100 years ago

STARTLING statements had been made in the annual report of Dr F B Macdonald, the schools medical officer at Northampton, with regard to the growth of nervous diseases among children.

“The evidence we have,” he said, “of an increasing number of schoolchildren with ill-balanced, unstable, or irritable nervous systems is rather unsettling. These are mainly older children, though I was gravely informed by a mother the other day that her child of four years was suffering from brain fag, according to the diagnosis of her family physician.

The children do not as a rule belong to the mentally backward class, but are often well up in their school work.” Dr Macdonald attributed some of the trouble to the cinema. He said: “The picture palace, although its educational possibilities are great, is in other ways a thing of evil.”

 

50 years ago

PRESENTING new colours to the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Coldstream Guards in Home Park, Windsor, the Queen told the 700 officers and men on parade:

“There is still no sign of lasting peace and stability in the world and I have no doubt that your services will be called upon again to help maintain law and order.”

 

25 years ago

YORK would officially become a smoke-free zone by early 1990. By April it would be an offence for anyone within the city to burn coal, wood or other air pollutants. Environmental health chiefs had just agreed to enforce their clean air campaign in the last remaining area not yet covered by smoke control orders. The environmental services sub-committee had agreed to enforce orders on the remaining 7500 households in the Heworth, Yearsley and Heslington areas, giving them ten months to change heating and hot water systems over to smokeless fuels.