THE HORNCLIFFE WAR MEMORIAL
We shall all be the better of the example of Horncliffe. A public meeting was held there last Saturday to discuss the projected War memorial. There was the inevitable difference of opinion as to whether it should be useful or purely monumental. After a free discussion it was generally agreed to go on with a public hall and reading room. One cannot but feel that there is something in the objection that a hall for the amusement of the living is a selfish form of memorial to the dead. That objection disappears if it is met in the spirit which Capt. Allenby voiced. “The hall was to commemorate the men who gave them lives for ours. It was by their sacrifice we would be able to enjoy the hall.” The hall will not be a centre of continuous dissipation or frivolity. It will enter into the life of the village. Quiet and thoughtful evenings will be spent there, and indeed evenings of that kind will out-number the others. But grave or gay, all the evenings will go to make up the life of the village, and it was for that life as a whole that the men gave their lives. As Capt. Allenby finely said, we must not only think of these men in our solemn moments, but in our pleasures as well.
What would make the memorial even more eloquent of Horncliffe’s regard for the fallen would be the carrying out of the suggestion that the hall should be built by the voluntary labour of the villagers. Horncliffe stone would be quarried and put together by Horncliffe people. Such a memorial, we are convinced, would be admired from near and far for many a day to come, and we hope that it will be successfully carried through.
ST. ANDREW’S DAY
BERWICK CLUB REVIVED
Berwick St. Andrew’s Club was revived this year, after having been dormant for the period of the war, and a company of some 26 members and friends sat down to the 36th annual dinner and gathering in the King’s Arms Hotel, on Monday evening.
A typical Scottish dinner was served up in a manner reflecting great credit on Mr Scott, the genial host, and was very much enjoyed. The Haggis was played into the room in the customary way by bagpipe music, supplied by Mr G. H. Ballard. jun. Dinner having been done full justice to, the Scottish anthem “Scots Wha Hae” was sung by the company. The patriotic toast having been given by the President, County Alderman Darling proposed the toast of the Imperial Forces, referring to the splendid response made by Scots from every part of the globe to succour the old country in its time of need.
The toast was replied to by Commander Carr and Major McAlester, D. S. O.
SPORTS, AMUSEMENTS, &c
FOOTBALL
FRIENDLY AT SHIELFIELD
Berwick Rangers will engage Holy Island at Shielfield on Saturday, in a friendly fixture. The committee endeavoured to get Duns to play in a Border League tie, but owing to the rather stupid arrangement which allows teams to fix their own dates, this could not be managed. Duns having previously fixed up a friendly at home. This is the first time the “Seaweeds” have visited Shielfield, and a good game is expected. The Rangers team will be:- Cairns or Douglas; Daniels and Crombie; Brison, Walkenshaw, and J. Piercy; Jackson Piercy, Moffat Matthews or Scobie, Gilchrist, and T. Purves. The reserve player is Spence.
LOCAL NEWS
A very pretty wedding took place at Tweedmouth Parish Church this week, when Miss Mary Valentine Todd, daughter of Mr and Mrs Todd, Mill Strand, Tweedmouth, was married to Mr R. W. Wheatley, of the Detective Service, London. The Rev. P. G. Peacocke officiated.
The bride, who was given away by her father, wore a grey dress with black picture hat, and was attended by two bridesmaids, her sister, Miss Gladys Todd, in shell pink, and Miss Alice Wheatley (sister of the bridegroom) in navy blue. The duties of best man were discharged by Mr Harry Stowe, of the London City Police Force. After the ceremony, a reception attended by 80 guests, was held in the Norman Hall. The bride, who was employed with Messrs J. I. Cairns, High Street, prior to her wedding, received many presents. Part of the honeymoon was spent at Glanton before Mr and Mrs Wheatley proceeded south to London.
VAGRANT’S LONELY END
DIED IN SHED ON CEMETERY LOANING
On Sunday morning John Westle, a vagrant, believed to have hailed from the Bamburgh district, was found in a dying condition by Mr John Strangeways, a market gardener, in a shed in Mr Hettle’s field on Tweedmouth Cemetery Loaning.
He died shortly after being discovered. The deceased is well-known in the town, where he has frequently been known to beg food. We understand he used to be a farm labourer at Scremerston.
THE INQUEST
On Monday afternoon Mr P. M. Henderson, coroner, conducted an inquest without a jury in the Board Room of the Workhouse touching the death.
P.C. John McGregor Young said about 10.30 on Sunday, on information received at Spittal, I proceeded to the shed on Cemetery Loaning in a field occupied by Mr Hettle, market gardener. I took with me a horse and cart, and on arrival I found deceased lying in the shed quite dead. I know the deceased well, and he went about Spittal begging. Deceased was lying with his clothes, which were in rags, all undone. He also had his boots off, and there was practically no foot in one sock. His body was very much exposed, and he was lying huddled up.
Dr. C. G. Maclagan said he saw the body of the deceased at the Mortuary on Sunday afternoon, and, along with Dr. P.W. Maclagan, he conducted a post mortem. There were no external marks of violence, but the feet were a bit swollen. The body was very emaciated, and there was extensive pleurisy of the left chest, the lung being practically collapsed. The heart was thereby affected. There was also traces of tuberculosis in both lungs. The immediate cause of death was failure of the heart’s action caused by the cold.
