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This Week in World War One, 24 September 1915

Berwick Advertiser title 1915

 

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 24 SEPTEMBER 1915

 

HINTS FOR THE HOME

 

Here is a good recipe for potted meat. Stew 1lb of stewing beef until tender. Pass this through a mincing machine. Season with salt and pepper, and work in also about 2oz of butter. Press the mixture into potted meat jars, and cover with melted butter.

Above a WW1 advert for potted meat and fish paste, both are still popular today!
Above a WW1 advert for potted meat and fish paste, both are still popular today!

 

When putting on kid gloves, always begin by buttoning the second button, then, when buttoned to the top, you can easily fasten the first button without tearing the kid. Never remove the glove by pulling the fingers, but by drawing the part covering the wrist over the hand.

When the hands are very dirty, use potato instead of soap. This will remove the dirt more quickly, and soften the skin at the same time.

When cut bread and butter is left over from meals, place it with a serviette which has been dipped in cold water. Place the food in a cool place and it will keep quite fresh and moist.

To prevent the juice from boiling over in a fruit tart, sprinkle the fruit with cornflower.

Never throw away your candle ends. Place these in a bag, and you will find them useful for ironing day. If the iron is occasionally passed over the bag, it will give the article a beautiful gloss.

 

THE PLAYHOUSE

 

 Good programmes still continue to be submitted at the “Playhouse.” This week an excellent vaudeville turn is seen in “Stowe Brothers,” who present a novel acrobatic act. “Ashes” was the bioscopic feature during the first part of the week, while, commencing on Thursday, the feature will be “A Woman’s Triumph.” The latter is a fine film with a beautiful and impassioned story from the works of Sir Walter Scott. The feature films for next week’s programme are particularly good. At the beginning of the week the star film will be “The Link in the Chain,” a tense drama in three parts. The story is woven round the theft of a necklace. The charge is laid on an innocent man, who suffers imprisonment while his friends toil incessantly to prove his innocence, and they eventually do so to the undoing of the unscrupulous and the righting of the innocent. Commencing on Thursday next the feature will be “Temptation.” an intensely dramatic photo-play in three parts. The synopsis, which is a lengthy one, could not receive justice here owing to lack of space, but suffice it to say that it is a story of strong passions, full of sensations and thrills. Interest is held throughout because of its realism. “Harmon,” the dancing musician is the turn for next week. For further particulars see advertisement on front page.

 

RABBITS AS FOOD

 

Attention has been called to the value of the rabbit as an article of food during the present high prices of meat. Land owners and farmers, who have a sufficiency of hands left, should see to it and keep the adjacent towns as liberally supplied as possible, and meet the needs of the poorer inhabitants. The cutting of the harvest has tended to make the supply more liberal, but in Berwick on Saturday it was not equal to the demand, prices ranging from 1s 4d to 1s 10d per pair.

The above photograph is of Halliwells Butchers, Selkirk, Scotland, with a string of rabbits hanging outside, a rare sight these days! © William Stafford – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.
The above photograph is of Halliwells Butchers, Selkirk, Scotland, with a string of rabbits hanging outside, a rare sight these days! © William Stafford – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

 

RECRUITING MEETING AT WOOLER

 

Northumberland Fusiliers Cap Badge WW1.
Northumberland Fusiliers Cap Badge WW1.

 

About a 100 of the 6th Northumberland Fusiliers including the Band arrived at Wooler on Monday afternoon on their recruiting tour. They were encamped on Turvelaws haugh for the night. In the evening a meeting was held in the Archbold Hall at which Mr Noel Villiers of Weetwood presided. Addresses were delivered by the Chairman, Sergt.-Major Walsh, Rev. Lothian Gray of Sprott, Dunbar, and colonel Napier. As a number of meetings have already been held here, both Wooler and district having responded well to the call, recruits were invited to come forward, but apparently without result. A dance took place after the meeting to music supplied by the band. An officer’s wife expressed her disgust at seeing so many young men in civilian clothes dancing saying she felt ashamed of them.

This Week in World War One, 17 September 1915

Berwick Advertiser title 1915

 

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 17 SEPTEMBER 1915

 

BOY DROWNED AT BERWICK QUAY

 

Shortly after noon on Monday, George Grieve, 13 years of age, son of James Grieve, baker, 1 Palace Street, Berwick, was discovered in the Tweed near the Leith Dock, and is supposed to have taken a fit, to which he was subject, and fallen from the Quay into the water.  Thos. Laidler and James Burgon, who were salmon fishing close by, went to the spot with a boat and lifted Grieve from the water. He was conveyed to the Fish House, where artificial respiration was tried for some time, but on the arrival of Dr Taylor, who examined the boy, life was found to be extinct. The body was taken home on the Police ambulance

The Inquest

Coroner Weatherhead and a jury held an inquest on the body in the Town Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

James Grieve, baker, identified the body as that of his son, George, aged 13. His son was subject to fits, and took them frequently.

