Stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: February 19th, 1916.

The attitude of the Luton Education Committee to child labour was demonstrated this morning at the Borough Police Court, when Dorothy Linger, manageress of a Luton penny bazaar, was summoned for employing a child under the age of 14 years who had not obtained a proficiency certificate.

The Town Clerk (Mr William Smith) said he appeared to prosecute because of the importance of the case. The child had already been employed elsewhere, but owing to the action of the education authorities she had been stopped. She had been examined by the education authorities and found unfit for attendance at school for the time being as she had defective eyesight, and the parents apparently thought that it was a nice way of getting her into an occupation, but the authorities were determined that a stop should be put to that kind of thing. The action was taken as a warning to other employers.

Miss Linger, who was fined 10 shillings, had told the court that the girl had said she was 15 years old. She asked why school attendance office Mr Sell had not told her that the girl was under age when he himself knew. The girl was born on June 2nd, 1902.

• Mr and Mrs Eames, of 107 Cambridge Street, are overwhelmed with grief by the sad tidings this morning of the the death of their son, Pte Augustus Eames, of the 24th Londons. He was not 19 years of age and, despite his age, he enlisted in the name of William Eames. He was the second employee of the Luton Co-operative Society to die in the war, having previously been employed in the offices at the central shop.

• A young boar offered in an annual sale of pedigree pigs at Sundon raised £80 for the Red Cross Society - thanks to Lady Wernher. Bidding started at five guineas and was bought for 13 guineas - by Lady Wernher, who who put the pig up for auction again. This time it reached 15 guineas, again bought by Lady Wernher, who again put it up for auction. Ensuing bids raised ten guineas, seven guineas, six guineas, five-and-a-half guineas, three of five guineas and a final bid of four-and-a-half guineas, when the ongoing auction of the animal was brought to a close.

• The possibility of a further reduction in the passenger service was foreshadowed at the annual meeting of the Midland Railway Co at Derby on Thursday. Up to the end of 1915, over 12,000 railwaymen had enlisted, of whom 457 had been killed or died of wounds, 63 were reported missing, 1,111 had been wounded or invalided homes and 110 were prisoners of war - a total of 1,741 casualties. Additionally, 85 per cent of the company's 30,000 workforce had since offered themselves for attestation under the Lord Derby scheme. The meeting was told that the company could not view the future without anxiety, because if the military demand for transport also continued to increase passenger facilities might have to be further curtailed.

• A further six offenders were fined up to 20 shillings at Luton Borough Police Court today for breaches of Lighting Regulations. Properties in New Bedford Road, Park Street West, Upper George Street, Jubilee Street, Tavistock Street and St Paul's Road were involved. In the last case a woman householder had been served a warrant after having failed to appear in court a week earlier.

• Clapton Orient, whose first team had never previously played at Luton, earned a 2-1 win after Evans had put Luton ahead early in the first half. The match ended controversially with Luton being awarded a penalty from which Archie Dyke netted, but the referee ordered the kick to be retaken because an Orient man had tapped Dyke on the shoulder as he was about to take the kick. Clapton goalkeeper Bower punched Dyke's second attempt clear.