A painful and fatal accident occurred at Berrick, Oxon, on the evening or Tuesday last, to Benjamin Brookhouse, aged about eleven, eldest son of Mr. B. E. B. Belcher, Ivy House Farm. It appears the steam thrashing machine of Mr. J[Jonathan]. Weller had been at work on the farm, and was just leaving off work for the day, when the lad, who was on the machine for the object of killing mice, got his foot entangled in the drum of the machine, by which his leg was drawn in and fearfully mangled to above the knee. Dr. Harris was speedily on the spot, but advised his immediate removal to the Oxford Infirmary, and accompanied him thither, but the poor little fellow died in two hours after his arrival from the shock to the system. An inquest was held on the following day when a verdict of "Accidental death" was returned. |