A Domestic Worker's Near-Fatal Fire
While caring for a child, a domestic worker is severely burned when her clothing catches fire; a bystander saves her by rolling her in the mud of Front Street.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
About 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon, a woman by the name of Alice Coburn, who is employed as a domestic at the residence of Sherman Heck, immediately opposite to Wright's restaurant, had a narrow escape from a fearful death. The woman's particular duty was the care of the baby, and in warming some flannels for the use of the infant, she held them too near the fire and they were soon in a blaze. From the flannels the flames were communicated to the girl's dress, and she was almost instantly wrapped in flames. Frenzied with fear, she rushed out into Front street, where several men came to her rescue. A man by the name of Thomas Brown, with great presence of mind, tore off his coat and endeavored to smother the flames. He accomplished nothing, however, except burning his hands quite severely, and as a last resort seized the girl and rolled her in the Front street mud, which soon quenched the flames. The victim was immediately carried into the house and a physician summoned. Her burns were found to be quite painful, but by no means fatal.
“Frenzied with fear, she rushed out into Front street, where several men came to her rescue.”
Front Street (now 1st Avenue) was the bustling heart of Seattle in 1883, and its muddy, unpaved conditions were a frequent reality for residents, though in this case, the mud served as a literal lifesaver for a woman in distress.
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