Stories from The Luton News: Thursday, February 10th, 1916.

Tribunals have this week been appointed to deal with the appeals of men brought in under the Military Service Act 1916. The Luton Town Council, as the registration authority for the borough, appointed a Tribunal for the borough on Tuesday evening, at a special meeting convened for that purpose.

The Luton Rural District Council, as the authority for the rural area round the town, had a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon for the same purpose, and last evening the Dunstable Town Council did the same. Special meetings were necessary as there was a time limit for the appointment of the Tribunals.

In Luton, it was decided to confine Tribunals to five sitting members. The existing members of the Derby Scheme Tribunal were appointed - the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Alderman H. O. Williams, Mr W. R. Phillips (representing outside interests) and Mr W. Ball (representing the Labour Party). To guarantee that five people would be available at each Tribunal, four reserves were appointed - Aldeman Oakley, Alderman Arnold, Tradesmen's Association President Mr J. H. Webb (outside interests) and Luton Trades and Labour Council Secretary Mr Thomas Smith (Labour Party).

While legislation allowed women to be appointed to Tribunals, Town Clerk Mr William Smith said he did not think there was any need to do so at Luton as "the members of the Tribunal are quite as sympathetic as any woman could be, and perhaps more so".

• The official casualty list published on Monday reported that Pte George William Rolph, 18924, 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment, had been killed in action. He was the son of Mr and Mrs G. W. Rolph, of 51 Beech Road, Luton, and an old boy of Queen Square School. He had been employed at the British Gelatine Co Ltd, New Bedford Road.

• The question of the school attendance of an 11-year-old Belgian refugee girl living in Luton was held over by Luton Education Committee on Tuesday evening. Her case was taken up by Mayor Alderman John Staddon after he learned that the girl had not been at school because her mother had been ill for some weeks and she was looking after the mother and four other children as well as doing the housework. Her father worked at Messrs Balmforth's until 9.30 pm and cooked the next day's food for the family when he arrived home. The Mayor said one neighbour was so distressed by the family's plight that she declared she would live in the house herself and look after the children if other help could not be secured to allow the older girl to go to school.

• An accident in dim light on Market Hill on Saturday night in which a 61-year-old woman was struck by a hansom cab and later died from her injuries was unavoidable, an inquest jury decided yesterday. A cab wheel had also run over Mrs Elizabeth Whittemore, the wife of Henry Thomas Whittemore, of 325 High Town Road, Luton. She died in hospital about three hours later, shortly after midnight. Medical evidence said death was due to9 shock and internal haemorrhage.

• An employee of Mr G. Carruthers, Park Street, Luton, left a horse and van temporarily unattended in John Street just as it was getting dark on Monday evening. The horse took fright at something and bolted into Bute Street, then turned into George Street and went a a gallop up the Market Hill and all along Park Street until it came to the lodge gates at Luton Hoo. These gates were closed, and the horse dashed into them with such force that it was killed on the spot.

• On Saturday morning the wedding took place at Christ Church of Pte Batkin Philip Woods, son of Mr Woods, of Conway Road, Luton, and Miss Ella Slough, only daughter of local Inspector of Weights and Measures Mr Alfred Edward Slough, of 2 Conway Road. Pte Woods enlisted in the 24th Londons soon after the outbreak of war.

• We are informed by Mr James Baker, Agent for the Luton Hoo estate, that owing to the increased cost of living, Lady Wernher has instructed him to give a weekly war bonus to all estate and farm labourers employed on the Luton Hoo Estate during the period of the war.

• The number of cases of drunkenness in Luton - 65 (62 convicted, including one person three times) - was the lowest for the past 10 years, Chief Constable David Teale told the annual Brewster Sessions in his 22nd annual report. Taking the population of the borough at 49,978, there was one licensed house for every 354 persons. There were 141 people licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors (94 licensed victuallers, 14 beerhouse keepers, 25 off-beer sellers and eight in other branches of the trade).

• Two further Luton women were given sentences of two months hard labour for keeping a disorderly house. Both, including one woman who was the wife of a soldier held prisoner of war in Germany, denied the charge involving a house in Manor Path, Luton. Soldiers seen by police at the house included one arrested for being an absentee.

• Seven more lighting cases came before Luton Borough Bench yesterday. They included a man from Russell Street, who was fined 40 shillings after becoming aggressive with a police officer and tried to shut the door in his face, refused to give his name and said "I might as well live in Germany". Fines of 20 shillings or 30 shillings were imposed in cases involving properties in Park Square, Dallow Road, Ashburnham Road, Brook Street and Liverpool Road. A warrant was issued for a woman from St Paul's Road who did not appear.

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