 

 

Photograph of the Berwick Quayside early 1900s © Berwick Record Office BRO 1636-5-6
Photograph of the Berwick Quayside early 1900s © Berwick Record Office BRO 1636-5-6

 

William McPhee, private of the 210th Royal Scots, said he was on sentry duty on the Quay guarding the transport waggons for the Royal Scots. He knew the deceased and had taken him away twice from the edge of the Quay on Saturday. Shortly after twelve on Monday he saw deceased standing behind one of the transport waggons. He turned to go to the other end of his beat, and on looking round he saw some boys running and one of the boys informed him that there was a boy in the water. He turned out the remainder of the guard, and on going to the spot he saw deceased in the water. By that time a boat was a few yards from deceased, which had come from the other side of the river. The body was lifted into the boat. He heard no shout from the deceased nor did he see deceased fall over.

Thomas Laidler, salmon fisher, West End, Tweedmouth, said he was fishing at the other side of the river where the deceased fell in. He heard some boys shouting for help, and he rowed a boat over with John Burgon and saw deceased lying under water on the bed of the river. He got off the boat and lifted the deceased into the boat. The water was about three and a half feet deep. He conveyed deceased to the Salmon Stairs.

By a juror- I never heard the splash or saw deceased come to surface. It took me two minutes to row across.

Dr J. Cleasby Taylor stated that he was called to the Fish House, where he examined him. Life was then extinct. Deceased was frothing considerably at the mouth and nose, and it appeared as if deceased had had a fit and been unable to extricate himself. The cause of death was drowning.

The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical testimony.

 

MOTOR ACCIDENT NEAR BERWICK

 

 The first serious accident since the lighting restrictions came into effect at Berwick occurred on Tuesday night, two men being injured by being knocked down by a motor car. The accident took place in the dark near to Castlehills Lodge, on the Canty’s road. A motor car belonging to Mr Wm. Askew, of Ladykirk, was returning from Castlehills to Ladykirk, when it overtook and knocked down three harvest labourers. Two of the men, named Arthur Jackson and Edward O’Neil, were bruised, one of them somewhat badly. The car was proceeding at a very slow pace. The men were conveyed in the motor car to Berwick Infirmary, where they were detained. It was found that no bones were broken, and one of the men had escaped uninjured, while the other two were bruised.

Berwick Advertiser 17 September 1915. John Mosgrove Advert
Berwick Advertiser 17 September 1915. John Mosgrove Advert

 

DEATH OF MR JOHN ROBERTSON

 

We regret to record the death of Mr John Robertson, for many years senior traveller with the firm of Messrs Redpath and Son, draper, etc., Berwick. Outside of business Jack Robertson, as he was familiarly called, was best known in cycling circles. He was the founder of the Tweedside Cycling Club in 1893, was its first secretary, and at the time of his death held the office of president. He was a member of the recently formed Berwick Athletic Society, and served on the committee. Mr Robertson has been in failing health for some time, and passed away at his residence 1 West End, Tweedmouth, on Wednesday. Much sympathy will be expressed for his widow and family. His eldest son is serving with the 7th Northumberland Fusiliers somewhere in France. The funeral takes place on Sunday at Tweedmouth Cemetery.

Leon Georget Pictured above is road and track racer Léon Georget (2 October 1879 – 5 November 1949)
Pictured above is road and track racer Léon Georget (2 October 1879 – 5 November 1949)

Leon Georget was known as The Father of the Bol d’Or, having won the race nine times between 1903 and 1919 in Paris.  He also won the Bordeaux to Paris in 1903 and 1910. This image originally formed part of the George Grantham Bain collection which is now in the procession of United States Library of Congress‘s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ggbain.04379.

 

This Week in World War One, 3 September 1915

Berwick Advertiser title 1915

 

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 3 SEPTEMBER 1915

 

MARRIAGE OF CAPTAIN P. W. MACLAGAN

 

Marriage of Captain P.W.Maclagan. – The numerous friends of Captain Philip Whiteside Maclagan, R.A.M.C., son of Dr C.G.Maclagan, Ravensdowne, will be interested to learn of his marriage, which took place on Wednesday in the Erskine U.F.Church, Annan, the bride being Miss Jane Scott, second daughter of the late Mr William John Robinson and of Mrs Robinson, Cluden, well-known and much esteemed citizens of Annan.

 Annan Free Church
Annan Free Church

The bridegroom, who has been acting as assistant to Dr. Hunter, Annan, joined the R.A.M.C. at the beginning of the war. Dr Maclagan has been much thought of during his stay in Annan, and has made a large circle of friends and acquaintances. The presents were numerous and costly. There was a large attendance of personal friends at the wedding, the interior of the church being adorned with many pretty floral decorations. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. Archibald A. Campbell, and the bride was given away by her grandfather. Miss Robinson, the bride’s sister, acted as bridesmaid, and Dr Hunter officiated as the best man. At the conclusion of the marriage the happy couple left on their honeymoon per motor car.

