The New York herald., 1869-01-11

Step in the Right Direction-Thc lfauufnc-
furcrs and Vendor of the OIL Held TO Awnif
tho Action OF thc Grand Jury.
Coroner keenan, yesterday held very important
inquest at No. 81 Clinton street. in the OF Tabi-
tina T. Cropper, girl aged twelve years, who was
fatally burned Monday evening last by the explo.
sion OF q Kerosene oil lamp. 30 many lamp explo-
sions attended with loss OF life have occurred OF
late that Coroner Keenan, determined to make this a
test case. and on aecertalnng that the oil used In
the lamp had been procured from the paint store OF
samuel Schoonmakcr, No. s94 Grand street, he sent
and ~ ne o inc oil srom u When ~. re
had been nlled were given toMr. Giuseppe Taglabue
OF Mount Vernon, who tested the sample In the coal
oil pyrometcr an instrument used for determining
the density and combusDity oftcoai and othervola-
tlllzng oils. AZ the inquest yesterday Mrs. Marga
ret Cropper testified that her niece, the deceased
girl, had purchased the oil with which the lamp was
nied at the store OF MIR. schoonmakcr paying ther-
Ss e nsT c aeah o e
from the burns then received about the head, neck
and hands.
testified that be Kept paint store at that location.
and had dealt IN Kerosene oil for the past ten years.
eighteen months pass; nc considered himself good
Judge OF the material, aud purchased only the best
article; he purchased 1t OF Messrs. Reiser 4 Co.,
whose refinery was in the rear OF Williamsburg;
he had purchased from them for fifteen months past;
the regular market price Of good Kerosene oil
was thrty-fve cents; since December is had sold for
thirty-sx cents per gallon; witness said he did not
recognize the oil can shown ~ having been flled nv
him; formerly he tested all the oil bought BY hlm,
but atcry having fun faith In the rciillers, he had
Adam Reiser. or no. 900 Leonard street. testified
that he was n Kerosene oil rnnner, the mandatory
belonging to himself and partner, being situated on
the corner OF North Tenth anu Ffth streets Brook
bn. y. D.: they manufactured Kerosene oil from
crude petroleum; he had sold oil TO Mr.. Scboonmaker
for many months past: all the oil refined by their
nrm was tested with Tagliahucs pyrcmeter, and
none was sold below the standard OF ITO degrees.
Nr. Giuseppe Tavliabuc, OF Mount Vernon, testified
that he had tested the samples OF OIL shown hi,a:
that taken froin the can, portion OF which exploited
IN the lamp showed q sapOrizng test OF sxtyeight
degrees. and the burning point eighty degrees, tre
yaporizIng point snould he nj least ntacty-six
degrees. and the burning point one hundred ana ten
degrees: that purchased by the Toy irom the same
store showed q vavorlllng point of sixty degrees
and the burning point was the same; y was almost
pure benzine and extremely dangerous 10 barn IN
lamps: tho price OF This per gallon " twenty cents.
testimony merely related 10 the accilent Coroner
Keenan, addressed the Jury al considerable length,
setting forth the fact that explosions OF TINS knd
were OF almost daily occurrence causing great loss
of life ana property, occas0ned In y majority OF
instances By the use or poor quality OF Kerosene
OIL The Lcgisnturc Of 1868 had passed an act pro-
Ribting the sale Of kerosene below certain SIAN
the duty Of the Jury TO project the public
hy rendering q verdict against those WHO
violated this law The Jury rendered the fol,ow a.re
10 her death by the explosion Of lamp containing
mixture OF Kerosene oil and benznc; they Ind the
manufacturers OF the mixture, Adam Rciser ana VIII
uel schoonmaker, guilty OF culpable negligence.
They further recommend that proper means DC taken
to have ali Kerosene oil retacd IN this city properly
tested before the sale" Coroner keenan, on '1S ,,
the explosive compound 70 BAN In the sum Of toooV
each and the retailer Mr.. Schooumaker, In the sum
Of s2soo pau v awsis ~ ecAon q We Srsna sufy'