A Backyard Tragedy in Ballard
A young girl is severely burned while playing near a rubbish fire during spring cleaning.
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.
Jennie Van Patten, a little girl 6 years old, met with a severe accident by burning about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon in Ballard. She is an orphan and lives with her aunt, Mrs. William M. Curtiss, on Second Avenue. Mrs. Curtiss had been house cleaning and placed a lot of old papers and other rubbish in the back yard and made a bonfire. Jennie and Ray Donoghue, a playmate, were playing about the fire when her dress caught fire and severely burned her about the body and face. Her right leg, side, hand and face were badly burned before the Misses Scott, who are neighbors, could reach her and put out her burning garments. Miss Nettie Scott wrapped her skirts around her and Miss Emma Scott quickly brought a blanket, and they together smothered the flames. Dr. W. Johnston was immediately called and attended to the little one's sufferings. It is impossible to tell what will be the result of the burns.
“Jennie and Ray Donoghue, a playmate, were playing about the fire when her dress caught fire and severely burned her about the body and face.”
This tragic report highlights the everyday perils faced by children in the residential neighborhoods of late 19th-century Seattle. While trash burning was a common domestic practice then, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the lack of modern safety standards and the close-knit, sometimes precarious nature of early neighborhood life in Ballard.
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