The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1908. "THE TRAGEDY OF THE FLAMING DEATH."

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12145, 28 November 1908, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1908. "THE TRAGEDY OF THE FLAMING DEATH."

attained distinction as. an investigator of social problems,' has recently been

dovoting much to investigating what ho calls .^The. Tragedy of the Flaming Death/; his- object being to Eocure the insertion of a-clause in the

Children's Bill prohibiting the sale of inflammable flannelette. The result of Mr Sims's investigation, were published in London last, month, simultaneously with the passing*of the Children's.Bill

through its committee stages in the

House of Commons. 'The case which ho presented against this dangerous tnaferial is as'overwhelming as it "is tragic. He adduced evidence to show . that flannelette': causes the ■ deaths ot many; hundreds;./pf children <»very year.. In his: ; first article on the «subjectj Mr Sims says: "At the time I was publishing a series of artifcles on certain perils to child life in connection Tith the1; pressing; problem of our appalling infantile mortality, I received, a letter from.-a well-known professor at the Victoria University of Manchester, urging me" to make the inclusion in the Children*; "Bill of a clause dealing with .the perils of flaming flannelette part of my-'campaign. A-number '-'of members of Parliament,. "'i^oMed-b.y: the ghastly record of deaths ■jtrojii •';• burning among children, used l;thei,r, best, endeavours to induce the

: GofVei-nmient io insert a clause with rejte.;inflamniable clothing. But it above all things that the Children's Bill should contain nothing controversial which , might impede its passage through Committee, and so remedial legislatidn in connection with the burning peril was confined to the enforced fireguard. By far the largest number of deaths amoing children are due to the ignition of their clothing. For Ihis the unprotected grate is only 1 partially responsible. Playing with

matches, lighted tapers and sparks, | even from a guarded fire, are often the starting point of the flame which rapidly envelopes the helpless child and i causes it to die an agonising death. Statistics show that tho great majority of deaths by burning investigated by coroners are due to the. inflammable nature of the flannelette which is now so largely worn by children, and especially by the children of the poor, "who for obvious reasons are the most exposed to the danger. It has taken many yeara of agitation to rouse the public conscience to th& cruelty of leaving littlo children in the proximity of an unguarded fire. I am convinced that when the true and terrible facts are known public opinion will be aroused to the necessity of guarding the children in every possible way from the perils of passing their\ early years wrapped in a material which in many instances only requii-es to come in contact with a spark to convert a helpless child into a human bonfire. Flannelette has como fo stay. It is warm, it is cheap, and it has many qualities to recommend it. It is the fact of its widespread use for the body clothing of lit— tlo children that makes it necessary from every point of view and certainly from the point of view of humanity, that it should not be from the nature of its composition an ever present menace of swift and terrible death. The rased tip surface of most of the flanne^ttes on the markets makes them as easily and rapidly ignited as a bundle of dry shavings. ' A spark upon the raised up surface and the whole material flashes into flame. Early in the present year,being engaged in further investigations with regard to the conditions of childlife, I decided to investigate the flaming flannelette peril in order that I might ascertain at first hand how far the agitation .was justified. The evidence I was able to accumulate in a short time was overwhelming. From all parts of the kingdom the reports of the inquests upon children who had been burnt to death by a flannelette garment igniting and instantly flaring

up came pouring in upon me. I have upon my desk a hundred of these heart-rending-tragedies, all for the past few months. In all of them the same terrible fact leaps to the eyes. A spark, a match a moment's contact with a fire, and the unfortunata little one has been wrapped in a sheet of flames. We think with horror of the infamous cruelty of a Nero, who'tarred the bodies of his victims that he might the more readily convert them into human torches. But thousands of English mothers are today unwittingly preparing the bodies of their little, ones to te human torches too. The agitation against this deadly wear has for a long time past been go-, ing on quietly all over the country. But it "has been an agitation of scientific men, of coroners and hospital doctors, and thoso who have, to their sorrow, been compelled to look upon the burnt little bodies, or to minister to children in their dying agony, or to nurse them bock to life scarred and disfigured and maimed for • tho rest -of-their days." There has been a reason for ijhe law s delay in this matter. The parents who fail to provide their children with sufficient clothing, and send them ha,lf naked and shivering into the streets know what they are doing. The parents who clothe their little ones in such a way that it only requires a spark to convert them into human bonfires do not, as a rule, know what they are doing. Moreover—and this is by far the most serious charge in the indictment which humanity demands shall be framed against the inflammable material in which the children of 4>lio poor are clothed —many parents who have , recognised the danger and have endeay-, oured to guard against it have, as Mr Sims points out,--been. cruelly deceived. ;It is, ho says, the custom in certain shops for the salesmen and'saleswomen to represent as non-inflammable material which is as inflammable as any on the market, and' which has -only' been dressed with a preparation that merely makes it non-flaming until it has been washed. Therefore Mr Sims contends, and rightly, that it .is pf the first importance that it should be made an offence for any manufacturer to sail as fireproof or non-inflammable any flannelette that has not been rendered permanently fireproof by a chemical or other treatment. And all flannelette that is inflammable—and at present all except one specially prepared by a fireproofing procoss is—should have attached to it a label setting forth its dangerous quality. Inflammable flannelette has no more right to be sold to tll>e public without such a label than a deadly poison without a poison label. Mr Sims sees lio reason why the use of flannelette should be restricted. All he demands is that it must be a "safe" material instead of a dangerous material, and in any case it must be made an offence against the law for the manufacturer or the dealer to sell a highly dangerous article under false pretence that there is no danger in it. He has been assured by textile experts who have studied the question for years, that there is a process by which flannelette can be rendered difficult of ignition at an exceedingly small cost. Flannelette can be fireproofed in such a way that it does not lose this virtue in the course of washing. Definite chemical union of the fireproofing material with the cotfen can be secured hi such, a way that contact with soap and water only serves to fix the fireresisting qualities more firmly. The treatment would not, of course, make flannelette a material that would not in certain circumstanc:s burn, but it would make it as free from danger as woollen articles, or flannel. Mr Sims will certainly render the Empire a great service if as the result of his efforts it becomes a criminal offence to sell flannelette which has not been effectively fireproofed.