100 years ago

At the York City Police Court, John Allan, cab driver, was charged with driving a horse and carriage to the common danger of passengers in Rougier Street on 19th February.

Constable Young stated that the defendant had been coming out of Rougier Street at the same time as two tramcars were going in opposite directions. He had ordered the defendant to stop, but he had tried to get across between the two tramcars. If the drivers of the tramcars had not applied their brakes the defendant's cab would probably have been crushed between them. Allan admitted the circumstances and said he was very sorry for what had occurred.

The Lord Mayor said they were surprised to see the defendant there again. This was a very difficult corner, and if the tramcars had not been pulled up quickly the defendant might have been in serious danger. On this occasion he would only be fined 2s 6d and costs. If he came before the court again he would be severely dealt with.

 

50 years ago

The Soviet observatory at Zimenki, near Gorki, had just received the first photo-telegram from Britain's giant radio-telescope at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, according to the Soviet news agency, Tass.

Although the radio-telegram, transmitted via the American Satellite Echo-2, was not of sufficiently high quality, it demonstrated that international cosmic communication was feasible, said Tass. Tass said the first radio-telegram had been followed by two more, the second transmission being much more successful.

The emblems of Jodrell Bank were clearly visible on the photograph. The pictures were a little larger than an ordinary envelope. The third had been transmitted via the moon and was of similar quality to the first. Experiments were expected to continue.

 

25 years ago

Government action to control a deadly cow brain disease was too little too late, according to York Labour Party. And the disease had spread faster in North Yorkshire than in other parts of the north, said a party spokesman.

Mr Hugh Bayley said Ministry of Agriculture figures showed North Yorkshire had more than double the national average incidence of the disease. There had been 55 confirmed cases in North Yorkshire by the end of November, compared with two cases in South Yorkshire and Co Durham, one case in Cleveland, five in Humberside and nine in West Yorkshire.

But a spokesman for the National Farmers’ Union said the figures were not so shocking when measured against the total number of dairy herds in the counties, and he complimented the Government on its speedy action.