The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-15 00:00:00

'

MORNING _EDITION.
DANGER OF HEATING BUILD-

INGS WITH HOT WATER.

Ic,e3iiesilav we hrii fly alluded to an accident
ndiich had occurred at the warehouse of Messrs. Bar-
• beer and Brothers, in Portland-street, and which, at
that time, we under:tred to have arisen from the burst-
of the coiled pipe in the furnace, and the consequent
'hspersion of the burning embers amongst the goods.
ing
14rv,
the have, however, since had an opportunity of inspect-
premises, and find that, although there was a
flight failure in the pipe, no dangerous consequences re-
sulted from it ; but that other circumstances occurred of
a most extraordinary nature, though, as we now find,
fro
by im itformation which has reached us from other quar-
ters'no means singular in their character. It ap-
Pears that, on Monday morning last, Messrs. Barbours'
warehouse which is warmed with a hot-water appara-
tus of the ordinary kind, was found to be very cold, as
.fn'ght be expected from the severe frost of the preced-
ing day and two preceding nights, during which the
apparatus had not been used ; and, with the view of
making the rooms more comfortable, a large fire
was kept up in the furnace of the apparatus.
About a quarter before two o'clock, one of the men
wiho had returned from his dinner before the usual
time, found the grey-room (which is on the ground
floor) filled with smoke ; and, on looking around, dis-
T•ered that the room was on fire in no less than three
Places ; in one of which a quantity of tvriaa which was
Sing under the counter in contact with the water-pipe,
- --la another a piece of wrapper which was in a similar
situetion, but in a d:ffsreet place,—in the third, a por-
tion of the counter, which went round the wall, were
severally in names, and were blazing fiercely. He lin-
Meately gave an alarm, and assistance being procured,
having been done. Au investigation then took place,
and lt was found that a portion of the floor, above the
ahgreY-room, where the pipes passed through it to warm
e
uPper storeys of the warehouse, was also on fire ;
• nd that in several other places, where. the pipes passed
thrnugh or in very close contact with the wooden feet
suPporting the counters, the wood was very palpably
charred. In short, it appeared clear beyond all doubt,
that, in some way or other, sufficient heat had been
canreYed along the pipes to set fire to wood and other
onsbustible matters, which had been previously allowed,
stvetehris case, and are generally permitted where the hot-
aPparatus is used, to come in contact with the
Piat Pette without the slightest suspicicn of danger from
that circumstance.
°f course, it will be seen at once, that these facts
are highly important to all parties who use,or contem-
Plate
h,,,! using, hot water for the purpose of warming
•-• 4a"ngs. If the pipes can in one case convey suffi-
ethlent beat to set fire to wood, what security is there
fi sat thaY may not do so in any or every case ? We
4", however, as we have already intimated, that the
0 -4te above described is by no means a solitary example
staf the kind. After the fire had been discovered on
."I"daY, Messrs. Barbours ascertained from their
• site !clinker:l, that, on two former occasions, there had been
of i occurrences. Once, about a year ago, the part
jo theiar
, ertunter which was in flames on Monday was
ditlau to he on fire to a small extent, but was Mame-
e
at
;t dieted
extinguished ; and the men, not being aware of
'-
;
pi importance, did not communicate it to their ern-
. Yell, On another occasion, before the warehouse
an'
tenanted, a quantity of shavings, which 'were lying
• .0e of the hot-water pipes in the counting-house,
Were found to be on fire, without any cause that could
e arsiened, except the heat from the pipe.
1.;
sootherAn remarkable accident of this kind, and which,
j'ae at Messrs. Barbours, took place on Monday
,giso,etiertz in urred at the Museum of the Natural History
Peter-street. This building consists of a
!Alement story, ground floor, and two floors above.
pipes,
eshnfilding is warmed by two. series of hot-water
,rePee o the ordinary dimensions, from two furnaces in
oellers, one series warming the east, and the other
;hadn best wing of the building. It appears. that there
been no fii es from Saturday afternoon, at 4 o'clock,
boeiMie.nnday morning between seven and eikht ; and the
• ,"'lng was consequently very cold. Shot tly after ten
ee'nek, however, Mrs. Reynolds and her niece per-
the building getting warm ; and the former, in
Uppermost floor, between the centre gallery and the
roe,- ,
@h'or aquatic birds, in the west wing of the build-
et nearest Dcansgate), and there perceived a
!nein smellof h •caused by clothes
een ...timing bee that
„_ g near a large fire in frosty weather. Her atten-
PcPe beiag attracted by this circumstance, she felt the
asid found it in the bay of the window very much
fauttiter than ordinary ; and, on examining it closely, she
10124 that a portion of matting on the floor of this
h_ Y, near the skirting board of the !rent window, had
sielen much burred where it had come into contact with
butll,ot-water pipe. The matting was not at all alight,
felt very hot. Mrs. Reynolds, ofcourse, imtne-
datel
by removed the matting, and gave information to
ar.,e onorary curators ; and Mr. Morton, the actuary
n...pueinsured, was
Manchester Fire Office, in which the building
informed of the circumstance, and in-
