Wednesday, December 7, 2005

100 years ago

In a Summons under the Food and Drugs Act of 1899, against Arthur Prince, milk dealer, of York, the Town Clerk stated that the defendant sold a can of skimmed milk from a receptacle which was not labelled to denote that it contained separated milk, and further, his name and address were not legibly written or labelled upon his milk carts. It would be seen that fraud could easily be accomplished by selling the separated milk in place of the new milk if the skimmed milk can was not labelled. This was the first case under Sections 9 and 11 of the Act that had been brought before the York Justices. The defendant said he had given his broken can to one of the unemployed to repair, and they had not finished it yet, to which there was laughter in court. Mr Drummond, the Inspector of Nuisances, he added, had "never been off his shoulders" since he started to try to make an honest living. He was the poorest milk seller in York, and Mr Drummond was always "at him". Prince was fined 5s and 2s 6d for the two charges.

50 years ago

At a short but dramatic meeting, which lasted less than 30 minutes, 72-year-old Mr C R Attlee resigned the leadership of the Labour Party, which he had held for the record period of 20 years. When he took the chair for the last time as leader he was greeted by tremendous cheers and a chorus of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". When the applause died down he recalled his previous intimation that he would like to relinquish the leadership of the movement. He felt the time had arrived for him to resign.

25 years ago

York Market could again be held in Parliament Street and be opened on Sunday. These were two options being examined by city council officers in order to satisfy demand for stalls. The centre of Parliament Street could take about 60 stalls in two rows. Traders could sell a certain range of goods on Sundays, including fruit and vegetables and some other items of food. Councillor Steve Galloway commended both ideas at a meeting of the Policy and Resources (Estates and Markets) Sub-Committee. The market was a profitable enterprise and extending it was the best way to increase income. "We've been told that there are about 40 people on the market stall waiting list so there should be no problems with usage," he said. Although another council committee wanted to use Parliament Street for a bus interchange, that idea probably would not be feasible. The idea of a Sunday market should also be pursued to find out what the demand would be.

Updated: 12:13 Tuesday, December 06, 2005