Evening star., 1946-02-03

The largest category as always, was
falls, which injured 1913 persons and
resulted in the deaths Of 1l6. AS might
be expected, the greater number of these
were on stairs, but 80 occurred in bath
rooms, including % cases where victims
fell in bathtubs, one man being knocked
unconscious and drowned in the partly
filled tub.
In bedrooms rs were injured by falls,
many by falling out of bed GA adults
and IA infants came under this cate
gory); tripped over clothing left on
the floor, 8 stumbled over shoes and
6 fell over luggage in the dark.
Sixty-Six suffered falls in kitchens, 25
of them slipping on grease or liquids
and 1S tripping over such things as
mops, brooms, bottles, boxes and buckets.
There were 331 falls off ladders, things
such as chairs used for ladders, win
dows, trees and various items collec-
lively called miscellaneous.
Wounds
The next largest category was wounds,
cuts and decorations of all sorts, which
injured 1888. One girl bled to death
after cutting her arm on the broken
glass in a kitchen door. Of these, BOT
were cuts from broken glass, Ct were
from knives being used in the kitchen,
including IL gashes accounted for by
encountering butcher knives in the
dishpan; 63 other knife accidents (two
uyh oh i
against surrendering them, 287 were
caused by tools, fans, lawn mowers,
nails and tin cans. The latter were
particularly busy; 1852 cans bit back at
the can opener. There were 139 punc-
ture wounds and 715 miscellaneous" !"
which includes everything from the
baby pecked in the eye by pet chicken
to boy being shot in the eye by the
arrow error of playmate.
Burns
Twenty-nine died Of burns and 673
were injured, some permanently. In
the kitchen these were confined to
few categories, spilling hot things, par
ticularly as a result of children pulling
or adults humping projecting handles
OF utensils on stoves, falling against
stoves, and oil stoves or water heaters
exploding. The kitchen took a toll OF
122 in burns.
Other burns resulted from starting
fires with kerosene, using frayed ex-
tension cords, trying to catch perco-
lators knocked over by tripping against
dangling extension, children playing
with matches and match boxes ex-
ploding. Forty eye burns were caused
by various household and medicinal
chemicals which are not adapted to use
that way, tobacco ashes, curling irons,
flying matchheads, fireplace sparks hot
foods and careless lighting of stoves.
Foreign bodies in eyes, ears, nose,
throat and stomachs sent 282 persons
for medical help. Beans, peas, peanuts,
coins, bones, pins, erasers, beads, buttons,
nails, tinfoil, paper wads candy, earrings,
bolts, lipStick, photograph needles,
enough to start 10-cent store were
removed or neutralized in the course
of the year.
Poisonings
There were 167 accidental poisonings.
Some Of them were simple cases of acci-
dental overdoses of things intended to
be consumed, but the majority involved
mistaking bottles, or children testing
their taste on strange new items in a
strange new world. Fly spray, ink, kero-
sene and toadstools were among the dis
coveries made.
Asphyxiation killed 50 and 81 others
were saved by prompt treatment. These
cases included % dead and 33 saved from
gas poisoning of various types, and "a
dead and Is saved from mechanical
suffocation. OF the fatalities from me-
chanical suffocation, rs per cent were
children under years old who strangled
or smothered in their beds.
Other accidents reported included ss