Tragedy on Bainbridge Island as Child Accidentally Kills Brother
A toddler's playful act with a lit stick leads to the fatal burning of his infant brother in a home on Bainbridge Island.
The story, cleaned up
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Willie Hanson, 3 1/2 years old, son of William Hanson, a pioneer settler on Bainbridge Island, wonders why his baby brother does not play with him, and why his mother weeps softly and his father is shaken with sobs, just because he thrust a lighted stick into the baby's clothing and the child screamed with the pain. Mrs. Hanson left her two children, aged 2 and 3 1/2 years, at play Tuesday while she hung out the family washing. She was startled by screams and rushing into the house, saw the baby writhing on the floor, its clothing in flames, while Willie stood near with a stick in his hand which he had lighted in the kitchen stove. The mother was badly burned about the hands and arms before she extinguished the flames. A physician called from Blakeley found the baby's body about the hips and waist so badly burned that the skin peeled off. The child died Wednesday morning.
“Willie Hanson wonders why his baby brother does not play with him.”
This horrific tragedy highlights the extreme isolation and domestic danger faced by pioneer families before the advent of modern childcare safety norms.
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