Few Accidents Caused
By Fireworks
There were scarcely any accidents during the Christmas
holidays due to fire works or Christmas trees, but “Carelessness” the ever present
fire fiends in North Carolina and every other state for that matter, got in
some horrifying work and children playing with matches contributed to several
distressing and in some instances fatal burnings. State Insurance Commissioner
Young, who is exerting constant effort for the conservation of lives and
property through Fire Prevention and Safety First campaigns among the people of
the state is grateful for the fine record in the decrease of accidents and
losses from fire works and Christmas trees, but he would appeal for special
effort by public officials, civic organizations and the people generally to end
the ravages of “carelessness” and in many instances the veritable “foolhardiness”
in having to do with fire
Fayetteville contributed two terrible accidents the past week
that should especially cause the habitually careless to stop and consider.
Little Sallie Hodges, 4-year-old daughter of J.H. Hodges, was innocently
playing with matches left within her reach by some criminally careless person,
doubtless a really loving relative, and her clothing caught fire, burning her
arms and face terribly and inflicting internal injuries from which she died
after four hours of terrible agony. The other was the case of Charlie E. Berryhill,
government printer at Camp Bragg, who used gasoline to start a fire in a stove.
He was badly shaken up by the explosion and painfully burned, but will recover.
In Henderson, little Edith Garren, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Hicks Garren, was the victim of the carelessness of members of the family who
kindled, or permitted to be kindled a fire out at the woodpile where the older
brother was cutting wood. Her dress caught on fire as she was playing about the
place, her clothing burned and parts of her little body burned a crisp.
At Enfield, the clothing of little Myra Webb caught on fire
form an open grate and her mother, Mrs. J.O. Webb, was very seriously burned as
she strove to extinguish the flames and save her child from injury. Happily the
little girl escaped injury. An inexpensive wire screen for this open grate would
have prevented all this.
A little while before Christmas, Rocky Mount contributed an
example of the terrible consequences that often follow the all-to-common
criminal carelessness of leaving matches within the reach of children. Ralph
Blackburn, the 2-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Blackburn, got hold of
matches in his reach, crawled under the house and struck one in such close
quarters that his clothing caught fire and before he could be pulled out to
where the fire could be smothered by horrified members of the family, his body
was terribly burned.
These are just a few of many accidents of the sort that get
into the current newspaper reports, but Commissioner Young urges that they be
taken most seriously to heart by every North Carolinian as demonstrating the
crying necessity of redoubled effort to end the ravages upon the lives and
property of the great variety of preventable causes of fires and accidents.
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