25 YEARS AGO/1982
York murder follows finding of Castlederg youth's body
TWO RUC detectives have travelled over to Yorkshire to assist in the investigation into the murder of a 17-year-old Castlederg youth, whose shot and decomposed body was found near Harrogate. The youth had been missing from home since August 19, when he boarded the Larne-Stranraer ferry to attend a pop concert at which his favourite group, Status Quo, were playing.
Positive identification of the body was not made until several days after it was discovered beside a farm track at South Stanley, but the youth's family already feared the worst when it was learned the body was wearing a Status Quo T-shirt and other clothing he had been wearing.
The body of the youth was identified after fingerprint experts matched prints taken from music cassettes in his Castlederg home with those of the deceased. Meanwhile, detectives involved in the murder hunt have established that the youth reached the rock concert at Castle Donnington, Leicestershire.
More demand for school milk
THE reduction in the price of school subsidised milk has resulted in 14 more schools indicating that they wish to join the scheme. That was good news for members of the Western Board's Finance and General Purposes committee when they met in Omagh.
Robert Elliott, chief administrative officer, said that as a result of reducing the cost of one-third pint bottles from 4p to 3p, 14 more schools had intimated that they wished to join the EEC scheme.
He added that he had contacted the manager of the Milk Marketing Board, who was very pleased at what "is taking place within the Western Board."
50 YEARS AGO/1957
'Dick' a casualty in close-down
THE Great Northern Railway Board has a horse for sale! When the board's branch line between Omagh and Enniskillen closes, among the staff declared redundant will be 'Dick', the big black horse which, for over a decade, has pulled Ireland's only horse-drawn tram between Fintona Station and Fintona Junction.
The announcement of the intended sale has aroused deep feeling among the people of Fintona who knew that, with the closing of the GNR's branch lines, the scrapping of their unique rail system was inevitable, but hoped that the big horse would be retired to live out its life amongst them. Fearful that the horse may be sold for slaughter, some residents are considering purchasing 'Dick' on behalf of the town. And what of the tram? They hope, too, to keep it as a souvenir of a passing era, though it is more likely that tram No. 381 will be taken to Belfast to grace the transport museum.
'Rostrevor' was last outward
THE old Rostrevor came to Enniskillen for the last time to help another engine pull the last Enniskillen-Omagh train out of Enniskillen. It was late leaving. About a hundred people came to watch the departure. What they did not know was that the now nameless old Rostrevor had lost its name in what was at the time called the 'Great War.'
Driver Barney McGirr of Omagh, told us about it as he handled the controls with the care and indeed the affection of an old driver for his old engine.
"She's a great old stalwart," he said. "I have been driving her to and from Enniskillen for the past nine years and she has never let me down. She was built in 1895. They called her the Rostrevor, but they took the nameplates off her when they were short of brass in the First World War and melted them down. They were short of brass then. They are short of money now."
75 YEARS AGO/1932
Train stoned near Cookstown
THE stoning of an excursion train returning to Cookstown from Coalisland on September 11 on the occasion of the Gaelic football match between Kerry and Wexford had a sequel at a special court in Cookstown when three youths were charged in connection with the incident.
Henry Canavan, a passenger on the train who was struck by a stone, said the cut bled profusely and he was in bed for a week as a result of the wound. David Moore, acting guard on the train, said when the train arrived in Cookstown about 9.15pm, he found a window broken and glass scattered on the floor of a compartment, where he found a stone and traces of blood.
Head Constable Concannon said that in the course of inquiries he ascertained that eight boys had been in the vicinity of Grange railway bridge at time when the train alleged to have been attacked passed through. He interviewed eight boys separately, and they made voluntary statements.
Protestant's allegation false
A SENSATION has been caused in the Strabane district by a statement to a Strabane police officer by Robert McNeill, a 19-year-old Artigarvan farm labourer, that his previous allegation that he was held up on the night of August 9 at Ballee, near his employer's residence, by five men who dragged him into a field, detained him there until dawn, stripped him of his clothing, maltreated, bound with baling wire, and then tarred, was devoid of foundation, and that he did the tarring himself.
At the time he also alleged that the five men fired revolver shots over his head and tarred 'IRA' on his leg. The alleged outrage was given prominent publicity by the Orange press.
Mrs McNeill, Artigarvan, the young man's mother, lodged a claim for £200 for malicious injury to her son. It is understood the claim will be withdrawn.
100 YEARS AGO/1907
Sad railway fatality
A SAD fatality occurred on the Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway when a special tram was conveying passengers from Strabane to Castlederg. A young man was making his way home along the tramway, when the special came along and dashed upon him.
The driver and the other officials felt the engine jerking as if passing over something, but took no special notice of the accident, and drove into Castlederg station.
They decided to return to see what had been placed on the line, and they found the body lying beside the metals in a shocking state, the head being almost cut in two.
Burglar's escapade
A REMARKABLE story of a burglar's escapade comes from Abergavenny. Shortly after eleven at night, a servant at the house of Mark Fine discovered a man in her bedroom. She called the assistance of Mr and Mrs Fine, but the man immediately covered them with a revolver and rushed into the bathroom, whence he escaped through a window.
He then scaled a wall into a builder's yard, and made his way into the back premises of the Butcher's Arms Inn. He knocked up the proprietor, telling him he had been asleep in the yard, and he was accordingly let out into the street.
Proceeding down Neville Street, he picked up a large stone, broke a jeweller's window, and decamped with a quantity of rings and brooches before any attempt could be made to catch him. The police are eagerly searching for the enterprising individual.
– NIGEL McDONAGH
