Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1870-07-15

Modern progress exacts IL psnals
tieo. with the inventi0uo and die
covsries Of every year, In the realm
of utility, comes added comfort and
convenience, but Death stands grim
ly by the side of the user. The tele-
graph wire bears our peaceful mes
sages over continents and under seas.
but now and then, with strange ca
price, a bolt files the track and Stays
the man who guides It. The steam
ship leaps upon an iceberg. The To-
connective plunges into an abyss.
The agents of illumination, too,
seem to be dangerous i'm proportion
AZ they are cheap and effective. The
development of coal oil in the form
of kerosene was hailed as an un.
speakable boon to the poor. IL furn.
ished far better light than they had
enjoyed before, at an expense net pro-
portlonately greater. Coal uas. ns
generated and dsA'rnished by the gas
monopolies of large cities, illuminnt-
ed beautifully but expensively, while
kerosene gave almost as good light
at one.half the cost. So candle.
monlds were flung away; whale oil
went almost entirely out of use, and
nsse5SHC wus kutthLtCut ul cOIIfIIlOn
con sent. In four-flfths of the families
Of this land.
But, as we have intimated, IL
brought Its perils. 1t began TO be
poorly made. Then explosions
marked its use and scattered dismay.
These have increased from month To
month, till now we scarcely open
paper published In city of any con-
siderable size without seeing a record
of horrible explosion of Kerosene"
within Its Jurisdiction. When we
remember that large majority of
these pass without loss of life or
property and are never heard of be-
yond the neighborhood, IL Is proba-
bly, not extravagabt to estimate that
there are twenty explosions of kero-
sene a night in the United States
alone. More than a hundred lives
are lost by 1t every year.
y
This Is an alarming statement, but
1t Is true. A few weeks since, I'm this
city, q Kerosene lamp exploded I'm
the hands OF young lady who was
bearing IL quietly across the room
exploded without any premonition,
and without any apparent cause
resulting In the death of the unfor-
tunate gifl, and severely burning two
others In the room. In large num-
ber of eases no reason for the expio-
sion has been ascertained. Lamps
frequently explode when no one Is
near them, even when they are not
left In draft of air. The accident is
sometimes attributable to an INSULT
cheney Of fluid i'm the lamp; some,
times to the fact that the wick is too
loose ; sometimes to the fact that IL
is filthy. But even when the lamp
has had the very best of trimming,
and received the most cautious hand
ling, it may break and scatter its con-
tents over the floor to the imminent
peril of the dwelling and its inmates.
Unless Kerosene can be made prac-
tically non-explosive, or can be con-
trolled by some burner not yet in
vented, II ought to be given up, and
those who now use it resort, for light,
to coal gas on the one hand or gaso.
line on the other. City gas Is ex-
pensive--especialIy In those cases
where a consumer does not know
how to read the meter--but no ex.
pensc Is too great to pay when posi-
bsO toSS vi litG Is Tic ALTERNATIVES.
A common opinion prevails that
gasoline Is very dangerous, but this
10 founded on the erroneous, belief
that 1t IL explosive, but gasoline is
not. 1t has been tried I'm every way,
and under the stimulant of large
prizes offered, but nobody has ever
yet succeeded in exploding Ii. OF
course no fluid explodes I'm any case,
but only the gas which it generates.
Gasoline Is light hydro-carbon, the
first distillation of crude petroleum,
and its exceeding volatility consti.
tutes its chief safety. Kerosene gen.
crates gas slowly, 80 that, II fire gets
into the vacuum above it In any
vessel, 10 seeks vent and the result Il
an explosion. but gasoline makes
gas 30 rapidly that ft instantly nils
up all available space I'm can or
lamp, and If fire IL set to 1t, it merely
burns in q clear and harmless flame
at the top. We have repeatedly set
fire to a can of gasoline at spout aud
top, with no fear of danger.
A series of experiments was re-
Gently had at st. Louis, i'm which
Kerosene lamps were exploded every
time, but with gasolene lamps, says
the Democrat, ''no explosion could
be produced, though subjected to all
the conditions 1t is possible TO imag-
ine." An additional recommenda-
ton Of gasoline Is, that II goes much
further than kerosene, and, while
burning clear Gas jet constantly,
costs only half as much. This,
with many, will be browning
merit. Gasoline lamps are making,
In all parts of the country, q rapid
invasion OF the illuminating field,
and we do not doubt that they are
destined to come into very general
use, accompanied by a diminution of
insurance risks, and the saving of
thousands of human lives Chicago