Non-Football Stories 1921

NON-FOOTBALL STORIES 1921

While looking through old documents, it is almost inevitable that the reader's attention will be drawn from the intended target to other articles. Most of the reports below were found in old Ardrossan and Saltcoats and Glasgow Herald newspapers. Although they have no football content, they may be of interest.

Hunter - At 20 Montgomerie Street, Ardrossan on 1 January, Mary Crawford, beloved wife of Thomas Hunter.

The ownership of a £100 note which an Ardrossan woman, Mrs McLaughlin, handed to a shopkeeper as a £1 note and which was thought must have been given in error to her husband in his wages, has now been established. The matter again came before the magistrate at Ardrossan and Bailie Reynolds decided that in the circumstances he had no jurisdiction. The police inspector, however, intimated that the owner of the note had now been found in the person of Mrs Kirk, a Glasgow lady, whose claim had been recognised by Mrs McLaughlin and who had come to an arrangement with the latter as regards compensation. It was explained that Mrs Kirk’s daughter had been in Ardrossan staying with Mrs McLaughlin and Mrs Kirk had paid a visit to her. Shortly before that she had withdrawn £400 in four notes from the savings bank in Glasgow and these had been put in a box with some other money. On going to Ardrossan, she had taken out of the box what she understood to be a £1 note and this she had paid to Mrs McLaughlin in the course of her visit. A few days after her return home, she had discovered that one of the £100 notes in her box was missing and had reported the loss to the Glasgow police not connecting it with the visit to Ardrossan. She only learned about Mrs McLaughlin having a £100 note through a communication which she received from Mrs McLaughlin herself recently.

At a special meeting of Ardrossan Town Council it was agreed to accept Lord Eglinton's offer to convey to the town the South Beach Green and the baths property in exchange for the town taking over the private streets and lanes in the burgh belonging to Lord Eglinton.

Owing to the earlier departure of the train for Ardrossan connecting with the steamer for Belfast, the box closing at the Glasgow head office for the mails to Ireland conveyed by the above route will be at 9.30 pm on and from February 1.

The Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company have launched the steamer Troldfos , 256 feet in length, 39 feet in breadth and 18 feet in depth which they have built for Messrs Otto and Thor Thorensen, Christiania. The vessel, which is of 2500 tons dead weight and 1480 tons gross will have triple-expansion engines of 1100 brake horse power, capable of giving a speed of 9½ knots loaded, by Messrs John G Kincaid and Company, Greenock.

Glasgow Herald, 9 February 1921

HIGH COURT IN GLASGOW - ARDROSSAN MOTHER’S CRIME

A young woman was charged with having on 5 or 6 November last, in a house in Ardrossan, caused the death of her newly-born child by strangling. A plea of guilty of culpable homicide was accepted. Mr W B Berry, who appeared on her behalf, stated that the accused was twenty-nine years of age and had lived in Bridge of Weir until October last. She appeared to be a hard-working girl all her life. During the war, she was employed in the Post Office but after the return of the ordinary postal employees from the army she became a maid servant in Bridge of Weir. In October, she went to Ardrossan and entered the service of her previous mistress’s daughter. According to her own statement, she did not suspect her condition until shortly before the birth of the child. Those who knew the accused spoke of her as a quiet, well-behaved and kindly disposed girl. Her mother, however, stated that she had been mentally weak all her life, that she early exhibited signs of mental abnormality and that she was liable to be easily imposed upon. The parish minister and village schoolmaster spoke of her in similar terms. Mr J C Fenton, Advocate Depute, bore out what had been said about the general character of the accused. Lord Dundas said the crime was a serious one and the sentence could not be a trifling one but he had listened attentively to what accused’s counsel had said and he would restrict the sentence to one of fifteen months imprisonment.

The steamer Kenmare, a cargo and passenger vessel for the cross-Channel trade, was launched yesterday by Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company. The vessel. which has been built for the City of Cork Steam Packet Company, is of 1883 tons gross and will have accommodation for seventy-five first class passengers and a number of steerage passengers. The vessel will also be capable of carrying 380 cattle. She will be engined by Messrs John G Kincaid and Company, Greenock and will have a speed of fourteen knots. The launching ceremony was performed by Mrs R W Sinnot, wife of the general manager of the owning company.