A TWEED ANGLING STORY

 

The autumn season of salmon angling in the Tweed properly begins in the middle of September, when the nets are taken off at Berwick, according to law, as the phrase goes. Last year the stretches of the river belonging to the riparian properties were poorly let. The war called away many potential lessees, and those who remained did not care to enter on the sport. This year (writes a correspondent of the Glasgow Bulletin) there is an improvement. How the season will turn out nobody can tell. The weather is a great factor – a big flood in September or October being absolutely necessary to bring up the fish from the sea. But the more important question of supply arises. A venerable and experienced angler informed me that salmon are very scarce at Berwick this year up till now. I asked the reason, and added, half jocularly, “Owing to the war?” he replied in all gravity: “Weel, that might be sae. Thae submarines an’ torpedoes an’ other things mann hae had an unusual effeck. The sea about the East Coast has been greatly disturbit, an’ it’s juist possible it mav hae changed the coorse o’ the fish. Mind ye’ salmon’s queer beese.”

Salmon net fishing Paxton House, 2013
Salmon net fishing on the River Tweed below Paxton House, 2013. Copyright: Les Hull, Creative Commons Licence.

 

ITEMS OF INTEREST

 

Forbidden Postal Packets – The Press Bureau issues the following:- Attention is called to the fact that it is a punishable offence to send through the post any explosive substance or any article or thing likely to injure other postal packets or officers of the postal service. Cases have recently occurred of shells, pieces of shells, fuses, and cartridges being sent through the post. This dangerous practice has already caused loss of life, and has been forbidden by the military authorities.

 

LOCAL NEWS

 

The Last of an Old Spittal Family – Mrs G. Forsyth, late of 20 West Street, Spittal, died last week, in her eighty-fourth year; the last of a generation of a long lived family named Richardson. Nine of them reached maturity, and their ages when added together amounted to 726 years. We noted, some time ago, that one of them, Elizabeth Richardson, married to Thomas Elliot, fisherman, Spittal, who died aged 94, had 222 descendants, children, grand-children, and great-grand-children. The country which has most of that kind of citizen will quickest and best get over the ravages of the war.

 

SALE OF WORK AT CORNHILL

Sum of £43 Realised

 

The interior of Cornhill Schoolroom on Saturday afternoon wore a bright and fascinating appearance – just the very opposite to the rainy weather outside – for it was arrayed in all the splendour of an eastern bungalow, and it certainly well maintained the reputation to the title of an Oriental bazaar.  The various stalls were laden with a most artistic selection of all kinds of fancy and embroidery work, worthily sustaining the labours of Mrs Holland, of the Rectory, and the other ladies in the district who were responsible for the effort. There was a beautiful display of embroidered and decorative napery, Chinese and Japanese tables, Chinese lacker tables, Thibet and Lhassa tables, Indian rugs, Chinese, Venitian, and Jerusalem jewellery, besides Indian chutney, Java jelly, foreign stamps.

Lhasa style antique Tibetan Buddhist Altar table
Lhasa style antique Tibetan Buddhist Altar table

 

A feature was the Sowers’ Band Stall, the labours of the Cornhill  children, which was devoted to  the Cornhill Cot in Quetta hospital. The remainder of the sale was for the benefit of the Church Army Ambulance Fund, and Foreign Missions. Mrs Holland, the respected mother of the Rev. Mr Holland, and the several ladies who assisted her certainly deserve all credit for the splendid result of their labours as was witnessed in the display on the various stalls. A refreshment and tea stall was also tastefully arranged at the end of the schoolroom for those who wished to have a quiet cup and friendly crack.

Among those who assisted at the various stalls were Miss Low, Mrs Collingwood, Mrs H, St. B. Holland, Miss Rand, Mrs. J. Logan, Miss Murkin, Mrs Matthewson, Miss Hoyle, Mrs Fleming, Miss Tristram, Misses Collingwood, Fenwick, and Fleming, and Messrs Blake, Collingwood, and Fleming.

During the afternoon the sale was visited by a considerable number of representative ladies and gentlemen and among those present and who kindly sent donations were :- The Countess of Home; Sir Francis Blake, the Honourable Mrs Baillie Hamilton, the Hon. M. Joicey, the Misses Milne Home, Mr and Misses Selby, Mrs Neligan and party, Mrs Rea, Miss Fleming and party. Mrs Little, Mrs Maling, Mrs Swan, Mrs Shotton, Mrs Mackay, Mrs R. Carmichael, Mrs Mangin, Miss Baker Cresswell, Miss Sellar, Rev. W. I. Moran, Mr Swanston, Mrs Bell, Mrs Dickson, Misses Raines, Mr H.J. Swanston, Marshall Meadows, etc.

During the evening patriotic and other glees were well rendered by members of the choir, and Miss R. Jeffrey’s solos were much appreciated.

The proceeds amounted to over £43.