Friday, August 19, 2005

100 years ago

Few, it was assumed, would deny that smoking among the young was an evil, which was unhappily spreading very rapidly. The Scottish Anti-Tobacco Society had, to gain information, undertaken to investigate the practices of foreign countries to legislate against the use of tobacco by the young. In our own country there was no law that took cognisance of smoking among juveniles, but it was thought that something should be done to put a stop to the sale of cheap and nasty cigarettes to children. Every day boys of very tender years could be seen in the streets puffing away at those "five-a-penny" concoctions which found so great favour in the ranks of even adults, and especially among our soldiers. This habit of cigarette smoking among boys was "undoubtedly doing much to undermine the health and ruin the character of many English boys in the various grades of society."

50 years ago

A notable landmark, which had its own particular niche in York's history, would disappear from Coney Street within the next few days. It was the door of the old Black Swan Hotel, the inn from which a stagecoach service to London was established in 1703. The inn was the departure point for coaches that made the four-day journey to London every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. During recent weeks the building, which stood on the site of the inn, had been demolished, to make way for the building of a new store. Only the door and its accompanying plaque remained. The door had been offered to the Castle Museum so it might still be seen after it had been taken from Coney Street. The plaque, it was understood, was to be taken down, polished and mounted on a wooden base, then given a prominent place in the new building, to remind shoppers that the store stood on the site of the old Black Swan.

25 years ago

Tree experts had had a flood of requests for a new chemical, which might save trees hit by Dutch elm disease. Humberside County Council, in conjunction with Hull City Council, planned to inject about 100 roadside elms with the chemical. The chemical was expected to be effective only on elm trees where less than five per cent of the crown was infected. The council's forestry officer, Mr Capel, said: "So far we could have dealt with only the tip of the iceberg." Owners of diseased trees had a responsibility to destroy them as soon as possible. He added: "Diseased trees should be felled and the bark and branches burned to kill the disease fungus and the carrier beetle." It was estimated that between 16,000 and 21,000 of the 152,000 elm trees in Humberside had been lost through Dutch elm disease.

Updated: 12:20 Friday, August 19, 2005