The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-11-18

Kerosene is explosive and It's Use attended
with considerable amount Of danger
Such, however, is not the case IL is no moro
explosive thanswater, and the employment
Of properly prepared oil is safe under al Or
dinary condisions." So much. then. fer the
outroyertable testitiruony of the insx ple-
sive nature OF pure Kerosene Oil: Yetsesrce-
iva week passes that we are not startled by
an account of some dreadfnl accident arising
from the explcsion of a Kerose ne lamp
This state of affairs is all wrong aud should
have the proper remedies applied The
wicked men who are engaged Ia nianufactu-
ring dangerous n2ptha mixtures. and also
the venders. deserve the severest punish
ment The Pennsylvania Legislature passed
hill called the Calamity bill. which was SO
hastily signed by his Excellency. the mod
ern Darius HystaspeA. which bill every man
in the State denouEces, except Rail Road
owners and those paid to advance their in
terests. Yet it is model of equity COM
pared with the act of Congress of March 81.
1857. In the amended United States In
ternal Revenue Law. sec. 20, we read: ''And
be it further enacted. that no person or per-
sons shall mix for sale nsphtha and iilumin-
ating oils, or shall knowingly sell or keep
for sale. or offer for sale, such mixtures,
or shall sell or offer for sale oil made from
petroleum. for illuminating purposes, inflam
able, at u less temperature or FIRE test than
one hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit !;
and any person so doing shall be held to be
guilty Of of a misdemeanor, and on cOnVic-
ton thereof by Indictment, or presentmeOt,
in any court Of the UIited States having
competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by
a fine of not less than one hundred dollars,
nor more than FIVE hundred dollars. and by
imprisonment for a term of not less than six
L so
clear and explicit. Under the act this whole
class of mixers AID aduiterers, wherever
found in the United States. can be arrested
and punished. The sellers of receipts. the
mixers and dishonest dealers who are leop-
ardizing the lives of thousands, all should be
brought to feel the full measure of the law.
! However inadequate it is or may be, enforce
what is of it, No matter how many lives
NAV have been ieopardize1 or sacrificed. the
highest penalty is $500 fine and three years
i'm prisonment only There can be no amei-
orating circumstances to justify the manu-
facture of so dangerous an article. Kerosene.
| of legal standard, can be had at from 20 to
% cents per gallon by the barrel. Retail
ers charge about 200 per cent profit. yet it
is sti II the chea pest and safest burning fluid
that can be procured. There has been no
lew discoveries in chemical science which
W
carbon fluids, safe to burn IN dwellings, and
shops, which are cheaper or better than pure
Kerosene oil. Again, no chemical substance.
| LIQUID or snlid. can be added Ia dangerous flu
ids to render them nonNexplosive. without
destroying their illuminating properties
Consumers do not need any safety devices to
burn good oil. as no explosion can occur
from its use. Kerosene of legal standard is
perfectly safe under all usua! or unusual cir
cumstances and when any of those mnunte-
banks who sell receipts for manufacturing
dangerous fluids come under your observa>
tion it behooves you as Christian to have
such person or persons arrested at once,
either for obtaining money under false pie
tences or for the violation of the il ternal
revenue law, or both. 10 laying in your
supplies you ca1noi be too cautious Of whom
you purchase and when yeu make your pur-
chases be certain that it is pure Kerosene of
legal standard. The way to test it is as fol-
lows: Take a quart bowl and FIJI about
one-third full of boiling water then add cold
water until your Thermometer. suspended in
the water. will indicate 100 then pour one
tables poonful Of the oil Ia be tested into the
water, stirring with the Thermometer for a
| few seconds; then apply lighted taper or
match thereto--if it ignites and burns, re-
ject it at once as dangerous, Gn order to as
certain the correctness OF your Ihermome
ter, when your water is in state of ebulli-
tion or boiling hold the bulb Of your insiru-
ment over the steam until well warmed up !;
then put into the water. and if the mercury
indicates 2I2o it is correct.) and return it
to the ventler and demand your money. You
haG much better pay S. for one pound of
candles than fill your lamp once with dan
gerous fud- Let every one adopt such a
plan and in short time you can obtain le-
gal standard Kerosene at any and all Of the
| shops. and empiricism will be annihilated.
| 1t is fortunate that even with light naphtha
mixtures it is so difficult to place lamp in
a condition to explode If it were otherwise
a thousand accidents would occur where
! there is now but one.
| This communication is growing more
| lengthy than iutende it shouid l will
| therefore close for the present. hoping to see
every journal in the country take up aud
ventilate the subject according to it's para
mount imporrance.. }. KRIsE. NJ. d.
st. Augustine, Nov. 18th. 1869.