THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

The New York Times prints a despatch from its correspondent at The Hague saying that irrefutable evidence shows it is a mistake to believe the treatment of prisoners and wounded in Germany has improved. On the contrary, he says, it is as bad as ever it was, and even worse. The evidence does not show that American prisoners are receiving preferential treatment. It is reported that the first American prisoners were hawked about the country presumably to show them off to the populace.

50 years ago

Mr Edward Heath has announced that Mr Enoch Powell, Shadow Defence Secretary, is out of the Shadow Cabinet. Mr Heath’s statement said: “I have been in touch with Mr Enoch Powell and I told him of my decision, taken with the greatest regret, that he should no longer be be invited to attend the Shadow Cabinet. I have told Mr Powell that I consider the speech he made in Birmingham to have been racialist in tone and liable to exacerbate racial tensions. This is unacceptable.”

25 years ago

An Angus diabetic who passed out while walking his dog almost certainly owes his life to his sixyear-old golden retriever Prince. Arbroath postman Ray Wiltshire (43) collapsed while walking near Seaton Woods, and it was Prince who raised the alarm. Ray was released from Arbroath Infirmary and was able to pay tribute to his pet. “I tried to make my way out of the field,” he said, “but collapsed behind a wall. Prince sensed that something was wrong and kept barking until help arrived.”

One year ago

Council officers have cleared the way for a £30 million cinema and shopping complex which could revolutionise Perth’s nightlife. The long-awaited Mill Quarter development is earmarked for Thimblerow, on the edge of the city centre. Developers are poised to lodge detailed proposals for the project, after Perth and Kinross Council struck a deal for the land. The new scheme, which will create about 150 jobs, is expected to bring an extra 300,000 people into the city each year.