THE ruling guardians at Bromsgrove Workhouse, where a child had gone down with measles, had on the advice of the medical officer, ordered other young inmates to be kept in contact to ensure they all caught the disease.

THE heavy rain, which had been an unfortunate feature of the past summer, showed no signs of abaiting. Locally farmers who had struggled to salvage the hay and corn harvest, were now having problems gathering root crops which would feed hungry livestock during the winter but which were now rotting in the fields. The sodden land also made the sowing of next year's corn crops impossible.

WILLIAM Warman, aged 15, a labourer, and his pal William Healey, 14, also a labourer and both from Little Catshill, were hauled before magistrates in Bromsgrove charged with playing football in the street to the annoyance of people leaving the village chapel. Warman's mother told the court her son had since been given a "good thrashing." Taking this into consideration, the bench only fined them 2/6 (12.5p) including costs.

THE proprietor of the Coach and Horses Hotel in Bromsgrove's High Street took out an advert in the Messenger to advertise a new Saturday evening omnibus service from the town centre to the railway station for the convenience of Aston Fields residents. The fare was 1/- (5p) each way.

A REPORT into the poor condition of drinking water supplies and sanitary arrangements in Belbroughton was a cause for alarm. Of the 26 samples of water tested, 11 were found to be unfit and it was said there was hardly a sanitary privy in the village. And the large manure heap, near the Talbot Hotel, that had long been a blot on the landscape, was to be removed.