The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-10 00:00:00

ANOTHER DEATH IS-ROUGH CRINOLINE.

An inquest was held last evening by Mr. Bed-
ford at the Westminster Hospital upon the body of
Mary Baker, aged eleven years, who came by her
death under the following circumstances :
It appeared from the evidence that the deceased
girl was the daughter of poor parents residing in
Year-street,. Strutton-ground, Westminster. About
dinner-time on Thursday last a girl living in the
same house heard loud screams, and on going to the
deceased girl's room saw a little baby on the bed
with its clothes on fire. She then saw the deceased
in the middle of the street with her clothes all on
fire also. She had run out and thrown the child on
the bed. A horse-cloth was wrapped round her, and
the flames were, as it was thought, quite extin-
guished, and she was conveyed on a costermonger's
barrow to the above hospital. On arriving there,
however, and removing the horse-cloth from off
her, what remained of her clothes was found to be
still on fire and smouldering.
Martha Bowles, nurse at the hospital, said the
poor girl told her that she was dusting the mantle-
shelf when her clothes caught.
Mr. Slayter, house-surgeon, said deceased was
burnt from head to foot, and died the same evening
from the shock to the system.'

Mr. Bedford said he did not like to put the ques-
tion as to whether the poor girl wore any hoops, but
he had little doubt about it, as almost every little
girl was now to be seen with them.
It was intimated that the deceased had something
of the kind on. _ _

Several of the jurymen said it was surprising how
the females still persisted to wear their crinolines
to the enormous size that they still did, after the
number of accidents and deaths by fire that had
been caused through it; the coroner was quite right
in his remark about the younger girls, for even little
children, they said, have it now put on by their
foolish mothers.
Verdict, " Accidental death."

A GRILL ALLEGED TO BE STARVED

TO DEATH.

Yesterday an inquiry was held before Mr. G. S.
Brent, the deputy coroner for West Middlesex, at
the Queen's Head Tavern, Great Ormond-street,
Bloomsbury, on the body of Edward Charles John
a house
Pennyfather, aged 18 mouths, whose death was said
to have been caused through neglect and starvation
by his nurse.
the
painter, de e e aws eh do was
d Infirmary, and situation as wet
Witness saw the child two months
afterwards,
nurse. The child
when she remarked to the nurse that
In the month of A
exceedingly well,
f and
tauwsgwhsa
ruoiTassnus
twts
gt a
supported
ulee
drnpbshe
yewettwaoahns'Aeamsmegoenotrtthi ceoatrno..
anothers
unpupr
os e and 6s. a week was agreed to be paid
r t, .
The nurse confidently asserted
that the child was well fed, but witness insisted
that it should be taken to the hospital.
Mr. Hill, house surgeon at the Hospital for Sick
iittwwas
as
neglected.dirt
Children, Great Ormond-street, deposed to attend-
ing the deceased from the 2d instant, and on the
4th it was admitted. It was very thin, very cold,
with little clothing on its body, and its toes were
apparently frost-bitten. The pulse was very weak.
On the following day the child died. He had
made a post mortem examination, and found exter-
nally that the feet were frost bitten. Internally
the stomach was empty, and the mesenteric glands
small. All the other organs of the body were
healthy. The cause of death was exhaustion from
emaciation, produced by want of food. He believed
that the child had been exposed to cold through
Want of sufficient clothing, and that cold had much
to do with the death. He was of opinion that if
the child had had good food and sufficient pro-
tection from cold, it would then have been alive.
The nurse, who was present, stated that she
was in very poor circumstances, and that she had
only received two weekly payments during the
time she had the child. She had three children of
her own to support. She took the child to the doctor
L as soon as she could get clothes for it. She used
to feed the child on porridge, and the same as they
had themselves.

At this period of the investigation the inquiry
was adjourned for a closer examination of the body
to be made.