Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1870-02-22
A Dangerous Customer-Prevention
3atser than Cure

llSHiueI VI our iaInlIleb 10 ltaIIul
death by fire We may boast of our
caution, ana congratulate ourselves
OF the puce and safe quality of the
oil we buy, yet the awful fact is still
before us, that we are exposed night
after night to perils of explosion
which now and then become actual
cataetrophes.: We may rejoice in
the prudent care we take of our
lamps, and claim to know better
than to fill them when burning. vet
once or twice week we hear that
some household has been desolated,
or some home burned down, by a
kerosene explosion, from some I'M
explained cause" If any new light
may be cast on the sources of these
accidents, if any further means of
their prevention can be used, or if
any diminution of the list of kerosene
fatalities can DO brought about by
the press, then let us devote to the
subject time and space enough to
elucidate some truths that the public
need TO know.
There ia Il great dearth of reliable
scientific facts on this subject of
lamp explosions. Most people know
that we use coal oil, which will some
times explode though usually safe.
This is about the extent of the popu-
lar ideas on Kerosene. Some UNDER
stand too, that good non-explosive
oil is Otter adulterated with that
which is urtst to use, and so they
exercise their taste and skill in try
ing to select good oil some choosing
the yellowest aud thickest, others
the most limpid. They know that
one kind or the other is best, but are
uncertain which it is. Some look for
oil that will not smoke and diffuse
odors, othora for that which will not
burn them 40 death with worse than
Greek fire.
Although good genuine kerosene
may be peri8c.ly safe when rightly
uaed, yet 80. long as benzole and its
kindred explosives are drug in the
market at half the price of good oil
So long will dishonest dealers mako
dangerous mixtures for gain. The
guilt of selling such oil as is now
dealt out by many retailers, is much
greater than that of the vender of
diseased meat or impure milk. The
man who would debase the quality OF
good coal oil, and dispense an explo-
sivo imitation Of it TO increase his
profits, oIgEt to be ranked with the
incendary, or the fiend who piles OBJ
structiona Gu the rails, to wreck a
passenger train.
Many people find their lamps to
work badly, and becoming afraid oil
the quality Of the oil, take it back to
the seller, who replaces it with a
fresh supply, warranted good, that
burns no better Ia this transaction
j, il evident, either the dealer keeps
selling oil THAT he knows to BIO dan
gerous, or lhe oil is good and the
lamp is OF unsafe pattern. We have
often heard that merchants take
back oil that is returned as bad, with
great willingness, rs they pour il at
once into the barrel to sell TO some
one else. We do not like TO credit
this, yet il i not beyond the range
Of heartess avarice.
phore Are' tcsts Of safe and unsaf,
/ - l. nb st,.,bt a ka L..
generally known, and there should be
means for'evegy buyer to determine
for himselt whether he is buying pain
and destruction or merely good light
Who will confer this favor on the an.
scient fic, and be public benefactor
There are without doubt man '
cases of accident caused by defective
wicks or burners We are told that
the genuine article will not explode
under any circumstances. Now We
question much if the oil itself ever
does explc.Ie--that is, convert Itself
instantly from liquid state to one Of
gaseous coiabusti0n or fire. But
when q quAhtty of iufiam mable gas
filling the apper part of any lamp OF
can, comes within catching distance
Of fame, with sufficient aperture
for flame ID enter, au explosion OF
the gas occurs, the vessel is burst
and the fiery fluid thrown over the
Qicinity The appalling list OF
deaths OF Scottish servant girls, who
still persists in pouring oil from the
can upon she fire TO make il burn
faster, are probably all caused in this
way. W ben the stream ceases to
TOW, tongue Of flame runs up the
spout and eXplodes the can.
There isgncthcr cause of accidents,
more insidsous and difficult to trace
Sometimes the wick is too small or
narrow fox the orifice, leaving u
slight chaErcl beside il, down which
the fame leaps 10 the interior Of he
lamp. II ia sometimes seen TO all
the Interior with an instantaneous
flame, which does not burst the glass.
But though we have observed this
once with ,mpunity, we know the
usual rcsugt is the shivering Of the
lamp, the Heath or burning Of per-
sons. or thq destruction of the house.
But if therh is no channel of commu-
nication LEFT between the flame and
the oil, ard accidents still occur,
some Of THIN can be traced to the
dangerous spractice OF leaving the
lamp burning low for hours, in which
case the wick becomes charred and
shrnnken IN width, the brass be-
comes very hot, the gas accumulates
and at last Gakes fire down the wick
as before.
We are Also told tn at it is danger
Gus to blow. out the light, for it has
caused many accidents. II so, there
may have been the same narrow de-
teotive wick as before, leaving free
path for flame to be blown down
ward into 1he hot gas. Those who
take care IF lamps cannot be TOO
careful in Aoting these points. An
other cause Of mischief is the ac-
emulation: OF oily cinders below,
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