The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-19 00:00:00

Till: DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT
WASHINGTON.

The Northern, Erenilig Express states that the calamity
that occurred at Washington village on Wednesday is a
much more serious affair than was at first supposed to be
the case. Four deaths have resulted from it, another
person is lying at what seems to be the point of death,
while four others are also suffering from serious in-
juries sustained on the same painful occasion. It
seems that on Monday last Ellen Stokoe, wife of
William Stokoe, ordered two gallons of what is called
diamond oil from a traveller in the employment of Mr.
Robert Logan, oil merchant, George-street, Newcastle.
Mr. Stokoe himself works as a blacksmith at one of the
adjoining collieries, but he has also a shop in which
groceries and drapery goods are sold, and this his wife
and family have been in the habit of looking after. The
oil was delivered on Wednesdayraorning, and the earthen-
ware jar containing it was temporarily put below a table
in the kitchen at the back of the shop. No person
in the house appears to have been aware of its
dangerous character, and no special precautions
were observed in handling it. letw, en twelve and one
o'clock, William Stokoe, his wife, three daughters, two
sons, the daughter of a cousin, and the servant girl, sat
down to dinner in the kitchen. The food of which they
were to partake was placed on the table, below which was
the jar containing the oil. But just as they were about to
begin dinner, one of the company—believed to have been
John Stokoe, the youngest lad—accidentally hit the jar
with his foot. It fell on the floor and broke, its contents
rapidly spreading throughout the room. A portion
of the oil ran towards the fire-place, and there it
got ignited. A slight explosion occurred, and
the whole place, including its unhappy inmates,
were instantaneously enveloped in a red mass of
violent flames. They appear to have got hold of each
other, and in the midst of their great alarm huddled them-
selves together in a corner. After the lapse of a minute or
two, Thomas Stokoe, one of the lads, followed by his
mother and youngest sister, rushed out into the back
street, while Elizabeth Stokoe, the eldest daughter,
j Isabella Taylor, the cousin, who was on a visit to the house,
from Gateshead, and Catherine Swinbank, the servant
girl, who belongs to Newcastle, ran, one after the other,
into the front street, screaming at the top of their voices,
and burning from head to foot. William Stokoe, the
father, also escaped through the shop by the front door.
' The rector (the Rev. Julius Shatlwell), the neighbours, and
a large number of workmen engaged in laying sewage
pipes in the streets, were most courageous in catching
hold of the persons enveloped in the flames, and getting
the fire extinguished as quickly as practicable. The
evidence at the inquest shews that the rector nobly
denuded himself of both his coats to put out the burning
clothes of two of the younger women. While those
who had escaped were being attended to by some,
others forced their way into the kitchen, where they
found Mary Stokoe, 16 years of age, and John Stokoe, 10
years old, lying on the floor, in the midst of the debris and
flames. They were carried out into the street, when it
was found that all the clothes had been burned off the
former, and the boy had also sustained fearful injuries.
The poor girl's head was literally singed, and her knees
had been drawn up towards her chin in agony. She died
soon afterwards, and the lad succumbed later on in the
evening. The doctor's evidence at the inquest shewed that
all the others were most seriously, some feared to be fatally,
injured, and in the evidence also will be found a faithful
description of the violent nature of the fire, as shown in
the damage done to the house itself. We need not state
that the greatest excitement prevails in the village and
surrounding district in reference to this sad affair. Thomas
Stokoe, of Stockton, brother of William Stokoe, and
Robert Stokoe, a younger man, son of William Stokoe
(who happened to be in Sunderland at the time), along
with the relatives of Isabella Taylor and Catherine Swin.
bank, were immediately sent for, and they arrived soon.
The following is the list of the killed and injured :—Killed
Mary Stokoe, 16, daughter of W. Stokoe, grocer ; John
Stokoe, 10, son of W. Stokoe ; Isabella Taylor, 15, belong-
ing to Gateshead, daughter of W. Stokoe's cousin ; Cathe-
rine Swinback, 14, belonging to Newcastle, servant with
W. Stokoe. Not expected to live— Ellen Stokoe, 44, wife

of W. Stokoe. Expected to survive—William Stokoe, 51,
grocer and draper ; Elizabeth Stokoe, 18, daughter of W.
Stokoe ; Thomas Stokoe, 13, son of W. Stokoe ; Hannah
Stokoe, 8, daughter of W. Stokoe. The inquest is
adjourned to next Wednesday.