An important event in the history of Ardrossan burgh took place last Saturday (26 February 1921) when Castlecraigs (shown above in 1972) in Glasgow Street was opened as a Recreation club for the employees of the Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company Limited. This commodious house, with imposing baronial frontage and its extensive grounds, were purchased by the Shipyard Company over a year ago for the purpose of providing such a Club and since then a huge amount of work has been done in converting the buildings and grounds into their present condition. The interiors of the main building and adjuncts have been completely reconstructed, redecorated, fitted and handsomely furnished and the grounds laid out to suit the present purpose. A remarkable transformation has been achieved. On the ground floor, the principal apartment is the boys' recreation and reading room. This room presents a very striking appearance. In the making of it, the old carriage house was utilised and a large archway was made in the dividing wall which lends an effective note to the aspect of the room. It is admirably furnished with tables and chairs and the essentials for various kinds of games are provided - cards, chess, draughts, dominoes, et cetera while newspapers and monthly periodicals will also be available to the members. Another prominent feature of the facilities provided on this floor consists of the baths and lavatories. These are excellently fitted up and equipped. There are two large baths with hot and cold water and also spray baths and there is ample washstand accommodation. The staff bathroom, an office for the welfare supervisor, a room for ambulance outfit with medicines, splints, stretchers, et cetera, a dark room for photographers, cloak room and the caretaker's house are also on the ground flat. Upstairs are the staff reading and recreation room and the men's reading and recreation room. The former is beautifully furnished with carpet, artistically upholstered lounge chairs, tables and piano, and its looks the very acme of comfort. The men's room, which has four windows, is larger and it also is most comfortably furnished and presents a very inviting aspect. In both rooms, games and periodicals are provided and every thing has been done to make them attractive. The outstanding feature of the club house is the gymnasium hall. This is a large brick building adjoining the main building and erected over the old courtyard. It is 87 feet 6 inches long by 47 feet 6 inches wide and has a steel girder roof. The floor is of maple with special springs underneath and the hall, which presents a bright, pleasing appearance, is lavishly equipped with gymnastic appurtenances of every kind including all the latest Swedish apparatus, a standard boxing ring, punch ball, basket ball, et cetera. There is also at one end a large balcony which opens off the boys' well-furnished dressing room. The hall can be used for dances, concerts and other functions. It is estimated that about 750 persons will be accommodated in the building and that it will be able to hold about eighty couples at a dance. At the end opposite the balcony, an aperture opens into the kitchen, where there is a steam cooker, stove, et cetera and where refreshments can be prepared on the occasion of a social or dance. Practically the whole building is heated with steam pipes and radiators and it is lit by electricity, which is generated by a petrol-driven motor engine withy dynamo in one of the outhouses. In the grounds at each end of the building, two large tennis courts have been laid out in the most up-to-date style with seats for spectators and in front of the house, a huge flagpole has been erected. The caretaker, Mr Edward Renyard, was for sixteen years in the navy and acted as a physical training instructor there. He will be in charge of the gymnasium at Castlecraigs and, under a man of his experience, the youths of the club should receive a thorough training in physical exercises. Everything about the building is done on an elaborate scale and the employees of the shipyard are indeed fortunate in having available for their use such a splendid club. Prior to the opening ceremony, the Ardrossan Shipyard Cadet Corps to the number of about seventy, under command of Captain W Hamilton, and including the Corps Pipe Band under Pipe-Major Adams, paraded on the grounds in front of Castlecraigs and were inspected by Mr E Aitken Quack, managing director of the firm. Mr Quack, following the inspection, addressed the boys. Some people claimed, he said, that a Cadet Corps was an encouragement of militarism but he denied that. It was not militarism - it was citizenship. They had joined the Corps voluntarily in order to improve themselves and form friendships among themselves and their membership of it would, in after-life, stand them in very good stead. One thing they learned in it was discipline and discipline did not include only the obeying of orders of those over them, but also included self-discipline. One thing that it was necessary the youth of the country should learn - and he was trying to teach his own boys - was self-control and another thing was to be efficient. Whatever they did, they should try to be efficient, try to do it whole-heartedly. Their uniform was that of one of the best-known regiments in the British Army and the tartan they were wearing was that of one of the oldest regiments. They had therefore a tradition to keep up. They must always remember that one of the things that Scottish regiments were famed for in France was their courtesy and kindliness to the inhabitants. There was no doubt the Scotsmen in France endeared themselves to the population by these elements. These constituted the essence and the basis of a gentleman. A gentleman did not consist of a man who was able to wear good clothes or to speak perfect English or to write grammatically. He must have these two elements of courtesy and kindliness and he hoped that was one of the things they would remember whenever they had the uniform on. They were getting a certain