Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 21 October 1892

Extraordinary Occurrence at Kilnhurst

On Wednesday a child named Ethel Wilburn, the four-year-old daughter of a bargeman who is now engaged in loading his boat with pitch at Messrs. Ellison and Mitchell’s work at Kilnhurst, was playing about pitch with her young brother, and met with a sad accident.

The little girl, it appears, walked off some hard pitch on to some that had been just run out of a tank, and was up to the chest. Her screams attracted attention, and she was got out at once, and presented an extraordinary spectacle, being about covered with a coating of the pitch nearly an inch thick.

Messengers were sent to Swinton for Dr. Blythman, and to Mexborough, and fortunately Dr. Huey (assistant to Dr. Twigg) was met on the bridge, and on hearing of the nature of the accident ordered the child to be at once conveyed to the Mexborough Cottage Hospital. Here the little sufferer was received by the matron, Miss Moore, who saw there was no way of getting the cake off but by pliers, and the pitch was accordingly cut off in that manner.

The operation took away every bit of skin to which the pitch adhered, and the child’s neck, hands, arms, legs, and abdomen were perfectly raw. Fortunately the child wore heavy boots and stockings, and these preserved its feet from injury. The upper part of its body likewise escaped, owing to the tightness of the clothes it had on.

The child died at two o’clock on Thursday morning. An inquest will be held.