100 years ago

The “Telegraaf” had learnt from Brussels, in a recent dispatch, that for some time typhus and pneumonia had been raging in the German Army.

The monastery at Froyerres (on the Belgian frontier near Verdun) belonging to the French clergy, which contained 700 beds, was now only used for sufferers from those illnesses.

The average daily mortality was five. The number of cases were so large that the Sanitary Committee at Hainault had requested the German authorities to take measures to prevent the danger of infection to the population of the surrounding district.
 

50 years ago

“Pompey” wrote: “If ever proof were required of the grave error committed by the abolition of the birch, the recent disgraceful behaviour of the forty-odd youths which began outside the SS Empire and moved on to the very entrance of our York Police Headquarters, is a clear example.

The youths were well aware that, at worst, they would be fined - and what a boost to their ego, as for those unpunished it all adds up to their idea of a good night out.

That the modern police force is not only undermanned, but prevented from taking immediate counter-action when baited, insulted and jostled by hoodlums, is a quite impossible state of affairs.
 

25 years ago

York’s historic Castle Museum was one of Britain’s favourite tourist attractions, according to Government figures just released.

But its fortunes had not been matched by the city’s National Railway Museum, which had seen its attendances plummet since the introduction of entry fees in 1987.

Along with six other national museums that had introduced charges in the last five years, attendances had fallen.