Second report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Coroners.
Date:
1909
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Second report of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into the practice in coroners' courts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    1 July 1909.] 41 (Continued. of very fluffy cloth comes from Holland which is used for garments. It is in self colours with a thick and long nap, and is largely used for skirts for girls and women, I do not think a great deal of that is used for children’s clothing. 7343. So far as you know, no process is used similar to yours P—No permanent process. There are other processes. 7344, Which render it non-inflammable for several washings P—No. 7345. Tungstate of soda is one P—Yes. Tungstate of soda renders the goods temporarily fire proof, but one washing in soap in hot water entirely removes it, and the goods are as dangerous as before. 7346. Alum ?—Yes, and borax; the same remark applies to them. 7347. (Chairman) You live at Hove, Brighton P— Yes. 7348. What hospital appointment do you hold there ?—Assistant Surgeon to the Children’s Hospital, Brighton. 7349. You have taken a considerable interest in this question of flannelette burning ?—Yes. 7350. Have you had cases in your own practice of children burned to death through. flannelette P—Yes. We have had them in the hospital. 7351, Have you had any in your own wards ?—Yes ; we have had cases of deaths from burning where flan- nelette garments were used. Practically every death or serious accident from burning is from a flannelette garment. In nearly every case the children have been wearing flannelette garments. It is almost universal among the children of the poor. 7352. How many deaths from burning have you had in the hospital P—A very small number in Brighton. It is the total number in the country which is the important factor—1,400 per annum of deaths of children under five, and for every death there are about 10 cases of serious injury. 7353. There are 1,400 deaths from burning per annum of children under five P—Yes. 7354, Other people have given us 400 as the number ?—I do not say the 1,400 are all due to wearing flannelette ; I say there are 1,400 children under five years of age who are burned or scalded to death. 7355. That imcludes scaldings? — Yes. Those figures are taken from the Registrar-General’s returns. 7356. He lumps together burns and scalds P—Yes, but I can let you have them separately. 7357. I made inquiries at the London Hospital and I found that a large number of children had been scalded and hardly any had been burned ?—There was a Return given by the Home Secretary in the House of Commons the other day; in the County and City of London there were 104 burns to 20 scalds. Last year in England and Wales there were 884 burns to 114 scalds. 7358. That would include children in houses which were on fire?—No, it does not includes deaths from conflagrations. Those are children who are burned to death in the ordinary acceptance of the term. 7359. On their own account as it were? —Yes. The Registrar-General has a special return of deaths from conflagrations. Those figures were for 1904. I think those were the latest available. 7360. Anyhow it is a very serious question and you have paid considerable attention to it P—Yes, I think it is an exceedingly serious question. | 7361. Something has been done by section 15 of the new Children Act ?—Yes, it punishes the parents for allowing their children to be burned to death, but that does not prevent it. Section 15 only punishes the parent if achild is burned to death or burned seriously ; it does not do anything in the way of prevention, except the moral influence of the fear of a fine. 7362. What is your practical suggestion—have you any practical suggestion to make ? It is always difficult to prevent any negligent act ?—In the first place, I am quite convinced it is not going to be by any legis- lation on the flannelette question that you are going to prevent burns. Flannelette is a very cheap article of clothing and very useful. It is warm and cheap. Those are the two great advantages of it to the public. They ean get it from 13d. per yard upwards. It is rather difficult to get it for that, but it is common and easy enough to get it for 2?d. But it is procurable at 13d. per yard; I have the authority of the ‘“ Drapers’ Review” for that. I have never been able to get it for that myself, but I can get it for 23d. in my town. There are two remedies which the flannelette people have suggested. One of them is to soak their material in a chemical which renders it permanently non- inflammable; the second is to use various solutions, patent and otherwise, each time the material is washed. 7363. For instance, washing in alum or tungstate of soda ?—Alum is cheapest, and therefore I have taken that as a type, but alum and borax solutions and various patents, such as “ flame-off,’”’ are suggested, but I am certain a poor woman would not use them. It is an extra trouble and expense each time of washing, and I am convinced that, although the expense and trouble are not great, you would never get a poor mother to do that every time the article is washed; therefore I do not believe any temporary solution is any good at all. 7364. I suppose these things could not be combined with soap P—* Flame-off”’ is combined with starch; I have never been able to get one combined with soap. “ Flame-off” is simply a mixture of alum and starch; of course you pay for the title. It is much better to pay for the alum separately. One method has been suggested to make it permanently non-inflammable, but it is not effective. I can prove it. The patent material called ‘‘ Non-flam”’ is sold; the cheapest procurable is 63d. per yard. 7365. We have had evidence that the actual cost of applying the ‘“‘ Non-flam treatment ”’ is $d. a yard, or in the case of broad flannelette, ld. a yard ?—You cannot buy “ Non-flam’’ under 63d. per yard. 7366. Not in Brighton, at any rate?—No; and I have gone direct to the agents of the “ Non-flam ”’ people whom they themselves recommended to me. As a matter of fact, I happen to know the manager of the agents, and he tells me it could not be sold under. If “ Non-flam” is sold under 63d. the profit he gets now is so exceedingly slight that the material so sold cannot be genuine. 7367. If that be so the reason would be this, that it is only worth while to apply this process to the better kinds of flannelette >—That probably might be so. I do not say that the 63d. ‘“Non-flam” is a 23d. flannelette. I know nothing of the qualities. My statement is this: a poor woman whose income is reckoned in shillings can buy flannelette at 2$d. a yard, but she cannot buy “ Non-flam” cheaper than 63d. I am only speaking of Brighton. 7368. That is a very large representative town ?— Yes, with cheap and dear class and middle class drapers. This “ Non-flam,” if it is washed, unless it is washed in a certain way, is not flame proof; that the “Non-flam” people acknowledge themselves. The “Non-flam”’ people say that unless “ Non-flam” is washed so that a certain amount of alkaline soap is left in it after the final rinsing, it will burn almost, if not quite, as readily as the ordinary flannelette. 7369. You mean soap must be used with the washing ?—Yes, it must be wrung out finally in soapy water. They say if it is to be kept non-inflammable it must be wrung out finally in soapy water. 7370. You are aware that a committee in Cambridge have tried similar experiments ?—I have the stuff in my pocket if you would like me to show it to you. I have it in writing from the “ Non-flam” people in an eight- page letter. Perhaps I had better read the letter. It