Digest of stories from the Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: December 8th, 1917.

• Pre-war hat factory workers in Luton.

Last night the grave announcement was made at a meeting of the Luton Chamber of Commerce that the whole hat industry is threatened with probable stoppage under the National Service scheme, and the trade, through its organisation and with the help of Mr Cecil Harmsworth MP, has been fighting hard for some days.

Chamber Secretary Mr Thomas Keens said that in making this statement on the trade and National Service, he wanted first to urge that the trade should not exhibit any panic, but very much the reverse. As far as he could he would give a short indication of the position and of what the Chamber had done in the meantime, and then ask the general meeting to approve this action.

On November 13th, there appeared in the Press a report of a speech by Sir Auckland Geddes, Director of National Service, in which he indicated clearly two things. One was that in his opinion the labour expended on the manufacture of ladies' hats was wasted labour, and that the industry was unnecessary.

As a result of the speech the chairman and vice-chairmen of the straw sections of the Chamber - ladies' hats, men's hats, plait merchants and dyers and bleachers - had resolved themselves into a National Service Committee. Mr Keens was instructed to interview MP Mr Harmsworth, who agreed to place his services at the disposal of the trade.

The committee then elected a deputation from the Chamber to visit the Government's National Service Department in London next Tuesday. Mr Keens said what the outcome of the whole thing might be was in the lap of the gods, but he did wish everybody in the industry to understand that from the very moment that the danger signal was heard the Chamber took every precaution and every officer of the Chamber had been hard at work days after day in order to secure success. Beyond that nobody could do anything.

• We regret to state that Harry Seaman, aged 14, of 53 Manor Road, Luton, who suffered a severe accident at the Vauxhall Works on Thursday, died later that day in the Bute Hospital. He was an apprentice at the works, and at about 12.30 on Wednesday he right forearm was caught in the saw-milling machine. Skilled first aid was rendered prior to the boy being taken to hospital. An inquest will be held on Monday.

• In connection with the Workers' Union, Brother Bates, of Luton, addressed himself particularly to workers on the land at a meeting held in Flitwick on Saturday. He said they must recognise that the skilled agricultural labourer was a man essential to this country. They were not there to employ the spirit of force not to upset every employer, but looking to two or three years ahead they could very well see that the workmen were going to have a say in affairs.

• Gunner J. Weedon, of 48 Old Bedford Road, a former employee of the British Gelatine Works, is lying in hospital at Birkenhead, having been badly gassed in the recent fighting in France. It was at first thought he was blind, but fortunately he is now beginning to recover his sight. He joined the Royal Garrison Artillery soon after the outbreak of hostilities and, after participating in the Dardanelles campaign, was transferred to the Western Front. Last April he was at home in England suffering from frostbite, but he returned to France in October.

• An old 'Terrier,' Pte Thomas Richardson, who resided with his wife and four children at 32 Court Road, Luton, has been wounded and gassed and now lies in a London hospital. At the ourbreak of war he was mobilised with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and for three years and three months has fought on the battlefields of France and Flanders. For distinguished services in the field in May last year he is to receive the Military Medal.

• A fire occurred this morning at the residence of Mr W. Twort, tailor, of Cumberland Street, Luton. Mrs Twort and her five children have been ill and there was a fire in the bedroom. A spark flew out and caught the bed, which was soon well alight. The patients were comfortably removed, and Mr Twort, neighbours and soldiers put out the fire just before the Brigade arrived. A bed and bedding and a chair were destroyed.

• A branch of the National Federation of Women Workers has just been formed for the women and girls employed by the English & Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd at the cocoa and chocolate factory, Dallow Road, Luton. This is the third local branch.

• Although it was a bright afternoon, the attendance on the Town ground today was very poor for the game against Eastern Command Labour Company, every one of whose players had been wounded either in France or Mesopotamia. Kent, Fox, Bob Hawkes and Furr gave the Blues a strong 4-0 lead at half-time, but in no match of the present season have the Town been so hard pressed as they were in a second half in which the visitors scored the only goal.