amount of military training in the Corps and when they reached eighteen years of age, he hoped they would join the Territorial Force. All boys owed it to their country to put themselves in a position to be able to defend it, if necessary. The sneers from some quarters about this being militarism were entirely unjustified. It was every man's duty to be able to defend his country - not to be defiant but to be ready to defend. And he had no doubt that, like the rest of the boys in the country, they would be prepared in after life to do their duty if called upon. He was glad to be with them and inspect them for the first time. He congratulated them on their smart appearance and he hoped that as time went on the Cadet Corps of Ardrossan Shipyard would always maintain a high reputation. The opening ceremony was simple and brief. It took place in the gymnasium hall and there was a good number of members of the club and townspeople present. Mr E Aitken Quack presided and accompanying him on the platform were Mrs Quack and Master Richard Quack, Mr David Smail a director of the firm, Mr S Turnbull general manager, Provost G McKellar and Police Judge I T Fawcett. The Chairman said he had great pleasure in welcoming them to that ceremony on behalf of the Company. The idea of the club germinated in the welfare movement in the country. The firm bought that house, Castlecraigs and they did what they could in way of improving it and them they built the gymnasium and formed the tennis courts. The only regret he had was that the club was not big enough. He would have liked to extend it, if possible, but the limited area of ground prevented that. It gave him great pleasure to welcome the Provost and members of the Town Council of Ardrossan. They had always worked in great sympathy with the Company, and the Company in the early stages, owed a considerable amount to their intelligent and sympathetic treatment of any question that they put before them. He hoped that the good relationship would continue. He them asked Mr David Smail to declare the club open. Mr David Smail said that when he was asked by Mr Quack to open that club house, he accepted the invitation with very great pleasure. He had been connected with Ardrossan Shipyard for over twenty years and he had taken part in many functions in connection with it during that time but at none had he had greater pleasure than in being present at that function that day. He said that they had in that club sufficient evidence to prove how much the directors of the Company, and particularly their managing director, appreciated the fact that all work and no play was bad for the whole of us. A certain amount of pleasure was necessary in our lives. The time was - in Scotland, at least, and not so long ago - that anything in the nature of pleasure was taboo. If it was not sin - it was looked at askance. But happily these times had changed and we had a better appreciation of what life should be for the most of us. He referred to an advertisement in last month's Works magazine which stated that 'Success can only be built upon a solid rock of quality'. And he said there was no doubt about it that unless those in business - whether it was large or small - worked together and thought together and pulled together and each decided to give the other a square deal, no lasting good results could be got. Referring to the new club house, he said it was not so big as they would like, but he thought it was big enough for the present at least, and he had no doubt that if it was found too small later on, their friend, Mr Quack, who was full of resource, would find means of having it extended. He was sure he echoed the sentiment of all the workers in the yard who were associated with Mr Quack and the townspeople as well, when he wished him long life and prosperity and when he hoped he would carry on in the future in the way he had done in the past. He asked for three cheers for Mr Quack which were given right heartily. In closing, he made a remark about the serious times we were passing through and the testing time that lay ahead of us and he then formally declared the club open amidst applause. Provost McKellar, on behalf of the town, congratulated the directors on their enterprise and consideration for their workers. He was sure that all the employees would appreciate the benefits that would accrue from such an institution as had been opened that day. He was very glad of the opportunity of saying personally to Mr Quack and his co-directors that they had the town and Town Council at their back. He, the speaker, was a son of the town and he well remembered the ebbs and flows of business here during his lifetime. And he was sure that never in the history of the burgh had it been so prosperous as it had been since the Shipyard came under the management of Mr Quack. Mr Quack had proved himself to be a man of resource, a man of great ability and, if he might say so, a 'lad o' pairts'. All connected with the Shipyard were under a debt of gratitude to him and other directors for placing at their disposal that palatial and handsomely equipped building and he hoped they would all thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the privilege. He also hoped that Mr Quack would be long spared to the burgh of Ardrossan because the burgh of Ardrossan could not very well spare him. Mr Quack expressed thanks for the kind remarks that had been made regarding him and said that it was gratifying to him to hear that what work he was doing was bearing some kind of fruit. After all, there was no greater pleasure in life than to know that where one blade grew before you made tow grow. He thanked all present for turning out to the ceremony and he hoped the members would appreciate the club. It was being run by the members' own committees. It was in their own hands and he hoped they would make the most of it. On the call of Provost McKellar, Mr Quack was awarded a hearty vote of thanks. The Cadet Pipe Band thereafter discoursed music in the balcony and the company made a tour of inspection throughout the building.

The Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company have launched the steamer Optic which they have built for the Belfast Steam Ship Company. The vessel is 160 feet in length between perpendiculars, 25 feet in breadth, 1 feet 8 inches in depth to main deck and 570 tons deadweight.

The general cargo vessel Langfjord, – 212 feet in length, 33 feet in breadth, and 12 feet in depth – built by Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company Limited for Den Norske Amerikalinje, Christiania, was launched on the above date.

Mr Dugald McKinnon, farmer, was run over and killed by a passenger train from Glasgow at South Beach Station, Ardrossan, on Monday (4 April 1921). The deceased, who was at one time in Poteath Farm, West Kilbride, and was later an auctioneer, went out to Canada about ten years ago and took up farming there. He was home on a visit along with his wife and they were staying with relatives in Saltcoats. He was fifty-seven years of age.

The Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company launched yesterday the steamer Laatefos which they have built for Messrs Otto and Thor Thoresen of Christiania. The vessel is 255 feet in length between perpendiculars, 39 feet 2 inches in moulded breadth, 18 feet 8 inches in depth to upper deck, 26 feet 7 inches in depth to bridge deck and 2850 tons deadweight. The propelling machinery will be supplied by Messrs J G Kincaid and Company, Greenock.

Provost McKellar (shown below) performed the opening ceremony in connection with a new playground for children constructed at the Castlehill, Ardrossan. The entire apparatus was donated by Mrs Hugh Hogarth, late of Ardrossan.

The first cinema to be built in Ardrossan, the Princes Picture House (later the Lyric Cinema, shown below as the Lyric Bingo Club in 2003) in Princes Street, was officially opened by Provost McKellar (shown above) on Wednesday (29 June 1921).

The smack Elizabeth Hendry, on a voyage from Irvine to Toward with a cargo of coal, has gone ashore on the Horse Island. The crew got off on the small boat. The vessel is lying high on the rocks and there appears little hope of refloating her.

At a special meeting of Ardrossan Town Council it was decided to proceed with a scheme for the renovation and extension of South Beach Green, (shown below in the early 1900s) recently acquired by the burgh from Lord Eglinton. The scheme was originated partly with the object of affording work for the unemployed and will be carried through by direct labour. Putting greens will be laid out on a site to be selected on the green. The total cost is estimated at about £3000.

The Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company Limited launched yesterday the steamer Cambraisien which they have built for the Compagnie des Bateaux a Vapeur du Nord of Dunkirk. The vessel, which is 331 feet in length, 47 feet in moulded breadth, 24 feet 6 inches in depth to upper deck, 21 feet 6 inches in draught loaded, of 5400 tons displacement and 10 knots speed, is a sister ship to the Dunkerquois which was launched at Ardrossan some time ago for the same owners. She will be propelled by triple-expansion engines supplied with steam by two boilers having a total heating surface of 4730 square feet.