the place. We looked at it yesterday, and
Y:i..dh that it is distant from the furnace not less than
eighty
feet. Mrs. Reynolds mentioned another cir-
eetnatane
en_ e, which, if correct, is very remarkable,
reel, that the pipe was only of an extreme heat for
rooultt a length of two yards from the corner of the
esn'tn, where there is a joint in the pipe, to- about the
portion el the bay of the window ; and it was just this
parts of of the matting which was burned, while the
of the matting immediately adjacent, and also
j lying
-yen) to upon the fleor and under the pipe, did not
tineis
bound at the edge with strong linen binding ;
well ▪ this in the damaged piece was burned through,
.as
was hetll,o. matting
.it.self. We are told that a noise
aim in the adjoining room (the aquatic bird room),
oe
from theaY morning, which was supposed to proceed
tine PiPes• The pipe, at the place where the mat-
;teee,rtwaB burned, is fixed at a distance of half or three
au_ahers of an inch from the floor ; and near the skirt-
hslsl.oard, which, in one or two places where the pipe
.7._eu
looked into contact with it, is much charred. We
is Pipes in other parts of the building, and
floor
the
places found them lying almost close to the
in
two others, an inch above it ; and is one or
the Places where the pipes touched the floor, we found
in tZaad 'digit's, charred. We noticed that the pipes
eerwhole of the east wing were of a much lower
acc~ature than those in the west wing, where the
I.d • eat occurred. Indeed, in one room, the foreign
en goowet ut, Doe line of piping was found inadequate to
goetxl,the room effectually, and a second line was subsc-
teitilltlY laid Upon the first. We understand that the
w4aPrerature of the rooms generally on Monday morning
40 deg in 45 deg. to 49 deg., but in no place so high as
fait
That the extreme heist of the pipes on Mon-
faet.M.e,raing was not general, seems probable from the
Inst.,,tvat, in another part of the west wing, a piece of
leo'Tg laid over the pipe had not been in the least
re,ttined, or even marked by the contact. The burned
Pieee:grharing been cut avvay, Mrs. Reynolds placed
the o
m Paper loosely between that part of the pipe and
tur„_u,ar ; and these were all more or less scorched, and
ft: quite brown where they had touched the pipe..
atm addition
c
to these, several other undoubted in-
ie,,,.. or of setting fire to buildings, and partially burn-
oclatrreharring wood, by hot-water pipes, have recently
themed ,ils this town and neighbourhood. Amongst
the we may mention those of B:rch Chapel, where
set 071°,9d-work of one of the pews and a cushion were
44.3 'are, two or three weeks ago ; the warehouse of
Wal rs' Alexacder Henry and Co., York-street, which
aft waet on fire a few months ago (not on Monday last,
e'al teria
as
erroneously stated on Wednesday) ; and the
„
eh " Chapel in Strangeways, the floor of which
Twoa y rred be
the hot-water pipes.
these questions will therefore naturally arise on
heat be s, namely, first, How can such an amouns of
eonelly tsConveyedti under such circumstances ? and, se-
the eh' 1.1°0,, if at all, can the danger be averted, and
ketris: and convenient mode of heating buildings by
'Tie s water be practised without serious risk?
%to_ termer of these questions at first sight presents
144'1:able difficulty. The heat certainly cannot
ifby the menetc""Yed to distances of 50, GO, or 70 feet,
one eh,
_.of which the pipe is composed ; because,
roetet ino:`,ner a. piece of ordinary gas pipe, onhlyo't
threethe
her e6ndi'w,ip,laced in a fire, and made red
, and „,;,, i•Loe barely_ warm, and may be held in the
Hand Li.7".nout difficulty, It follows, therefore, that
eitherVe temperature necessary to ignite wood must
the Pipe,
ear some
.9
the ?yak,. which passes through
which is r some gaseous fluid must be generated there,
Peretore.eaPable of conveying or developing that tem-
Aa e,
e find so •
tuable that 'Cr, that it seems to us altogether impro-
en some Y rugen gas (which is no doubt generated
ttteiire,:tos
siu Zetnint
i) theseecopipes), iso 1. Indor any other gas what-
"nvey alone a pipa to a distance of 50 or
'ere, that
t'aelode,
as iydrogen igirCte n,ood. Neither do we
gas, under such circumstances,
kir, could
,)eit.. would be from all access to the external
lor,e Igni:ed and gradually burnt, so as to devc-
th`l: gerous temperature in the pipes. We can,
etiire.l re, come to no other conclusion than that the nris-
et
"a
to
caused altogether by the water itself'.
teat Undobtely it will
e seem strange to many persons,
water h- e , e .
retain,. w Ice we find so efficient an agent to ar-
c:ll4i: (14111)ustion, should be supposed capable of
t, without entering nati •into some one of those
h'rnieal Combini,do
ta
ons by winch all are aware it may
bare Produce ignition. Those, however, who
aiterrtion to the subject are aware, that
con,pr lute other bodies, may, when sufficiently
!tovi% presteyd'...l)_:elraised to a very' high temperature ; and
sotsiettrtiee,
a wilystknown that Mr. Perkins, whose
eeedepeeetion
Inentf9lutteen fifteecrr7rgin..eriemade so much noise
(und whose subse-
of the steams-gun is well known), suc-
tird.hnt In Making the water in' his " generator" actually
ti 84°1 L
t-lan Tir thei ng the case, when we consider the construc-
11,1A Cipannon apparatus for circulating hot water
'dinge, it does not seem so very surprising,
at•
Zejeut.
toshiolUnlidtebe heated in it to an extent quite
y corn us
any readil h tible substance.