Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-05-18
Dangerous Burning.Fluid.

IT would appear to be the duty of every
scientific journal to utter note OF warm
ing against the dangerous burning oils
with which our country may be said to be
literally flooded. The number of acci-
dents arising from the use at adulterated
oils Is so great that many lie insurance
companies are disposed to charge higher
rates where petroleum is employed In the
family of the assured. The community is
always deeply shocked at murder or rail-
road accident, and thorough examination
is at once held by the coroner; but the
burning to death of whole families, the
immense destruction of property from
fires occasioned by adulterated and danger
Gus oils, made no more than passing I'M
preston. There appears to be no doubt that
the number of deaths from this cause is far
greater than from railroad accidents; and
the sooner the most stringent measures
are adopted to guard the community
against the repetition of such calamities,
the better for ali concerned We desire to
call attention to the mountebanks who
travel around the country to exhibit their
non-explosive oils. They show that it is
impossible to explode their particular
brand, and they give as a reason that it
has been treated with certain chemicals in
a way to remove all danger. The oil, they
say, has been "carburetted" or carbon
lied" ozonized," %" oxygenized," and it is
no longer liable to explosion. They put
some OF the fluid in can and set fire to it,
and sit down on the can. They perform
as many tricks as the most experienced
master of legerdemain, and perfectly
silence unscientiic listeners. These men
are, one and all, impostors, and if you live
in the country, call in the hired man and
turn them out of doors; if you reside IN
the city, call in the police and enter com
plant against them then and there, and
have free lodgings provided for them in
the station house. Nobody pretends that
naphtha, alcohol, ether and the like are ex-
plosive. They can be lighted and burned
quietly and in the most inotfensive man
ner. 1t is only when mixed with the
oxygen of the air that an explo-
sive compound is produced, and this part
of the experiment is naturally omitted by
the exhibitor. 1t requires considerable
skill to prepare just the right mixture OF
light oils and air to insure success, and it
is under cover of this difficulty that the
dealers in adulterated oils escape detec-
ton. Unfortunately, just the proper mix
ture is sometimes formed in lamps as the
Oil is exhausted, and the fatal explosion
takes place. The number of accidents
from the bursting of lamps is very small,
and it is not the question of explosion that
should attract the most attention. BY far
the greater number of deaths and losses
by fire have arisen from the ignition of the
lamps or cans, either from the breakage of
lamp or some careless handling of the
petroleum-the ignited fluid spreading
over the clothing of the person or on the
floor is what does the damage. 1t ought
to be understood that there is no chemical
that will make an oil safe; the patents and
claims on this subject are sheer imposi-
tions. The only way to make an oil safe
is by distillation, that is, removing from it
all oil or naptha that will take fire below
110o F. Any oil that can be lighted on
its surface by match and will continue to
burn without a wick, is unsafe. Sperm
oil, rape seed oil, and the refined petro-
leum can be poured upon the floor and a
match applied, but they will not burn; it
| is necessary to heat them to high point
before any vapor will come off that will
take fire from taper and continue to burn.
Any oil that, when poured into a saucer,
will take fire from match and continue
to burn, as alcohol does, is unsafe, and
ought to be discarded at once. Such an
oil contains volatile compounds which can
give rise to explosive vapors, and if the
lamp breaks, may occasion the most dan
| gerous burhs. We must therefore warn
all persons from using such oils about the
premises.
There is another danger to which we
wish to call attention, and that is the use
of cheap fluids in the so called vapoI
stoves. Next to the use of gunpowder fol
heating purposes, we know of few things
so dangerous as these inventions. Theil
very utility is founded on the conversion
of the oils into vapor so that it can bt
readily ignited, and afterwards the heat O.
combustion keeps up the supply of gas
The persons who use these contrivance'
first manufacture a vapor that, whe1
mixed with air, is feaIfully explosive, anC
then in defiance of fate, they put ligh
to it, and ought to be thankful that tn,
whole apparatus is not blown to atoms
: The inventors of these Internal machine
are fully aware of the danger, and henc
the long list of precautions that accompa
panies each package; all of the direction
are intended to guard against the forma
J ton of the explosive mixture of air an
; vapor mentioned at the outset of our art
Gle. The skill required to manipulat
? such contrivances is of the highest charaC
ter. We have used them in laboratorie
to produce powerful gas jet for man
years, but never allowed any but exper
enced assistants to attend them. In ine1
, perienced hands or where the creates
care is not constantly exercised, the
: should never be used. We repeat, tru
/; none of the so called non explosive oils {
e patent contrivances to burn them
t Journal Of applied Chemistry.