THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Tramway fares on the Dundee and Broughty Ferry routes are to be increased. The halfpenny fares on the corporation lines are to be abolished and the minimum charge is to be 1d for three consecutive stages on one route, with a maximum charge of 1½d above three consecutive stages. A sub-committee of the Dundee Tramways Committee met and agreed to recommend the Council on the lines indicated. The fare on the workmen’s cars is to be 1d for any distance on one section.

50 years ago

Plundered Moscow flat-dwellers can buy back their stolen cookers, sinks and electricity meters from a black market near two police stations, the Communist Party newspaper Pravda said yesterday. The black market, which deals in goods stolen from newly-built blocks of flats awaiting their first occupants, does a thriving business alongside a shop that has a legitimate trade in kitchen and bathroom appliances. Pravda accused police of turning a blind eye to the black-marketeers.

25 years ago

Pupils from Bo’ness Academy in West Lothian had a nightmare end to their holiday when their coach crashed high on a Swiss mountain pass at the weekend. Only the swift action of the driver from Broxburnbased J. King-turner Coach Hire saved passengers from a terrifying death slide as they returned from a week-long skiing holiday at Tonali in Italy. Nine members of the 45-strong party required hospital treatment after the incident. Academy rector Bill Brown praised the actions of the driver.

One year ago

Education Secretary John Swinney’s local council has told the Scottish Government it is “dismayed” at the extra paperwork which has been piled on school staff applying for anti-poverty funds. Perth and Kinross Council officials complained about a 200word justification required for every bid linked to an extension of the Read, Write, Count initiative, which is being expanded this month to include older pupils in areas of high deprivation. They say it is unneccessary.