Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-22
FALLS Off CHAIR
INTO THE FIRE
BOY MEETS ACCOUNTING DEATH
FROM BURNS
Mother, Before Going to Church, cau-
tions Sons Not to Try to Get
Candy From ManteI--Father
Hurrying Home

III an eIIOII 10 IedCn SOME candy
which his mother had placed on a man
tel shelf and which he had been eau
toned not to touch, 5-year-old James
Church, son Of Mr.. and Mrs. George A.
Church Of 1902 East Fourteenth street
fell into the fire in the CRATE yesterday
morning and was terribly burned Suf-
fering terribly from the burns and the
swallowing of the flames the child died
at the Clara Barton hospital at $3.50
o'clock
few moments before the mother Of
the dead boy said:
mo, my dears, you must not eat any
more candy. l will place 1t upon the
mantel and when 1 come home from
church l will give you some of 1t. Do
not try to reach for 1t by moving
chair up to the mantel; you may fall
into the fire in the CRATE"
With this warning to her three sons,
WILL John and James, aged respectively
g. and years, Mrs. Kate Church of
1902 East Fourteenth street left her
boys to attend church services.
One-half hour later her youngest
boy James. disobeyed the warning of
his mother. Pulling the chair to the
fireplace he climbed upon it and
reached for the forbidden fruit" In
an instant the little fellow lost his
balance and fell into the CRATE.
Brothers Try Rescue
The clothing of James was on ire in
a flash. His screams frightened his
two brothers and they attempted TO
pull the lad from the fire. Before they
could extinguish the flames James
clothing had been burned from his
back
Neighbors hearing the cries of the
three boys rushed into the house and
attempted to sooth the injured lad. In
the meantime a call was sent to the
receiving hospital and the police ambu-
lance soon had the suffering child in
the hospital, where Police Surgeons
Quint, Bonynge and Freedman hur-
riedly wrapped the child in oil-soaked
linens.
At 2:30 o'clock the child was taken to
the Clara Barton hospital, where he
died an hour later.
The mother is almost prostrated over
the tragic death of her baby.
The father, George A. Church, is be-
ing rushed across the continent on the
Golden State Limited. Mr.. Church was
notified by telegraph yesterday after
but does not know that death has
already interviewed.
Mother Attends Church
At 9:30 O'Clock yesterday morning
Mrs. Church left her home to attend
services at the cathedral on Second and
South Main streets. Previous to her
leaving she had allowed her boys to eat
some candy that had been left over
-. ,,e-f,aN To frf1rn ftnf,
she considered would injure their
health.
AS she left the house she said:
"Wil and John, you must take care
of brother Dusty CDusty' was the
dead boys nickname). See that he does
not pull a chair up to the mantel."
Having spoken these words the
mother departed, leaving her three sons
in each others care. Her warnings to
the boys she apparently believed was
sufficient and that they would do as
they always had done, obey mamma"
The services lasted little more than
an hour With no premonition of the
awful stroke of fate to her son James,
she hurried home.
The almost prostrated mother yester-
day said between her pitful sobs: II
felt that 1 needed to hurry home. Still
I did not dream of the terrible thing
that had happened.
More Misfortunes
"The blow is terrible. 1t was only
two months ago that l buried my 20
months old daughter, Annie c. Church.
Less than two weeks ago my mother
in-law lost her mind and we placed her
in the Clara Barton hospital. She was
taken back to her other folks in Bir-
mingham, Ala, by my husband last
week. Saturday at noon he started
back to Los Angeles. l received a tele-
gram from him to that effect late yes
terday."
The mother-in-law to which the al