhead was a troopship back in 1852 transporting soldiers to British ruled South Africa when she hit submerged rocks off the South African coast and sank. William Newport was one of about 200 of the approximately 650 people on board who were saved.

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The clown and musician Grock was born Charles Adrien Wettach in Switzerland in 1880. This break up with his long time partner Max Van Embden was the first of several but they were working together again by 1927. Grock worked until 1954 and died in 1959.

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I wonder what would happen today to the parent(s) who left a loaded shotgun propped up against a kitchen wall where a child could pick it up? Not that anything would have brought Evelyn Hinton back.

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The Dominion of Newfoundland, which included Labrador, existed from 1907 until it became part of Canada in 1949. Sir Richard Squires was the Prime Minister from 1919 until he was forced to resign in 1923 after being accused of using bribes to win the election. He was arrested but this didn’t appear to hurt his career as he was Prime Minister again from 1928 until 1932.

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No apology offered for showing my favourite cartoon strip again – Pop by John Millar Watt. See also here and here.

Random Ad - Car phone (1980s)

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Cellular phones in cars date back as far as the late 1940's but it wasn't until the late 70's and early 80's that mobile phone usage took off. The ubiquitous pocket phone and then the ban on drivers using phones has seen the demise of the in-car phone.

Random Cutting - WWI Trench Mortar (1916?)

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At first glance this looks more like a medieval siege weapon (a trebuchet to be exact) than something from World War 1. This is probably a 240mm bore Flügelminenwerfer introduced in 1916.

Zeebrugge and Bruge Captured

The Star (London) dated Friday October 18th 1918

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Zeebrugge in Belgium was the port serving Bruge and had been used by the Germans as a U-Boat base. An attempt to blockade it in April 1918, by sinking old British ships in the harbour entrance, failed. The attacks in October 1918 were part of the final hundred days offensive to push the German Army out of the occupied countries and end the War.

Lille is in northeastern France very close to the Belgian border and was occupied by the Germans from October 1914 until General Sir William Birdwood and his troops liberated it on October 17^th 1918.

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By the end of September 1918 the German Supreme Command had informed Kaiser Wilhelm II that the situation facing the German forces was quite hopeless and recommended the acceptance of US President Woodrow Wilson’s terms for peace as laid out the previous January in his Fourteen Points speech. Negotiations continued from October 5^th until early November until finally an armistice was agreed for 11:00 on November 11^th 1918. 

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I can find nothing more about M Strojanoff, except that, in a New Zealand paper, he is referred to as Commissary of Police rather than Army. The cutting above could be the inspiration for a novel set during the Russian Revolution that some budding author is looking for.

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The reference here to Leinster is to the sinking of RMS Leinster by a U-Boat on October 10^th 1918 with the loss of 501 lives. See also this post.

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Not exactly Old Bailey material but shows that War or no War petty crime goes on.

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The Influenza outbreak of January 1918 to December 1920 was a true pandemic affecting every part of the World. An estimated 20 - 50 million people died of which 228,000 were in Britain. There had been a lull in cases since the spring but by October the second and most lethal wave of the pandemic had struck.

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I wonder what the owner’s Insurance Company had to say about ‘leaving the vehicle in the hands of a stranger for a few minutes’? 

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The average weekly wage in 1918 was £1 10s 6d. Using The National Archives currency converter that’s equivalent to about £65. 1s 2d is equivalent to £2.51.

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Air Raid Insurance became popular during 1915 when the Zeppelin airships began a bombing campaign. 2s 6d (12.5p) would get you £100 compensation.

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Better safe than sorry.

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You don’t see a lot of bunny rabbit recipes these days, boiled or scrambled.

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Advert for the official Coronation film in the cinemas only 5 days after the event for those that didn't have a TV to watch the live broadcast. The 'cast' of this documentary included Jeremy Clyde (as a page-boy) who went on to an acting career in the US and England starting in 1965 and still going. 

Random Cutting - Miss Jean Batten solo flight

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Aviatrix Jean Batten was born in New Zealand in 1909 and had her first solo flight in 1930. In 1934 she beat Amy Johnson’s record for a solo flight from England to Australia. She also set records for flights from England to Brazil and England to New Zealand. The 1937 flight detailed in the cutting set a record for the Australia to England solo flight. Miss Batten died in 1982 of an infected dog bite.