Mr. Payne, coroner, held an inquiry at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, respecting the death of Mary Scannell, aged sixteen. Mrs. Tweeland, 20, Bartholomew-close, said that deceased was engaged in removing the Christmas decorations from over the mantelpiece. A branch of holly fell inside the fender and blazed up, setting fire to her crinoline, which was extended by means of steel hoops. The hoops prevented her gathering her clothes together, and her efforts to extinguish the flames only caused them to burn more fiercely. In her terror she ran downstairs into the yard, where several persons, attracted by her shrieks, came to her assistance. Mr. Humphreys, house-surgeon, said that the deceased was brought to the hospital on a shutter, still burning. Her injuries were fearful, her body being completely charred, except where the stays afforded a slight protection. The coroner having summed up, the jury returned a verdict “That deceased was burnt to death by misfortune.”
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