The completed list of awards for the month issued last night by the Royal Humane Society contains the following case from Scotland – testimonial on vellum to William Hamilton, Harbour Buildings, Ardrossan, for his pluck in plunging into nineteen feet of water in the dock there and rescuing a boy on 23 August.

While the Ardrossan steamer, North Cape, was being shifted in the outer basin of Ardrossan Harbour yesterday, a strong north-west wind carried her against the bridge over the entrance to Eglinton Dock. She went right through the bridge and wrecked it and her mast and some davits were carried sway. She also collided with the Irish Lights Commissioner’s steamer, Alexandra, which way lying in Eglinton Dock but the latter vessel did not suffer much damage. The entrance to the Dock has since been cleared for traffic.

The wooden sailing smack Margery, built by Peter Barclay and Son, Ardrossan, for John Kerr, Corrie, Arran and launched in 1874, foundered 1.5 miles off the Holy Isle.

Mr Lloyd George, in a letter sent to Ardrossan Parish Council, deals with the Unemployed Workers’ Dependants Bill, which, it was stated by the clerk, had been under consideration by many parish councils throughout the country. The Ardrossan Council had suggested to the Prime Minister that a regulation be made whereby in cases in which unemployment benefit or dependants’ grants were not paid by the Exchanges, when due, on account of delay of one kind or another and in the interval corresponding amounts were advanced to the individuals by parish councils the arrears should afterwards be paid direct by the Exchanges to the parish councils on submission of proper certificate of claim. It was pointed out by the Council that otherwise parish councils had no claim for refundment and in each case the individual received double the dole. In his reply, the Prime Minister says that, after inquiry, he understands it is only in exceptional cases that delay takes place in the payment of benefit and it is only fair to say that it is in most cases due to the absence of information from the applicant himself. He regrets that it is not possible to carry out the suggestion, in view of the terms of the Unemployment Acts which prohibit any assignment of benefit or grants. Arrangements, he states, are already practically completed for closer co-operation between the local Employment Exchanges and the Poor Law authorities and intimation of these arrangements will be made shortly. Ardrossan Parish Council have replied to the Prime Minister, pointing out that a large proportion of the applicants to parish councils had to resort to parish assistance because their benefit or grants had not been paid and that the fact that some men were receiving double doles was creating dissatisfaction and grumbling among the others.

Successful Tests Across The Atlantic | Messages Received From American Amateurs | Interview With U S Official Observer

