RICHMOND historian and author David Morris has recently had his book about emigrant Swaledale leadminers The Dalesmen of the Mississippi River reprinted.

During research for the book he made a number of trips to the United States and came across a town called Darlington, Wisconsin.

Like the original Darlington, Darlington Wisconsin is a railway town. It also displays an interesting line in American Mid-West homespun bonhomie, as Mr Morris' picture, below left, of the town sign shows.

Mr Morris thinks the "Jaycees" are an organisation similar to our Round Tablers. Another suggestion is that they are members of the Junior Chamber. Spectator's sure someone will put us right.

Mr Morris also included a picture of Darlington Town Hall, pictured right, which is rather more impressive than our brutal concrete block.

Prescient planning

A MASTERPIECE of forward planning reaches Spectator's ears from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

At the same time as a "new verification framework" is introduced for housing benefit claims, the council decides not to fill six vacancies among staff dealing with said claims. The result: 16,000 unopened letters in October (that's about a half a roomful).

Now the council is having to spend thousands and thousands on overtime and extra staff to try to clear the backlog.

Bizarrely, it says it will be pay for this by the sale of furniture. Does this mean there will be more staff at work, but they won't have anywhere to sit?

U're so wrong

SPECTATOR, being a curmudgeonly old cove, is often indignant at the standards of spelling and grammar now so prevalent. Young people today!

But perhaps our children are not being set the best of examples by their elders. Durham County Children and Young People's Council (a snappy name) has just launched its manifesto, entitled "U're Right 2 Be". Nuff said ...