From this newspaper 150 years ago. – The Great Lock-Out. Witton Park. The settlement of the dispute has given everyone here great satisfaction, and the opening of the works will give employment to about two thousand idle men. Spennymoor. – The works at Spennymoor are thrown open, and the men entered again upon their employment. Staffordshire. – The conference between the ironmasters and men of North Staffordshire, held at Stoke-upon-Trent, on Wednesday, was not so conclusive and satisfactory as had been anticipated. Lord Lichfield presided, and the disposition evinced on both sides was conciliatory, but the terms of settlement were not finally arranged. The masters proposed that the men should at once resume work, and leave questions in dispute to be settled by subsequent arbitration. The delegates from the men did not feel that they could take upon themselves the responsibility of agreeing to the masters’ proposal without further consultation with the general body of workmen whom they represented. At this point the conference ended, the men, however, undertaking to submit the terms of the masters to a meeting of workmen to be held on Friday. Scotland. – We understand that on Saturday the manufacturers of puddled iron in the districts of Coatbridge, Motherwell, Glasgow and neighbourhood, resolved, in pursuance of the resolution come to on the 14th inst., to give a fortnight’s notice of leave to the puddlers in their employment. At the end of this period the men will most probably seek an interview with their employers in order to ascertain why they have been thus formally discharged. They will them be informed that the reason is that the wages of puddlers are to be reduced 1s per ton, and those of millmen and other 10 per cent., so as to make them uniform with the wages now offered to the same class of workmen in England; and that in the event of their not complying with these terms there will be a lock-out, but should they accept them they will be retained in their employment, and the works will be carried on as usual.

Settlement of the dispute in the north. At Darlington, on Monday, the ironmasters of the North of England have made another proposal with the view of bringing the lock-out to an end. They intimate that they will re-open their works as soon as the question between the North Staffordshire masters and their workmen is mutually referred to competent arbitration, “the men resuming their work at once, pending the decision to which such arbitration may come.” The proposal having been accepted. As the masters agreed to open their works on Thursday. On Thursday, the lock-out in the North of England was terminated by the re-opening of the works.

From this newspaper 100 years ago. – The borough of Darlington entered upon a new era of its municipal life on Thursday, when the first meeting of the new and enlarged Council which has come into being consequent upon the creation of the town as a county borough and the extension of the borough boundaries was held. The Council Chamber has had to be re-arranged in order to accommodate the increased number of members. There were several features about the proceedings and one was the presence of Miss Lucas, the first lady elected to the Council. The Council Chamber was uncomfortably crowded by townspeople, who had come to witness the election of Mayor and Aldermen. As was expected, the unanimous choice of the Council for the position of Mayor was Ald J G Harbottle, who has held the position under the old regime since November 1913. With the exception of Majors Biggs and Fisher, who are on active service, and Mr V L Raven, who had been called away to Ireland, all the members were present, viz., Miss Clara Lucas, and Messrs T E B Bates, G Beadle, E M Hinde, J Howe, J F Latimer, C H Leach, Seaton Leng, J F Loraine, R Mosley, C H Mountford, R Nichol, P Prior, J Robinson, C W Starmer, Mr Waldy and G R Young. The Town Clerk (Mr H G Steavenson) occupied the Mayoral chair at the opening of the proceedings, and said the first duty of the Council was to elect a Mayor to hold office until the 9th November next. He had advised Mr Harbottle to continue to hold office until his successor was appointed, but for reasons readily apparent to all he desired the Town Clerk should occupy the chair until their pleasure was made known.

From this newspaper 50 years ago. – Another all-out war by Northallerton’s “water rebels” is likely to break out if the Northallerton and Dales Water Board, in their proposed charges for the coming year, exceed the new maximum charge of 2s in the £ for domestic supplies, which is to be prescribed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government. The Board maintain that despite the new charges to be prescribed by the Minister they are able by the use of differentials in the original Water Board Order, to exceed the new maximum. They have in fact published charges which will be 2s 1d in the £ in Northallerton urban district and 2s 4d in the Northallerton rural district. The Action Group which has led the local protests on the high water charges of the Board has decided that they will not pay more than a maximum of 2s in the £, which should include any differentials levied by the Board. Following a meeting of the Action Group, two of the leaders, Mr W A R South and Mr D M Willoughby, said members of the group were prepared to go to court again on the issue, and would welcome public support. The Group was prepared to call another public meeting, and if Northallerton urban representatives on the Water Board are not prepared to back the case for a reduction within the 2s maximum, then they are prepared to make it an election issue at the Urban Council elections in May. Despite the success achieved as a result of the local inquiry the Group is still of the opinion that the Board is not a viable unit and never will be. They still contend it should be amalgamated with a larger and more economical water undertaking.