1903: SIR,- On Saturday evening an old man was found in Folds-rd., Bolton, in an almost dying condition, by two women, who brought him to my place, thinking I could help him.

I sent for the nearest constable, but his reply to my messenger was, "Tell the old man to drown himself" - it was no business of his.

In the meantime, the man was in a serious condition. I took him into my house and sent for the doctor, who came immediately and attended to him. I then sent my wife to the Town Hall, where they told her they could do nothing, as I had taken the man off the streets, and referred to the relieving officer, who arrived three hours after the man was first found.

By that time the man was in a too serious condition to be removed, so he had to stay in my house for 20 hours before he was removed to the hospital on an ambulance which shook both him and the attendant who went with him to pieces.

Why is there such red tape about such cases? Such conduct on the part of the authorities does not encourage one to help a sick person, however desirous he (or she) may be of doing so, and surely the authorities at Fishpool can afford to get an up-to-date ambulance, but I suppose it is the old story: "Rattle his bones, Over the Stones, He is an old pauper, Whom nobody owns." - Yours etc, W. Grant

1953: STALIN, the supreme ruler of 200,000,000 Russians, lies at death's door today inside the Kremlin, while around him a struggle for the succession may have already begun. Announcing that the 73-years-old premier had had a stroke two days ago, following which his right leg and arm are paralysed and he has been speechless since, Moscow Radio warned the country that he would be absent "for a long time" from the nation's affairs

1978: WORKERS fled as fire ripped through a three-storey hat factory today. A skeleton overtime staff of 20 ran from the first floor of the building in Wellington Street, Bury, when the fire was discovered on the floor above shortly before 9am. Within minutes, flames leapt from every second floor window of H.S. Edwards' Egyptian Mills, and a pall of thick black smoke billowed across the town.

1993: SERIOUS flaws in Bolton's Water Place could be putting children's lives at risk, an alarming national survey revealed today. Faults at the town's showpiece swimming pool were highlighted by inspectors from the Consumers' Association as falling short of voluntary safety guidelines.

The shock report says the pool was among those inadequately supervised and lacking in vital safety measures.