Digest of stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: January 13th, 1917.

The picture house devotees of Luton and district - and they number some thousands - will be keenly interested in the important announcement this week that the proprietors of the Wellington Street Picture Palace have secured the great new official film, The Battle of the Ancre and the Tanks in Action. It will be shown at the hall every afternoon and evening, commencing January 29th.

The booking of this great picture is indicative of the enterprise of the management, for it is the first occasion on which such a new and important film has been obtained for the town so early after release. Needless to say, the film has been secured at a tremendous expense, for it has only been announced in London during the past few days, and the reports of it show that it is equal in every way to, if not better than, the other great war picture, The Battle of the Somme.

The outstanding feature in this newest production is the appearance of the tanks in action. The film is no ordinary drama, but the actual thrilling reproduction of the fighting in France. It is a stern and vivid representation of the grim realities of the war, and of what our lads are going through.

An important point to note is that the present prices will in no way be raised by the Wellington Street management for this extra attraction.

• Last night, at the premises of Mr W. H. Cox, photographer, Wellington Street, the committee of the Luton Waste Paper Scheme handed to the Mayor [Alderman J. H. Staddon] a cheque for £100 - their first allotment. Reporting on the progress of the scheme, Mr Cox said that through the generosity of Mr S. C. Aylott and other prominent gentlemen in the town they now had a baling machine in constant use. Headmasters at Council schools sent boys on Saturdays into 12 areas for which the boys were given a small amount of pocket money each week, but in future it was intended to pay them for every pound of paper they collected.

• The annual general meeting in connection with the Luton Medical Institute was held on Thursday evening. There were 15 delegates present, and the retiring Vice-President, Bro Harry Moody, was unanimously elected President of the Institute for the ensuing 12 months. Bro Samuel Pride was also unanimously re-elected Secretary.

• After a long and protracted illness, Mr Edwin Barford, a member of a well-known Luton family, passed away early on Sunday morning at his residence, High Street North, Dunstable, at the age of 52 years. For many years he was engaged in a successful hat manufacturing business in Paris, during which time he built up for himself considerable distinction as the originator of high-class ladies millinery.

• With a view to increasing the food supplies of the country, the employees of Commercial Cars Ltd are now interesting themselves in a scheme for growing potatoes. The directors of the firm have kindly given them permission to cultivate five acres of land at Leagrave, and a committee appointed from various departments is losing no time in getting into touch with the proper authorities to further the idea.

• On Thursday morning, about 11 o'clock, a collision occurred on the Leagrave Road, near the Skefko Works, between a motor-car and a military horse waggon. The windscreen of the car was smashed, and driver George Evans cut about the face. An officer from Biscot, after first aid was rendered, took him to the Bute Hospital, where he is going on well.

• Six boys, aged between 11 and 15, appeared at the Borough Police Court this morning accused of stealing a fountain pen, boots, puttees and a flash lamp worth a total of £1 2s 7d from Quarter-Master-Sgt Percy Williams, of the Army Veterinary Corps, stationed at Round Green. The items were taken from a hut that had been broken into the previous weekend and left in a state of disorder. A 15-year-old who had previously been bound over for the theft of money from his mother was sent to a reformatory until 19. The parents of four other boys were bound over to bring their sons up for judgement if called upon, and a fifth was considered to be no more involved than some witnesses.

• It was only thanks to players being made available from Biscot Camp that Luton Town were able to field 11 men for their London Combination match at Southampton. Lieut Meyler, who scored on his debut for The Blues against Chelsea, brought along comrade Lieut Tichener as half-back, and the officers of 'A' Battery at Biscot allowed three of their best players (Roberts, Pennifer and Robertson) to complete the team. Saints were 3-0 up within 20 minutes thanks to a Wheeler hat-trick against a ragged and makeshift Luton defence, but Roberts reduced the deficit in the first half with a shot that rebounded into the net off an upright. With no further score in the second half, Southampton won 3-1.