Another instance of parental neglect combined with the dangers of phosphorus was reported in The Loughborough Echo of 22nd August 1913.
It is revealed that two brothers, one aged ten and the other twelve had been playing with a crude but still viable firearm. Their engineer father obviously had more to do with this contraption than is mentioned in the article, as it involved what appears to be his workshop where the tragedy took place.
The phosphorus from a box of matches, I would assume red in this case, was used as the “gunpowder” with a lead bullet put into the barrel. The contraption was secured in a vice with one brother standing in the line of fire in the shed. Dick committed fratricide by inadvertently firing the gun by the action of friction with the phosphorus.
Playing with matches was a painful lesson for poor George who was shot through the heart with the bullet.
