THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Mr Churchill gave some interesting facts to the House of Commons last night in introducing a vote of £75,000,000 on account of the Army Services. We had succeeded in raising an entirely new voluntary army just in time, as conscription would end on March 31. Defending the size of the army, the War Secretary said the whole Eastern world was very unsettled and the Empire must be guarded. He predicted a steady increase in the Air Force at the expense of the Army. The new tank was the greatest development of the war.

50 years ago

A 26-year-old woman told a judge yesterday she would take off her trousers because he didn’t like them. But Judge Anthony Bulger (57), who had rebuked her for wearing lemon trousers and cape to match, ignored the suggestion and continued with the case. She said afterwards the judge’s comments made her cry. It was the first time she had worn the outfit, which she had made herself. The judge held up the divorce hearing to tell her counsel: “I don’t like women wearing trousers in court. It’s not like coming to a funfair.”

25 years ago

More than £80,000 found stuffed in an old cardboard box in the house of a retired Dundee pipefitter had helped underwrite the costs of a new cancer research laboratory that formally opened in the city yesterday. Joe Thomson never smoked, drank or took a holiday and when he died three years ago, his family were stunned to find a small fortune salted away at his home in Baffin Street. Joe didn’t leave a will and his brothers and sisters agreed the money should go towards research into cancer.

One year ago

A manhunt has been launched after an elderly woman was robbed in an “absolutely terrifying ordeal” at her rural home in Gowkhall. Five masked men forced their way into the terrified 80-year-old woman’s home at around midnight and made off with a haul of jewellery, including a gold Rolex watch. Police are now supporting the gang’s victim who has been left deeply upset. Detective Inspector Graham Fenton said: “I believe the local Gowkhall community will be outraged by what has happened here.”