Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-11-21
A Terrible AccIdent---A Child EzOr-
rfbIy Burned.

Saturday about one O'CLOCK cOnSlueTao,e
excitement was occssioned on Broughton
street, near Lincoln, by the appearance OF a
child completely enveloped in flames. The
little one rushed into the street shrieking in
a fearful manner. She was quickly seized
by some gentlemen who CHANGED to be near
by, and efforts made to tear the burning
clothes from her. Sergeant Leonard, OF the
Central Railroad police, who was riding in
the vicinity, perceiving the excitement gal
loped up, and quickly dismounting, caught
the child and rolled her over In the heavy
sand to extinguish the flames. Meanwhile
some one brought q quilt from a neighbor-
ing house and the little one was wrapped
up in it, but by this time she was horribly
burned. Several policemen, among them
Mounted Policeman Owen Reilly, had
come up during this exciting scene, which
lasted but q few minutes, and the unfor-
tunste child was taken into the shop
from whence she had fed In
her fright One of the gentlemen who were
the first to reach her had his hands severely
burned. Messengers were dispatched for
physician, and in few minutes DIR. j. G.
Thomas arrived, and what relief was posi-
Die was given, several lsdies In the neigh
borhood rendering efficient assistance and
supplying lotions and linen. The child was
subsequently sent to the hospital In wagon
in charge of Policeman Reilly.
The following facts IN regard to the sad
accident have been ascertained:
The child is the daughter of Joseph z.
Lepiusky, a shoemaker living on Broughton
street, near jefferson, is named Bertha, and
is about ten years OF age. 1t is stated that
she had been ill-trested at home, and sew
eral weeks since had sought refuge at the
shop of Henry Abrahams, also shoemaker,
81 BrOughton street, near Habersham, who
had known her father in Richmond. Abra-
hams lived in little room at the back of
his shop, which is a small building, and the
child staid there with him. He is an old
man, nearly seventy years Of age, and is
devotedly attached to the child, for whom
he had great sympatby on
account of the harsh treatment she was
subjected to at home. He was almost
erszed with grief over the accident, and for
some time could scarcely talk intelligiblY on
the subject, but he was not drunk. He fol-
lowed the wagon to the hospital weeping
bitterly. Immediately after the accident
Sergeant Leonard rode to Lepinsky's shop,
we are informed, and notified him of the
accident, but he did not go to see his child,
and refused to let her mother go. Hence
the child was sent to the Savannah hos
pital. it being impossible to give her proper
attention I'm the little room where she had
been staying. During the afternoon the
father went out to the hospital aud saw the
little sufferer. Yesterday morning the
mother also visited the hospital.
Although suffering intensely, little Bertha
was able to talk, and said she had left home
because her father ill-treated her and she
was afraid to go back. There are other state
ments in regard to these allegations. The
accident, which will probably result IN her
death, as the physicians consider her condi-
ton extremely critical, occurred, as we
learn, as follows:
In the morning she had invited playmate
about her own age, living on Lincoln street,
near Congress street lane, only short dis
lance from Abrahams' shop, to come and
play with her. The children were in the
room at the rear, when Bertha suggested
that they ''play party" and, getting a sweet
potato, cut it into slices, made preparations
for frying them in the pan. There were
some live charcoals in the stove, and to
make them burn quickly, Bertha took the
kerosene can, containing about half gal
lon of oil, and poured out the fluid on
the Goals. 1t Immediately ignited, the can
was exploded, and the person of the child
was covered with the burning huid. In her
fright she rushed wildly through the shop
into the street in 8 sheet of flame almost,
when she was caught, as above stated, and
her burning clothes torn from her.