The shepherd's hut incident

[kev67]

There was an incident in one of the early chapters which seemed a bit unlikely. Gabriel Oak is in his shepherd's hut. Because it is the middle of winter, he lights a fire in it without opening one of the ventilation slots. He falls asleep and is nearly suffocated. He is saved by Bathsheba who is alerted by the dog barking. Could this sort of thing happen? I would have thought anyone would wake up long before the oxygen running out. Maybe the risk was carbon monoxide poisoning.

[kev67]

Well there you go (link (http://salisburyinquests.wordpress.com/1903-2/muspratt-josiah/)). It could happen. :hat:

Muspratt, Josiah 1903 January 16th Ludgershall

A strange death has befallen a middle-aged man named Josiah Muspratt and an unknown woman, with whom he lived, at Ludgershall. They occupied a shepherd’s hut, and before retiring to rest, they made a coal fire in a bucket, commonly known as a devil fire. They were found dead next morning, without any signs of a struggle, and medical evidence at the inquest showed that death was due to suffocation from sulphur fumes, there being no ventilation to the hut.