TWO BOYS SUFFOCATED IN ST. PHILIPS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2766, 5 April 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

TWO BOYS SUFFOCATED IN ST. PHILIPS.

On Thursday evening, January 29th, an extraordinary accident, which resulted in the death of two lads, while two others only very narrowly escaped, ono with severe injuries, ooourrcd in St. Philip's. The scene Of the accidbnt was on those large, and frequently vituperated, ashheaps near Victoria-roady which are still* used by the* city scavenger, Mr Shellard, for the purpose of depositing refuse. As these heaps - constitute the only space of any size in a district densely populated by the poorer classes, they are used as a playground, and form a favourite' place for recreation for the children of th& locality. .During, the day men had been engaged in screening ashes, and in one place the bank from which they had been taking the refuse was left almost perpendicular, in height from ten to fifteen feet. Between six and seven o'clock in the evening four boys, following an only too frequent practice in the neighbourhood, to which the police have been unable to put a stop, went on to the heaps with a lighted fire, built in an old iron bucket. The names of the lads were John James Smith, aged 14, and his brother, Richard Henry, of 7, Aber-deen-street, St. Philip's ; George ShepI pard, 15, of 11, Philip-street; and George Milsom, aged 15, of Glass House-cottage, •Atlas-terrace, Feeder-road, all the residences being in the immediate locality. ' Th<«se lads placed the bucket close under the bank for shelter and protection from the wind, and seated themselves rouud the fire. They had not been in that position for any lengthened period, when all of a sudden the bank gave way, and all the boys, with the exception of Richard Henry Smith, .were completely buried with the fire beneath a mass of refuse. Smith, fortunately for himself, was not completely covered with the debris, and, having his head and shoulders above the rubbish, he extricated himself from his dangerous position with all possible dispatch. Immediately communicating the news of the disaster to some men standing near, a number of willing hands were found, who, using all possible speed, had their efforts rewarded by quickly removing the rubble which had covered the unfortunate boys. The three sufferers, who were apparently very much injured, were at once conveyed to their respective homes. Dr. Carter was called in, and upon examination, he pronounced life in the case of John James Smith and George Sheppard to be extinct. Milsom was terribly burnt about the hands, and his face, neck, and legs also showed marks of contact with the fire. He was not, however, dead, and actios 1 upon advice L'iven, he was forthwith conveyed to the Bristol General Hospital. His injuries were dressed, and he was detained there. We were unable to definitely ascertain whether death in tho first two cases actually resulted *from asphyxia or burns, but in all probability the former, because the fall of ashes upon the burning coals would cause the latter to emit a quantity of smoke, which must have been inhaled by the poor boys as long as they had tho power to breathe. Milsom, it is supposed, was thrown by the force of the falling rubble right over the fire, which would account for his injuries being so extensive, and he would naturally throw forward his hands to protect his face. The escape of tho brother of the deceased boy Smith was truly remarkable, and the whole of the occurrence is undoubtedly one of the strangest fatalities which have ever occurred.