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15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 AUGUST 2021 NEWS ry-school students attended government schools. Expenditure for all elementary govern- ment schools in 1921 was £55,961. Gov- ernment also spent £30 per year on each of two 'aided private schools' in Mdina and Valletta. Accompanying the figures were de- scriptions of what the secondary schools intended to achieve. While the Lyceum and the secondary school in Gozo of- fered a varied list of subjects intended to "prepare young men to matriculate for admission into the university", the sec- ondary school for girls was more austere. Girls could learn maths, English, Italian, French and needle work and "other sub- jects usually included in the curriculum of a secondary school for young ladies". No reference was made to preparing girls for university. Wages and food: costlier Maltese eggs Farming may be a declining job today, but in 1921 there were 16,270 employed in agriculture and their average rate of wage was £54 per year. Manufacture employed 29,074 people, while another 20,340 earned a living in commerce. The average yearly wage in these two sectors stood at £90. Rates for domestic service were a meagre £18 per year. And in a pre-decimal system a barrel of 196lb (equivalent to 89kg) of flour would retail at an average of £1 17s. and 4d. (one pound 17 shillings and four pence). A pound of fresh butter from New Zea- land would cost two shillings and four pence, while salted butter from Ireland would cost three shillings. A gallon (4.5Lit.) of milk would retail at an average of £8, while a dozen Mal- tese eggs would cost one shilling and six pence. Imported eggs would cost less at one shilling and two pence. Buying 'horned cattle' would set you back by £30. Prison: deprived of their mattress Records show that in 1921 the prison population stood at a whopping 4,510, equivalent to 2% of the country's popu- lation. The Corradino Civil Prison housed 2,151 inmates, while the Valletta prison held 1,666. A further 693 prison inmates were held in Gozo. The inmate popu- lation was made up of 3,314 men, 480 women and 716 juveniles. The detailed records also note that throughout 1921 there were 2,953 pun- ishments inflicted on prisoners for of- fences committed while in jail. Of these, 1,534 punishments were 'solitary con- finement on punishment diet' and 722 were 'solitary confinement without pun- ishment diet'. In 35 instances, inmates were punished by being deprived of their mattress for a period not exceeding three days. Crime and punishment: stealing veg In a society where farming was a key sector in the country's economic and social life, it is no wonder that 80 cases of 'praedial larceny' (theft of agricultur- al produce) were reported in 1921. The crime statistics show that no homicides were reported that year but there were 149 reports of offences against the per- son. Another 1,104 were offences against property, while there were 512 other crimes. In 1921, one man was acquitted of mur- der of his 'wife or concubine', while three were acquitted of manslaughter charges and another found guilty and fined. One man was convicted for attempted murder and sentenced to 'penal servi- tude', or rather, hard labour. Hospitals: treating prostitutes Like most of the British colonies, Mal- ta also had a lock hospital to treat people suffering from sexually-transmitted dis- eases. The Blue Book shows that in 1921, a lock hospital was situated in Luqa, a section of the old people's home in what is now known as St Vincent de Paul. Ac- cording to the description accompanying the entry, the hospital had an average of 44 'inmates' and was used for the 'treat- ment of prostitutes suffering from ve- nereal disease'. The same grounds also housed a hospital for male and female lepers. A list of hospitals shows that the main hospital, known as Central Hospital, was in Floriana, while the Seamen's Hospital was situated in St Julian's, where Zammit Clapp now stands. Other hospitals included the Santo Spirtito Hospital in Mdina, Connaught Hospital, also in Mdina where the Vilhe- na Palace stands, and Manoel Hospital in Sliema, more popularly known as the Lazzaretto on Manoel Island, which used to house patients with infectious diseases. Gozo had a general hospital, which in- cluded a wing for contagious diseases. Records show that 255 people were hos- pitalised with typhoid fever in 1921, in- cluding 30 who eventually died. At Connaught Hospital, 233 patients were admitted with pulmonary tubercu- losis of which 64 died. At Manoel Hospital, 418 patients were receiving treatment for scabies, an itchy skin condition caused by a tiny burrowing mite. What is today Mount Carmel Hospi- tal, already existed 100 years ago when it was referred to as a lunatic asylum. There were 811 patients in the lunatic asylum in 1921, of which 175 were admitted in that year. According to a classification deter- mined by the reporting requirements, 87 patients in the mental health hospital were considered 'maniacal and danger- ous', while 554 were considered 'quiet chronic'. The rest were classified either as 'melancholy and suicidal' or 'idiotic, para- lytic and epileptic'. Weather: black thermometer The highest temperature in built up are- as was registered at the Valletta station on 21 July 1921 when the mercury hit 37°C. In the country, the highest temperature was registered at Zurrico in July when it was equal to 39.4°C. At the time, meteorological readings also included those taken by what was known as a black thermometer in vac- uo. This was a thermometer with a black painted bulb and kept in a vacuum and regarded as a 'comfort' indicator for hu- mans in the sunshine. Its use was subse- quently phased out but according to the records from 1921 the black thermome- ter registered a temperature of 66.8°C on 24 August. The average maximum temperature for the months of June, July and August was 24.7°C, while the average minimum for January and February was equal to 12.5°C. In the countryside, the lowest tempera- ture was registered at Naxaro, where on the 20 and 22 January, the temperature dropped to 3.3°C. Transport: roads, cars, trams and train Roads were divided into 1st class and 2nd class with the former deemed to be suitable for motor traffic and the latter suitable for horse drawn traffic. The 1921 records show that Malta had 350km of 1st class roads and 167km of 2nd class roads. In Gozo, 84km were suitable for motor traffic, while 16km were deemed to be 2nd class roads. This means that across both islands, the road network suitable for cars amounted to 434km. Malta today has almost 3,000km of paved roads. At the time there were 265 cars, referred to as touring cars, and 151 motorcycles. The roads were also used by 37 private- ly-owned buses operated along six routes and 63 touring cars used for hire. But whereas cars were still a novelty back then, Malta had a train and trams servicing the main population centres. The railway, owned and operated by gov- ernment, ran from Valletta and its con- struction had until then amounted to £58,562. The records show that passenger receipts amounted to £12,165. There were also three tramways owned and operated Macartney McElroy & Coy. Limited. The lines from Birkirkara, Cos- picua and Żebbuġ all led to Valletta. 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