Driving a motor car at a reckless pace, August 1916
From The Star, August 31, 1916.
Library Newspaper Collection
An appeal from Flanders: a Guernseyman to Guernseymen, July 1916
'You're very young and very small you boys, but your hearts are big.' His Excellency the General Officer Commanding has authorised in the public interest the publication of the following extracts from a letter received from a non-commissioned officer at the front, and the statement that every consideration will be given to the promotion of those men who have passed through the fiery furnace of this war. H St Leger Wood, Colonel, AA and QMG, August 8th, 1916.
More deserters, January 1810
From the Gazette de Guernsey, January 13th 1810.
Explosion in Alderney, 10 September 1903
'Buildings Wrecked. Hayricks afire.' The Helcke fulminate of mercury works explodes. From The Star of September 11, 1903.
Annual examination at the Vauxbelets, July 1911
The annual examinations in Agriculture, Horticulture, Chemistry, Engineering and English took place at the Vauxbelets Schools. Examiners from the Société d'Agriculture de France came to the island especially to conduct some of the examinations, which were all oral. There were fifteen first year pupils and five second year pupils.
Pollet Fountain, 1861
Drinking fountains. From The Star of July 16. The Pollet fountain was moved farther North to make way for the new States Offices, now used as an Information Centre.
Regatta, January 1952
From the Guernsey Press, 5 January 1952; the projected revival of the Town Regatta.
Herm is blown up by a mine, 4 January 1952
In view of the recent spectacular controlled detonation of a WWII bomb off Guernsey, here is a rather less controlled episode from 1952, in which the 28 inhabitants of Herm were incredibly lucky to escape injury or worse. 'Will you tell your husband when you go ashore that there is a mine somewhere off the Herm coast. Tell him to try and get a rope round it and pull it in; it will be quite harmless. It's been in the sea since the war and the firing mechanism will be rusted up.' Insurance did not cover damage by rogue mine, but the States stepped in to do the repairs, which were considerable.
Mr Trengrouse's Rocket Apparatus, June 1836
As reported in the Comet of July 4th, 1836. Henry Trengrouse (1772-1854), from Cornwall, was the inventor in 1808 of an early form of the Breeches buoy. As he first presented his invention, however, in 1818, versions of it had long been in use by the time he demonstrated it in Guernsey, despite the Comet's misgivings.
A diplomatic incident, July 1836
Necessity demanded that a gang of Alderney smugglers kidnap a French customs officer on the French coast and take him back to Alderney, then leave him to make his own way home. The authorities in Alderney smiled indulgently on the miscreants, but French Ambassador Count Sebastiani made angry representations to the UK Government for action. The Comet is indignant, pointing out that the French are quite happy for their nationals to smuggle gin to England.