Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 05 August 1911

Heat and Over-Eating.

Mexboro’ Girl’s Death.

Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 05 August 1911 on Monday, Mr Frank Allen and the jury inquired into the death of Alice Eccles, aged 13, the daughter of Charles Eccles, glasshand of 8 Raikes St, Mexborough.

The mother of the girl, Mariah Eccles, said her daughter was apparently all right up to Friday. She went to bed at 11.15 on the evening of Friday. During the evening she had some chipped potatoes, and later, some new bread and tea. During the night she called out for some water, which her father procured for her. She was restless during the night, and vomited twice at three and five. Witness lay down beside her, and when she woke at 7:30 she looked at her daughter, who appeared to her to be in a fit. She sent for the doctor, who pronounced life to be extinct.

Doctor R.C. Galgy, said he was called in about 7.30 o’clock on Saturday morning, and arrived before eight. He found the girl dead, and from a casual examination he was unable to state what was the cause of the death. He made a post-mortem examination, and subsequently found death was due to synscope, following upon a heavy stomach. The stomach was congested, indicating that it had been overloaded. It was nothing more than might have been expected, having regard to the hot weather. There were no traces of ptomaine poisoning, and probably had the girl not gone to bed immediately after the meal, this might not have happened.

Death the jury declared, was due to natural causes