“The name of Ardrossan will go down in the history of the progress of wireless telegraphy with the great transatlantic wireless tests during the past week.” The above statement was made by Mr Paul F Godley, a prominent American wireless expert, to a representative of the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald who interviewed him in Ardrossan on Tuesday evening (13 December 1921). The tests referred to are a series of experiments which are being conducted by American radio amateurs for the purpose of proving the capacity of the low-power wireless installation to which they are restricted by law to bridge the Atlantic. Upon Mr Godley’s presence in Ardrossan, there hangs an entirely interesting story and the outcome of his visit here is more interesting still. In the United States and Canada, there are about a quarter of a million amateurs possessing and operating private wireless telegraphic sets and they have a national association of their own named the American Radio Relay League which by its activities, including the publication of an excellent monthly magazine, has done much to popularise ‘citizen radio’ and at the same time help forward wireless science as a whole. The enthusiastic members of this body are in frequent communication with each other by wireless over a wide radius in the United States and Canada but some time ago, they considered the possibility of extending their field of operations to Europe and last February, the organisation arranged with the foremost amateurs in Britain to make an attempt to communicate with them. They transmitted several messages on several nights according to a prearranged schedule but their efforts to achieve communication were totally unsuccessful. Their failure, however, did not daunt the amateurs and recently their League appropriated a sum of money in order to send a prominent representative of American amateurs to Great Britain as official observer in connection with another series of tests running from 7 December 16 December, tonight. The representative chosen was Mr Paul F Godley of Montclair, New Jersey, who is a member of the Advisory Technical Committee of the League and also a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers and of the Radio Club of America. Mr Godley, who is well-known in America for his work in advancing the cause of wireless science among amateurs, after an exhaustive consideration as to the most suitable place in Britain for ensuring the success of the experiment, selected Ardrossan. The British Marconi Company interested themselves in the tests and their Scottish representative, Mr Carsewell, introduced Mr Godley to Mr Robert Wood, joint Town Clerk, Ardrossan, through whose good offices a site for the erection of the receiving equipment was obtained in the field at the North Shore, Ardrossan belonging to Mr Hugh Hunter of Montfode. The equipment was installed and since Wednesday night of last week, Mr Godley assisted by Mr Pearson of the Marconi Company has been carrying out the tests. According to the prearranged plan each night during the period of the test, American and Canadian amateurs transmit message across from 12 midnight to 6 am. The experiment, fortunately, has been a complete success. On the first night, they were able to pick up only one station located at Roxbury, Massachusetts. On the second night, owing to electrical disturbances in the atmosphere, they were unable to get any communication but every night since that, Mr Godley and his assistant have been in constant touch with America and up till Tuesday, they had heard thirty-five American amateur stations and had copied the messages sent. The first message received (on 11 December 1921) was one to congratulations signed by six men prominent in amateur wireless work in America, one of whom, Mr Armstrong, is famous as a wireless inventor. One of the most powerful stations Mr Godley has heard is stationed in Toronto, Canada and belongs to Mr E S Rodgers, 49 Nanton Avenue, Toronto. The most reliable station heard is that belonging to an amateur in Greenwich, Connecticut and the most distant station picked up is that of an amateur in Atlanta, Georgia about 3600 miles from Ardrossan. The success of this experiment with low-power wireless is a real step forward in science and it will rebound to the fame of Ardrossan that it was in this town the official test was made. It is a very valuable experiment and, apart from its importance to amateurs, it may yet be the means of enabling economies to be effective in commercial wireless work. “I am very pleased with what we have achieved.” said Mr Godley to our representative. “I consider the experiment has been a great success. One of the things I hoped for in carrying through the tests was the realisation of the possibility of American amateurs being able to have nightly talks with their cousins in the United Kingdom. Of course, the Post Office restrictions on amateurs here are more severe than in America but I hope that these restrictions may be modified so as to give an impetus to amateur wireless work in Britain. In America, the power of the private equipment is restricted to about one kilowatt, the equivalent of about one and a third horsepower whereas amateurs in Britain are restricted to one-hundredth part of that power. Commercial stations communicating across the Atlantic use, on an average, about 250 kilowatts. One of the stations I have heard located about seventy miles east of New York on Long Island, was using 26 watts, only double the power permitted in Britain which shows that there are some possibilities even with the present restrictions. This test has aroused great interest all over America and also on this side and the interest has been aroused not only among amateurs. One of the large American corporations, the Western Electric Company have, in view of the success of the test, sent me a long cable, requesting me to listen to one of their stations on the night of the fourteenth when messages will be transmitted between 1am and 6am continuously.” “I selected Ardrossan owing to its geographical position. It is convenient to a large centre and in a straight line between Ardrossan and New York and there is no high land intervening. The line passes the north end of Arran, crosses the low part of Kintyre and Islay and then there is an absolutely clear passage. I am quite certain” said Mr Godley “that if any commercial telegraphic concerns decided to erect additional stations in Britain for communication with North America, this particular locality would be chosen, partially as the result of my success here.”

A free gift sale in aid of the funds of Ardrossan Academicals Sports Club, which was held in the Drill Hall, Ardrossan (shown below), on Saturday and opened by Provost McKellar, realised £114.

Mr Harry Hopperton, general traffic manager and dock su8perintendent at Preston Dock, has been appointed general manager and secretary of Ardrossan Harbour Company and it is expected he will take up his new duties on 1 March next.