Accrington on Rails - The Tramways: A Complete History - Robert Kenyon

August The Town Council met when a communication was received from the Committee on Production which contained their findings in respect of the application for advances in wages for employees of the Lancashire & Cheshire Local Tramway Authorities. Their findings were as follows - “That those in the grades of employees that are now in receipt of a war wage advance of less than 9 shillings per week in the case of males and 6 shillings per week in the case of females, shall receive an advance of 9/- or 6/- respectively, such increases to come into force on the first full pay day after June 11 th , 1917.” It was resolved the Borough Treasurer should apply this award accordingly to all employees in the service of the Corporation who qualified under the terms of this judgement. The Electricity & Tramways Committee met and the Borough Treasurer reported he had settled the account with the advertising contractors, by giving them a rebate as compensation for the discontinuation of the through running to Bacup by Accrington’s trams. His actions were approved. It was resolved that a sub committee should be formed to examine the stopping places on certain sections of the tramway’s routes, and report on any changes they thought might be necessary. September An appeal had been launched on August 7 th for waste paper due to a shortage of wood pulp brought about by the war. This appeal was reiterated in the Accrington Observer & Times of September the 15 th which was struggling to obtain supplies of newsprint in order to continue publication of the twice-weekly paper. It read thus – “Owing to a shortage of wood pulp and the restricted supply of paper, we are still purchasing waste paper for remanufacture. A Tram Boy will call for your parcel of waste paper if you send a postcard to the Tramways Parcels Office, and the Observer will pay for carriage and send you a remittance on that same day. Old newspapers and magazines are sent to the paper mills to be recycled, whilst old card board and brown paper are used by the Ministry of Munitions for the manufacture of cartridge cases. Bundles of old newspapers are collected by the parcels department on receipt of a postcard or telephone message and will be deposited at the Observer’s Offices without any cost to the sender. A label containing the name and address of the sender should be attached to each parcel. All waste paper is weighed immediately on arrival, and postage stamps and/or a postal order issued the same day. A price of 4 shillings per hundredweight is paid for every class of waste paper purchased by us.” October The Town Council met when the Town Clerk reported on the recent findings of the Committee on Production, with respect to their ruling on advances in wages on behalf of the tramway workers. The Borough Treasurer was authorised to put these into effect from the first full pay day in September. The Tramway Manager reported on an application from the local War Pensions Commission for out-patients to be allowed to travel free to and from the Military Hospital in Haslingden for treatment. It was resolved that he could comply with this request following liaison with the Secretary of the War Pensions Commission. It was further resolved that the Tramway Manager should submit a list of all those who were at present allowed to travel free of charge on the tramway. November The Electricity & Tramways Committee met to receive a letter from Rawtenstall Corporation intimating they were prepared to continue for another twelve months the existing agreement for the through running of cars between Accrington and Rawtenstall. As instructed at the last meeting, the Tramway Manager produced a list of all those who qualified to travel over the tramway without charge. A letter was received from the Amalgamated Association of Tramway & Vehicle Workers’ Union, requesting that Christmas Day should be recognised as a public holiday, and that no trams should be operated on that day. It was resolved to refer this matter to the Lancashire & Cheshire Tramways Authority for consideration, with the recommendation that the request be refused. The Borough Treasurer submitted a memorandum containing with a formula for calculation the charges against Haslingden Corporation for the services provided by Accrington Corporation. The Chairman speaking on behalf of the Sub-Committee reported that the proposal by Haslingden to add the items they described as “Common charges borne by Haslingden” in the formula, were not consistent with those in the agreement arrived at in the meeting between the Sub-Committee of Accrington and that of Haslingden held in April last. The terms were that these charges should be deducted and the resulting figure divided into the mileage of each year, and this to be taken as the mileage charged to Haslingden Corporation based upon

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