The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-20 00:00:00

EXPERIMENTS TVITII SAFETY LAMPS,

A REIGN OF TERROR AT THE SAILORS' HOME.—Two
prostitutes, named Ellen Fitzgerald and Ann Wilson, were
brought before Mr. Benson, charged with throwing mud
at Mr. Campbell, carman to the Sailors' Home, in Well-
street, and one of his men.
It appeared that a number of seamen, whose services
are required in outward bound ships at Liverpool, were
about to proceed to tho railway station in one of Camp-
bell's vans last night, when the prisoners and other in-
famous women of the same class, demanded money of them,
and declared it was owing to them. On the sailors refus-
ing to comply with those impudent demands, tho prisoners
commenced pelting them ,with mud, horse droppings, and
all tho filth they could collect. One of Campbell's men
was covered with slime and dirt. Several mariners
were treated in a similar manner. Foster, 207 11,
and another officer pterfered, and captured th.
prisoners with filth in their hands. It was stated by
Campbell and Foster that a complete reign of terror
existed in Well-street, and that the vile prostitutes and
crimps did all in thoir power to prevent the sailors leaving
the port of London for other ports while they had any
money in their possession, and preferred fictitious claims
to enable them, if possible, to keep the sailors here. On

many occasions the sailors bad been pelted and injured by
hordes of prostitutes, crimps, touters, and thieves, and it
was at last considered necessary by the authorities of that
useful institution—the Sailors' liomo—to adopt strong
measures to suppress these outrages.
The prisoners said they wore very sorry for what they
had done. _ _

Mr. Benson said it could not be tolerated that seamen
and others were to be subjected to insult and robbery by
disorderly women. Ho would not allow it. He sentenced
the prisoners to bo imprisoned and kept to hard labour for
one month.

THUNDER STORM.—Last night and early this
morning the metropolis was visited with a thunderstorm
of a most violent character. It commenced soon after ten
o'clock, and lasted about an hour. Soon after one o'clock
it came up again, apparently from the south or south-east,
and for nearly two hours the streets were illuminated by
lightning more vivid and rapid than is on seen in this
country. The thunder was incessant but 4,
the close of the storm, not remarks

ho rain

fell in torrents. The lightning, which was
forked, IN as of a pale blue colour.

sheet and

Several experiments have recently been made
with different kinds of safety lamps for the purpose

of proving how far they may be depended upon for
safety when burning in fire-damp atmospheres in
coal mines ; and these experiments all seem to
prove that after a time these lamps will explode
a mixture of atmospheric air with carburctted
hydrogen gas if allowed to stand in currents of
the mixture travelling at the rate of from seven
to ten feet per second. In the account we gave

last week of the experiments at the Barnsley
Gasworks, a box twelve feet long and eleven inches

by four inches inside measurement seems to have
been attached to the flue of the retort house

chimney, and the gas was made to travel through
this box at the rate of 7.3 feet per second, when,
of five different lamps tried in the box, it was
found that they all exploded the gas after remain-
ing in the current in times varying from 5 to 75
seconds, the Davy exploded first, and the Stephen-
son last. Now, thesd experiments, so far as they
_ .•

show the relative merits of the lamps in continuing
in gas before exploding, are doubtless of value, but
it must be borne in mind that the gas from the re-
tort of a gas works is somewhat different to the
fire-damp met with in coal mines. The former
contains a certain portion of olefiant or heavy
carburetted hydrogen gas, while the presence
of such in the latter was never found by
Sir Humphrey Davy in all the specimens of
fire-damp he ever examined. This justly-cele-
brated chemist, after finding that " the mixture
which seemed to possess the greatest explosive
power was seven or eight parts of air to one of gas,"
goes on to say, "it was very important to ascer-
tain thmeidxeedgrweeitohf
itsh proper
trorepqeur proportioniredtoof air." It
explode the fire-
dampwas, indeed, the difference in the temperature at
which gases explode, and the high temperature re-
quired to explode fire-damp, as compared with
other gases, which mainly led to the discovery
the lamp. Olefiant gas, be found, exploded
when mixed in equal proportion with air,
and is fired by both charcoal and iron
heated to dull redness ; carbonic oxide explodes
at the same temperature when mixed with double
its volume of air. With fire-damp there can be no
explosion until there is one of gas to four parts of
air ; but well-burned charcoal ignited to the strongest
red heat, nor charcoal blown to whiteness by an
explosive mixture of the fire-damp, did not explode
it. Iron at the highest red heat, and even at the
common degree of white heat, will not explode fire-
damp ; it must be increased to brilliant combustion
before producing the effect. When, therefore,
these lamps tried at the Barnsley Gas Works
p
iu part from the
low temperature at which olefiant and car-
bonic the
pglaossions passing
arose through the wooden
box,xlocid such ex
oxide gases are ignited ; and if pure
hydrogendegree
assist were would in no small
at the lowest visible heat of iron and charcoal ; the
st the present it
explosion, as this gas explodes
lamps were in fact placed in an atmospheric condi-
tion never known to exist in coal mines. If it can
be proved that heavy carburetted hydrogen, car-
bonic oxide, or pure hydrogen gases are at times
given off in the ordinary way from coal in situ in
mines, then indeed there is no such thing as a safety
lamp. There can be no doubt, however, that a
highly heated gauze will pass flame more readily
than a cold one; and, moreover, when strong cur-
rents are made to play upon the flame of an ordi-
nary Davy lamp, especially if the flame be burning
in fire-damp, the flame will eventually be forced
through the gauze and ignite the exterior gas.
Although Sir 11. Davy says, when speaking about
the numerous experiments ho made with a view to
the power of flame to pass through small tubes,
" I did not perceive any difference in these expe-
riments when the metals of the apertures were
warmed by repeated explosions," he nevertheless
adds, " It is probable, however, that considerable
elevation of temperature would increase the power
of the aperture to pass the explosion.—Colliery
Guardian.
,owards I _ _ .

TILE TEA TRADE.—August 19.—The deliveries
in London made up for the week wore 1,257,6971b5., being
a:cl9Qrea§e of 83,9101 be. compared with the preyiohe one.