From the Evening News, August 27, 1903: THE Bolton Coroner explained yesterday that already this year he has held twenty-three inquests on suicides. This is a grim, a tragic, statement, full of pathos, and calculated to distress the compassionate human mind.

Man is the highest form we know, and to hear so constantly of the loss of mental balance which leads to a lamentable death is one of the most painful experiences in the daily life of the community.

It is, of course, no sort of consolation to learn that Bolton is not alone in the visitation of this epidemic of self-slaughter. The same sad circumstances are revealed all over the country; and he would be a wise being who could adequately diagnose the cause and provide a cure.

Doubtless the incessant dreariness of the weather has not been without its effect in deepening the gloom of many prone to insanity, and the lesson is therefore to cultivate, as far as is humanly possible under grey skies, a wise and buoyant optimism.

From the Evening News, August 27, 1953: THE small shops of South-east Lancashire sell more per head of the population than any area excepting Greater London and West Yorkshire, says a report published today.

The report presents for the first time a complete picture of retail and service trades for 368 towns in the country.

In Bolton there are 2,818 retailers employing more than 7,000 full-time assistants, in addition to 2,078 part-time assistants.

The largest group of shops is the grocery group, which accounts for 817 of the total. The smallest of the service trade groups is that of the motor vehicles, cycles and accessories.

It is interesting to note, particularly for the many Boltonians who think that there are far too many fish and chip shops in Blackpool, that Bolton has 165 fried fish chops, compared to Blackpool's figure of 104.

From the Evening News, August 27, 1978: THE National Smile Campaign in Bolton has ended - in tears.

The National Smile Band - a non-punk pop group from the Bristol area - overturned their van at Watford Gap on the M1 when they first tried to visit Bolton earlier this month.

And they failed to turn up again on Saturday because a row has split the group and wiped all the remaining smiles away. The five-man group, average age 18, was selected from 2,000 bands all over the country to spearhead the National Smile Campaign. Their manager said today: "I have had two of them in tears over the weekend."

From the Evening News, August 27, 1993: BOLTON'S town centre drinking ban has been hailed a success by police. Officers and council officials are delighted with the effect the bye-law has had since it was introduced at the beginning of the month. At one popular sport next to the Market Cross at the junction of Churchgate and Deansgate, families have replaced foul mouthed drunks on the benches near an attractive floral display. And the pleasant scene is repeated elsewhere in the town.