Vicksburg weekly herald., 1870-08-20
From The Chloago Post
IE a.NR nR ELERRaENE.

stands grimly Dy tue sue Ol
the user. The telegraph wire
bears our peaceful messages
over continents and under seas,
but now and then, with strange
caprice, bolt flies the track and
slays the man who guides it. The
steamship leaps upon al iceberg.
The locomotive plunges into an
abyss.
The agents OF. illumination, too,
seem to be dangerous in proper
ton as they are cheap and effect
i've. The development of coal oil
in the form of kerosene was hailed
as an unspeakable boon to the
poor. 1t furnished a far better
light than they had enjoyed be.
fore, at an expense not proper
tionately greater. Coal gas, as
generated and furnished BY the
gas monopolies of large cities,
Illuminated beautifully but expen.
sively, while Kerosene gave almost
as good a light at one.halr the
cost. So candle .moulds were flung
away; whale oil went almost en-.
tirely out Of use, and kerosene
was installed, by common consent,
in four ffths Of the families Of
this land.
But, as We have intimated, it
brought its perils. 1t began to
be poorly made. Then explosions
marked its use and scattered dis
may. These have increased from
month to month, till now We
scarcely open paper published in
q city Of any considerable size,
without seeing a record of a "hor,
riblc explosion Of kerosene" with
in its jurisdiction. When We re-
member that large majority Of
these pass without loss of life or
property, and are never heard Of
beyond the neighborhood, it is
probably not eXtravagant to esti-
mate that there are twenty eXplO.
sions Of kerosene a night in the
United States alone. More than
a hundred lives are lost by it
every year.
What is the remedy! Some of
our contemporaries seem to think
thata stop will be put to the desc.
lation, if people are constantly
warned against the nature Of the
agent they are dealing with. But
warnings do not seem to diminish
the casualties. Foolish or
thoughtless persons will still pour
kerosene on a blazing fire to hurry
up the breakfast; or il some arc
not so stupidity suicidal as that
they will, at least, fill a lamp in
the evening with another light in
the room; or smoke near to an
open can; or run hastily up stairs
and drive the flame down into the
bowl Of the lamp, or blow down
the chimney to extinguish it. II
they are cautious to the last de
gree they cannot be certain Of
safety. No care will insure the
life Of q woman who carries ke'
rosene lamp!
This is an alarming statement,
but it is true. A few weeks since,
in this city, a kerosene lamp ex.
ploded in the hands Of a young
lady who was bearing it quietly
across the room-exploded with.
out any premonition, and without
any apparent cause-resulting in
the death of the unfortunate girl,
and severely burning two others
in the room. In a large number
Of cases no reason for the explo
sion has been ascertained. Lamps
frequently explode when no one is
near them, even when they are moi
left in a draft Of air. The acci
dent is sometimes attributable tC
an insutiiciency Of fluid in the
lamp; sometimes to the fact tha
the wick is too loose sometimes
to the fact that it is filthy. Bu
even when the lamp has had thu
very best Of trimming, and re
ceived the most cautious hand
ling, it may break and scatter ii
contents over the floor to the i'm
minent peril Of the dwelling ant
its inmates.
Unless kerosene can be mad,
practically non.explosive, or cal
be controlled by some burner no
yet invented, it ought 10 be givel
up, and those who now use it re
sort, for light, TO coal gas on th,
one hand or gasoline on the other
City gas is expensive-especlall!
in those cases where q consume
does not know how to read tn,
meter-but no expense is So grea
to pay when possible loss Of life i
the alternative.
A common opinion prevails tina
gasoline is very dangerous, bu
this is founded on the erroneou
belief that it is explosive. Kero
sene is explosive, but gasoline i
not. 1t has been tried in ever,
way, and under the stimulant o
large prizes offered, but nobod,
has ever yet succeeded in explod
ing it. OF course no fluid explode
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